I’ve been remiss in not mentioning here recent band news. We’re launching our new EP Between your lines next Wednesday (25 June) at the Hopetoun Hotel.

Come down and help us celebrate: our friends Underlapper and Karoshi will be playing earlier in the evening. If you’re on Facebook you can RSVP for the event there.

The EP is also on a range of music download services, most notably iTunes if you want to get the tracks before the launch.

We’ve also got t-shirts for sale, featuring the CD art, on RedBubble. They’re going for AUD$24.95, are printed on American Apparel tees, and are available in a range of colours (just click on the colour chart below the image to preview).

Update: And we’ve just launched a new-look website…

I’ve been a bit quiet around blog-land of late due to general busy-ness in life and work (including a presentation I did for the Investor Weekly Branding conference last week.)

Consulting biz: Zumio

Preparations for my consulting biz are going well - the name is Zumio, and I’ve started a blog (of course!) covering work related stuff - esp. posts on social media and networking, with a bit of emphasis on non-profit/social change.

I was waiting until I’d created the site design etc. that reflects the Zumio visual ID etc., but it might be a couple of weeks before that’s done, so worth making mention of it now…

I’ve got a few bookings already post my departure from working as an employee at Digital Eskimo. (Happily I’ll be continuing working with the eskimos as a freelancer on some projects into the future.)

Menswear label: Soko Loko

The menswear label has a “working title”: Soko Loko - I call it “working title” because I’m still working on sourcing a designer and developing the business plan, so I’m not 100% sure the name will stick.

I’ve been busy attending another series of courses at Sydney Community College covering a lot of the practicalities of starting your own label in NSW. Susan Goodwin, who designs and runs street-wear label Rocket Fuel, as well as freelancing for some more well known labels, is running the courses. She’s been an invaluable source of hard-won information about the industry, how it ticks, and how we can make our own label succeed. (Further courses are planned in May - keep an eye on the college’s site if you’re interested.)

Over the next month or two I should have a bit more to talk about in that regard (as much of my time has been focused on establishing the consulting gigs). Suffice to say that so far things have been progressing well.

Fuzu

My band Fuzu have been on a little bit of a self-imposed hiatus as we search for a keyboardist (we’d been jamming with someone who’s unfortunately moving to Melbourne) and finalise the artwork. Toby has come up with some promising photos that may become the cover art, so hopefully it won’t be too much longer…

In related news, we’re no longer the only Fuzu in town - seems a certain gorilla at Toronga Zoo liked the name, which apparently means “to graduate”.

Strange, but true…

Just posted details of this year’s nonzero/FBi fundraiser that’s happening next Thursday and Friday over at the Fuzu site. Hope to see you there!

Just a quick note to say that I’m taking some time out over the next week - heading to Merimbula with Ang for a few days. I’ll be out of computer range during that time, so posting is going to be non-existent here for a little while. But I’ll be back into it again early Jan…

I’ve got some news relating to work and my plans for the coming year. From Jan 1 I’ll be working 4 days per week with my current employer, Digital Eskimo, until March/April, at which point I’ll be doing the freelance thing.

The primary reason for the move is a desire on my part to set up a new business producing and retailing ethical clothing (more on that here) - that is clothes that use environmentally sustainable materials (like organic cotton, hemp and bamboo) and that are sweatshop free.

Some of you may remember that I started down this path some years ago while I was still working at NETaccounts (now Saasu). Well, although in some ways the industry has come a long way (even Target now offers organic cotton options) there’s still a long way to go. I want to work towards that goal.

The move from Digital Eskimo was tough - the team that I’ve had the privilege to work with since May this year is exceptional, and it was a really hard decision to make (and I hope to continue working with them on projects in the future).

But through some soul searching, in part prompted by working through The Artist’s Way with some friends earlier this year, but also the passing of Anita Roddick, lead me to the conclusion that I needed to pursue this dream (that just hasn’t let go).

So, anyway, this blog is probably going to be a little more active as I post about the business and ideas surrounding it, but also just generally about ethical business.

In the freelance side of things I’ll be hopefully doing a variety of web development projects - I hope with a focus on non-profits and progressive organisations, social media and web standards - but I’ll speak more on that in the new year as I start to get things in place to make the leap.

I can’t believe it. My wonderful guitar, it turns out, is stolen goods. That means I have to return it

The store I got it from did all the right things, yet 2.5 months later the police notified them that it was reported stolen. So they’ve done all they can to assist me getting a new guitar - I’m heading in on Saturday to work out the details - but I lose the Tele. V. disappointed to say the least.

I just hope all the ‘72 re-issues are as good as the one I have to give back… and that whoever the owner is gets as much joy and use out of it as I have.

Just a quick note to point you to a Q&A I did with Priscilla at Solidariti.com as part of a series she is doing with a number of digital agencies.

The Q&A covers a bit about Digital Eskimo’s approach, ways non-profits can leverage the net and more. (Thanks to Priscilla for the opportunity).

To Damian - (belatedly) for the new addition to the fam…

To Penny - for having her research paper being accepted at DUX.

I heard the news about Anita Roddick’s passing last night on JJJ’s Hack program. I have to admit I was quite shocked to hear it - in fact emotionally touched and saddened… still am.

As Dave so eloquently put it “She left the planet and it’s inhabitants with a much better chance of survival than if she had not been born…”

Anita was absolute hero of mine. I first heard about the Body Shop’s “different” way of doing things, and thought I’d read Anita’s semi-biography “Business as unusual“. It was tremendously inspiring to read about Anita’s journey from the small shop recycling bottles because she had to, to the spread of the Body Shop internationally.

Through the Body Shop she was a pioneer of what was to become known as Fair Trade, took an activist stance on animal testing and women’s rights, all the while building a successful international business. Proof positive that profits do not have to trump people and the environment - they can happily work together.

Throughout her life she was a passionate human rights and environmental activist, who really was alone for many, many years in her role as ethical business-woman. (Business-woman period, for that matter.) Her later books were a call to action for us all to take a stand, to “take it personally”, and to make our voices heard and our actions count.

I found myself quite emotionally low last night. I feel I personally owe her a debt of gratitude, even though I’ve never met her in person.

But I think about what her advice might be - I think (I hope) it would be “keep fighting the fight and make whatever difference you can, in work and life”. Hopefully I can do that sentiment justice…

To paraphrase Augie March: Anita, thanks for the memes. Your life is an inspiration.

P.S. both images on this post were taken from the home page of AnitaRoddick.com, Anita’s personal website. Check it out and help Anita’s legacy live on…

Update: Philippa over at ActNow posted a great opinion piece on Anita. “However, the loss of this figure should not bring us to look hopelessly at the sky but requires consumer’s attention to be cast on other businesses and their actual intentions towards their stakeholders.”

I spotted an entry for AusWeb 2007 on the WIPA events board.

Jogged my memory - I helped pull together the website for the very first AusWeb conference in 1995. So far back even the Internet Archive doesn’t remember it…

Makes me wonder: have I been doing this web thing for too long??? Nah….