Iain Wilcox

Forget-me-not (I haven't forgotten!)

I must apologise for not blogging for so long, but I in fact do have the greatest excuse. In fact, make that excuses. Here's why:

You might want to double click that because it is so spectacular...

Three nights this week, the sunset has been like that, so after work we've headed down to the bay to check it out. It's not often that I am list for words, but on this occasion I most definitely was. How can you describe that?

Anyway, here's my next excuse. And it's a goodie..!

Marketing Team Golf! Yes indeed, the Marketing Fleeto hit Lake Padden Golf Course for a winner takes all round where the stakes were high and the temperature even higher! This was, until, the beer cart trundled round and some of us (well, just me actually) got a tad distracted from the task at hand.

I lie, actually. Golf isn't my strong point so I took caddy duties and came for the walk and some fresh air. Imagine my delight when a little blue truck appeared over the hill, pulling a trailer full of ice cold refreshments! Wow, how my opinion of golf has changed! I would take up this fine sport just for that privilege- beer that comes to you!

Also had another BBQ to attend on friday, which was put on by Sarah in HR. Sarah is quite the hostess and made the best meal I have had since arriving (Even better than that brunch in Seattle), and I think possibly the best steak I have ever had. Her family are a delight, and the event was such a pleasure to be invited to (Thanks Sarah!).

Saturday we went stumbled upon an outdoor event called 'Taste of Bellingham' where you could sample offerings from local restaurants for next to nothing. The food was brilliant... Put it this way, we'll not be eating anymore home cooked dinners that's for sure! Then we found a not for profit community coffee house, which looked a whole lot like Central Perk from Friends, and we sat and watched the rain fall.

We ended up out on the town on Saturday night, for a 'few' drinks. My Southern Comfort was charmingly served with a free fly floating upside down in it... so it was duly returned. Now I know what you're thinking, you're not having much luck with bars and nightlife, but you'd be wrong. My replacement Southern Comfort was served in a pint glass.... and they don't do measures here. A pint of Southern Comfort... I mean, is that even legal??? And so when it came time for the bartender to ask "Same again?", I thought we'd just get normal drinks back. But no, another pint of Southern Comfort arrives. Oh dear lord. So I did the honourable thing, and got right involved. It's charming when you don't get a 35 ml spirit measured out to the last drop for your drink, but when your drink must contain about a 100 ml measure you don't feel very charming the next morning....

And so here I am, recovered, but only just, from the week that was. Hopefully my excuses cut it with the Saltire Foundation and they wont be too mad for the lack of blog action.

So anyway, on to what you really stop by to read about, the WORK!
We're onto a task of data enrichment, which is conducting market research and identifying individuals involved with organisations on our X List. What we'll end up with is a 'map' that will be used in marketing exercises later. Pepper this with some customer analysis exercises and you've got our working week. Because most of the marketing activities are through direct channels (e-mail, snail mail, web transactions etc), opportunities for physical customer contact are quite limited. So whilst some of the interns are filling their diaries with meeting after meeting, we're in the position where we don't need to do that. This obviously removes a lot of cost. Everything is all in-house at SPIE too, so if I need anything, it's just an e-mail or short walk away, to the relevant department.

More fun stuff to report is our upcoming trip to San Francisco this coming weekend. We're flying Virgin America, who if you read Rory's blog (and believe it... lucky boy!) are clearly the best airline in the entire world. It's going to make getting up at 1am to go down there a little less of a mission. I've also decided to stay on for a bit after our internships finish so I can do a bit of traveling, hopefully along with Andy in Chicago, so I've been arranging the first steps to doing that. Although, it took 3 phone calls for our airline to get my date changes correct and finally get confirmed because the staff on the end of the phone are so very highly trained. I was going to take a train from Seattle to Chicago because it goes through Glasgow, Minnesota (a golden PR opp for me, Rory's Saltire flag, and the Saltire Foundation T-Shirt!) but it takes 46 hours and a flight was only marginally more expensive. So instead I'll get a pic of me on an American Airlines flight instead. Not so rock and roll.

Think I've covered everything. Sure I'll publish this post and realise I've forgotten something as usual....

Chicken or Beef?

I'm about to go BBQ... I couldn't decide so I got both. Wise owl.

It's a strange time to be in America. This morning I sat in Starbucks with a newspaper to read up on the weeks events and get a bit more culturally aware. Talk of the press is the financial hardship being suffered by ordinary Americans, about 25% of the Seattle Times was dedicated to stories around this issue. Tax increases, transport fare increases, rising food prices, falling housing prices, job cuts... a sort of hushed panic is apparently gripping the nation. Starbucks was as busy as ever though so it got me thinking...

It's hard to really gauge the impact here, and even in Seattle itself. The city was clearly prosperous with cranes and new buildings springing up all over the place. Bellingham is also a great place to retire to, and a lot of people have taken that option, so it makes it even harder to judge the economic situation where we are. The Dollar is still getting a pasting by the GBP, not as bad as last week, but the interns this year are certainly getting good value. Bread and milk is really really expensive, I think, but everything else appears kind of normal. The bus pass for 1 month is $20, for example, where back home it would be £40 at least.
So who is really paying more? It's a tough call, but I don't think things are nearly as bad as what the media claim. Of course, who believes the media anyway???

Also, the prime suspect in the 2001 anthrax attacks was found dead this week and that's quite big news here. I miss news from home though.

Work has been kind of regular this week. The data collection is almost finished, and next week will see the start of some analysis exercises that will allow us to draw some meaning from the work we've done. It has been a tedious process at times, but it looks like the analysis will be fruitful. The weather got a bit rubbish (in comparison) this week too so it put a bit of a downer on things. It was actually hotter back home, the horror of it! But today is the start of it brightening up and normal service resumes tomorrow apparently. So I'll be parking it up to the max with my i-Pod and sun cream, trying to retrieve my tan.

San Francisco is booked for mid August, which will be an amazing weekend for sure. Thanks to Rory for putting us up!!!

Also found a gem of a record store in town today with loads of my favourite genres and really knowledgeable staff to help out. I came away with some work by a German guy that I like, Dixon, and wondered how anyone in this part of the world had ever heard of him (judging by music in Seattle last weekend!). But it's nice to find surpises in unexpected places....

Anyway, gotta run. It's bbq time!

At some point....

... the reality of what we are doing is going to kick in.

We're now just over half way through week 3. It's longer than you would stay in one place for all but the longest of business trips, but you've kind of conquered the important stuff and found your rhythm with the placement and stopped going out somewhere new every night and trying to do everything at a million miles per hour so as to see everything without taking so much as a breath......

The absolute and crazy momentum that we had when we arrived has melted away, and a routine of serious business is developing. I've exhausted my shirt and trouser combos. I know where to find things I like in the supermarket. I can catch the bus and not pay so close attention to getting the right stop. I can get up at 6am and not be too fussed. I dont take the map with me anymore (but I still get lost sometimes). Silly things, but important nonetheless.

You realise that work is queuing up for you to do at the office, something that never happened two weeks ago, and all of a sudden you have to prioritise. You go to meetings (pretty much) unbriefed as a regular occurrence, but you keep ahead of the proceedings. You ask different kinds of questions to people as the bigger picture emerges in the workplace.

And that's the point. The bigger picture is emerging, but outside of the office as well. This isn't just a ninetofive placement job. It's so much more than that, and for all I knew that before wrote the first word on the first application form, was interviewed to within an inch of my life, got stranded by missing the last flight home from London after getting my VISA, ran a sprint marathon to make my connecting flight in New York on the way over, traveled 26 hours straight on 3 flights in 3 time zones before arriving with my marketing partner in crime Lorraine, (whom I had barely even known before meeting at the airport), and then moving into an apartment together for 8 weeks..... it takes a while for it to finally hit home, but I wouldn't trade it for anything!

Cascades

Saturday morning we got up at the usual weekday time of 6am to head the Seattle for the weekend. It was a little easier to get up so early knowing it wasn't for work.... all you ninetofivers will know what I mean! There are 2 trains a day from here to Seattle and 1 to Vancouver, so hardly well connected. The trains were suspended though so they shoved us on a bus. I got nothing against busses, but the trip down was a bit of a chore since it followed the train route south, instead of following the interstate.

We got there about lunchtime and found our bearings, called home briefly and set off to explore. Did the famous Pike St markets where fishmongers throw fish over the crowds, since its too crowded to carry them between stalls. Also passed the first ever Starbucks, which was ironically packed with Japanese tourists fresh off a cruise liner. It looked almost as busy as the Tokyo tube at rush hour, no joke. So we skipped it and had brunch elsewhere.

Elsewhere happened to be Etta's, a bistro cafe on the waterfront, serving me the best brunch meal I have had, ever (see picture), before hitting the city for some proper fun stuff. Did a little shopping, but Urban Outfitters, Abercrombie & Fitch and American Apparel all disappointed. The pinnacles of American fashion supposedly, but Glasgow still does it better, in my opinion.

We did a few tourist-y things in the afternoon, checked into our hotel and then went up the Space Needle once it had got dark, firstly to avoid the crowds and secondly, it's just better in the darkness (see picture at the end).

Yes indeed, it's 'that view'. The most photographed point in Seattle I'm sure.

After this, we found a seriously good cocktail bar, had a few Moscow Mules (if you meet us at the airport when we get back Melissa / Jen, do have one ready please!) before going in search of some clubbing. Being Seattle, I expected big things. We'd found a few clubs on the internet voted as being Seattle's favourite (as voted by Seattlites {thats what you call them apparently}), so headed there. One was open til 6am....

we were home by 3.30

They were that bad.

Imagine going clubbing in Ukraine, or Poland or somewhere. But in the Ukraine they wouldn't charge $32 for two doubles. Slightly affronted, but mostly embarrassed for the people who chose to dance the night away in
these places, we hit the all night diner next to our hotel for pancakes and syrup before crashing at about 4am. (A fitting way to bow out, I think)

Sunday we headed out of town to Fremont, the artsy district, and had another amazing brunch (Seattle knows how to do it, obv.)
A card on our table read "A hesitation-mind and a determination-heart Are perfect strangers to each other", a fitting motto to the internship with it's rollercoaster moments.

Found some really funky junk shops after eating, where I picked up a vintage carry-on sized suitcase for $27. It will be the souvenir to beat (see pic). Met a man from Gourock, had a pint in an Irish bar (couldn't help myself really), and tried my best to look cool with an empty suitcase in tow.

Before too long it was time to get the train home. It was my birthday the Thursday before we left so had got business class as a treat, and it was quite possibly perfect. The train hugs the coast as it heads up north, and the train arrives in Bellingham right at sunset. Here is the view from the train about 10 miles south of B-ham:

Sunset from the train

And so, not surprisingly, I had a bit of Monday morning lethargy this morning!

Seattle at night from Space Needle

Brunch (whoopa!)

My new favourite souvenir

Coffee & Conference Calls

Work:
This week has been quite hectic, so much so that it's already midnight on Friday evening and I don't know where the week has gone.

I did my first ever conference call on Thursday- an internet traffic analytical breakdown with an agency in Seattle. It was quite hard to follow, since there were many stakeholders in on the call, all having different motivations, but was fun nonetheless. 15 minutes sitting with the documents and a highlighter pen afterwards and I think I pretty much had it sussed.

I've spent the latter half of this week working in French and German geographical regions in the database, so have had a day of solid French, and 2 days of full on German language to deal with. It looks like next week will be working all in German too. It's not as bad as it sounds, since I'm searching for the same type of data all the time. So, once you get warmed up into the language and the phrases you're looking for, it's much more straightforward. Whilst a lot of international organisations have web content in English as well as local dialect, I have found that the translated content is either vastly reduced or badly transcribed. It's just as easy to work with the original copy.

I've also drank a lot of coffee.

Not Work:
Wednesday was a little strange. After coming to the conclusion that young people in Bellingham don't really go out much, we were directed to a garden near the city centre for 'Reggae night'..... It was amazing! There must have been about 300 people squeezed into a couple of gazebos with a DJ spinning reggae vinyls, some old skool hip hop and, The Beatles 'Come Together' to a crowd of 20 somethings. It runs weekly and is only $3 to get in, so you know where to find us next week for sure!

The baseball on Thursday was really fun too, even though Bellingham lost 6-2. We went with a few friends who were able to explain the game as it went along, which really helped. I think if Lorraine and I had went alone we wouldn't have been able to understand all the play. Needless to say, we're definitely going again.

Tomorrow we're going to Seattle for the weekend to do some proper city stuff, and it looks like trips to Vancouver and San Francisco are on the cards for mid August too.

I've got some photo's from the last few days which I'll put up when I get a minute, but for now I need to get some sleep- got another early start tomorrow.

"Ah, Interns!"...

We were greeted this morning in the boardroom for the weekly marketing meeting which we were unable to attend last monday because of inductions. It was the first time we have properly met the Marketing department all at once, even though our faces appeared in the company magazine ensuring that we were well known to them. Whilst the meeting was mostly a sit-in for us, it reinforced the reasons why I chose to pursue a career in marketing in the first place. It was great to walk into a meeting un-briefed, and understand what was going on and why it was being talked about.

Our project is coming along really well too, and it's good to be able to sit down in the mornings and see work taking shape.

On the play side, we had a relaxing weekend, finishing exploring Bellingham and finding the best beer garden in the city in the process. Saturday night we went ten pin bowling til late, and spent Sunday by Lake Whatcom, a short bus trip away. The temperature is tickling the 80's, and it's supposed to get warmer still. The novelty of hot weather has started to fade, so we can spend some time in the apartment fixing up plans for the next few weekends...

This weekend is Seattle, where we can do some real city stuff and go clubbing til 6am. Got a hotel booked, business class train tickets sorted (its supposed to be a great trip for views, so we splashed out), and have done our homework on what to see. We're going to watch Baseball on Thursday night too, the Bellingham Bells Vs. Bend Elks. It might not be major league, but for 9 bucks it's sure to be fun...

...so I'll keep you posted on that one!

Here's some pics:

Ready for the first day (kind of had to out that up)
The deer who stop by the office early in the morning
The Office
And Bill McDonald Parkway (never far from home!)

Week 1

It's saturday morning and I've enjoyed my first lie in! The first week at SPIE has been brilliant, I'm up to speed with my project and have settled in nicely.

Monday started with some inductions and briefings, a tour of the office and a meet and greet with some of the 130 or so staff who work there. It took a while to understand the business model, because SPIE serve many different clients in many different ways. Copy and paste the link to their website if you want to know more:

http://www.spie.org

My task involves building and populating a database that will be used throughout the organisation to inspect industrial relationships. It's a huge task, and once ready will be a valuable resource.

I've also had the opportunity to sit in on some marketing departmental meetings and do some business analysis with some supervisors, which has been really useful.

There has been a lot of computer software training, which will be an ongoing thing, so that I can start to analyse the database once it becomes large enough.

The office is set in an amazing location, at the top of a steep hill with a panorama similar to the swiss alps. The waterfront is about a 10 minute walk from the front door, and there are lots of cafes and bars within walking distance. When we finish, the weather is still really warm, so every night this week has involved dinner al fresco while the sun goes down.

We've been really lucky to meet people who are so proud of their city. Everywhere we have been so far has been recommended to us personally, and usually the person making the recommendation has came along too. There are loads of great bars serving local beers, and so many music venues with talented performers playing every night. The food here is also excellent, and we're lucky to be in a part of the country that takes health and wellbeing so seriously. Whilst it is possible to eat fast food every day, most places offer a menu full of healthy dishes. And the portions are massive....!

Last night topped the week off perfectly, finding a beach on the way out of town with a few friends, building a small fire and watching the full moon come up over the bay. We got back to the apartment at about 2am to find a deer munching at the bushes too. It's such an amazing place, large enough to be urban, yet close enough to nature. And when the weather is warm as it is, it feels almost like paradise.

Week 1

It's been a while since I last posted, been really busy at the office doing inductions and starting our project. Everyone we have met so far has been absolutely fantastic, and more than accommodating, making us feel right at home. I plan to do a run-down of the week when I get in tomorrow night so that anyone watching can catch up on all that has been going on. For now though I'm off to get some sleep, got to get up in 6 hours...

Where to begin....? (Today's top 3)

Well. Today has been a success and a failure. We found 2 amazing bikes in a charity shop for $20 each, only to discover that Lorraine's was beyond economical repair and that mine needed two new inner tubes. I dont know much about bikes so someone will need to get bribed to come and sort it out.

The charity shop was called Goodwill and was one of the biggest second hand shops I have ever seen, maybe half the size of a football field. We also got a coffee maker (instant is a sin here) for $4, a rubbish saucepan for $3, a lamp for $3 (Lorraine is scared of the dark) and a few other odds and ends that the apartment doesn't have. I was stunned at how cheap it was!

We had to walk back from the charity shop since the bus service finishes early on Saturdays. It should have been about 3 miles, but after both agreeing to take what turned out to be a wrong turn, we ended up at the other end of the city. And yes, it turns out Bellingham is a city. It's massive, simply because there are barely anything other than houses with big gardens in well to do neighbourhoods. The population might be only 60,000 but the area these people and their property take up must be about 6 square miles.

On the way home we found another gem, at the top of a hill so steep I thought I was back in Glasgow! The view over this part of the city from that point is absolutely magnificent. So after a huge detour, we finally got home at 10pm, after having left goodwill to come home at 7ish. I'd sliced my feet open by this point because I thought I'd be crazy and wear no socks with some reasonably new shoes. Risque, indeed!

The other highlight of today is the picture of me on our street, which shows just how 'green' this area is.

Tomorrow we're going to get the bbq fixed up, and also head into a district called Fairview which has a park and a bay where you can relax next to the waterside. I'm tanning well already, so sun care is going to be really important since this weather is so consistent. If you want to see any views of the weather click this link to the 'Bellingham Bay Cam'. Prepare to turn green! Remember we're 8 hours behind BST so it might be dark when you check in the mornings.

http://www.bellcold.com/bhambaycam.html

Here's my 3 favourite pics from today too: