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Those of you who know me in the real world may have heard me announce (more than once): “I’m going to get fit and do the London Marathon”.

Often, this announcement is made after I’ve drunk a few glasses of white wine and it has been known for me to utter it with cake/finger food/pizza in hand.

It is true that I’ve been saying this for at least the past 5 years and it’s also true to say that it’s developed a hollow ring to it. But fear not earstwhile blog reader: I’m not going to shout this out loud in the real world, but between you and me I want to make good on former proclamations!

Every journey starts with the first step and I have made that first step: I’ve joined a new gym: Market Sports in Shoreditch. But more than this, I’ve started going each morning.

I’m already feeling a lot more healthy and less tired: it’s still a novelty at the moment though and the true test is going to come in the next couple of weeks: will leaving my flat at 6am still seem such a good idea then? I’ll keep you posted via this blog!

One good thing about my new gym though is that it is quite small and always fairly busy. The reason this is a good thing is that it actually forces you to do some exercise! Previously, I’d been a member of the much bigger, much more luxurious (and much more expensive) Virgin Active Broadgate.

The Virgin Active is a lovely gym: modern, big changing rooms, lots of equipment and a massive members reception area with comfy sofas.

The problem is all of that stops you exercising. Market Sports has everything you need in the way of equipment but it’s size and footfall means that you have to get changed quickly (as there isn’t a huge amount of space in the changing rooms), and you have to occupy yourself on a machine of some description as there isn’t those massive empty spaces to walk around in Virgin has. Spend too long reading a notice board and you’ll quickly become in the way of someone wanting to get past. Try and sit in reception for a rest and you’ll be a sweating wreck next to someone filling out their application to join.

As I say: this is a good thing! I’ve been a member of around 10 gyms in London and Market Sports is my favourite by far.

Stay tuned to see if my health plan continues to stay on track!

On Thursday various members of Acknowledgement and Boring went down to OpenSoho in Floridita in Soho.    It’s an informal networking event for people working in the tech and media industries in London.

It’s been a while since I’ve been to a networking event ( DigitalPodge is my only usual exception!) but I really enjoyed it. It reminded me a little bit of the “Clerkenwell Tuesdays” that used to happen around the 2000 dot com boom.

With a leaning towards a sociable drink with fellow members of your profession rather than hardcore business networking OpenSoho reunited me with some friends and contacts I hadn’t seen for a while and also introduced me to some new ones! It’s made me resolve to get out from behind my desk a lot more in 2009.

Boring sponsored this event and also did some filming there, so stay tuned to see the results!

Find out more info about OpenSoho here:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=43449196267

I was pleased to learn on Friday that the MORE TH>N “Quote and Buy” forms that Acknowledgement designed and built (via HyperHappen) were rated the best in market by Insurance Times!

It’s a great boost for the team to see best practice design and usablility being recognised as such!

Read the full review here:
http://www.insurancetimes.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=48&storycode=375951

One of the things I’ve noticed about myself is that I tend to have a bit of a love/hate obsessive thing regarding what music I listen too.  Put another way, when I like something I listen to it pretty much non stop for a short concentrated period of time, download all the back catalogue stuff and then get to the point when I can’t bear to hear anything from that artist for about another 6 months.

An interesting side effect of this behaivour is that I tend to rediscover artists when the gigs that I bought tickets for in the above described obsessed phase then come around.   

Last year two such gigs which had this effect on me were Yazoo and Ben Folds.  Both artists had featured heavily on my Ipod in early 08, and as part of my short term infatuation I’d bought tickets to see both acts live.  But by mid 08 I’d forgotten all about them.   

So come the eventual day of the gigs I was nonchalent and not at all excited: in fact to leg it all the way over to Hammersmith/Shepherds Bush was a bit of a pain.   But I had bought tickets.  And tickets aren’t cheap. So I had to go.    Like a family event or good friends birthday it’s a three line whip, and not going would cause more mental effort and anguish than simply turning up. 

On both of these gigs I arrived about an hour before the on stage time, enjoyed a couple of swift drinks in a near by pub with friends, then took my place amongst the huddled masses. 

And then they came on.  And it was loud but crisp. And the lighting was cool. And the audiences were so into it. And I knew all the songs.  And I didn’t mind if a few people were a bit in my way.  Or a bit too drunk.

So the point of this post? I guess it’s that sometimes things are far more enjoyable without the weight of expectation. 

I compare these “low expectation” gigs to ones that I’ve really looked forward to.  Where I’ve been counting down the days and hours.  Where I’ve hurried poor friends out of pubs to arrive at a venue far too early. 

Occasions where I’ve stood down front glaring at anyone who tried to push in and mentally inflicted a horrible death on the couple next to me who won’t stop talking.  And I feel a little bit ashamed. 

Maybe I’m getting old, but I’ve decided things can be more fun when you don’t have high expectations.  Like that strange moment when a classic tune comes on at a wedding  and despite yourself, you finally abandon the pretense of looking cool in front of elderly relatives and admit to enjoying yourself at an event you’ve dreaded for months by throwing some shapes on the dancefloor.

And it’s not just gigs: other things that are better without the weight of expectation include: food, restaurants and bars (discover a good one yourself!), films and theatre, relationships, dates and sex, holidays. 

It works in business too: in a pitch situation I’d always much rather be the lesser known agency that shows a potential client true insight and desire they weren’t expecting than the major player who everyone has heard of.  They have everything to lose but nothing to gain by simply opening their mouth!

In fact the more I think about it the more I think expectations are bad.
Viva indifference! Viva the underdog!