One of the things that I have always loved about working in search, and its younger sibling social, is how friendly it is.

Whether it’s the way in which the crew at SEOmoz embraced me when I first started using the site; the way that Lisa started chatting to me in the queue for customs at Seattle Airport before the inaugural SMX Advanced; or the way in which people such as Julie & Jay took me under their wing at that same conference, despite being veterans of a million industry events; or even the way that I never fail to receive professional tips & advice from people who are officially my competitors.

Whatever the instance, I’ve a memory of someone being as nice as pie, and it’s why the last few years have been some of the happiest of my working life to date.

And yet, and yet…

For almost as long as I’ve appreciated the warmth & kindness that comes from so many areas of this sector, I’ve also been rather disturbed by the number of people who seem to think that being rude, abrasive & aggressive is not only clever, but a smart marketing tool as well.

They think that being agressively macho in their manner both on, and offline, is somehow cool when all it really suggests is that they didn’t lose their virginity until they were 29.

They think that sarcasm is always funny, even when it’s snide & unkind, when all it does is show a lack of imagination.

They think that being shocking in order to gain attention shows a talent for marketing when it’s actually the digital equivalent of wetting the bed.

They think that gaining this attention, no matter what the cost, is a brilliant way to build a brand when all it really means is that you’re doomed to be a poisonous fish in a small pond for as long as your digital profile exists.

Bizarrely these same people will also accuse anyone who criticises them of being a troll, despite displaying troll behaviour in their every move.

And possibly even more bizzarely, I’m the sort of person that you might think would find this sort of behaviour amusing - after all, Paul Carr never fails to make me laugh.

But that’s because behind all of Carr’s sarcasm and facetious asides, there’s obviously an intelligent & funny human being, with real friends, cares & passions. And someone who feels as strongly as I do (if not more so) that the downward slide in online courtesy is a curse on what is, otherwise, an amazing sector.

Because at the end of the day, these people have mistakenly come to the conclusion that all this pointless sarcasm and negativity is somehow big & clever, when it’s in fact utterly stupid. I might have this opinion because I’m a pussy, pinko Limey. Or maybe it’s because my parents taught me that manners cost nothing and I’m sick of having to avoid large sections of teh webz because I find the content I find there so utterly depressing.

At the end of writing this I can’t help but think of one of my best friend’s fathers.

Whenever he joins us for a night out he thinks it’s hilarious, when he walks into the toilet of whichever pub we’re in, to ask “Is this where all the cocks hang out?” To which my answer now would be, “No, that’s on the web”.

Rude photo by Abulic Monkey on flickr

Well, it’s official. I no longer work for Altogether or The Engine Group. In fact, for the next 11 days I guess that I’m officially unemployed. But a week on Monday I’ll be starting in a new role at the global media agency Mindshare.

I’ve had an amazing time at Altogether and am really quite conflicted about leaving: whilst Mindshare promises a host of incredible opportunities, Altogether (and Engine in fact) really was a very nice company to work for. There were some teething problems after the its birth following the merger of three agencies (including Eyefall, the one I left RBI for) but we came out the other side stronger and it’s now staffed by an incredibly talented and friendly bunch of people - even if they do have strange ideas about what make a suitable leaving card (you can see my card here if you don’t mind offensive language).

And it’s not just the team at Altogether I’ll miss; one of the best things about working there (and one of the main reasons I decided to go there in the first place) was being able to work with so many great people from so many brilliant agencies. So thanks to Laurence & the guys at WCRS; Karen,Tim & all the Synergy team; Jasmine & the rest of the Kleenex girls at Mandate. In fact everyone. I honestly could count on the fingers of one hand the people I met there who I didn’t get on with, and that’s not something I’ve been able to say at any other job.

Many of these people came along to wish me well last night and, again I’d like to thank them all. I was also joined by a bunch of people that I used to work with at RBI including James from Com, as well as friends from the world of search, including Will from Distilled, Jane from Ayima, Richard from SEOGadget and Stephen from Oxfordshire. Other than the fact that I often get paid to piss about on the internet all day (or at least that’s what I let people believe) it’s people like these that make me think I have the best job in the world.

Anyway, I’m now off on holiday for a week (bliss!) and when I get back will be working on one of the world’s greatest brands (Nike) as well as helping Mindshare launch its first social media offering. I’m also going to be speaking at the Online Marketing Show on my 3rd day on the job, so if youre there, do come & say hi - I’ve got the last workshop session on July 1st.

This new role is an amazing opportunity and is undoubtedly going to be challenging & exciting but no matter what happens I’ll always have a soft spot for the team at Altogether and will be mentally cheering them on from a bar in Santorini during next week’s Effectiveness Awards. Here’s hoping that by the time I actually start at Mindshare Do The Test will have won another award.

Goodbye Stop by Peter Kaminski on flickr

Seriously, I’m spoilt rotten.

Every time I see, or am sent, another lost glove, I convince myself that it will be the last one till winter rears its ugly head again. And every time I’m proved wrong.

This time I was doubly spoilt as I didn’t actually spot this particular lost glove myself - it was actually seen by Jim Wild on his way to my leaving drinks and meant that not only did I get another lost glove (and a seriously nice looking one as well - I’d be gutted if lost a glove of such quality) it also meant I got to spend a bit of time with Jim & his lovely girlfriend Zoe. Result!

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Photo of Zoe & Jim by Lee.

Like many of the amazing gifts that my parents have given me over the years, the music I was exposed to served to set me up nicely for later life. Whether it was The Beach Boys, Isaac Hayes, Bread or the soundtrack to Saturday Night Fever, the tunes I associate with my long-lost youth are generally ones I remember fondly.

However there is one song that seemed to be playing all the time when I was a kid and which I cannot stand: Bridge Over Troubled Water by Simon & Garfunkel. Despite the fact that I love almost all of there other work, and much of their subsequent solo stuff, there is something about Art Garfunkel singing Bridge Over Troubled Water that makes me want to shoot myself, but not before taking out which ever selfish bastard is playing the damn thing first.

Thankfully though, I recently discovered Aretha Franklin’s cover of Bridge Over Troubled Water and can now take pleasure in a song that until now had left me cold. Whereas Garfunkel’s version has always left me in mind of Walter The Softy whinging about Dennis The Menace kicking sand in his face, Aretha takes the song and shouts it from the rooftops. With her unmistakeable voice (arguably the greatest female vocalist in the history of modern music) she turns Garfunkel’s whine into a song where the performance matches the lyrics: the words are those of someone ready to lay down their all for the one they love but Garfunkel sounds like a man worried he might break a nail.

Aretha’s cover of Bridge Over Troubled Water not only shows why, in many people’s eyes, she will always be the queen of soul, it also makes her, as far as I’m concerned, the first lady of cover versions. Her version of Respect has replaced Otis Redding’s original as the standard version in a way that no other cover version has managed, save perhaps Jimi Hendrix’s re-imagining of Dylan’s All Along The Watchtower. With a voice that lead a country through the civil rights struggle, Aretha produced amazing covers of songs that no-one else would even dream of attempting, from Eleanor Rigby, to Respect, To Bridge Over Troubled Water.

And whilst I leave you with footage of Aretha performing her cover of Bridge Over Troubled Water, I’d also like to pose a question: don’t you think the world would be a better place if all bands walked in formation like The Temptations do at the start of this clip?

Bridge by robstephaustralia on flickr

Well, I really wasn’t expecting this. It’s June, winter seems like a lifetime away (though the weather has been verging on autumnal for the last couple of days) and yet I’ve just seen another lost glove.

This time I almost missed it - as you can see it’s partially hidden under a car in the car park at Esher station. From what I could tell (I didn’t want to spend too long checking out an expensive car in a public car park - people might have got the wrong idea) it was a working glove, similar to the type you might see a workman wearing. Except that it was yellow, suggesting that the person who lost it liked to mix style with manual labour, and what’s wrong with that I say?

My good friend Jethro spotted this and sent it on to me. Truly, a great bit of signage and worthy of joining my other all time favourites: the plumber, Napoleon Boiler Parts, and the cleaning company, Spruce Springclean.

Anyone got better than these?

So Jon (below, with me in the white shirt posse) & Lisa (above) are getting married in Italy today and I’m gutted that I can’t be there to celebrate with them (I have another wedding in Dorset tomorrow and for some reason Jon & Lisa, selfish buggers that they are, wouldn’t move theirs back by a day).

Anyway, I’m sure that it will be amazing and look forward to hearing all about it soon. In fact I’m quite annoyed that they aren’t Tweeting it. All the best guys, I know you’ll be very happy together.

Following some misunderstandings around past rounds of the t-shirt tournament I want to make sure that people don’t think that I favour one t-shirt over another. So, here’s the skinny:

Above, a Teenage Millionaire t-shirt showing The Party Crasher (who bears an uncanny resemblance to a member of Run DMC in their prime).
Below, Stevie Wonder by Wadada.

Votes in the comments for Crasher or Wonder please - as this is a late release, voting will stay open till 6pm tomorrow, by which time all those of you in the UK will of course have voted in the European elections, if only to ensure that the BNP don’t get in (which they might if you don’t).

I’ve been working on several Twitter project for clients recently and the first of these went live this week: it’s a map, powered by Tweets, to track the real-time effect of  hayfever on sufferers in the UK.

To populate the map people just have to send a tweet with the tag #atishoo, the first part of their postcode and a score out of 5 as to how bad the hayfever is. As a hayfever sufferer myself I’m hoping that it takes off, but that most of the tweets show pollen counts a=of 1 (i.e. weak). Unfortunately life is rarely that kind.

Lily image by normanack on flickr

I was running down the stairs in our offices a moment ago (as part of my diet/get a bit fitter plan I’m not using the lift) when something caught my eye. Backing up I noticed something on the sign by the door for the 3rd floor. Can you spot it?

Cute eh? Things like this make my day, they really do, which is why I went opn a hunt to see if any more of the little blighters had invaded the building. I managed to track a few down but am sure that there must be more.*

These ones are enjoying the nice weather…

The work that goes into getting the beans into the coffee machine is amazing…

That looks quite high…

Thank God there’s someone to make sure they get across safely.

And I think we can all agree that every office needs some livestock.

*If you like these you should check out Little People, a street art project based in London by a guy called Slinkachu. I’m guessing it’s what inspired our phantom scene creator.