Central London - Trafalgar Square - B&Q Free Tomato Plants

Earlier last week I came across a tweet saying there would be free tomato plants at Trafalgar Square. At least I think it was a tweet, or maybe a link to an article, hmm or word of mouth(?) to be honest I'm not even sure I really heard about it at all.

Unfortunately, working in marketing makes me get on a bit of a high horse and criticise campaigns.  I wasn't impressed with this one at all. I didn't know immediately that it was sponsored by B&Q, I heard flutterings of it on the web but [not]surprisingly, none of it was from the B&Q twitter account and when I got to the event the 'mob' I was expecting was no where to be found.

That's right they were trying to make this like a 'flash mob', but with tomatoes instead I suppose.  One of the hashtags going around was #flashgrow or #tomoatoflashgrow or...well I'm not sure about that either as there wasn't an official hashtag. It was sort of a sloppy execution in my opinion. When I arrived at Trafalgar Square around noon this was the 'mob':

I'm still not sure what the barriers were for, and why, if this campaign was mostly done through word of mouth and Twitter, there was no official hashtag at the event.  

There wasn't much information at the event either - like tips for first time gardeners or how to take care of your tomato plant.  Mine looked pretty sad to start with, but I didn't think the guy giving them away had much of a clue on gardening: He had his Nero cup of coffee sat in the same box that he was supposed to be displaying the B&Q tomatoes, we had to ask him to move it so I could take the photo

All-in-all, a sad attempt at getting people interested in something that could be a fun project this summer and an activity I've found many 'urban gardeners' enjoy doing. 

I suppose you could go to this link for more information, if it has more information to give http://projectdirt.com/profiles/blogs/flash-grow-come-and-get-a-free

Apparently these guys had something to do with it as well, and I would've like to know more about them http://www.capitalgrowth.org/

Oh well, it'd been a while since I walked down to Trafalgar Square so I at least got to see the Olympic Clock

The Olympic Clock, working 

Webby 2.0

Today I have officially joined the ranks with the best(or worst) of them. Not only do I have a Facebook account that is constantly loaded and ready to post, tag and poke, but I've been attempting to use my Twitter account more. I have a youtube account, I have this blogger ridiculousness, I have a Skype account - and to add to them I've recently signed up for a Mobypicture account. With this I can now send one e-mail out and and all of these services will be updated with the media attachement; video...picutres the ultimate internet conneciton!

If you didn't feel like you knew me enough before - you will definitely know more of me than necessary now.

It's really interesting where the web has taken us. Writers on The Daily Show tend to make fun of the news media's usage and interaction with public opinion with CNN and Rick Sanchez at the front line of prosecution. I think it's great what they're doing. iReport may be one of the smartest things they could've done to obtain free news without even having to be there! Think about it - how awesome is it that thanks to Twitter the youths of Iran can have their voice heard? That we can be connected to what they're seeing with a simple media msg sent from their phone. It's what's inspired me to fully take advantage of the different ways to connect to social networks.

I want to share my experiences with people, good or bad. Never will we have to say "you had to be there to see it". All you need is a data usage plan or an internet connection and you'll have an up-to-the-minute posting.

Here I go again...

Well this is round 5 of the blog world. It's almost annoying how many different types of blogs you can have or opportunities to create them come along. I'm pretty positive I've had one for nearly every site possible. From Deadjournal to Yahoo, on topics from bitching to travel, seriously pick a letter I've had a blog by them. And I seem to start each blog out the same way. Complaining about how I've created yet another. The problem is they've always been a spin on personal diaries, a place for me to publicly relay what I really didn't care was private or not.

I want this blog to be different, full of "Coherent Ramblings". No longer will I blog on what [or who?!] I did this weekend, no more a play-by-plays on my day-to-day, or anything else that makes up the petty disturbances of life. Our brains are more intelligent than that! I may occasionally go back to my xanga [edit 19APR10]Twitter to complain about the latest goss, but let's be honest, one can only handle a limit of Perez-esque topics before one loses all of one's brain cells. No, this blog will have substance. My interests are wide yet simple. From the Arts to Politics to Recipes I want this blog to be a global conversation of topics that are shared throughout the world. And if they're not I'd want to discuss that reason as well.

I would also like to test out this whole "vlog" idea. Gotta keep up with the kids haha. I'm not so good with the video editing yet so I apologize in advance but I think it's a great medium.

I hope that by viewing this you will find the need to participate and it encourages you to find your own thoughts and interests in this world filled with endless possibilities.