Hello

hello – come in and make yourself at home

The Woodies have a blog. It’s a kind of collective. Not sure we’re about to start a revolution baby, but we might kindle a small debate or two and perhaps raise a smile. Anyway, rather than just blogging corporate Woodreed by fielding our top Woodie (as so many other companies seem to do in a thinly veiled attempt at impressing with their profundity), we wanted all our individual voices to be heard. An agency’s most valuable assets are its people after all. Everyone’s got something to say here and with us everyone’s ideas and opinions matter.

Each week someone different will be blogging. It's mostly about stuff that rocks our world as well as the flipside – the things that just don't cut it with us. We'll blog about inside and outside – inside this glorious industry where we work and outside in the real world.
It's a bit of an experiment, so go with us on this one.

Hope you enjoy.

Tuesday 13 December 2011

'Tis the season to be jolly

My last blog before Christmas and I'm pondering the real value of the season amidst the inevitable commercialism, shopping for presents, Military Wives Choir v X-Factor battle for number one and the office party (avoid calling me on Friday morning please).


Off to London tonight to meet up with my oldest (most long-standing, not necessarily in age) friends, my gang of five aka 'The Famous Five'.  Although tonight we're one down so it's just 'Four go mad in the West End'. It's got me thinking about the power of true friendship and what really matters in life.


We've known each other since we were eleven years old and joined the same girls school (thrown together and united against the veiled bitchiness of those 'gels' who joined the school years before).  We've been there for each other ever since - through the highs and inevitable lows that a lifetime chucks at you. Marriage; first, second and even third born children (yes, some of us were less than careful); divorce; sickness and health and death; business success, business difficulties; professional success and personal fulfilment; empty nests, pride and sometimes fear for our children.  We don't see each other all the time but I can guarantee that when we do get together we all go away recharged, revived and inspired.


Thinking about friendship, the miriad of 'friends', Facebook or otherwise, we gather at each stage of our lives, some of those friends are friends because of a shared, common experience but once that's gone the friendship can wane, it's transient.  True friendship is grounded in something so much deeper.  From each stage of our lives, personal and professional, we retain a small number of friends who will be with us for life.  My 'Famous Five' go back a long way and  the power of their friendship is a true inspiration and support to me.


Merry Christmas everyone - and as you enjoy Christmas with your families remember that we don't choose our relatives but we do choose our friends!

Friday 9 December 2011

Will 'Herman' Survive???

The other Monday morning in our weekly "Brain Wakeup Workout after the Weekend" we were greeted with the smell of a brewery (no we are not going into distribution with a different kind of employee engagement). Sitting on the desk were two plastic containers with a bubbling mixture inside them. Jo explained that they were part of a German Friendship cake and had already been named Herman a long time ago. Charlotte and Dave agreed to be the next recipients to nurture and bring them alive and were given instructions of how to make Herman grow and survive (there's lots of stirring, leaving and feeding!!) to eventually be made into a cake and also extra mixture to be divided and given away to friends. Unfortunately Charlotte had other things on her mind that day and left her 'Herman' behind so Catherine took 'Herman' home to love and cherish.

On Tuesday of this week, I arrived at work to find my own 'Herman' on my desk. Catherine's had survived and she thought that I would like to grow my own!! Well he survived the trip home on the train and I've stirred him for the last two days and I think he will need feeding this evening. Will he survive? I'm taking day by day pictures and even my daughter Sophie (aged 13) keeps checking on him. I'll update you of his outcome and hopefully I will have, before I bake him and he is eaten, portions to give to friends to keep 'Herman' alive.

Watch this space....................

Monday 5 December 2011

The best ideas are the simplest....


Here is a 48 sheet poster, which for me really stood out whilst I was trundling through by train from London Bridge to Charing Cross.
Big idea, usage ideas, but more significantly....strong branding.
Personalea, I love it (and the product!)

Friday 2 December 2011

Hey, diddle, diddle!

Two weeks ago I babysat a friend’s child who insisted I read her something to help her go to sleep. From her bookshelf I plucked a book of nursery rhymes, which not only settled her down but also transported me back to my childhood. I suddenly remembered how lovely nursery rhymes are and for the first time appreciated the creativity involved in writing them. Here are a few of my favourites:

THE CAT AND THE FIDDLE
Hey, diddle, diddle!
The cat and the fiddle,
The cow jumped over the moon;
The little dog laughed
To see such sport,
And the dish ran away with the spoon

EENSY WEENSY SPIDER (Itsy Bitzy Spider)
The eensy weensy spider
crawled up the water spout,

down came the rain
and washed the spider out,

out came the sun and dried up all the rain,

and the eensy weensy spider
crawled up the spout again.

SING A SONG OF SIXPENCE
Sing a song of sixpence,
A pocket full of rye,
Four-and-twenty blackbirds
Baked in a pie,
When the pie was opened,
The birds began to sing.
Wasn't that a dainty dish
To set before a king?

The king was in the counting house,
Counting out his money,
The queen was in the parlor,
Eating bread and honey,
The maid was in the garden,
Hanging out the clothes,
When along came a blackbird,
And landed on her nose!