Hong Kong, live it love it. Xiamen, live it love it.

Soooo, after taking a well deserved break, I decided it was time to get off my rear-end and start weighing up some options.

And I’m very lucky that there have been many. But one thing I wanted to do immediately was tie up some stuff in Hong Kong and China before ad:tech, Shanghai comes around. I’m on the advisory board with ad:tech and I’ve been helping new conference chair, Drew Ianni to program the search track.

And to be honest, I don’t need much of an excuse to hop on a plane and head to Hong Kong, a city I’ve fallen in love with. And same applies to Xiamen, China which is rapidly becoming a bit of a second home for me as well.

I met with my friend and colleague Gerard M Jacobs (leading American businessman and former CEO with Think Partnership Inc.) also travelling on business in Hong Kong and he tagged along with me into China.

This was a great opportunity for me to catch up with him. Gerry is a very highly regarded businessman who has funded and headed up billion dollar companies. I have a huge amount of respect for him. And he’s a great sounding board when it comes to new business ideas.

Apart from the fact that I suffered a very severe bout of food poisoning whilst in Xiamen, it was great to be back. This is a great and rapidly developing city which has a very “happening” feel about it. I have to say, the food poisoning had nothing to do with the excellent dishes served in that wonderful city. I believe it was down to some sandwiches served to us on the plane at Hong Kong airport. The flight was delayed by one hour when we arrived. I kind of expected that because the hotel had slipped a cyclone warning note under everyone’s door the night before.

However, after boarding, we were then held on the runway for another threes hours as a typhoon hit the south of Hong Kong. Boy, we were in the middle of real dramatic, movie style storm. At one point, the cabin crew suddenly arrived with some finger style sandwiches to try and keep us occupied. They were wrapped in cling film, so they had obviously been prepared somewhere else, not on the plane. I wasn’t even hungry, just bored stiff with waiting to get off the ground. So… yes, I ate them.

Eventually the plane got off the ground into huge amounts of turbulence as we bounced up and down in the sky over the south China sea on the way to Xiamen, arriving many hours later than expected.

That night, in the wonderful super-posh bathroom of my room at the Sheraton Hotel, in downtown Xiamen… all that could be heard was the aching and echoing sound of my head down the toilet calling very loudly for… Huey and Duey…

Inway to the rescue.

My great friend and colleague in China is Inway Ni, a very admirable guy who I love very much. He heads up one of the fastest growing internet marketing companies in China and is also JV partner for SES China.

Not only is he a very smart businessman, he’s also been schooled in the ancient art of Chinese herbal medicine. So just when the last of the Immodium Plus I always carry with me ran out, he arrived with something so magical, if I hadn’t tried it I wouldn’t have believed it.

After a night of sheer hell, he came to my room (after discovering how ill I actually was) and dispensed five small round balls of what looked like rabbit droppings. I washed them down with a cup of hot water (which he insisted on) and 30 minutes later… BINGO, sorted!

I’ve always been a little sceptical of this whole herbal/alternative thing. But this was really something else. And I have never heard of anything like it in the west. Needless to say, from now on, these foul tasting, but magic pills will replace Immodium forever. And not only that, Inway is very big on Feng Shui, so he can certainly design my new office 🙂

Due to my being ill, I missed a lot of conversation for one whole day. That being the case, Inway decided to come join us in Hong Kong and spend a little time hanging out there.

He and I and Gerry had a wonderful lunch at the Peak. This is a great touristy place in Hong Kong which provides the most breathtaking views over the city. We took some pics just before lunch. Here’s myself with Inway to the left and Gerry to the right.

And later that night, we headed downtown for a wonderful dinner at Ruth Chris restaurant with my other big pal from Hong Kong, Eddie Choi (leading Expo and event management specialist). It became a bit of a long night, with us all ending up in a late, late bar in the ex-pat party area of Hong Kong, Lan Kwai Fong.

Saturday was a good day to do some touristy things. Neither Gerry, nor Inway, had been out into the country to see what’s known simply as the “Big Buddah.” This statue is the world’s largest Buddha statue, made from bronze, it’s 34 metres tall and weighs 250 tonnes.

It’s set in the most wonderful countryside and is breathtaking. It looks over the most peaceful and serene Buddhist Monastery. Po Lin Monastery was initially a small temple constructed by three Buddhists in 1924. Over the years, more structures have been added, such as the big temple and the world’s largest Buddha statue. It’s situated in the mountainous area of Lantau Island.

The whole feeling of the place is like sweeping back in time. Or into the intro of a Kung Fu movie…

The temple is open to tourists. Your ticket for the Buddah visit also includes a Buddhist monk vegetarian lunch inside the temple.

The Buddha statue itself is so big it can take parties on a three level tour inside.

And so, we headed back to the city. Gerry, feeling a little tired decided on an early night. But by this time we had been joined by Yehoo (that’s right, Yehoo), Inway’s sworn brother who lives in Hong Kong. And so the three of us headed downtown again. And once again, many Mojitos were downed by the three of us. And because Yehoo hadn’t had a night out with Inway for a while, I thought we should continue after dinner in Lan Kwai Fong and head off to a few more bars.

At one bar, we bumped into a crowd of ladies who told me they were sisters from the Philippines. I have to say, they didn’t look much like nuns at all. I mentioned this and they told me that they were on leave for the weekend and so didn’t need to wear their nuns outfits. It seemed fairly plausible to me!

I asked one of the nuns if it was a religious icon on the chain around her neck. She was extremely kind and offered me a closer look.

I’ll be very honest here… I’m sure I can’t think why… but I still have no idea what was on the chain.

That’s it. As you read this, I’m on 747 heading back to the UK for ad:tech, London. And then it’s back to the US to really get some wheels in motion.

San Francisco, San Jose, New York and then… Corfu!

Here we go with another retrospective entry to my blog. I think I’m coming to terms with the fact that, even though I’ve had a little extra time on my hands over the past few weeks, I’ll never be a ‘blog a day’ person like my buddy Andy Beal and others.

Anyway, I was in one of my favourite places on the entire planet a few weeks back. I had a weekend in San Francisco before heading down to San Jose for SES. So, I looked up some old friends. Most of whom were interested in my current employment situation (or lack of it, should I say).

The show in San Jose is usually one of the biggest of the year. It certainly had all of the hallmarks of previous huge and successful shows. But I have no idea of the total figures.

Things I did do this year included everything I usually do. I did panels, I met and interviewed a number of people. And I met a lot of people that I stayed up late with and we all got very drunk. The usual sort of show.

Things I didn’t so this year included the Google dance and not a single other sponsor/vendor party. I think going somewhere to stand in line for a free drink… to have to go back and stand in line for another one is not my idea of big-fun anymore.

Nope, not a party pooper at all. The shows are so big and therefore so are the lines. That’s about it. Having said that, I did pull together quite a few little intimate groups and sneak out for some outstanding Indian food on a few of nights, so I thoroughly enjoyed the social side as usual.

And did I have more than one person ask me if I was forming a company with my pal Andy Beal (who coincidentally resigned the day after me). Not only are Andy and I not forming a company together, we didn’t even get a chance to meet each other in San Jose let alone anything else. A little disappointing as I love Andy very much and we never miss getting together at the conferences usually.

Danny moved the organic session from its usual early morning slot to the last session on the last day. I know that we on “team organic” complain a lot that its murder getting up so early after a late night. But I think that actually added a lot to the session. The fact that everyone was always still a little drunk from the night before. I didn’t really cross swords with my sparring partner Dave Naylor at this session. Usually we have a proper pop at each other which always leads to some of Dave’s funniest one liners. However, I think we were being very civil with each other at this particular session.

I think I’ll sneak a bottle of my wife’s favourite *real* Russian vodka into the Chicago session and fill the water jug with it. That should set Dave and I off with a few verbal fireworks 🙂

I didn’t get a picture of the audience at any of the sessions because I’d forgotten to charge the battery for my camera. I did manage to get one shot of the panel (thanks to Thomas Bindl for taking it for me) but the flash was off so it’s not a very good shot (from the left, Bruce Clay, Todd Friesen, Dave Naylor and you know who).

We were all having a big laugh at Danny having to fulfil a bet he had with Thomas on the world cup. I’m sure there must have been many pictures circulating of Danny attending the session wearing Thomas’ Lederhosen. It was a little tight in certain places, judging by the fact that Danny’s vocal moved up about on octave for that session 🙂

I moved on to New York with my wife to meet up with some friends for a celebratory wedding drink. We took a long weekend so that I could catch up with a number of people in and around Noo Yaawwk.

My wife’s favourite part of Manhattan is South Street Seaport. I used to hang around there a lot with my pal Larry Chase, until he moved into the country. It’s just behind the financial district and virtually right underneath the Brooklyn Bridge . There are some great cafes and bars. As well as Pier 17 Mall and the tall ships, of course.

I spent the better part of the last day with a friend sitting outside a cafe drinking Mojitos. After I paid the huge bill, we both headed out to the airport to catch our respective flights. He dropped me a note the following day saying that he made the flight but missed dinner because he fell asleep. I couldn’t help laughing… because I did exactly the same thing on my flight!

I swept into the UK for one day and then my wife and I headed off on a little surprise trip for her birthday, to the beautiful Greek island of Corfu.

This was my first time in Corfu, although I have visited a number of other Greek islands (in fact, my wife and I were married on the island of Cyprus).

I really needed some time to think about the future and generally just take a chill pill. We stayed in a magnificent little place half way up a small mountain on the north west side of the island. It’s an idyllic place with the most wonderful bay and beach just a short walk down the hill (although, I did have a small car for the duration).

The view from where we stayed was fabulous, looking over the bay on one side and the olive groves on the other.

And so it was that I lay on the beach admiring the view there…

And enjoying the company of a relative of San Miguel, uncle Amstel.

We became very close friends, having lunch together every day.

One evening we attended a traditional Greek night. Here, the men wear short skirts and tights and fling each other around on the dance floor (a bit like some friends of mine in San Francisco, actually!)

We visited the old part of Corfu town a few times. The streets are very small and atmospheric and send you reeling back in time.

There’s also a very old fort by the port area.

We didn’t have a chance to visit it unfortunately. We were in and out of town as my wife was having a special necklace created by a local jeweller as a birthday present. It took a few fittings before it was exactly right.

On her birthday, we went for a special lunch.

It lasted until late in the day when we got back from the town at sunset.

And the following day we had the pool just to ourselves and just hung around playing music and having the odd dip. It was so laid back and relaxing. The pool is actually above the building and looks out over the mountains and olive groves. Very nice.

All in all, a spectacularly relaxing time… for my wife. Personally I had my laptop and Blackberry and spent most of my time on the beach or around the pool online. I know, I’m addicted.

So, what else is new? Well you’d have to have been on the moon for the past week not to know that Danny Sullivan had resigned. And yes, of course, he and I and Andy Beal are forming a company together… Yeah, right!

Chicago, Chicago…

Backwards blogging, or retro blogging, whatever it is I do…

I met my dear friend Amanda Watlngton at ad:tech, Chicago last week. She’s a blogging expert (no, that’s not using bad language 🙂 and I asked her if I could be considered a blogger. Most people blog two or three times a day. Bl Ochman who’s very much a “queen of the blogging scene” mentioned in a great presentation she did in London, that you should blog two or three times a day and keep it short and concise (that’s not a quote, by the way, it’s from memory).

Anyway, I do lots of very long posts which are all rear view mirror type and put my pics in there with them. I think maybe I’m more of an almanac with pictures and no astronomical data. OK, OK, I agree, if you strip that down, I could just be a very dated, erratic and crap blog!

However, it’s only a personal blog, so I guess as long as my Mom knows where I am, or been (which is the main reason for the blog) it’s doing its job.

Declaration of true love: I love Susan Bratton. Fortunately, I love her husband Tim, also. In fact, I was really pleased when I read “The long tail” that Rhapsody was used as an example, as Tim was very much a part of that (he’s a clever inventor type — who looks like he’s not old enough to shave yet — I hate him — no, I do love him 😉

And the point is, Mike…

Forget ad:tech (that was great as ever) but it was Sue’s birthday too!!!

So, Tim arranged for a little soiree followed by a limo and a night of debauchery… OK, let’s calm that down and make it a party…

Where did we go?

Okay, Tim arranged a private room at the ad:tech venue so that a small group of personal friends could get together. These people are so important, I can show you them, but I can’t name them 🙂 We’re talking seriously, seriously important people in the industry, even if they are a little deranged (I sneaked in through the bathroom window, of course).

Suz had a dinner that you’d be proud of. I had to take a picture. Surf and turf prepared for the sermon on the mount…

Here’s Sue opening a present or two…

Then we all stepped into the limo of love… and hit the town…

First place went to was Buddy Guy’s. And wait for this… The celebrated blues axe man was actually sitting at his own bar. Puuuurrrrfect for a pic of online marketing legend, meets blues legend!

And so we moved on to Zentra for a little hip-hop. Cocktail is a gay bar. I discovered this when I enterd and saw a muscle-bound type guy dancing around naked with a very large fake penis attached to him. I saw many interesting things out of the window of that bar.

Funky Buddha was followed by Sonotheque and then I helped finish the night at Leg Room (a nice late lounge bar) with a couple of bottles of shampoo.

What a great night. What a great couple. What great friends. Loved it.

My resignation.

Today I resigned my position as Director with MarketSmart Interactive Inc. (formally known as Websourced, Inc.)

For those with my old email address, best way to contact me in the immediate future is: mikegrehan[at]uk2[dot]net

Paradise lost (and found every weekend I’m at home).

They say that, what you dream about tells a lot about you. I think I must dream about all the usual guy things (except football) but there’s one recurring dream I have on the road. And that’s about being in my local pub. It’s sad, I know. I should be dreaming about pole dancing girls and lap dancing girls (I often wonder why it is that Polish girls and those from Lapland are so big on dancing?). But no, apart from the frequent interruption of a hyperlink based algorithm, I dream about the pub!

It’s the perfect haven for me on a Sunday afternoon, when a few pints of Guinness and traditional English roasts for lunch, are the order of the day.

Of all the places I go on the planet, this is right up there with the best of them. Yes, it’s my local!

And this, is my son Joe, following the downing of a huge lunch of roast lamb and Yorkshire puddings, posing for what he felt would be a sympathetic photo for my blog 🙂

And no, he didn’t really drink it. He’s only sixteen and not allowed 😉

Cheers!

SES Latino, Miami.

I worry that, I’m not actually blogging. Nor am I keeping a diary for that matter. These days, everything is a retrospective look at the personal side of my life which runs along side the business.

On that subject, I’ve been asked a number of times at conferences why I don’t have a business blog, just personal. And a little light bulb appears when I tell them: Our business blog is Search Engine Lowdown and it’s edited by Garrett French. So there’s no point in us both blogging the same stuff. I have made the odd little contribution to Garrett’s company blog. And he’s made the odd personal contribution to mine.

Think about it this way. Danny Sullivan has a personal blog here and the official Search Engine Watch blog is here the content, of course, is very different on both sites. But every now and again there is a little cross-over.

So, the point is… you want to know if I was drinking San Miguel somewhere this week? Stay here. You want to know what’s happening in SEM news and events? Go here

By the way, if you’re not subscribed to Danny’s blog feed then you should be. He has some very valid opinions and observations on a lot more than just search. Whereas, I just talk about wine and beer 🙂

Okay, I understand that there’s a headline at the top screaming SESLatinoooooooo!

I got into Miami a little early… just by a day! Having travelled from Hong Kong to LA and then on to Miami, it was a very, very long journey and it was almost 11.00 pm by the time I checked in.

There was some confusion at the hotel about my booking when I arrived. But all I could say was, please give me a room or I’ll go to sleep right here on the reception counter. So a room was arranged, duly.

The following day, I woke a little later (as one does at the weekend) and rang my wife whom I hadn’t spoken to for quite some time. “What are you ding today after that gruelling journey,” she asked. I told her I’ll have a little chill and maybe work some later. “What are you doing today” I asked.

“I’m at work” she replied. What in earth was my wife doing at work on a Saturday I wondered. So I asked her. “Michael” she said (she always calls me by my Sunday name) “today is Friday.” This really threw me. So I went to the bedroom door, pulled the USA Today paper off the handle and… sure enough it was Friday’s date!

Of course, you IDIOT! You gained a day on the way – not lst one. No wonder they couldn’t check you in last night. Doh!

Jet-lag, that wonderful feeling of numbness while drifting through white fluffy clouds. It’s a little like some very powerful cigarette I smoked at…

I watched the world cup final on Lincoln Road, North Beach. This is a great street full of bars, restaurants, cafes and stores which rolls right down to the beach. Of an evening, it’s a wonderful place to stroll, take in the atmosphere and meet strangely exotic scantily clad women.

Anyway, hats off to nacho Hernandez and Stewart Quealy for pulling together a splendid little show that has HUGE potential for the future.

The show also provided an excellent opportunity to get together with Barbara Coll (I moderated a panel she was speaking on) and have dinner with her and mutual friends.

Of course, people think that because we had a little run-in some time ago that we’re mortal enemies. But that’s certainly not the way I see it. So I was surrounded at dinner by some of the finest in the SEO female contingent. What did we talk about? The fact that I was the only one without breasts, and putting together a rationale on why I should have some (too sexually explicit for repeat here).

Here’s myself, Jessie Strichiola, Barbara Coll and my big buddy, Christine Churchill.

On the final day of the show, I got together with some friends on the plaza level by the pool for a few farewell beers. Here’s (from the left) Christine Churchill, Danny Sullivan, you-know-who, Brad Geddes, Jessie Strichiola and Mr Party Animal himself, Joe Morin.

Best of luck to Nacho for the next show. I think it’s going to be huge.

Whoops, blogging backwards you can forget things. Almost forgot to mention smething else in between e-Consultancy and Hong Kong.

Online Marketing Europe.

This is a fairly new conference. And this year it was held in the beautiful city of Palma de Mallorca. Actually, in the UK we spell it Majorca. It’s pronounced the same though.

Majorca is a favourite island of mine. When I was a kid my parents took me there every year for a vacation. So I know it very well. Michael Douglas lived there with his previous wife and still has a place that he and Katherine use for holidays.

The conference was very small and quiet. I think it needs a lot of work before it really gets off the ground. The venue was wonderful, but even at lunch time the bar was empty.

I did get to spend some time with my friends from Your Amigo. As an Australian outfit, they seem to get everywhere. It’s nice to know that I’m not the only one crossing so many time zones. If you don’t know about their technology, you should check it out, it’s very, very neat. SEO on a stick, in fact.

I took a long weekend while I was there to catch up with some of my childhood memories. It was a dirty job. But somebody had to do it. And my patron saint, Saint Miguel, helped all along the way 🙂

Hong Kong Vs San Francisco.

I have a major new love affair going on in my life. I have fallen in love with the city of Hong Kong. Perhaps one of the most eclectic mixes of people and most vibrant cities on the planet.

I don’t wish to be unfaithful to San Francisco, which has long been my favourite place to hang. But Hong Kong is an oriental enticer which has seduced people from all parts of the globe to go and live there. And I simply adore it!

We came to Hong Kong this time via head office in Raleigh and a trip into Asheville, NC. My partner Jim Banks and I were on a global business trip which would have us visiting the US, Hong Kong, China and in Jim’s case also Mumbai, India. At the Mumbai point, I would peel off and head to Los Angeles and then on to Miami for SES Latino.

After a gruelling 15 hour flight from New York to Hong Kong, we checked into the wonderful Renaissance Hotel. The view from my window was a joy to behold!

After being locked in a plane for so many hours, the call of the pool was loud. This is a wonderful complex with Renaissance and Grand Hyatt sharing the 12th floor plaza. It truly is an oasis in the sky. Way above the noisy Hong Kong streets.

Of course, on the Saturday I was all decked out ready for England’s glorious defeat of Portugal… er… yeah… next!

Fortunately, my patron saint, Saint Miguel, from Majorca, was very present in Hong Kong!

It was so funny when it started to pour down at the pool. I mean within seconds the heavens just opened and down it came. And then, wait for this the waiters came dashing out with umbrellas! People wearing bathing costumes ready for a swim, standing in the rain with umbrellas. Is there something wrong with this picture 🙂

In Hong Kong, much as China, they love a parade. And the first weekend I was there on this trip (last weekend) it was the 9th anniversary of the handing over of Hong Kong from the British to the Chinese. Definitely a time to get your dragon costume out!

I took the famous Star ferry over to the Kowloon side and took a few shots. Here’s a nice one of the Star ferry going in the opposite direction.

This is a shot of the convention center in Hong Kong from Kowloon.

And I love this shot of our office building, just behind IFC2, the tallest building in the land!

And the big news is?

Jim and I flew to Xiamen again to meet with Inway NI. We agreed upon a letter of intent to start a joint venture with Inway’s company, the fastest growing internet marketing company in China.

We visited their Xiamen corporate headquarters and then popped the cork of my favourite shampoo to celebrate. This a really big deal.

Here you can see Jim Banks, myself, my dear friend Inway and his associates RQ and John. Inway is also the JV partner with SES in China. He’s a very smart guy 😉

And that’s it for now. I’m on board a 747 heading for Los Angeles and then on to Miami for SES Latino.

New media knowledge & e-Consultancy.

I moderated a pretty lively session at the Content 2.0 conference in London. And also presented a keynote at the e-Consultancy “What’s new in internet marketing” conference.

There were some excellent presentations on the day.

Certainly one of my favourites was from blogger extraordinaire, B L Ochman. I’ve met BL a few times at ad:tech and we’ve exchanged hellos. But this time, not only did I get to meet her properly and have a conversation, I actually dropped my pants!

In fact, not only did I drop my pants I completely stripped and dressed again. Fortunately, BL was good enough to keep her eyes averted concentrating on her laptop in the presenter ready room. This, by the way, was the only place at the venue I could get out of my suit and into something casual before I headed to the airport.

Thanks BL, and if you ever feel the need to undress while I’m around… er… next subject 🙂

Of course, I took a picture of the audience, who minutes before were scratching their heads and pondering over what compacted content Vs non compacted content was all about.

BL seemed to think a picture of the audience was a good idea, so she took one also. Neither of us knew that there was someone in the audience making entirely different pictures!

SES London.

Talk about retro-blogging!

I can’t believe it’s so long since I last had a chance to post something. In fact, I’m back in Hong Kong and just about to head to Miami for SES Latino. And the last post I made was actually about the opening of the Hong Kong office.

Since my last post about six weeks ago, I’ve circumnavigated the planet once again and presented at four or five conferences and workshops in between.

Of course, the big UK search marketing show, SES London took place the week I returned from the Hong Kong office opening.

Once again the UK’s finest got together in London for another excellent show. I don’t quite know what it is, but the London show feels different to any other SES. I don’t think it’s just because it’s in a much different type of environment than the other shows, there seems to be something a little more reserved about the audience, I think.

Maybe I’m just too used to presenting to my American cousins. Always with a hand in the air waiting to be heard.

SES London, for the past two shows has taken place at the Business Design Centre in Islington, London. The venue itself is nice because it’s different. But the adjacent Hilton Hotel is perhaps one of the worst I’ve stayed in. However, these days I’m very much just “gimme a broadband connection and a bed” when it comes to hotels. Which is a good job for them. Believe me, when it comes to service there’s enough to complain about!

You can see from the shot below that it’s a very different type of venue in London.

I was very pleased to see my buddy Rand Fishkin at the London show. There’s no doubt in my mind that he’s one of the most knowledgeable guys in this space. He was delighted when I told him that he had beaten my company in a pitch for a small account around his neck of the woods. Although I wasn’t personally involved in the pitch, I have to say I certainly don’t mind the company losing to Rand. That should teach us a lesson and put our guys back on their toes!

I sent Rand off to Venice with a description of the finest restaurant they have in that wonderful city. The only thing I couldn’t tell him was the actual name of the place. I also recommended that he head to Lake Como after his visit to Milan, for a chill day. I’m sure a lake is easier to find just by description than a restaurant is 🙂

I also met up with my dear, dear, very dear friend, Jill Whalen. It’s been a long time since I last interviewed Jill. Four years, in fact. So we decided it would be a good idea to get together for a good old catch-up podcast. The day before this, I finished an interview with Andrew Goodman which started last year when my wife and I spent a little time with Andrew and his wife at a beautiful lakeside cottage in Canada.

However, immediately following my interview with Andrew, I interviewed the legendary Mikkel de mib Svendsen. Which, I then stupidly saved right over the top of my interview with Andrew.

Wait – it gets worse!

So, Jill and I and a crowd have a very late night in the hotel bar. Much Merlot is consumed and Jill and I have a brilliant idea: let’s do the interview now.

So we sit down and have a very lengthy chat about search with a few bursts of hilarity mixed in for good measure. Interview complete, I then save it right over the top of Mikkel’s file!

Not finished yet. To make things even worse, I listened to the one remaining interview in the morning. Jill and I were so drunk that, even though there were a few splendid moments during the interview, the bulk of it is virtually X rated due to more than a smattering of the f word from me and some very thinly veiled innuendo which crept in from time-to-time!

Needless to say, it’s only very close friends who will get to hear that one!

Here’s Jill being grilled.

I did my usual link building basics session at SES and yes, here’s the audience. Better late than never, I suppose.

The final night of the show saw a crowd of us do the traditional last night dinner. I took us all to a wonderful Italian restaurant. And just as the check arrived in front of me, dear Andrew Goodman swooped in and picked it up. Thanks for that Andrew. Very kind of you considering I feel like such an idiot about the interview!

So here’s the farewell group. Ammon Johns has his back to the camera, you can only see the top of Jim Boykin’s head (his cap) and Jill is hiding Matt Paine. Andrew Goodman is at the far end of the shot sitting next to Anne Kennedy and I’m squeezed between her and the wonderful Rebecca Lieb. Dixon Jones is at the front of the shot on the left. And I simply cannot remember the name of the guy next to him. My dear friend Amanda Watlington was also with us on the night. However, she seems to have somehow made herself invisible.

The following day Matt Paine called my room as he’d very kindly offered to give me a lift to Heathrow. I was so looking forward to going home as I’ve seen so little of it this year. And I only had the weekend before I had to head off again.

Due to an anti terrorist operation taking place in London, as well as a major procession going on, it took an age to get out of the city. And so it was that I missed my flight!

There were no other flights until late Saturday night and it was only lunch time. I decided to take the train and headed back to the city on the Heathrow Express, which took exactly 15 minutes to take me back to exactly where I had started with Matt.

Worse to come. There were no trains directly to my city that day. So I took a train a coach and a taxi, eventually ending up at home at 8.00 in the evening. Not Matt’s fault at all. But next time – I’ll pass on a lift and just take the Heathrow Express!