Chez Hans

With less than 24 hours to go until the big workshop starts, the team is sandwiched into a little working room on the client site. We're finalizing slides, talking about breakout group moderation, figuring out who is doing notetaking, cracking jokes, drinking coffee, looking out the window at the amazing view, cursing the humidity (but this is really really nothing compared to Singapore), talking about the remaining meetings today (1 internal, 2 client).

Just had lunch upstairs at the company restaurant. Back to work now...

Been here, Done This

Just arrived. we're having dinner now and i am hoping going to sleep without having to work this evening.
Didn't get lucky this week on room selection. :-( In a pleasant, but very small closet of a room. Nice enough view, though.

Looking forward to a hopefully very smooth final prep day tomorrow.

Water, Ginseng, Wine

You can begin to get an idea of the last few days here by looking at the bottles on my desk. Most of the time, I drink water during the work day - or else mint tea. But when you get stuck working on a Friday night, you and the art director (ms. britta), open a bottle of wine in order to get creative. And on a Saturday afternoon, after a frustrated 30-min wait outside of the building because your key decided not to work, you make a quick dash to the nearby Asian food store and pick up strange looking Korean Ginseng drinks (no, i don't recommend it, tastes even worse than Red Bull).

Back at work now on Sunday afternoon. Here for at least 5 more hours. But then I need to call it a day, go home, pack for the week, and stop thinking about website strategies for at least a few waking hours.

Old Habits Die Hard

The last 2 and a half years I was at university (oh yeah! back in the good old days...) I lived in apartments and houses with friends. One year an apartment with one flatmate, one year a house with 4 housemates, and one semester a house with four total strangers. (But a block from where my sister was living, and the guys I lived with were a lot of fun.)

Back then, I used to cook to procrastinate. Paper due? Better think about something REALLY complicated to cook, or at least something that would take a good long time, to avoid writing the paper. So then I would be done with serving, eating, and cleaning up around 10 at night and I would have the night to write the 5 or 6 page paper for the next day. (We will not reflect on some of my grades during the first couple years of university, we will accept them as a learning experience. )

And I hadn't PLANNED on cooking this weekend. Rather more working because of our huge workshop next week. But I think I am still on schedule...hope so anyway.

Tonight's dinner was actually reasonably fast and refreshing after sitting in the office for 5 hours this afternoon. Andreas went to buy the tuna while I was at work, so shopping kept to a minimum. Seared tuna with rice noodle pillow, and grapefruit, cucumber, avocado salad with herb-passion fruit dressing. Have made this before, but not in a long time. Next time, would leave the tuna raw...Küchenschlacht material? No. But at least food for thought.

Mood Boards

Quite often, agencies use a tool called "Mood Boards" in order to convey a feeling or an experience that our clients are supposed to understand we recommend they convey on their website. Mood boards often even go further and show types of functionality we recommend or design principles. Right now Britta and I are sitting here in the office working on some ideas for a couple Mood Boards for the workshop next week. Will take some time I guess, but I hope we get to a point where we are happy before we go home.

Meanwhile, during our daily "Stand Up Meetings" (quick status check where everyone stands up around a whiteboard in the morning and says what they will work on that day), our project manager is also asking for a "Mood" check. So we need to draw the appropriate smile on the face. Today, I noticed that we skipped the check and my mood board smile there is a few days old...we have had a long hard day that hasn't been as productive as it should have been. So that smile is no longer quite the smile it was a few days back.

But it's ok. We'll get there, one way or another. Next Friday at this time, I will be in a car on my way home...

For now, a glass of wine next to the computer helps to keep the Mood Boards we are creating full of creative ideas and the Mood at least reasonably relaxed. Looking forward to sports tomorrow morning, though. Really need a good stretch before sitting down for another 10 hours.

Snail Harvesting Time

It has rained here so much in the last 6 days or so that people are making jokes about getting started on building Noah's ark...

On the way to work I had to watch out so I wouldn't fall on my face because of all the snails and worms and banana slugs that were sliming themselves around on the sidewalks....

I wonder if I could collect them and saute them for dinner....hmmm... (yuck).

Although...they are not so bad when you eat them in France. Enough garlic and butter...

The Venting Corner

We have this magic word over here: FUSION.

You know what it means? No, you don't. FUSION is a kind of project we do over here.
When you work on a fusion project:

• People can produce twice as much in half the time
  
• Quality is automatically included in the first draft
• Nervous clients get deliverables days before they are actually due
• All work can be performed in parallel despite any information dependencies
  
• There is LESS need for communication between team members, not more
• Everyone is always in a good mood, even when they don't get enough sleep and work long hours
• Client politics don't get in the way of working effectively or efficiently
• It is possible to pretend that producing 3 documents really isn't much more than producing 1 document
  
• The project is always profitable
• There is no pressure, no stress

There is only the magic...of fusion.

Today I wore my red shoes. Just like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz. They are not ruby slippers, but if I click my heels together and chant "There is no place like home," I feel certain that I will finish cranking out at least 30 brilliant powerpoint slides by the end of the day. :-P

Sarcasm.

Girls over here, Guys over there

Strangely...this physical split sort of happened naturally. Designers and conception in one room (the girls) and planners and coordinators and well, sort of thinkers ;-) (the guys) in another room.

If you go search for the women on our team - there they are - sitting over in that little room talking about the user research.


And if you look for the men - upps - another little room - working on the workshop planning for next week.




Me? I am in between in a little room typing up notes from the interview I just did and trying not to think about how late I will stay up working on various pieces of the puzzle...for all of us, a bit overwhelming. Actually, quite a bit..


But..still..a fascinating project. I spent an hour on the phone with the heads of the US entity this afternoon - getting their perspective. Earlier in the week we had China, and of course last week was Netherlands, UK, Poland, Germany, Marketing, Brand, Sales, etc. But we are now really and truly done with the interviews and getting geared up for next week at the client where we will present the findings and the further thinking.

Tired.

Poken: Obsolete

Ok, Ingo. I want my 10 euros back. ;-P

Remember the Poken? The cute little key chain toy that you simply need to touch to someone else's Poken to exchange data? Yeah, this little thing?


I was just on the phone with my dad (who I neglected to call for Father's Day yesterday evening (sorry Dad! :-(), who told me that at an anniversary party in Southern California that he and my mother were at this weekend (yeah, he wouldn't have answered anyway...he was out), nobody was Poking, but rather they were all Bumping. (The nomenclature is getting a little dumb...)

Huh?

Yes, apparently you no longer need an extra device, it is enough to have an iPhone with a little application on it that does more or less the same thing.


I'm pretty swamped with work at the moment...so blogging this week may suffer a bit. Project is over (for me) in about two weeks.

Koerperwelten Augsburg

Just back from Augsburg, where we spent about 2 hours taking a look at "Koerperwelten" (literally "body worlds") - an exhibit showing the human body, in detail. The somewhat controversial exhibit uses the donated bodies of people who are carefully preserved after their death in a year-long process which essentially turns them into plastic models. The point of the exhibition? Education for the most part - a detailed and intimate look beneath the skin at the bones, muscles, nerves, organs and other tissues.

Thoughts? Well, perhaps worth going to once, but nothing overwhelmingly new. There was a faint whiff of formaldehyde around the place (maybe I am just sensitive to this...), a slight feeling of the macabre, and overall a level of information provided in a standard high school biology class. Still, you pause for a moment when you hear statistics like the fact that if all your blood vessels were lined up (veins, arteries, capillaries, everything), the distance would wrap around the earth 9 times.

The theme for the exhibit in Augsburg was "The Heart" - there are a few travelling exhibitions - as I understand it, the one showing in Berlin focuses on sex.

When I was 15 or 16 I went with my dad to his work a couple times and watched while he performed a few autopsies (another thing completely). But for all the controversy this series of exhibits generates, I had to really wonder a bit. While the bodies there were once living humans, today they are just plastic. Their souls are elsewhere and the people who donated the former containers of their spirits did so willingly...

Food Porn

In addition to being able to write both fiction and literary journalism, Anthony Bourdain can be fairly amusing in his TV series. (But not always - sometimes he is full of himself, but I think the good intent is always there...).

I looked for something to take to the gym with me today and watch during the monotony of the stairmaster, treadmill and bike. Found his episode entitled "Food Porn" on iTunes. The whole thing is available to watch on YouTube in five 10 minute parts.

My favorite coverage was on a chef who cooks a fusion of different cultures, heavy emphasis on Asian cuisine, which begins at the end of part three and continues in part 4...

Here is part 4.

Mango Munch

I read an article a couple days ago about how the trade restrictions
between India and the US are loosening up on some Indian imports.
Specifically: mangoes. So now some of the coveted varieties which have
never before touched the pallettes of nomally produced-spoiled
Americans (at least those in the big metros) will make their way onto
the plates there. My lunch today was on the light side because of my
work load. I made a quick stop in one of the Asian food stores a
couple blocks away from work to pick up some basics for the weekend.
Saw some pretty amazing Indian mangoes on the shelf there so grabbed a
box (4 big ones in there.) 6.95 euros for 4, so definitely pricey. Had
one for lunch, gave one away to my account director, and brought two
home. We used to eat them a lot more when we lived in Singapore, but
the good ones were a lot more accessible there. I just have to convice
Andreas not to put them on his chocolate muesli in the morning. ;-)

Energy Of The Wind

Driving back home now. Happy to have an account director who likes to
drive. These windmills are close to the road between Stuttgart and Ulm
and look incredible. I'm awed each time we pass them.

Powers of Persuasian

We are busy recruiting like mad for a bunch of user interviews we're doing on our current project. Of course, one easy source of interviewees is naturally our colleagues around the world. With a little incentive (25 dollar gift certificate), most people are willing to spend an hour talking to us about the company we are working with and their products. Nevertheless, REAL business sometimes come in between...and there are cancellations last minute.

Kinga (colleague of mine conducting the user interviews while I conduct the stakeholder interviews with our account director) just pinged me and we had this conversation:

Kinga [13:22]:
hey...geht schon gut los! der UK kollege der um 12 heute dran war hat abgesagt. ("Hey, it's already starting! the colleague in the UK who was supposed to talk at noon cancelled.")
Julie [13:22]:
f***
Kinga [13:23]:
hab jetzt montag ausgemacht, hoffentlich klappt es dann ("I agreed to a new meeting on Monday, hopefully it'll work then.")
Julie [13:23]:
ok
Kinga [13:23]:
das ist immer das problem wenn man sowas mit kollegen macht...("This is always the problem when you do it with colleagues.")
Julie [13:23]:
ah, well, you just need to work on your powers of persuasion obviously.
Kinga [13:23]:
wird schon klappen ("It'll work.")
Kinga [13:23]:
hehe, ja!
Kinga [13:24]:
fange heute mit Jane Austen an ("I'll start with Jane Austen today.")
Julie [13:24]:
take out your sexiest voice, and tell the person...."come on baby, don't you wanna talk about bathing with me???"**
Kinga [13:24]:
LOL

**This probably only makes sense to you if you know what client we are working with at the moment...

Eyes Wide Shut Feeling

Today this is a good cartoon for my life. :-(

As usual, credit goes to Hugh.

Not quite sure when I will be able to come up for air, but at least there is one planned activity (other than work and gym) for the weekend. More on that later.

Italian dinner found in black forest

The nice thing about carpaccio is that it is not heavy, it has to be
very fresh to be good, and I can even find it for dinner in the land
of unending noodles and potatoes.

Quick dinner and then back to work.

Solving Computer Problems

Two solutions here for solving the problems one experiences from working with a laptop all the time (namely terrible neck pain...from looking down.)

The solution that I managed to work out for the time at the client...



















The solution our account director thought up yesterday...
(He FORGOT TO BRING HIS COMPUTER WITH HIM. ;-) Why didn't I think of that?

Listen to the Hang

I saw a woman playing this instrument near Odeonsplatz today just before I headed home to cook dinner. She was wonderful and I wanted to sit there and listen to her for an hour. It is called a "Hang." Developed by two Swiss physicists about seven years ago, the instrument is still being developed and improved. Lovely sound.

A couple people playing the instrument on YouTube. Listen and fall asleep...it sounds like raindrops...

Lecker

Have only managed to work my way through a few items on my do-to list for the weekend, but at least I got to enjoy the weather a bit (i tell myself.) This upcoming week will be a little hellish with the number of interviews and meetings I have. (On average 2-3 interviews per day + team meetings, etc.) So...looking forward and not looking forward at the same time.

I FINISHED MY US TAXES!!!! Just in time too. Tomorrow is the deadline for those people living outside the US. This year was unfortunately really complicated based on the amount I earned, (had to calculate crazy tax credits, etc.) so next year I will start earlier and likely just hire an accountant. The tax law is fairly complicated and even with the software I downloaded I am crossing my fingers that everything is correct. I think it is, though (HEY YOU IRS FOLKS, IF YOU ARE READING - I DID MY BEST WITH YOUR COMPLICATED SOMETIMES CONTRADICTORY THOUSANDS OF PAGES OF CALCULATION INSTRUCTIONS!)

Lecker: an important German word. Means "TASTY." And that was dinner this evening.
We had Chicken Kolhapur, Coconut Rice, Cucumber Raita. Not quite like eating dinner on the beach in southern India, but made with my hands rather than someone else's, and this also means I know exactly what went into it, which...most of the time is simply better than eating at a restaurant. I can control the oil, salt, etc. And make sure it is as spicy or mild as I'd like, that there is the amount of tomatoes or coconut in it that I prefer, onions and garlic have their proper place, and spices (pepper, cloves, cinnamon, bay leaves, cardamom) are chopped or ground to the degree that works for me. BUT

Here's the challenge.

I was watching Kuechenschlacht on TV again yesterday morning at the gym. And sort of fantasizing about trying to take part. I downloaded the instructions for entering - fairly work intensive - you need to send in a number of recipes, do a little video of yourself, etc. So probably I won't. But...if I do, I would have to enter at least one Indian recipe (simply because I cook so much of it and I think by now I am reasonably good at it...well, maybe except for Biryani...). And the problem with Indian recipes, is that though they TASTE wonderful, they (just like Chinese and a number of other Asian cooking genres) don't look beautiful. Sorry, they don't. And I need a solution for this. Because the winners of Kuechenschlacht are able to hit everything on the nose: the flavors, the technique, the creativity, and of course the presentation.

If you have any ideas, tell me. Because a sea of spicy tomato with cocunut and a lake of yogurt and cucumber is just not sexy. Tastes great, but...I would need to do better than that. ;-)

Found Mouse, Love Mouse

Sam is a little mixed up about how cats are supposed to treat mice. He wants to hug the mouse, rather than destroy it. ;-) (well, it's not a real mouse...so....i guess it is explainable.)

Scrub a dub dub

Just back from a pretty leisurely day. Slept in, which I really needed (if 7:30 am is sleeping in?) It was bright in the bedroom, so it felt like it was time to get up... Then read the news for an hour and drank (gooood!) coffee which our hotel does not offer-although I have had much worse, so I shouldn't complain. Gym as usual. I'm pretty stiff at the moment because of the combination of strange bed, concentrated and long hours in front of a computer, and not enough exercise during the week. I really have to push for team yoga or something. ;-) So gym felt good, but maybe I'll head to the yoga studio tomorrow rather than the gym. Lunch, reading, sleeping for an hour and then out into the sun. It was a beautiful day here in Munich today. Sun was out, air was cool, and people generally in a good mood. I spent about two hours biking and walking around downtown, which was absolutely packed with locals and tourists. I don't think I have ever seen it that full. One of the stores I popped my head into was "Lush," a store that sells handmade soaps. I have to laugh because the place makes me strangely hungry. The soaps are made in these massive cakes and you buy slices or lumps by the gram. All kinds of crazy colors, ingredients (honey, lavendar, chocolate, roses, fruit, etc..) and names. I was tempted to buy a bunch to sample...but they were pretty pricey, so wanted to come back when I have some more time to look around. I just couldn't choose and ended up walking away with nothing. Next time I'll buy the stuff with gold sparkles...will show up at work covered in glitter.



They handed me a free sample of "Sonic Death Monkey" as I walked out the door - a liquid shower gel. The name of the stuff doesn't help me understand what it is supposed to do. So perhaps - just apply and watch what happens.

Erfrischend Sprizig (refreshingly bubbly)

On the drive home yesterday evening, we had a couple gas station and washroom/snack stops. At one of them, the account director picked up a Radler (mix of beer and lemonade which is honestly much better than it sounds). Unlike in the US, in Germany the passenger is allowed to drink alcohol in the car....although not the driver, I believe. I raised my eyebrow at him because I knew how tired he was and driving for four hours on German autobahns is actually hard work because of the speeds you are going. You have to be really concentrated on the road and the other cars around you at all times. I offered to drive for a bit but I think he thought that was a scarier prospect than driving when tired. Anyway, in the end, he stayed with coffee and Red Bull, which I was glad about.

The can is GREAT, though, isn't it?

Also, Photogene, the iPhone photo editor I use, updated its software, so now it's possible to add the way-overused-popularized-by-Apple reflection effect to photos with one click. :-) Nice.

Alter Fritz

We've been here a week and are a little ....tired...of the food here. There was an attempt to find a pizza restaurant several times now (twice) and each time we tried we walked in circles and couldn't find it...

So today, the cafeteria at the client was closed - again the question "where is the pizza restaurant?" This time, the receptionist knew how to describe exactly. The name of the place doesn't hurt either in finding a place, although...when was the last time you went to get pizza at a place called "Alter Fritz?" ("Old Fritz") We found it...and had pizza. But the decorations inside were perhaps more interesting than the food.

Wanted to gamble a few Euros with this nice machine, but unfortunately had only bills with me. :-)

Schwabenland

It's hard not to want to pull out the phone-camera every few minutes as we walk around Schiltach from the hotel to the client or to dinner, etc. So quaint and picturesque. The patterns on the old German houses here are so beautifully geometric and colorful. The windows with their different coloured shutters and trim are especially gorgeous. It's a holiday here today, but we have a ton to do, so a couple of us are sitting in the client offices today for a few hours working. Somehow, it's not so bad really. You look out the window at the landscape and really feel the serene beauty. It'll be a short work day and then we will have some time to enjoy the surroundings for a few hours. I thought I might head to France (Strasbourg or Colmar) today, but not sure yet. Need to get some work done first.

Dinner last night - not bad - some sort of beef fillet with a Calvados walnut sauce. Would have preferred something lighter, perhaps tonight.

Just A Cute Little Beer

Andy just ordered this beer to accompany his garden snail soup, which
seems to be what some like to eat as a first course here. :-) waiting
to see the soup...

Last one standing (sitting)

Our poor account director needs to get a good night's sleep. We've all
been crashing and banging around in haste to get a lot done (much more
than expected) in less time than planned. On this pre-holiday
afternoon, we're the only ones left in the office - although others
still cranking out low-level plans on trains...:-)

Time for a break...

Energizer bunny????

Argh!!! Still working. Long day never ending.

Sitting here now waiting for glass of wine

Traffic jams

Stuck in traffic on the way to the client. To be expected, even when
you leave at 7 am...

Strange Banana

Sticking with the topic of iconography, walking down the street at midday today I passed this graffiti banana. Normally not really remarkable. But then I thought I remembered seeing a similar one painted on a building in Berlin last fall. Just checked my photo collection and indeed, I did.

Here it is:

Wondering who is wandering around german cities painting bananas on the walls. And more importantly, why???? What is the significance? Secret code to mark the buildings? Strange...

Obviously the same artist, well really it looks like a template....the same one.

Typisch München

Nice poster. :-)
Passed this on the way to work this morning.

Classic looking iconography to typify the city of Munich.
I wonder what a similar poster would look like in Schiltach. Will find out soon.

Headed home for a day

Weekend almost over. :-( I could have used another day. And will have
some work to do when I am home in three hours. But, look forward to
the week ahead. Back to the deep dark black forest on Tuesday
morning. :-)