What words do you like to hear around the office?

Words are our business, so we thought it would be a nice idea to ask around the office and see the sort of words that we're particularly fond of for whatever reason...!

So here we go... Rachel likes the word galloshes, balderdash and serendipity but doesn't like the word sandal. Maybe it goes hand in hand with not liking sandals in themselves. In any case, we bet you'll be saying these words to yourself right now!

Nikki, 'our wordsmith' likes the following words starting with the letter p; provocative and prerogative and says the reason is because they flow nicely when she says them.

Jenni likes the words pandemonium, cantancarous and flambuoyant - maybe it's the number of syllables that is the attraction!

Justine came up with the town name - Pontefract - and to be honest, we all nodded our heads at this one. Mmm good name... it's also one of those names that you think should be Welsh!

Gita has a passion for using the phrase "Beaut". Everything is well if it's beaut!

When it comes to regularly used phrases we use around the office, Nina likes to say "You love it you do" - apparently she and her friends say it all the time referring to anything they're doing. They've also finally caught on to the phrase LOL.(laugh out loud) - that took some doing!

She said "This started off as a bit of a joke between herself and her friends as they never used to say LOL at all and laughed at people who did.

She continued: "We've now said it so much we find it really funny ..... LOL! Ah but what about ROFL?

If you would like to know more about the work done in the Agency and would like us to help you tell your story, please contact: Rachel Hargrave, Director, The Phoenix Partners Tel: 01509 815026 - www.thephoenixpartners.com

In my opinion..

Before I sit down to write our blogs, I peruse the internet for other business blogs that offer some inspiration, insightfulness or interest to me, but that’s not always what I find.
I don’t feel in any way, like an ‘expert blogger’. I found myself in this role a little accidentally when our previous message merchant was away for 2 weeks and I nodded in compliance to the question, ‘Do you mind doing a few of her jobs for a bit?’ Not that I mind at all though. It’s a great way to channel my creativity, seeing as I’m rubbish at graphic design! However, I do feel that I’ve learnt a lot from writing these blogs though, and therefore my opinions are in a small part educated.
I personally do enjoy writing blogs, it means that I hear about aspects of the business that I wouldn’t usually be involved in, and it’s quite humbling to think that people would take time out of their day to read something that I’ve written, for pleasure, not because they’re grading it! As much as the blogs are a great tool for businesses, I’ve found it so important to keep the human element in it too. Blogs are not computer generated, and I feel that the most successful ones are the ones that sound personal. Pieces of writing that aren’t just a list of great things that the company has done or are going to do, but an insight into the atmosphere and feel of the business through the eyes and the character of someone actually living it. I think it’s more interesting that way, and I hope that’s the feeling you get when reading my blogs.

Have You Paid Your Pound?

Every year we take on the challenge of raising money for the National Blind Children’s Society with the help of a cuddly toy! As often as possible, we will try and raise money for charity. Rachel’s Kilimanjaro climb will now be sponsored for the local charity Leicester Link, and the cuddly toy debacle is something that we try to get better at each year but inevitably end up funding all by ourselves. This year was no different! It’s incredible how something so small can become such a ‘Mission Impossible’. All of us in the office downstairs made a promise to accost every single person who walked through the door. We would force them to pay their pound and have a guess at which one of the 50 cities on the sheet was the one that the toy was from (Taiwan was not an option!).
Once each city on the sheet had a name next to it we would send off the form on time, feeling triumphant at a job well done! Once again, that’s not what happened. After we had the deadline date extended 3 times and filled in the remaining 30 cities with our own money and names, we eventually posted a cheque for £55 to The National Blind Children’s Society, and the toy still has pride of place in the office. Unsurprisingly it was a member of The Phoenix Partners who won! Maybe we’ll do better next year.

Utterly Barkless!

It’s been a quiet week at The Phoenix Partners these last few days, and by quiet I mean only the volume level! Our sales people were out selling at the C & IT corporate Forum at Coworth Park, and our MD Rachel Hargrave was out on business in South Africa (it’s alright for some!). The usual abundance of furry four legged friends in the office was severely lacking. There was no-body trying and sit in someone’s lap while they ate lunch, or to protect us from the ‘evil’ delivery men who knocked on the door, or to shout at the window cleaner! We do miss them when they’re not here!
So despite the lower noise levels, our yearly Cannon Tuxedo event is just around the corner and the activity levels are HIGH! There are invitations being mailed, certificates are being framed and signs are being laminated. Its great working with a buzz around the office, it’s so energising to see people being busy!

Berlin Burglary …

With only a few months left until the big Canon Europe ‘Tuxedo’ event in Berlin, there was one news article this week that really did make me laugh! This makes our hotel events seem pretty tame!
Two men in Berlin ended up trapped in hotel lift - nothing particularly funny about that, you might think. The amusement came when we found out that the men were in fact trying to burgle the hotel and had begun the initial stages of their robbery when the lift stopped! Eventually they had to call the police to come and rescue them, and decided it best to confess their criminal intentions over the phone rather than face to face. I think they were worried the policemen, although extremely professional I’m sure, might laugh, quite a lot, at them! So just remember if you’re planning to rob a Hotel in Berlin, they have some ingenious ways of catching you!!

Utterly Alarming!

Everybody made what I thought was a rather big deal about their wake up alarm not working on their Apple i-phone the day after New Years!

a. It was a Sunday and
b. It was the day after New Years!

Why was everyone so bothered anyway! The news reader even asked one of the angry men in the queue at the Apple store on Regent Street what time his desperately needed alarm was supposed to go off, and he answered 11! Who needs to have an alarm wake them up at 11?! That’s basically lunch time! Half the world has already woken up naturally, half a day earlier!

Apple get a hard time in the media; when one little thing isn’t quite exactly as perfect as everyone thinks it should be, the company gets torn apart all over the news! There was the whole left-handed people stop signal thing (which happened with all major ‘phones too, it’s just the Apple i-phone was the one that hit the headlines) and now this dodgy alarm problem! I would say that I feel sorry for them getting bad press, but I don’t cus y’know they are a multi billion pound company and I buy most of my stuff from Pound-land! I just don’t see why it’s such a ‘big deal’ ... although, perhaps when I’m the only one who turns up on-time for work in the morning I won’t be so dismissive!

Lucky really...

My interest this week lies in winter driving. Over the weekend I was in the car behind a crash at a set of traffic lights. Thanks to the quick braking of my father we didn’t end up parked in the guys boot, but it does make you look at things a little differently, and start wondering every time you go round a roundabout or through a set of traffic lights, if someone just isn’t going to stop for you.

I’ve never really been that interested about the change in road conditions when it’s cold, or raining or icy. I’ve just never really thought about it that much, but when I know that if the roads had just been a little more icy or greasy we would have been in that crash too, it makes me want to get educated! No-body was harmed in the crash, and incredibly there was a police car waiting at a set of traffic lights across the road that saw everything, so it got sorted pretty quick!

I guess seeing it happen, actually there right in front of my eyes kind of makes the penny drop as to why it’s so important to be careful in these weather conditions. And to check your brakes ... and to make sure the Christmas tree on the roof of your car is very, very securely tied in place!