ARTICLES
The power of charisma
We are nearly three weeks into 2017. How many resolutions have you kept? It's easy to make a bold proclamation about doing more exercise, being more careful with money or quitting a bad habit on New Year's Eve (we blame the champagne) but if you don't know how to do...
Stand up for Women in Comedy
This week, I chaired the Royal Television Society (RTS) ‘Women in Comedy’ event at ITV Studios in London. The panel included Sophie Taitt (Head of Production, Comedy, BBC, about to move to a new role for Netflix in LA); Saskia Schuster (Commissioning Editor, Comedy,...
Unlucky Number 7 for Samsung
The writing was on the wall for the Samsung Galaxy Note 7, and I had an inkling that all might not be well when I returned from the Sibos financial conference in Geneva last week. As the plane prepared for takeoff, the cabin crew advised passengers that ‘all...
Is the art of political oration a thing of the past?
After a summer of political upheavals, parliament itself could be about to move. Yes, the dingy, ‘asbestos-riddled’ Palace of Westminster is in need of a refurb and current proposals would see MPs dispatched to Richmond House and Peers moved to the QEII Conference...
‘Insider Secrets’ on Clinton vs Trump
It's not in the remit of this blog to take party lines, and so we are approaching the US elections with, if not cool detachment, then certainly warm fascination. Donald faces Hillary in November, and depending on your pollster you can find the election predictions...
Brexit, Bremain, Breject? Whatever the decision – Bret-a-move-on!
Following the Brexit vote on Thursday, it’s hard to know what to write now. And as the fall out from the vote has spread, from the annihilation of the Labour front bench to the calls for Jean-Claude Juncker to resign my response has gone from a sort of ‘keep calm and...
Come fly with me: without disruption or delay!
The more complex the machine, the more likely it is to go wrong. And with that thought in mind, we’ve been through a forehead-furrowing number of airports in the last few months as conference season really gets underway. As millions of people go through the system,...
Coming Up Down Under: a new ICC for Sydney
The punishing heat of the long Australian summer has given way to a cooler slant of sunshine, punctuated by downpours in Sydney, NSW, but nothing that could stop the crowds of tourists from hopping between the cafes around Darling Harbour. Darling Harbour, if you...
Hotpoint: hung out to dry?
As a million advertising and sales gurus will tell you, 'instil fear in the customer and you’ll create demand'. Whether you find being given the hard sell intimidating or an imaginary audition for QVC, this sales technique doesn't float our PS Programmes boat anywhere...
How to be politically neutral until the EU referendum
The date for the UK’s historic referendum on continued membership of the European Union has been set, and those of us who are politically neutral by profession are going to have to watch our mouths closer than usual. Neutrality is sometimes an uncomfortable place to...