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“Fraser pauses, and his eyes seem to well up, and for the first time in this litany of surgeries and loss, he seems like he might not want to continue. I ask if he needs a break.
“I’m okay,†he says. “I think I just need to let some arrows fly.â€
He excuses himself as I ponder what this means. A few minutes go by. When he returns, it’s with a leather quiver full of arrows strapped to his back. He steps out onto his porch. Outside, he lofts a bow, nocks an arrow. Down below on his lawn, maybe 75 yards away, is an archery target. He releases the arrow straight into the target’s center. Bull’s-eye. Then nocks a second arrow, and does it again.
Finally, he exhales. “I feel a lot better now,†he says. He hands me the bow.”
This, among a litany of anecdotes, pathos, and in one instance, a ‘Me Too’, is why you should.
This week I volunteered to join a sponsored hike along the River Thames from Windsor to Henley (26 miles!) to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support.
Another newsletter, another mention of GDPR. Newsflash: this ain’t gonna go away, you guys. So get jiggy with it.
Sharpish.
I was asking about this with some friends the other day. The only thing FB had said was covered in this TechCrunch piece (tl;dr – ‘we’re doing something soon’).
Well, soon has arrived and the big blue time suck machine has set up a bespoke GDPR page with all the information you will need if you’re conducting, managing, or handling any user data on its platform – and plan on being GDPR compliant.
If you do ANYTHING on Facebook then you MUST read it. Above all, it’s going to be the law but also, when you’re in your next meeting and the topic comes up, be the smart one that’s done the reading. It’ll help.
THE BONUS-SHAPED BONUS SECTION FEATURING BONUS THINGS THAT HAVE BEEN ADDED AS A BONUS:Â
But don’t worry – there ain’t gonna be 250 of them…
I wrote some words for a Guardian thing being published this weekend. No idea if it’s going online (or in print) but the gist of it was: ‘HOLY WHAT NOW - WALL STREET LISTENS TO KYLIE JENNER? AMAZING’ – thenthe Maybelline tweet hit as well and, well, things ain’t looking great. Coincidences are one thing. But patterns? They’re another thing entirely.Â
YOU ARE APPROACHING THE END OF THE NEWSLETTER. PLEASE DISEMBARK SAFELY.Â
Two hundred and fifty editions.
That ain’t bad is it?
Yeah.
I’m happy with that.
Here’s to the next 250.
Someone asked me this week ‘What is the conversation people aren’t having in your office? What is the one thing that people SHOULD be talking about but just aren’t?’
I thought about it for a minute and said, ‘Without sounding like a complete nob, that’s just not how I operate. If there’s a conversation we should be having, I damn well bring it up and make sure we have the conversation’.
Sitting here, recounting this story to you, I realise that this position is one of privilege. I am white, male, in a position of power – and so my voice is heard. But that doesn’t mean mine is the only voice heard. If there is a topic that people SHOULD be discussing and AREN’T. Then SAY SO. That’s how stuff changes. By making it change.
Chief Strategy Officer in adland. I got ❤️ for writing, gaming, and figuring stuff out. I'm @whatleydude pretty much everywhere that matters. Nice to meet you x
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