Oh Dear, It’s Valentine’s Day…

February 14th, 2011 by Anita

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For years, I was convinced that Valentine’s Day was nothing but an evil ploy to persecute all single people. And even though I am now married, I still have exactly the same feelings.

Maybe it’s because I’m about as romantic as a bunch of flowers from a petrol station, or perhaps its because I am inundated with advice mails every February from single people feeling left out, confused to why they are single and worried that they’ve somehow missed the love-boat for good.

Whichever it is, lately I have been feeling for my single girlfriends, some of whom are freaking out about Valentine’s Day in a MAJOR way.

‘I can’t be Carrie (from Sex and the City)’, says one. ‘It’s just too sad.’

‘I can’t be at home on VD watching TV like a loser again,’ says another, not realising that this is exactly what married people/couples do on Valentine’s Day.

Yet, despite my words of wisdom telling them that single Carrie actually had it quite good (married Carrie being irritatingly whiny and dull), both friends are now busy every night of the week doing their utmost to meet new men.

Most of this has translated into them taking classes – Zumba classes, street dance classes, Italian language classes and some new throw-yourself-around-the-room class at the local gym. Five weeks in and they are still single partly because they’re probably too exhausted to flirt and also because the classes are full of women.




However, the upside is they look fantastic (ironically a bit like Beyonce and co in the Single Ladies video) and both say they have gone from feeling like dried up old spinsters (their words not mine) to feeling amazing about themselves.

Which makes me think perhaps Valentine’s Day isn’t such a useless day after all. Maybe it can be re-sold to singletons (and the rest of us) as a way to motivate yourself to grab life and not just sit waiting on the sidelines until someone chooses you.

It probably won’t sell too many cards but I think it would make lots of women out there about a hundred times happier with their life.

Am I just being bah humbug about romance or do you agree? Let me know.

illustration courtesy of http://www.meish.org/vd/card/cliche

The Art of Doing Nothing

February 10th, 2011 by Rachel

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In these current times, it seems like Laziness is the number 1 cardinal sin.

I don’t know whether it’s financial pressures (of which there feels like a lot) making us feel guilty for not working all hours to get things done, or the responsibility of being everything and all to all and everyone, but our lives seem to get busier by the day. Precious ‘me time’ feels like you are sacrificing something ‘important/urgent’ just to have the time for it. But why?

Recent studies show that rates of depression and anxiety are rising in the modern world. Andrew Oswald, a professor at Warwick University who studies wellbeing, says “Things are not going completely well in western society,” he said. “One remedy that is garnering growing attention is meditation, and mindfulness meditation in particular.’

I’ve noticed a lot of people recently, who are involved in this ‘busy backlash’. Meditation is growing in popularity, not as a whimsy spiritual enlightenment quest, but as a genuine way to de-stress and stop your head exploding after a particularly fraught day in the office.
There’s a website called ‘Do nothing for 2 minutes‘ and it basically does what it says on the tin. It’s a test more than an exercise, but shows there’s an awareness out there that people just can’t sit still. It’s also extremely difficult. Why is that?

We have been conditioned to believe that multitasking, continuous busy-ness, is a good thing. Remember the Hotmail ‘New Busy’ campaign? I don’t know about you, but it exhausted me, just thinking about the levels of simultaneous productivity we were supposed to be involved in. It tapped into this culture that we think we have to be constantly on the go-emailing on our Crackberrys while grabbing a fast lunch, simultaneously late for about 3 things at once. That’s how successful people do it, right? That’s how your sister got her amazing promotion! Never mind her slight breakdown, that’s not important.

Studies are now showing that multitasking is damaging to our workflow, our lives and even our health – giving rise to ‘NEDS’ – New Economy Depression Syndrome.

I don’t know about you, but that’s not something I aspire to; even though it feels like we should. And I could be wrong, but I feel there’s even more pressure on working women; especially those with families. God forbid we take maternity leave, or ask for extra child care, or perish the thought; get pregnant in the first place.

What do you think about this state of perpetual busy-ness? Personally, there’s only so much I can take.

Sometimes, I just need to come home, have a glass of wine and watch My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding. (I know you do too.) How many times have I felt guilty about this because I think I should be ‘bettering myself’? Pretty much every time. But does that stop me? No.

The ability to relax, or ‘do nothing’ (actually, relaxing is a lot more than doing nothing, it’s quite hard!) is something of an art form these days; one which I hope is not lost.

We’re looking for community managers!

February 9th, 2011 by Marion

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Hi there Ladies,

We’re recruiting talented people again! This time we’re looking for a motivated, tech savvy Mindbubblers to be Freelance Community Manager for the community.

The role would suit somebody who knows everything about how Mindbubble projects work and who has participated to a few online communities, and, ideally, who had previous experience in Community Management and online communities.

Ideally we’d like somebody who can come over to the Mindbubble HQ in Central London for a couple of hours, to meet the team and get trained with the site, but then the work can be done either from our offices or from home, at your convenience.

The role includes:

- Updating tasks on a daily basis (copy provided)

- Providing on-going support for the community, liaising with Mindbubble tech team.

- Monitoring participation and keep in touch with the participants on an individual and daily basis

- Liaise with the Research team to feedback on the progress of the project.

We have a few projects lined up for the next couple or month and would love to hear from you if you think you’d be suitable for the role. Please send a CV and Cover letter, as well as the email your registrered on Mindbubble with, to marion@facegroup.co.uk

We’re looking forward to hearing from you,

The Mindbubble team

Digital Intern Wanted!

February 7th, 2011 by Marion

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Hello!

We’re currently looking for a Digital Intern to join and aid our community and development teams. To start with this role will last 3-months but there is potential for it to be extended.

The main responsibilities for the Digital Intern will be:

1. Community on-going support

- Check and answer user emails, blog comments, etc…

- Manage the community blog (Wordpress formatting, video/picture sourcing etc..) and freelance writers

- Help writing up documentation and supporting research projects

- Help with internal training on the community

2. Technical support

- Testing and bug reporting

- Knowing the platform and helping in design of new specs

- General support for the Digital Project Manager

3. Social Media support

- Help maintaining the communities presence on Twitter, Facebook etc…

- Keep an eye on communities stats and analytics

- Copywriting and proofreading for the web

This role is perfect for a graduate with a keen interest in the digital world and a desire to learn about online communities and digital projects in a marketing agency.

The successful candidate will need to have excellent Microsoft Office skills (Word, Excel and PowerPoint), excellent written English (for blog writing), confident telephone/communication skills, a keen interest in social media, an understanding of how websites run and, in a perfect world, a basic knowledge of HTML and web development.

To apply for this role you need to have access to Central London, our offices are based on Tottenham Court Road, and be available to work 5 days a week, 9am-5.30pm.

All travel costs and lunch expenses will be paid for.

To apply for this position please send your CV & cover letter to marion@facegroup.co.uk with Digital Intern in the subject line of your email

We would also like you to answer the following question in no more than 250 words:

What is your favourite online community and why?

I look forward to hearing from you!

Marion

2011 Time for a New Start?

February 7th, 2011 by Mandy

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Many people start the new year resolved to change their life. For some, that means more than just cutting out the carbs or giving up chocolate. It means radical change, like rethinking the whole work life balance thing. A large proportion, however, don’t follow through on the most drastic of their new year’s resolutions for fear of the unknown. When it comes to changing jobs  in the current climate, those fears cast an even greater shadow.

The economic gloom can sometimes act as a spur to change your life. If you are fortunate enough to have been handed a big redundancy cheque or are just so stressed out by the increasing demands placed on you and have the wherewithal to do something about it, this might be just the time to strike out in a different direction.

Women, particularly those with children, may be more likely than most to do so since they tend, for a huge variety of reasons, to be more likely than men to put other factors ahead of salary when they describe what motivates them.

Moreover, after having children many find their priorities and interests change and they find themselves looking around for a different type of work or way of working.

The ideal solution for many is to work from home. More and more organisations are allowing staff to work from home at least part of the week and so save on long commutes.

Many, though, want to work wholly from home and see the solution as going freelance or retraining and setting up on their own as, say, a child psychologist or an alternative health specialist, charging by the hour. The problem is that charging by the hour often equates to fairly low returns, especially if you are working round school pick-up times and holidays.

A recent Guardian survey shows a huge pay gap between, say, a banker [£170k plus bonus of £400k] and an alternative therapist [£5k for part-time work, but she admits she earned considerably more per hour in her old job in marketing].

An alternative is to find salaried work which they can do from home. An increasing variety of jobs are now offered on a wholly homeworking basis, from estate agents and travel agents to lawyers and virtual office workers.

Many of these, though, are less well paid than their office equivalent because they are based on hourly timesheets. Indeed, the recent ONS report on earnings shows that part of the reason for the more than 10% gap between men and women’s average earnings is because women are more likely to work part time and be paid on an hourly basis.

However, for many women, the flexibility to work from home outweighs the loss of wages, depending, of course, on how much of a difference that equates to.

But should people be paid less for doing the same job with the same skills as an office-based person just because they are working in their own home?

As increasing numbers push to work from home for all manner of reasons, from dads wanting more time with their children to people seeking to cut their carbon emissions by forgoing the weekly commute, and as technology makes homeworking easier, surely there will be growing pressure for homeworkers to have equivalent benefits to those working in the office.

Project “Peek-a-boo” – APPLY NOW!!

February 1st, 2011 by Admin

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Are you a Mum? Do you have a child up to the age 3 years?

We want to know what type of products you buy for your child and family and why you buy them.

This project is about what kind of product you use on your baby, toddler or and child, as well as on your family. The community will centered about your lifestyle, and how products that you love fit in to your every day life…

Does this sound interesting to you? You could earn £100 for a 2 week online community with a potential to earn more if your posts are done on time!

Applications close on Sunday, 06th Feb 2011 so sign up today…

Successful candidates will be contacted the following week…

Good luck!

The Mindbubble Team

China Whispers: The Foolhardy Diary Along the Great Wall of China- Episode 5

January 20th, 2011 by Emma

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In the previous episode of China Whispers, Emma told us how she built a new friendship and how the young boy saved her life…

So far, we had enjoyed good weather.  Great weather, even, as the sun had shone every day.  But eventually, the rain had to come.  And come it did on our penultimate day in China.  Torrentially.

That morning, everyone rustled their way despondently into their waterproofs.  We were tackling a section of Wall that was, thankfully, more built-up.  We walked at a slower pace, taking fewer breaks to avoid getting too cold and eating more snacks to keep our spirits up.  We ignored the water dripping down our necks and ate our lunch inside one of the guard turrets, laughing at each others’ preposterous rainwear.

Soon, though, the laugh was on us.

Our tour leader announced that he had a glorious surprise for us all.

Pointing to a valley ahead, with a steep zip wire slide going right from the top down towards the watery depths, he said he hoped the weather hadn’t shut it, as we were all booked to have a go on it.  Most people verbally agreed with his wish, but I wonder how many were secretly rather relieved at the prospect of not being able to plunge into a valley whilst tied to some kicker elastic in the pouring rain.

But it was not to be.  On the way down to the zip wire, the rain lessened and the winds began to drop.  We enjoyed several amusing signs on the way.  Do you know what ‘scenile scenery’ could be?  No, we didn’t either.  And when we read that ‘‘liquorheads’, ‘mentally diseased’ and people with a ‘horror of highness’ would not be allowed on the zip wire, we were quite pleased when we were allowed past and not considered part of those unenviable descrpitions.

Everyone enjoyed the zip wire.  Once I had stopped gibbering and the Chinese guy operating it had kicked my feet from under me, I enjoyed it too.  The view was fantastic as I slid across the lake and over the weir.  The sun was coming out from behind the clouds and everything smelt exciting.  I landed to huge cheers and turned to encourage those behind me with my newly-discovered confidence.

When we were all down, we took a boat back across the lake to resume our walk.  The rain had well and truly stopped, so we enjoyed clearer skies as we walked through some valley farmland.  At one point we stopped to allow a very large, scary-looking snake cross our path.

The end of our walk brought us an unexpected chance for some retail therapy.  Walking into the final mountain village of the day, we encountered a market, where the vendors were relentless in their attempts to sell us their ‘bargains’.  Haggling was de rigueur so we started off conservatively, negotiating a bag of nuts down to a fifth of the original price.  Encouraged, we moved on to secure some water-colour paintings, silk wall hangings and brass ornaments for very low prices.  Even so, the Chinese vendors seemed more than happy with what we paid.

Everyone was happy. Except our feet.

We had seen wonderful views, met delightful people, eaten deliciously intriguing meals and enjoyed a week like no other.  But our feet were now craving cars, comfy beds and slippers.

Still, we urged them, not long to go now.  Just one more day…