Guy's 'What's Coming Up'
A bi-monthly(ish) lighthearted insight into the world of PII's publisher Guy Ullmann's latest going's on, together with updates about PII and details of ‘What's coming up‘ in each issue
Hello and welcome to my May Birthday WCU!
Over the past couple of months, I’ve been fully focused on the project I mentioned in my previous WCU. We’re now at the prototype stage and I’m demoing the platform to potential pre-launch sponsors.
The feedback? Genuinely brilliant. One person even offered to write me a personal letter of recommendation to LinkedIn if the project doesn’t work out. (Thanks, John – I’ll hold you to that if it all goes pear-shaped!)
If you’d like to book a 30-minute demo to explore becoming a launch partner, you can do that here.
From sheer joy to… oh bugger
I'd like to share a short story. It started off great… and then went a bit sideways….
Once again, I sponsored the SHAPA Awards – proud moment! I flew in on the Friday to spend some time with family before the event on Tuesday.
I’m one of those people who enjoys chatting with the person next to me on a flight – you meet some great characters. This time? A professional footballer in Italy’s Serie B.
We hit it off immediately and even travelled into central London together.
As we reached Liverpool Street, I realised I’d left my dinner jacket on the plane.
“Oh bugger,” I thought.
A quick check on the airline's ‘Help’ page – predictably unhelpful. No clear lost property info. So I jumped on a train back to try my luck.
After much chasing around, I discovered a third-party company handled it. Of course, it was after 5pm. They don’t work weekends. And the following Monday was a bank holiday.
“Oh bugger,” I thought again.
I decided to head there at dawn on Tuesday. After four hours of travel, I arrived – and unbelievably, a smiling assistant handed me my case. I could have hugged her.
So… off to Manchester. End of story, right? Nope….
From lost suit to lost shades...
On the train up, a woman ahead of me was struggling with her suitcase. Naturally, I helped. Chivalry and all that.
Later, I settled into my seat, popped on The Diary of a CEO podcast, and relaxed.
As we reached my stop, I made absolutely sure I had my suit bag. But as I stepped off into the sunshine, I reached for my expensive, double-polarised sunglasses (essential beach tennis kit!) — and they were gone.
Must have slipped off my T-shirt when I lifted that suitcase.
Lost property again – but no joy this time.
So, I saved a dinner jacket I wear twice a year… and lost glasses I use nearly every weekend.
Moral of the story? Still unclear. But mildly amusing.
A day in Mad-chester
After the awards evening, I had a rare free day – so I decided to explore Manchester. It had been years since my last proper visit and I was genuinely struck by how much the city had changed.
The energy, the architecture, the buzz… but what really stood out was the advertising. It’s everywhere – but not in the same old way.
It’s smarter, more targeted, and more immersive.
Every available space is used, but it’s done in a way that really makes you stop and think.
I actually shared a post about this on LinkedIn recently – if you missed it, you can read it here. Worth a look for those who think advertising is dead!
Below are a few pics from my wanders around town and from the awards evening – a BIG shout out to Louise for organising such a wonderful maiden event!
Why aren’t you investing in podcasts?
Speaking of The Diary of a CEO, have you seen the spin-off series Behind the Diary? A fascinating peek behind the scenes.
In a recent episode – “I spent $200,000 on this piece of tech every creator needs” – Steven Bartlett shares his massive investment into podcasting.
And honestly, it makes sense.
Off the back of that (possibly!), we’re nearly fully booked for podcast recordings for the next two months. Some brilliant guests lined up.
If you’re thinking of being a guest – don’t wait.
A conversation with Dave isn’t your typical Q&A. No scripts, no tick-box questions – just smart, natural dialogue that brings out the best in our guests.
Unlike some other shows, it’s not just “question-answer-repeat”… which is honestly a bit painful to listen to.
Drop me a line if you’d like details on how we produce each episode – the effort behind the finished article might surprise you.
Rich people don’t take holidays? Really?
I’ve followed Neil Patel for years. He churns out a lot of content – too much to keep up with, if I’m honest – but one recent post really got me thinking.
“Rich people don’t take vacations.”
You can watch it opposite –
I work my ass off, when I’m not working on PII, I’m working on various projects for Ullmatech or my own personal project, or the Entrepreneurs club I help run which falls under the ‘work umbrella’ I’m constantly working.
However, working 7 days a week – no thank you – and that's without having a family, if I had young kids then not a chance.
I remember many weekends when I wanted to play football with Dad but he couldn’t because he was working.
In fact, the topic we had at our last Entrepreneur meeting was work-life-balance – and it was inspiring listening to how different people manage it and just how important it is.
I certainly do put in my 7 day weeks on occasions, but to do that regularly, not thank you.
Even Gavin Smith – on the the PII columnists had his take on it and I couldn't agree more:
Real Reach. Real Influence
Our long-term columnist, Sean Moran, recently posted about his upcoming article in the magazine which gave us a hint of what to expect.
Love him or hate him, Sean is brilliant on social media, and has a very large following – it’s one of the reasons we invest in him.
Phil responded to his comment and as you can see on the screenshot, Phil’s comment at the time of writing had 1,565 impressions – can you imagine how many impressions the post received??
Once we publish PII, Sean will post his column to his masses and without fail his article is always the most read page in the magazine.
Of course, Gavin Smith and Dave Green also bring tremendous value. But I wanted to highlight just how important it is to invest in professionals like these — because they attract high-quality, engaged readers. To my knowledge, we’re the only process-related magazine that invests in not one, but three expert columnists, each offering a real-world engineer’s perspective on the industry.
And that is a major consideration you should make when choosing who to advertise with – it’s not about who flirts with you the most, it’s who can bring your advert the most value.
What's Coming Up in the May/June edition of PII
We have a Net Zero theme to this issue and an array of great features from ABB, Rockwell and Dunphy to name a few – there’s something for everyone to ensure our readers keep turning our pages.
- – ABB Drives for Food Manufacturing
- – Building the Digital Backbone of Aquaculture Production
- – Potential impact of changing policies around net zero at a global and UK government level on companies in the process industry
- – Can you digitalise your plant, whilst running it on obsolete control equipment?
- – Supporting Net-Zero Goals Through Smarter Power InfrastructureThe Future of Wastewater Pumping in Circular Manufacturing and Water Reuse?
- – How Carbon Capture delivers decarbonisation across industries
- – Staying cyber secure with NIS2: what you need to know
Columnists:
- – Sean Moran
- – Gavin Smith
- – Dave Green
If you missed our April edition, you can flick through below (click the 3 dots in the bottom right to open full screen).
Book in
I course would love to hear from you for any enquiries, please drop me a line for advertorial/advertising via the form opposite or email me on: guyullmann@piimag.com
Final booking/copy date: May 30th
And finally....turning 45
At the end of May, I hit the big 4-5.
I’m considering writing a personal post about the journey so far – the wins, the setbacks, the lessons. Might post it on Facebook (yes, I still use it!).
Not for attention or presents – just a reflection that life doesn’t have to be glossy. I prefer things with a bit of personality – a bit unpolished.
Same with music. I used to DJ on vinyl, Technics 1200s. When a DJ touches up an off-beat track live. That’s the magic. Now, with auto-sync, some of that rawness is gone.
Same in business.
Not everything has to be perfect. Just get it done.
Record the video. Do the podcast. Run the ad. Don’t overthink it.
I spent ages wondering what to do for my birthday… until last week, when I had dinner in a beautiful cave restaurant.
That sealed it – I booked it for the big day.
So I guess my message is this:
A little rough around the edges – with good content – is more than enough.
(And yes, it’s 27 May in case you were wondering…)
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