Into a London taxi and off to the the Old Truman Brewery to raise a glass to the brilliance that is The Green Thing (Seven things you can do to lead a greener life).  Andy Hobsbawm, European Chairman of Agency.com and one of the masterminds behind the evening greets me in the foyer.  Downstairs, under an eerie green glow, I meet James Alexander (another co-founder) who was also one of the brains behind online lending site Zopa.com.  I ask him what one thing he’d like me to ask people to do when it comes to doing the Green Thing.  Simple.  He’d love you to sign up here. 

Meanwhile, at Fortune Cookie’s HQ, Charlie Hoult is hosting another of his terrific Castaway evening.  He encourages guests to bring a friend, something interesting to say and four beers.  Well. given I’m running a little late, one out of three isn’t bad.  And they are decent beers.  Guests include Daily Networker favourite David Alberts (former chair of Grey London), Giles Andrews (MD of Zopa…two in one night!) and Damian Bown, whom I congratulate on the recent sale of his mobile applications business, Kizoom.

Home sweet home before Big Ben chimes twelve and then up with the lark for a breakfast at business club One Alfred Place.  The Polecatters and I plot WebMission 09, which we unveiled last week chez Oracle.  Post-breakfast,  a swift hour’s email ends with fellow member, the wonderful Emma Jones of home business central, Enterprise Nation, saying a quick hello.

Onto the tube and down to the riverside idyll of China Wharf.  Peter de Haan (who sold Saga with his brother Roger for a cool 1.3 billion) is on flying form, as is Paul Sternberg who is ensuring that Peter’s charitable trust notches up its next round of successes, focusing especially on young people and the arts. We talk about Plings and about how to connect people with information at the right time, in the right place. 

Two O’Clock and it’s Tenner time, plotting with Make Your Mark’s head of education Catherine Smith and agency TomTomNation’s Director of Next Week, Tim Reading.  He and I catch up for a quick coffee post-Tenner in the serene surroundings of the Poetry Cafe as once again he shows why he is one of my favourite people in London to throw ideas around with.  

Tom Ball is working hard when I jump into his Covent Garden office to announce that I’m off to meet his neighbour.  For some, Covent Garden is a tourist trap, however it can certainly take on a village feel with friends and collegues nearby for a quick catch up.   Cognac’s founder reminds me to put a party date in the diary for a fortnight’s time and with that, I’m off downstairs to meet Simon Campbell, MD of ViaPost.  Well thank you goodness we’re catching up, because I had no idea that this groundbreaking service (which helps companies large and small to save a packet on their postal costs) had already sent its first several thousand letters.  This is one to watch and Simon has the drive and determination to make incredible things happen over the coming months. 

Adam Street’s library provides a safe harbour for ninety minutes of solid emailing, before I am interruputed by a curious exchange;

“What are you wearing tonight?”

“The knickers.  You? “

“Yeah. Just the knickers”

It soon transpires that these are models preparing for a showcase evening hosted by Edinbugh-based luxury gift company, Ms Bond.  Founder Caroline Whitmey is downstairs in the Rehearsal Room (fully clad I might add) and we are soon surrounded by discerning gents, picking out potential Christmas presents.  Amongst the early shoppers, I spot BIMA chairman Paul Walsh, SpeedBreaks founder Simon Proctor and Arrival Education’s Daniel Snell, and we are joined for a glass of complimentary bubbly by locals Simon and Tom from earlier in the day.  I text a couple of journalists, on the basis that they might well enjoy a couple of the evening’s ingredients. 

It’s just after eight, twelve hours since breakfast and time to race for the tube.  Homeward bound and time to disconnect.  Tomorrow’s breakfast is with Jonathan Jenkins, all round good guy and newly installed director of ventures at Untld, the foundation for social entrepreneurs.  My mind is already buzzing with what we’re going to discuss.  He’s had my thoughts in advance already… 

 

Is it just me, or does anyone else get the distinct impression that we, the great British public, are being encouraged by our politicians to hit the high street as hard as we can  and to ‘spend spend spend’?

Is there any chance that one fine morning in the not too distant future SOMEONE will appear on our television screens to point out that this might NOT be the greatest of all ideas.

Whether or not certain politicians are even allowed to say such a thing is not the point.  Someone has to say it.  And frankly, it would help if it wasn’t a politician.

If one of the causes of the financial crisis was that people were spending money they could not afford to spend, notching up debts they could not repay, then where are the voices of common sense (or at the very least, balance) as we tune into the Today programme each morning? 

Speaking of things that politicians are and are not ‘allowed’ to say, RSA Chief Executive Matthew Taylor writes far more eloquently than I could on a subject which has been on my mind this week;

“Sticking on the combined topics of the downturn and my grumpiness, it is depressing that Tory health spokesman Andrew Lansley has agreed to apologise for his comments about the health consequences of recession. He simply said on his blog that by reducing consumption on things like booze, fags and sweets a downturn can be good for our health. Not only is it true but it is a rare example of a politician engaging seriously with what the downturn will mean for us. Governing politicians (here, and particularly insanely in the US) are like drug dealers encouraging us to get hooked onto debt again, while the Conservatives try to imply there is another way out of the crisis without ever quite telling us what this is and why no other Government in the world seems to agree with them. In contrast Andrew Lansley said something honest and thought provoking – no wonder he was forced to recant.”

As the British Chancellor unveils his Pre-Budget Report, our national news and media wheel out a series of ‘experts’ to pass judgement on what they seem to regard as the gamble to end all gambles.

How risky though, to assume that these sages have any real idea what they are talking about, given the failure of the vast majority of them to predict any of the current global financial crisis.

As I tune into this evening’s news broadcasts, I hope to see the more balanced blend of Gypsy Rose Lee, (or another leading fortune teller), accompanied by a leading psychologist.  Because if a large part of the ‘gamble’ comes in predicting how the British public will behave and spend on the high street, I certainly don’t want to leave it to an economist to gaze into the tea leaves on my behalf.  Do you?

Four minutes from President-Elect Obama’s acceptance speech, recorded from a post-election party here in Los Angeles;

Discussing the day’s vote with our friendly waitress Heather, at Jinky’s in Santa Monica, California.

More on California’s Proposition 8 here.

“Proposition 8 is an initiative state constitutional amendment on the 2008 California General Election ballot, titled Eliminates Right of Same-Sex Couples to Marry.  If passed, the proposition will “change the California Constitution to eliminate the right of same-sex couples to marry in California.”  A new section would be added stating “only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.”