Posted on September 15th, 2008 by Chris
Today it’s been 2 years since I wrote my first blog post titled: Military Coup in Bangers. It’s been a fun and cool ride updating the blog - although right now it’s a little hard to do as I’m doing the same thing every day.
I just want to take this opportunity to say thanks to everyone that has left a comment over the last 2 years, I do appreciate reading/responding to them!
Watch out for 2009 - I’ll be on the road a lot more and hopefully will be able to write a lot more interesting stuff on my whereabouts, more fine dining and more business adventures!
PS - Mum, I hope you like the image! I miss ya loads.
Posted on September 11th, 2008 by Chris
Posted on September 9th, 2008 by Chris
I think I’ve only ever spent 2 consecutive nights on my own in my whole life. Some think this is wired but I love to be around people all the time, otherwise I get really bored and irritated. Sadly, my girlfriends Father was taken into hospital last week so she had to return home to help her Mum which has meant I’ve been living on my own since Thursday. One of my new years resolutions was to spend some time on my own although now I’ve experienced it I never want to be on my own again 
What a bore!
Over the weekend:
This weekend has been weired with not having my girlfriend about, it sure has proved to me how much fun and joy she brings to my life (that sounds so soppy doesn’t it? haha)
Friday afternoon I took my whole team to the Cinema to watch Bangkok Dangerous. It was good fun and was just done on spontaneous move. I searched for Bangkok on Google News for an up-date on the protests that are going on here right now and saw the movie was released that day, over to the cinema’s web site to check the times and they had a showing 40 minutes later. I asked my team is they were up for it and they seemed really pumped and excited! The movie didn’t live up to my expectations but if you know Bangkok well, I think it’s worth watching.
Friday night I went out and met some buddies for beers. Saturday I ended up getting a massage which I hadn’t done in a long time. In fact it was one of the best massages I’ve ever had! Then out for some more beers.
Sunday I did some clothes washing for the first time in my life! Easy peasy Then went out and had a roast dinner at Molly Malones (which is pretty good) before returning home to take the dog for a long walk. Last night was such a bore – no friends were out so I went for a long walk around Silom before eating some dinner at Coyotes (Mexican) before returning home.
As for business, I’m currently re-structuring the company in both in terms of location and staff – more news on this later. We’ll be launching a huge set of new features for FeedZa in a couple of weeks… I’ve been working with the development team and I’m really impressed how this is progressing.
Posted on September 2nd, 2008 by Chris
Brian over at Startup Beat asked some great questions regarding FeedZa and myself in a Q&A. You can read the article here.
Posted on September 1st, 2008 by Chris
Last week was pretty manic with launching FeedZa - A fair few mistakes and surprises. The most noticeable was loosing traffic stats for day 2 and 3 due to someone over-writing an old file that didn’t have the Google Analytics code - Aggrrr!
This week I’m working with my code ninja on some new features that will make FeedZa a lot better so I’m excited to get these off the ground. I’m also launching 2 new sites that I won’t be talking about here, but they will surely keep me busy for the next few weeks.
I had a great weekend. Started of meeting a few peps from a big Thailand forum on Friday night, which then lead onto more drinking else where. It was cool to meet some new people.
On Saturday myself and my girlfriend went to the Cinema and watched “Made of Honour” - A predictable romantic comedy but nevertheless it was a good film. We were able to get the VIP seats which I love, can tilt the chair back as far as you want with a blanket wrapped around ya body - so so comfy.
Saturday night I went to see some friends who have a Nintendo Wii. This is the first time I’ve had a chance to have a go on one and I’ve got to say, they are great fun! I’m surprised how tiring playing the Wii is, and the next day both myself and my girlfriend was a little sore round the shoulders. Mexican food with wine, beer, Baileys and superb hosts meant is was a great night!
Sunday was a complete chill out day - We got up at like 3pm, went out to get some food and did some food shopping, before coming home to cook some more food.
Overall a good weekend.
The blog might be light this week, so I wanted to invite anyone how is interested in writing a guest post to feel free to contact me.
Posted on August 31st, 2008 by Chris
Around 2 years I got a call from my cousin (and also best mate) Nicky that he had been diagnosed with breast cancer. I instantly broke down.
At the age of 24, it turns out that he is the youngest man in the world to have been diagnosed with breast cancer. Luckily he has fully recovered and is still trying to raise awareness that men get breast cancer too.
Last week the People ran a double page spread on his story, which you can read here.
He is an inspiration not only for me, but for many people that are luckily enough to know him.
For more info on breast cancer, check out Breast Cancer Care.
Posted on August 27th, 2008 by Chris
Over the last couple of months I’ve run more miles than I have in my whole life! I don’t run just to get in better shape but what running does for the mind. Apart from a select few hours over the weekend, I’m pretty much stuck on a chair in front of the PC, so by going running gives me a chance to reflect on other things in life apart from work. I’m addicted.
Anyway, here are my 10 top tips for better running:
1. Warm up
I used to only spend 3 minutes warming up as my missus and her mate would laugh at me swinging my hips around and trying to touch the floor with my arse in the air. That was until I pulled a muscle in my ankle that took a couple of weeks to heal. Do some simple exercises for at least 10 to 15 minutes – especially those that concentrate on warming up your legs, calves and ankles!
2. Shoes
Right now I’m running in a pair of brown trainers that I normally wear when I’m wearing jeans – There more for going out than jogging but I did promise myself a new pair if I kept the running up for 2 months I can’t wait to get some really comfortable running shoes and I advise you to do the same. After looking around, I’m looking at the Nike Lunar Trainers
3. Music
I once went jogging without my ipod as the battery was flat… never again! What a bore. High tempo music really does lift the spirits when you’re running and if you get a track with a fast tempo, you can run along to the beat! Tonight I was listening to “Don’t you mind by DJ paleface featuring Klya” and “Martin Solveig C’est la view (fredde vs. martin club mix)” both great tracks for running!
4. Headphones
At the moment I’ve got some Sennheiser in-ear headphones – they are the best head phones I’ve ever had (I’ve bought 3 pairs in the last few years) but the trouble with in-ear head phones is that they keep falling out of my ears! Do your self a favour and get some sport neck headphones… I’m eye’ing up the Sennheiser sport neck line headphones.
5. Time of day
One of the main reasons why I run on the streets of Bangkok rather than in an air conditioned gymnasium is due to the time I go running. I have had many gym memberships over the years and although I’m active for the first week or so, I normally stop going to the gym due to the opening hours not being convenient for my schedule. I think I’ve kept my running schedule this time due to going when is most convenient for me i.e really late a night. Make sure you have the option to run whenever you want, try not to limit the hours you are able to run (i.e Gym opening times).
6. Set the timer
Whenever I go running I always set the timer and try to beat my best time. After running for a couple of weeks you will see an improvement in your speed and it’s o’ so satisfying to come back knowing you have set a new record!
7. Route
This should be obvious but for a long time I used to run a route that had so many obstructions like building materials, wonky pavements etc. Try and pick a route that is smooth, it makes all the difference.
8. Rhythm
On of the main reasons why it’s a good move to pick a route that has smooth pavement is so you can get a rhythm going and keep to it. Your breathing and your legs syncing together nicely really does make running more easier which in turn makes it more pleasurable.
9. Don’t drink too much
At half way I normally stop into the 7-11 and buy myself a bottle of water. I’ve learned that if you drink to much it can make me feel sick when I continue running after. What I’ve found that works well is rinsing my mouth with water serval times then spitting it out.
10. Cold Shower
Don’t be tempted to have a nice hot shower when you get back home, instead have a cold shower as this will stop your muscles tearing by bleeding out so that you your muscles don’t end up to sore.
Take the advice above with a pinch of salt as I’m not an expert on running, these are just tips that I’ve picked up while running a few times a week for the last few months.
Any tips you have on running that you can share?
Posted on August 27th, 2008 by Chris
This is the first of 8 interviews I did yesterday talking about FeedZa. Before this I had never done an interview in my life so this is a new experience for me. I didn’t want to just copy and paste the exact answers to the same questions so it was a little tougher than I expected! Anyway, check out my first published interview over on the Wat Blog.
Posted on August 25th, 2008 by Chris
[This is the 2nd post covering my experiences on opening up and managing a company here in Thailand. I hope this series of articles will benefit those that are considering doing the same, or are actually already operating a Thai company]
In my Thailand Business Culture post I mentioned that I have worked with over 25+ staff in nearly 4 years of trading in Thailand. I didn’t realize I had gone through so many until I wrote that post and counted them up, but that is quite a few.
In the west, most people get jobs through someone they know. Or what’s more common in the corporate world is big bosses go head hunting. What I mean by head hunting is that executives keep an eye out for talented personnel that work with other companies and then offer them a better package when they could fill a position.
In Thailand, I’ve heard that both are rarely used, and if your like me and your company is fairly small, you’ll only have one option available to you: Advertising and grinding through the CV’s and covering letters to end up with a small pile of hot potentials that are worth coming into the office for a face to face interview. Here I will share the techniques and general strategy I have used that were really effective in weeding out the serious interviewees to the lazy ones. I’m also going to add a few more that I’ve thought about using since I last interviewed someone so hopefully this list will provide some food for thought for those that are considering employing staff here.
Firstly, when you advertise, especially for IT personnel, you’ll get bombarded with applicants. It’s unreal. When I was managing a very small sales team in the UK, I didn’t get know where near as many applicants as I get here.
First step is to give the staff some obstacles before you even get to see their CV. This instantly separates the guys that are applying for every single job on the jobs site to those that are careful in which company/industry they want to work in. A simple way to do this is to instruct people to send in their CV to an email address on your job ad. Set up an auto reply on that email asking applicants to email their CV and a covering letter to another email address. This may seem like your being a pain in the arse, or might even come over as being a little unprofessional, but you’ll be surprised at how many won’t follow the simple instruction. You now have 50% than you started with.
Next step is to go through all the emails to check who actually read the auto email and included a covering letter – You now have 10%
With the remaining few, I normally browse through the covering letters and go through their CV with them at a face to face interview (if they make it that far). I’ve never been interested in grades or what university people went to. I much prefer to get to know them and their way of thinking. If the university had an impact on how they work then great, but that’s for them to show me not a piece of paper.
I clearly remember one guy coming into the office for an interview. He started rambling on about his good grades and then proceeded to shove all these university papers under my nose. I passed them back without even taking a look at them and you could see he was really offended. I tried to explain that I’m unlike 99.9% of Thai managed companies and I’d much rather learn about him myself than go by a stack of papers that I don’t understand. He didn’t get it, he’s rich parents had paid a kings ransom in sending him to the best university in Thailand and here I am telling him I don’t care. He didn’t get the job.
So now we have a small handful of covering letters to read before we send the ones we’re interested in a list of questions regarding the position they are applying for. An email interview. This gives them as much time as they need to read and answer every questions. It’s a real shame how many applicants don’t put any effort into answering the questions. My thinking is: If they can’t be bothered to even research on-line for appropriate answers, I’m not going to bother wasting my time inviting them into the office.
By this stage, we should be left with around 5% - which is a very manageable number to handle. You’ve got applicants that read emails thoroughly, can follow instructions and either know their stuff or at least can research on-line to find the answers.
Next up is a phone interview. I don’t normally ask job specific questions over the phone due to the language barrier, but it’s just a way to organize a date and time for them to come into the office. I’m not sure if this makes it easier for them to come into the office feeling a little more relaxed due to our phone conversation or not. I hope it does.
I won’t go into what questions you should ask them on a face to face interview as these will differ between your company but I will say that I highly recommend organising a surprise test that interviewees were not expecting. This is well worth organizing. There have been people that have been smooth in all other areas of the interview process but the test has shown they are simply not right for the job.
If they pass the email interview, phone interview, face to face interview and the test, I’ll send them home. I’ve made the mistake of offering the job to people on the spot but that’s one I’ll never do again in the future. The reasoning behind this is that if people have to go through lots of hoops before they are rewarded, it’ll be worth so much more to them.
Now, you’ll probably only get away with the above if you’re an exciting company to work for, have a great team that the staff can learn from and offer excellent packages. I pay my staff well, have annual pay rises and bonuses, pay for their traveling expenses, always have pop in the fridge and take them to nice restaurants in the city. We work on interesting projects and the team/vibe in the office, on most days, in a cool environment to work in. What I’m trying to say is that there’s work to do not only with interviewing staff, but keeping them as well
Have you got any tips for interviewing people, whether that be here in Thailand, online or in another country?
Posted on August 25th, 2008 by Chris
I am officially launching our new project, FeedZa, in public beta today
FeedZa let’s you easily find new blogs by browsing through snippets of RSS feeds from our hand selected/approved blogs in the FeedZa network. We have over 5,000 blogs listed already however expect a lot more in the near future.
Not only can you find new content which is categorized, you can also vote on the content you find interesting and like-wise, view the most popular feeds of the day which the FeedZa community have voted on. Basically, FeedZa is a crossbreed between Technorati and Digg
We are launching in public beta, meaning that it’s still a little buggy and that not all of the features have been rolled out as yet.
So please, check out FeedZa and let me know what you think. Your feedback will mean a lot to me
Myself and my team have put 100% effort into this project and I can’t wait to start rolling out new features when they are ready.
Go and check it out: FeedZa dot com
