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  • Stuart Witts 1:05 pm on April 30, 2012 Permalink | Reply
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    Life’s too short for cheap guitars… Week Four #lovemyhat 

    The hat visits the mystical Avebury Stone Circle

    The hat visits the mystical Avebury Stone Circle

    So the time has come where I reach the end of my millinery social experiment. I have shared my experiences of wearing a hat for over four weeks and hope that you have enjoyed at least some part of it. My hat has become part of who I am and will remain firmly upon my head, but I might spare you all the constant updates.

    I feel that I have learnt so much during this period, way beyond the simple day-to-day trials of the hat wearer. Things about myself and those around me. It has changed me. Maybe not fundamentally, but in lots of little ways.

    Would I recommend you wear a hat? Absolutely!

    Yes they’re a pain in the arse when it’s windy, they make your head sweat and it’s yet another thing to carry around. But, for the moment at least, when you wear one you feel special, you’re part of a select crowd of individuals and you’re VERY easy to spot in a crowd.

    My only piece of advice would be this though. Jerry Jeff Walker speaks the absolute truth when he says “Life’s too short for cheap guitars”. If you decide to join the millinery revolution and get a hat, do yourself a favour and get a good one. I know of just the place.

    You can follow my day to day adventures with ‘Indi’ at twitter.com/stuartwitts or via the hashtag #lovemyhat, and if you feel inspired to purchase your very own quality headpiece, visit bates-hats.com and don’t forget to tell them Indiana sent you ;)




     
     

  • Stuart Witts 9:27 pm on April 21, 2012 Permalink | Reply
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    Never confuse a single defeat with a final defeat… Week Three #lovemyhat 

    As the great F. Scott Fitzgerald so succinctly said, this weeks defeat was not final.

    I’m sure you are all aware of the severe drought conditions we experienced this week that has led to some of us in the country having to perform the ultimate sacrifice. I refer of course to the howling wind and driving rain that led me to begin this week hatless.

    I know, I know. There are those of you out there doubting my commitment and even whispering “coward” behind my back. But the thought of trying to hang on to my hat, my umbrella and all the other paraphernalia that comes with the daily commute just seemed too much. How Dr. Jones ever managed to ride, jump and fight his way throughout the quadrilogy without ever losing is hat is a secret only the movie magicians know. Us mere mortals sadly have to resort to leaving it at home.

    Luckily by Wednesday the weather abated and I was once again reunited with my fur felted friend. It was good to be together again. I had missed it dearly. This, what can only be described as, epiphany finally cemented the bond between myself and my hat.

    Meeting of minds (hats?)

    Meeting of minds (hats?)

    This week also saw a truly wonderful meeting of minds (hats?) at the local eatery, when I was fortunate enough to catch up with my friend @lesanto and finally catch sight of his light grey Poet in the flesh (felt?). Yet another fine Bate’s creation confidently striding its way through the streets of London.

    Amongst our many conversation topics was the inevitable looking forward to warmer weather and the need for alternatives to our current headgear. I see Panamas in our future ;)

    You can follow my day to day adventures with ‘Indi’ at twitter.com/stuartwitts or via the hashtag #lovemyhat, and if you feel inspired to purchase your very own quality headpiece, visit bates-hats.com and don’t forget to tell them Indiana sent you ;)




     
     

  • Stuart Witts 11:24 am on April 17, 2012 Permalink | Reply
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    Happiness can exist only in acceptance… Week Two #lovemyhat 

    It has finally happened. After just over one week of being a hat wearer the fears and insecurities have shrank away. As I leave the house each morning it seems perfectly natural to place the hat upon my head and stride off into the sunrise. It is now a part of who I am. It is becoming ‘normal’.

    Don’t get me wrong, there are still odd occasions where I consciously choose not to wear my hat for fear of ridicule, but it has firmly become part of my work week wardrobe and reminds me of something Jean Luc said to me when I picked up my hat from Bates,

    “You wouldn’t leave the house without your shoes. So why would you leave without your hat?”

    This week also saw more acceptance as my hat got it’s first sweet taste of an April shower. It performed admirably, Phil had informed me that the ‘Indi’ was bullet-proof and he wasn’t wrong. I’ve even dropped it a few times, brushed off the dirt and carried on.

    Christened by the rain god

    Christened by the rain god




     
     

  • Stuart Witts 4:18 pm on April 6, 2012 Permalink | Reply
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    Sweaty foreheads, people carriers and the Olympic Stadium… Week One #lovemyhat 

    A beer on the South Bank with 'Indi' and @ChoccyHobNob

    So I am coming to the end of my first week as a wearer of a hat and what a week it has been. A close friend has already decided to join the millinery renaissance and has purchased his very own hat from Bates. Another friend is almost certainly going to follow suit after we met for a beer on the South Bank and he got to fondle my ‘Indi’, and I also got to take the hat to the Olympic Stadium. But to kick off this post I’d like to talk about nerves.

    Even in the great cosmopolitan city of London there aren’t that many people who choose to leave their homes in the morning with something upon their head and so it was with a sense of trepidation that I set off for work on that first day. Would I be met with confused stares? Muffled sniggers? Derisive laughter? Or maybe even actual vocal abuse?
    (More …)




     
     

  • Stuart Witts 9:55 am on March 30, 2012 Permalink | Reply
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    Only in the leap from the Lion’s head will he prove his worth… #lovemyhat 

    I have always been a fan of hats. Proper hats mind you, not these overly branded trucker caps that people plonk on their heads these days, but the more refined and stylish type of headgear that gentlemen used to wear. Yet despite being a fan, I have never really spent much time wearing them.

    A succession of cheap, poorly-made fedoras have made their way onto my noggin, but for various reasons, have never stood the test of time. And so, as I approach my fortieth year on this planet, I have decided that it is time to do this properly… and by properly, I mean it is time to wear the only hat that any man would ever want to wear, the hat that stands as a symbol for all movie millinery… the Raider’s Hat.

    The Hat

    (More …)




     
     

  • Stuart Witts 12:49 pm on February 16, 2012 Permalink | Reply
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    Top 10 tips on how to succeed in social media 

    1. Don’t criticize, condemn or complain.
    2. Give honest and sincere appreciation.
    3. Arouse in the other person an eager want.
    4. Become genuinely interested in other people.
    5. Smile.
    6. Remember that a person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language.
    7. Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves.
    8. Talk in terms of the other person’s interests.
    9. Make the other person feel important – and do it sincerely.
    10. Don’t spend your time reading Top 10 tips on how to succeed in social media.

    Thank you Dale Carnegie, you are as relevant now as you were over 75 years ago.




     
     

  • Stuart Witts 2:39 pm on November 28, 2011 Permalink | Reply
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    The ROI of Thieving Scum! 

    A couple of weeks ago, a full Marie Curie Cancer Care collection box was taken from The Village Café in Stanstead Abbotts High Street, leaving owner Jill Lovegrove distraught.

    Thankfully these sort of events that erode your faith in humanity are not commonplace, despite what the media might tell you, and are simply a sad reminder that not everyone has a working moral compass.

    This could well have been all that was ever heard about this particular incident, a few short paragraphs in a local newspaper. But one local resident decided that something needed to be done, and so began #stolencharitybox.

    Steve Berry (@unloveablesteve) turned to the people that he knew just wouldn’t stand for this sort of thing and encouraged them to chuck in whatever they could afford to replace the £200 that had been stolen.

    (More …)




     
     

    • Serena 9:31 am on November 29, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      What a great story! One of a growing number of examples of how social media can be used to do good things. Wonder if we should pick a hashtag and curate a list of stories like this?

    • Ben Matthews ツ (@benrmatthews) 10:09 am on November 29, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      Great story!

      Is this a social media case study with over 50% increase in donations than achieved offline?

  • Stuart Witts 9:54 pm on November 21, 2011 Permalink | Reply
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    Out of memory! 

    Whilst I was walking through the park in the fog over the weekend I got to thinking… What if this phenomenon wasn’t simply a collection of water droplets or ice crystals suspended in the air at or near the Earth’s surface, but a symptom of memory issues in the matrix leading to the need for a reduction in the render distance?




     
     

  • Stuart Witts 8:15 am on September 6, 2011 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: Book, , , Review,   

    REVIEW: ‘Twitter for Good’ by @ClaireD 

    I’m a huge believer in Twitter’s ability to be a force for good in this world, but I have not previously been impressed by some of the means in which this mantra has been publicised. As I have spoke about before – Can hope be delivered in 140 characters? – I still remain unconvinced by the official voice of Twitter, @Hope140, and was not expecting much from Claire’s book.

    I was lucky enough to receive an early digital copy of ‘Twitter for Good’ and upon first reading was seriously unimpressed. I once again felt that here was some celebrity charlatan who was making money by simply telling people what time it was. Everything within the book seemed to me to be stating the blindingly obvious or telling you how something should be done and then suggesting that it doesn’t always have to be that way. This was everything that I disliked about the social media industry.

    Part of my unwritten agreement upon receipt of the digital copy of the book was to post a review and I was struggling with my positivity. I didn’t want to be someone who writes snide, negative reviews to hopefully score points off the author yet I didn’t want to welch on the deal.

    I decided to re-read the book, just to be sure.

    It was during this second reading that I realised where the problem truly lay… it was within me. I was judging this book by the usefulness it had for me, but I have been doing this social stuff for a long time. I’m certainly not going to suggest that I am an expert or ‘guru’ and I know that I have always suffered from this delusion that everyone I meet knows exactly the same things that I do.

    For me, the book was everything that swirls around inside my head, but what Claire has expertly done is to put these random thoughts and feelings into print. She has structured what was previously unstructured and provided those who are just starting out on their Twitter journey with a massive head start.

    I’m still not 100% in agreement with everything that is suggested in the book, no surprise there, but would definitely feel confident suggesting it to a colleague or friend who is looking for help on how to start making Twitter work for them.

    To end this rambling review I’d like to give you what I consider to be THE best advice for how to use Twitter. It comes from a book that was written 75 years ago and to my mind remains the archetypal instruction manual on Twitter and social networking:

    1. Become genuinely interested in other people.
    2. Smile.
    3. Remember that a man’s name is to him the sweetest and most important sound in the English language.
    4. Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves.
    5. Talk in terms of the other man’s interest.
    6. Make people feel important, and do it sincerely.

    Thank you Dale Carnegie :)




     
     

  • Stuart Witts 8:30 pm on July 4, 2011 Permalink | Reply
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    Dear Google, I’m sorry. 

    Google Circles

    It’s fair to say that I haven’t been entirely enamored with Google in the past. At one point I likened them to the relentless consumers of civilisations from Star Trek, The BORG, with their desire to reduce everything to an algorithm. But after just a few days with Google+ it’s time to put the record straight.

    G+ seem to come out of nowhere and establish itself as the place to be, certainly the majority of my network turned up within days. From the overly complicated and bloated WAVE, to the messy and noisy BUZZ, Google have clearly been slapped round the face and reminded of what made them great… Simplicity.

    That’s not to say that G+ is basic, far from it. But the experience of using it feels intuitive, like something designed by Apple, and without thought you feel free to post quick Twitter like updates, pictures and links to cool shit à la Tumblr or monster Blog like rants. With Picasa and YouTube, Google now OWN the web.

    For me Facebook began to wither and die when the brands and marketers turned up. Games and apps muddied the social experience, and a visit to Facebook quickly became more about dodging the sell than catching up with friends. I know that this special breed of scum will turn up in G+ soon, but luckily Google don’t need the money so it can (hopefully) be on there terms. A few adwords here and there don’t bother me in the slightest and when brand pages do turn up, I sincerely hope they look like this.

    When I first played with G+ I thought that Twitter was safe and Facebook was history, but now I’m not sure anyone is safe. Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr have all been mashed together to produce one true social network, and with the layer of make-up provided by themes removed it has literally become all about the content shared. Kudos must go to Twitter for creating this real-time, short conversational mentality and to the king of social networks, Facebook, for bringing us all together in the first place. But playtime’s over kids, it’s time to let the grown-ups take control.

    And so I finish by saying please accept my apology Google, I’m sorry I doubted you and this one’s for you…






     
     

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