No 26 - There goes my hero

Welcome readers new and old!

There's been something in my eye a couple of times over the past few weeks, and the first one became the theme for this newsletter. But then the Queen died, and everything seemed to change in an instant. A moment to pause, to stop, reflect and just get out of the way for a while. This isn't a newsletter about the Queen, her majesty was not my hero, but she was like my fake gran, a connection from the past to the present, the glue that seemed to hold that UK together. She was a hero to many, and much more to many others. Personally, I just quite liked her.

She might have been 96, but she still had more power than Tik Tok, with estimates predicting her majesty's funeral was the single biggest live TV event in history. By my estimates, that's more people watching the funeral than global app downloads of TikTok. The BBC and Channel 4 both did an excellent job of the coverage over the last 10 days, but I welcome normal service resuming and a break for and from Hue Edwards.

Not every news outlet got it right, however. "This is what happens when journalists are pressed for time and are knackered. Comedian Rosie Holt's parody video for Center Parks was used in a serious journalism podcast. A good save from Guardian's Phil Maynard." Michelle Goodall of the Guild .

Whilst people staying at Centre Parcs were more than a bit miffed to be thrown out, but then confined to their quarters. Millions of people did what the British do best, The Queue that you could see from space, which must be another record. Us Brits do love a good queue.

The British don't have a monopoly on queues. MrBeast Burger saw thousands fill a shopping centre for the opening of his first burger restaurant. A social media phenomenon that actually churns out good burgers. You might even be able to order one where you are delivers from more than 1,000 locations worldwide. To do this it operates from other restaurants, but this is his first IRL/F2F thing.

Back to the title of this week's newsletter, it was in reference to Taylor Hawkins' 16-year-old son, Shane, as he did his father proud on the drum kit for a recent Foo Fighters' performance of "My Hero.” There was a tear or two in my eye as I watched it twice.

Interestingly, the song is about the heroes Dave Grohl had in his life, ones who were ordinary people but did extraordinary things. Grohl has explained that he has little use for hero-worship when it comes to celebrities - especially rock stars. The song is written from the perspective of a kid, but it reflects Grohl's beliefs.

Remember my nothing newsletter? Well, it wasn't mentioned in the LinkedIn News UK "do nothing helps with creativity". I guess was ahead of my time by a few weeks. Still, I try to ensure that I do nothing from time to time. I always remember my best friend at school was massively into programming games, it often took stepping away, talking through his issue and flicking the switch on the kettle for the problem to be solved, leaving me to make the brews as he ran back upstairs. Thanks, Jeff!

So, what's caught my eye recently?

BeReal, the social network that I still think will run out of steam soon, either through boredom or being cloned out of existence. TikTok Now: BeReal-style feature prompts copycat claims.

Regardless, can a BeReal post get you into trouble at work? Because the experience is time limited nature, it could. I know friends who post things on Instagram days/weeks after it happened, hardly a chronological statement of fact. So, if you decide to use it, think about how and where you're sharing your pictures. Especially, as bosses already think that employees do less at home than in the office, this is at odds with employees who think they work hard at home. Who is right, who is wrong? Let me know your thoughts. This is going to run and run.

I was a bit sad to see Beavertown Brewery bought out by 喜力 , but that's just the way of the world these days. Hopefully, the don't f*** it up.

Though it doesn't have to be as the founder of Patagonia showed. None of this, Bill Gates style stuff. just done. Well, not just done at all, more a dogged determination to get it done. If you haven't read about it yet, it's well worth a read.

I was also sad to see Adobe ’s acquisition of Figma , which The Verge believes is a $20 billion bet to control the entire creative market. In fact, a lot of my reading has been on the newly rebranded Verge website. I've read a lot of rebrand stories over the years, but this must be my G.O.A.T. Well done to everyone involved.

Phil Hobden and I caught up after a long summer break to record our latest episode of Inside Fintech to rave reviews (honestly). In this episode we focused on the Accounting Excellence awards as well as the usual Fintech news. Have a listen, it's only 24 minutes long. :)

However, it was far from the most dramatic thing to happen in the podcasting world with Adnan Syed's conviction overturned in Serial podcast murder case. There's more to come too as the decision does not mean he is innocent, as Judge Phinn has ordered a new trial.

One of my favourite articles/podcasts recently centred on YouTube in its inner workings. "Everyone knows what YouTube is — few know how it really works". It's a fascinating read and helps to explain why decisions have and have not been made over the years. Though it doesn't quite explain why the dislike button doesn't influence what you get served.

Google has made some great things over the years and they have made a long list of things that have been canned. One area that has made no sense at all is their task management tools. Finally, there's a sense of some serious CX improvements across tools. (Unless you use Keep). Yes, tasks and to-do's etc. will speak to each other across Googles tools. FINALLY!!!

Normally I reserve the last bit of my newsletter for a movie, TV series or music video. This week I'm going to hand over to Mike Winnet who has gone up the ranks of my attention in recent weeks. Partly, because he's good at what he does, partly because the algorithms keep serving me more CONTENT.

I'd recommend his VIEWS ARE MY OWN if you're interested in marketing and sales. But the stand out for me is his Contrepreneur Bingo.

Until next time, stay safe and be kind... Unless they are NOBS (Watch video for context)