Globally local - locally global

Sunday in Seillans

Sunday, July 5th - the first stage of the Tour de France.
The village in the background is Seillans, less than one hour from chez moi.
We arrived around 10 am, the Tour de France went by around 3 pm. Five-hour wait, five-minute event - the riders passed in 5 minutes. But of course, the fun is in the wait!

Back on Facebook thanks to you all

Interesting reactions to my short posts in English and in French about leaving Facebook.
Come of the comments have made me think I should reactivate my FB page, as FB has already told me they are more than happy to do this!
It's worth checking out the comments to my post in English "I left Facebook" where the discussion touches on the social advantages (more than professional) but also has detailed comments on how the March of Dimes is using FB. The examples are worth looking at. Very nice indeed.
If you read French, take a peek at "J'ai quitté facebook" on my French blog. There the discussion was around "is FB for geeks or normal people"? Hervé even put me in touch with a network of Geek girls that I'm considering joining now. Paris Girl Geek Dinners (FB page, need to be a member to see it!) and Girl Geek Dinners (website)
The result of leaving Facebook and blogging about it...? I'm back on again!
I plan to find some new uses - will tell you more later. Thanks to all of you for reacting and getting me to think about FB in a new way.
I see there is a new design, and - so far - no ads. That will probably change!

A glimpse

I can't resist sharing a few links to show you a few photos from my holidays.

From my husband's blog,  associated with his web site ProvenceBeyond:

Beyond is Lot Beyond Beyond
Lot's Pigeons
Beauty and the Beasts
Silent Hiking in the Midi-Pyrénées
The New Bridge of Limoux is Older than the Old Bridge

New web site for NetStrategy/JMC

I've re-organised my web site, making the Global Intranet Strategies Survey a section on its own. I've also cleared out some old content, and tried a lighter design.

I decided to use a visual motif of sundials. Seemed appropriate since they measure time and have been around for many centuries in some cases. I've spent a couple vacations with my husband chasing down and photographing sundials in the south of France. We must have photographed at least 150 different ones over the last few years from very old ones barely visible to very modern ones.

If you have any suggestions or comments on the new site, please let me know.

When will internet access become a utility?

I'm in London, on the eve of Online Information 2006. Had dinner with James Robertson of StepTwo -tonight. I was telling James I had bought wifi access for £10 (24 hours) but it was annoying because if was only available at the bar or in the lobby.

Broadband access is available in the room for £15 per day - apparently from midday to midday - which is frustrating when you arrive at the hotel in the evening.

I felt it was a waste of money to pay the £15 - but ended up doing it. In addition to having wasted the £10 for the lobby wifi because I had a lot of email work to do tonight.

I realised I've come to expect internet to be everywhere - I really see it as a utility - and feel I should not have to pay for it - anymore than I should have to pay to have electricity and running water in my hotel room.

The cheapest I've found as at the San Jose airport in California - something like $9 for 24 hours.

The first time I was in New York for a client (2005), I was at a hotel where internet was free, and when I went back this year for the same client the hotel had decided to charge for it.

That's definitely a move in the wrong direction! I would actually choose my hotel based on having free unlimited access to the internet, but it seems that not many hotels have realised there is a competitive advantage to be had.

Anyone discovered a hotel chain that has realised this?

The end of summer

Voila a recent 3-day weekend, and a fantastic end to my summer, although I worked through most of it - and have promised myself and mine some real vacation soon...

A new client with a tough but exciting challenge and the "Intranet Strategies Today & Tomorrow" survey have kept me off the summer hiking trails.

Yet, I've found time to see some villages full of colour...and ancient stones...and a taste of the past. It does not take much to "get away from it all" when you live in the South of France - even when it means you travel a lot for work every week - except for some favourite clients who are at ease with working through telephone meetings and screen-sharing...

Here are some photos from my husband's web site ProvenceBeyond.com all taken in a short 3-day weekend...when I relaxed and he worked! Way to go...

Roussillon
Gordes
Séguret

Migration - of butterflies

I rarely do personal posts on this blog, but I cannot resist showing you 2 photos taken yesterday in the garden of my home office. Migrating butterflies arrived and have momentarily settled in on the lavender plants which are in full bloom.
The lavender has been there for many years, but this is the first year I have seen so many "painted ladies" (or belles-dames" in French) in one place (left photo).
And later today the swallow tails arrived (right photo) and I updated this post at 6:45 pm French time.)

A day off in the lavender fields in Provence

I spent today doing exploration and research for my husband's website, ProvenceBeyond. A long day in the sun, photographing the lavender fields in full bloom on the Plateau de Valensole, Roman ruins and visiting a unique santon maker in Riez, ...
I wish all my workdays could be like today! What a change from my intranet consulting business!

Mimosa in Provence

We found no mimosa in bloom in Saint Raphael today, but are hoping for better luck in Tanneron tomorrow for the Mimosa festival. It's cold, a bit windy, but still wonderfully Provencal down here around Grasse. This photo is from my husband's blog, ProvenceBlog, which tells what is new on his web site, now 10 years old, ProvenceBeyond.

Christmas in the South of France

The village of Luceram, outside of Nice, about one hour's drive from my home and office, is famous for its nativity scenes displayed every December. They now have more than 700 visible in this tiny village in the Alpes Maritimes. You may enjoy some of the photos from my husband's web site ProvenceBeyond.
Here's a link to the Luceram village page and the Luceram creche (nativity scenes) page.

How does the global world look from here?

Photo taken when flying over the Arctic pole on my way from Europe to North America.

The unfinished ceiling at the United Nations

I recently had the opportunity to visit the United Nations headquarters in NY, and was struck by the unfinished ceiling in the room where the Economic and Social Council meetings take place. The Swedish designers decided to finish only part of the ceiling, and to leave a large part uncovered. This lets people in the room see the structural pieces that are not covered by the attractive ceiling finishing materials.
The Swedish designers wanted to make the statement that the work of the Council would never be finished. This body deals with sustainable development, respect for human rights, eradication of poverty and education issues.
I took a photo of the ceiling because it reminded me of intranets, which are not projects but rather processes. They are ongoing change management and evolution to new ways of working. In this sense, they are never finished.