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
Hi and welcome to my Sept 2024 WCU!
I’d like to start with a quick apology…
In my previous WCU I referenced the Trump assassination which in hindsight was in bad taste as I was not aware at the time of writing of some important incidents that happened and I apologise if this upset some of my readers – it was not meant offensively and was duly removed.
So, I hope you all enjoyed a relaxing and fun summer, if not a slightly chillier one than normal in the UK – where we have experienced the coolest summer since 2015 brrrr
I do feel lucky to have a home away from home!
I’ve had a relatively quiet summer, Tanja disappeared for what will be 2 months by the time she returns on a part safari, part visiting family holiday, it’s been a looooooong 2 months to say the least 🙁
In the meantime, I enjoyed a great holiday with my family, it was the first time in 4 years mum had been away and able to switch off from pops for a while, well, as much as she would allow herself to.
The holiday sure had its comedy moments though, 3 stand out in particular, which I'd like to share…
Caught in a net
The first is in 2 parts:
My sister is impatient to say the least and one morning she needed something from the bathroom which at the time was occupied by Noah. I should point out that I advise guests not to use the lock as it can be very tricky to open again. However, Gayle had enough of waiting and decided to enter the bathroom to take what she needed, much to Noah’s understandable annoyance.
A little later there was an almighty crash ‘Oh great what’s been broken?' I thought to myself.
Poor mum was walking through my living room to my balcony with a cuppa, but she forgot I use mosquito nets and didn’t see the damn thing and walked straight through it, destroying the entire net.
Of course, Gayle & Noah found this hilarious, me not so much, as I knew there would be no one available to fix it until September at best!
Later that evening Noah started yelling in a panic as he was again in the bathroom but this time locked the door and now couldn’t open it (you can imagine my facepalm).
In a panicked state to save him, Gayle ran through my spare room to the outdoor patio, but en route forgot about the mosquito net…
Yup, you guessed it, she took the entire unit off the bloody doorframe!
Mum of course found this hilarious.
Noah finally freed himself from the bathroom and when asked why he locked it, he said he didn't want mum to walk in on him again whilst he was on the toilet! – He had a point!!!
Moral of the story: Don’t stick your nose in other people's business – especially when
they’re doing their business!
…and don’t use mosquito nets around the elderly and panicked mothers!
A booking.com nightmare turned good!
The next story was a bit of a cock-up on my part, which actually turned out great….
I booked a beautiful villa for 3 nights, in a very nice resort town.
We arrived on a Saturday afternoon and I called the host to let them know we'd arrived.
Upon welcoming us, she sounded very surprised and said ‘You are not due to check in until tomorrow”
You could feel my mum’s pain as she facepalmed herself in disbelief, after the 1.5 hour drive down.
The host could clearly see our despair and said, ‘Let me call a friend…”
We waited with bated breath….
“You're in luck!” She said with a gleaming smile.
It just so happened her friend was the owner of a beautiful 4* hotel, complete with private beach! It was pure paradise, albeit for one evening!
But she completely saved my ass, big time!
Moral of the story: Sometimes when things don't go to plan, unexpected opportunities arise! (and don't let me organise anything!!)
From Skydiving to Spa Bliss: The Ultimate Birthday Prank
Finally, and my personal favourite…
I owed Mum a birthday present and had organised a little surprise day for her…
Before the ‘appointment’ we were having a beach morning.
Whilst there I received a phone call after which Mum asked who it was.
I told her it was the flying school, who informed that although it’s a little windy, we’re still OK for your SKY DIVE this afternoon.
“MY WHAT????” a rather pale-looking mum replied.
Gayle caught onto my joke immediately and went along with it perfectly.
“Yes I’m coming with you, as Noah is too young and because Guy’s done one before he can look after Noah and we can go together!”
Poor mum was close to tears at this point, but held it in.
As we were driving to the ‘airfield’ Mum sat very quietly in the back, I could see she was trying to psych herself up.
As we arrived at the venue (a beautiful spa resort) Mum asked where the runway was.
I replied that she had to get changed first in here and was collected by a minibus – the stunning resort didn’t register with her!
As we approached the reception, the person at the desk asked if we had a reservation, after confirming, he then read out the various treatments I had booked: Thai massage, Wellness Massage Therapy, Relaxing Foot Massage, Spa Bath etc.
“So when is the skydive?’ Mum asked rather puzzled
Gayle & I just burst out laughing, and then it began to slowly hit home that I was joking.
Mum didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, bless her, you could see the relief pouring off her, however, in the end, I think she was quite looking forward to it…maybe an idea for her next birthday….!
Moral of the story: A twist of evil humour can make an experience even more memorable!
Funny stories aside, it was a brilliant week, just a little sad pops couldn't be with us.
My sister and I really are two of a kind, it’s scary.
Noah is growing up far too quickly, he’s such a know-it-all smart-ass, but I love him to bits.
And poor old Mum is pure entertainment in all her adorable gullibleness!
Here are just a few highlights:
August activities...
Before Tanja set sail, we enjoyed a memorable evening aperitivo in a wonderful location, it was the kind of scene I imagined seeing in a 1950s romance film.
I'm hoping in my next WCU she'll allow me to share some of the photos she has taken on safari, I'm sure they'll be amazing, let's see…
Here are a few highlights of my summer, which included a short break with my buddy Tom where we trekked to an amazing lagoon, a live concert with Claptone, various incredible beaches with some amazing sunsets, our first sponsored Entrepreneur Meeting and of course 1 or 2 parties 😉
Read more on the descriptions opposite…
AI agents
I read an interesting post recently, which read;
“I think we are at max 3-5 years from AI agents doing most of our jobs!
My guess, there would be a rise of AI generalists/managers (humans) whose major job would be to manage the AI agents and delegate things.
That would mean only 1/10 at max would be needed for the majority of the roles.
Billion-dollar companies would be built with less than 100 employees, would be a norm.
What would the rest do?
Universal basic income?
Thoughts?”
Thoughts… Well, it’s pretty frightening IF you are NOT a billion-dollar business owner or manufacturer of AI-robots.
Perhaps governments should consider limiting how many robots a company can employ, or do it on a human-to-robot ratio basis e.g. employ 5 humans to every 1 robot.
I’m certainly already seeing the negative impacts of AI such as marketing departments now relying on ChatGTP to write features and PR – So much so the number of freelance writers contacting us for work has also increased, which is very sad to see.
Is Google about to be ousted?
This could be not just a game changer, but a world changer and no doubt Google will be watching it very closely….
It’s an AI-driven search engine based on ChatGPT, that will be crucial for your marketing efforts.
“SearchGPT will quickly and directly respond to your questions with up-to-date information from the web while giving you clear links to relevant sources.”
And…
“You’ll be able to ask follow-up questions, like you would in a conversation with a person, with the shared context building with each query.”
I watched an interesting webinar yesterday where the guys had early access to the prototype and compared how it functioned to Google and Perplexity
As you'll see, it's still relatively early days in AI search, so currently Google will continue to dominate, but the question is; For how long?
Take a look at their prototype here: openai.com/index/searchgpt-proto
What’s Coming Up in the Sept/Oct issue of PII
Phil has once again worked diligently to curate a high-quality editorial lineup, ensuring our content meets the standards our readers expect while offering a diverse range of topics to cater to varied interests.
It’s also worth noting that our audience typically engages with three or more sectors, as indicated during our magazine sign-up process.
- – The growing role of inspection technology in ensuring dairy safety and quality
- – Common errors around the specification and installation of flow metres
- – Harnessing automation and the role of lifecycle services to achieve net-zero
- – Digitising your maintenance
- – Process Control
- – Wastewater purification before WWTP or discharge and purification for reuse in industrial processes
- – From vision to reality – how NIRAS is tailoring processing solutions for wineries, breweries & distilleries
- – Selecting the right types of valve actuators and positioners for boiler control
- – Financing decarbonisation in manufacturing
Columnists:
– Sean Moran
– Gavin Smith
If you missed our summer edition, you can flick through below (click the square 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: September 27th
And finally....
I’m sure most of you have probably seen this video, but it’s a reminder just how important words are, not only in marketing, but in everyday life.
So, with this in mind, where many of my neighbours would ask for advertising budget, I would like you to consider this:
Thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule to read my goings-on, I hope its given you 5 minutes of light entertainment away from the real world and a glimpse into mine!
I wish you a busy September and look forward to hearing from you!
All the best,
Guy
+ 44 (0)1428 751188
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