Just a short post really. Things are strange, as I am typing this on a flight to San Francisco. The volcano stranded me in the US and the lack of spaces on flights back to the UK means I am in the US for a week longer than planned.
The SCAA symposium and show deserve a post of their own, and the ideas shared in the many conversations I had are so numerous I may be writing about them for weeks. Or maybe not. One effect of the intensity of the show, and its social nature, is the feeling of being all talked out. Not just my voice starting to go (which it was) but the need to stop talking about things and to go and do them. It is easy to talk ideas around and around, harder to implement them and learn from them. Expect a formal announcement about our plans on the Square Mile blog very soon, but we’re very excited to share our plans and gaols.
So onwards I travel, hoping to make the best of my time to learn and be inspired. If you see an awkward, camera wielding Brit in and around your shop do say hello…
Archive for April, 2010
too much to think about
Thursday, April 22nd, 2010Mojo To Go
Friday, April 9th, 2010Since Mike White called me out on this I thought I’d post quickly about my experience so far with the ExtractMojo iPhone app “MojoToGo“.
Travelling to learn
Saturday, April 3rd, 2010This weekend the reigning Aussie barista champion, Scottie Callaghan, is in London as part of a trip around the world. He’s been hanging out in Copenhagen, Oslo, Sweden and Amsterdam beforehand and is heading to the US early next week. I can’t help but be jealous.
Scottie’s trip is all about learning – talking to as many different people as possible, tasting as much as possible – and it seems like a pretty good idea to me. It is easy to slip into habits where working hard every day at what you do, and maybe reading up on stuff online feels like enough. You can’t replace the experience of learning through doing, but what I like about learning through discussion and tasting is that you often are taken down avenues and get ideas you hadn’t expected.
I haven’t travelled very much since the company started roasting, so I am really looking forward the upcoming SCAA show. The show is all about people for me, but I am pretty excited about the SCAA Symposium on the days beforehand. (It probably won’t surprise you to find out that Scottie is going to this as well!) Yes, I should be clear and state them I am involved in one of the sessions on the first day (about which I am actually a little nervous) but I am looking forward to the rest of the program too. (If you are curious you can see the program here) The idea of being in big room full of people who know more than I do about every single aspect of the coffee industry is immensely enticing! I’ll try to blog as much as possible from the event, but if you are going I look forward to having a chat over some coffee!
Hopefully when I get back I can get stuck into (and reveal) another couple of big projects that I think will be amazing – and are the reason all has been so quiet on here of late.