Road Trip

It had been a while since the last time we'd grabbed our guitars, bagged the back seats of the school coach, and headed off as a team on the open road - but last week half the office decamped to Kuala Lumpur to see the sights of our near neighbour's capital city, sample the local food, and play 'Indian Poker' in Bangsar.

Oh, and somewhere along the way we managed to hold a 2-day conference: Digital Inclusion Forum, which attracted over 80 high-level government officials from nine countries. That was a bit of a laugh too.

It was also nice to see a couple of new staff find their feet with us - as this was Amelia's first outing to an Alphabet Media event, and Chirag's first event with us as well. I think they were both impressed with the seniority of the attendees - as well as the honourable tradition of drinking games with which our events are traditionally concluded.

Special mention must go to James2, however. He was a last minute casualty, courtesy of a 'dodgy back' - but such is the nature of the man, that we felt compelled to leave a space for him at every meal time and group photo.

Feel the power

I may not be much of a petrol head like Kelly, but I am a man - and respond like any other man with an adrenaline shiver whenever I feel the roar of a powerful engine between my legs. And so it proved today, as we unveiled our new ... hoover (vacuum cleaner).

She's a bit of a looker with her metallic grey paint job, and I can tell you that she packs quite a punch with 1600w of raw power available at the flick of a switch. Catherine, our cleaning aunty, was very pleased to get her hands on the company's latest toy, as the photographs attest. I'm thinking of calling her ... Rosebud.

The greatest story never told

As I can hear the roar of bloody jet planes swooping low over Beach Road, wowing the crowds celebrating Singapore's 42nd National Day, it seems a good time to reflect on the birthday of Alphabet Media, which falls in the same week. All the more so since I'm in the office working, in advance of next week's Digital Inclusion Forum in Kuala Lumpur - so mulling over where we've come from, and where we're headed is an excuse to break away from preparing talking points and the like.

I remember walking around the empty office the day I legally registered the business in Singapore. It all seemed so straight forward then - I'll interview some senior government officials, write some articles, speak to key enterprise technology vendors, and launch a magazine. I knew that the idea behind PSTM was hot to trot, naturally everyone else I was going to speak to would share my enthusiasm.

Er ... well it wasn't quite so easy. Fortunately the time I'd spent managing other publications for Terrapinn/AiC Worldwide had enabled me to build up a (small) reputation which helped lend credibility to the exercise. And then I got lucky with a few solid interviews with government officials in the region who turned the heads of PR execs and IT marketers - proving that it was possible for us to get access to decision-makers and news-breakers.

But to be honest - if you'd ask me what the key lesson of that first year was, at the time I'd have told you: "Don't set up a magazine." But I got lucky, at least in my work life. And so we survived.

We got considerable buy-in early on from a few names - Kodak, Aspect, SurfControl and then crucially Oracle - and that gave a small operation the momentum it needed to get ahead and start experimenting. And we've been experimenting ever since in one form or another, and having increasing amounts of fun along the way. One of the nicest things has been how we've been able to progressively recruit 'Alphabet people' - girls and boys who are open to new thinking, have a sense of humour, and feel good about creating ideas.

In a sense, if you ask me what lessons I've learned now - it would run along the lines of: "Try not to set up a magazine, but if you really feel the need to do so, make sure you recruit the best people you can, as soon as you can. Oh, and hire an accountant."

Alphabet has been the cause of much heartache for me, but it has brought the best of times too - being the catalyst for bringing together a great group of people. In that time it went from being this idea that belonged to me - to being an idea shared by all of us here at 43-45c Beach Road.

Yes, I'm sure there will be tears before bedtime. There'll be bumps on the road ahead, there always are. But now, touch wood, I can say we're fast-growing and successful. We can compete with any of our competitors for talent in the marketplace, and we're prepared to invest in good people, good ideas, and Friday doughnuts.

So as the business races forward with plans for new and bigger events, as well as expanded editorial coverage, and office expansion, I'm really hoping that this time next year I won't have to be alone in the office working on National Day. But every cloud has a silver lining. As I sit here looking out of the window, I can see the most amazing fireworks. Life's pretty good, and I believe in the future.

Slap my cow

Ladies and gents, please welcome Chirag Gohel - Alphabet Media's new Business Development Director. Chirag joins us from Euromonitor, and will be working closely with J2 to oversee the growth of our flagship title Public Sector Technology & Management (PSTM).

We've built up some great momentum with PSTM, along with its related events, and have consecutively broken sales records whilst at the same adding to the editorial team. Chirag is looking to take our cherished first-born title to a wider audience of technology stakeholders.

PSTM's new Rainmaker-in-Chief has a number of unusual talents, as you'd expect of anyone who joins us here at Alphabet. Although mild-mannered by day, Chirag transforms in the evenings into a vigilante dancefloor king, grooving across the nightspots of Singapore, dispensing homespun wisdom whilst performing his infamous 'Cowboy-slaps-rump-of-cow' dance move.