Download our new short film...

I write as I sit in our local tennis club just outside Brussels watching my 5 year old twin boys practice. This is what I would term a snatched occasion. The fact is I haven't spent quality time with them in weeks. And you would be right to disagree: watching them play tennis is not, strictly speaking, quality time. But normally I would drop them off and collect them. Today I am watching them play so they can see me watching them play... as I type.

These last few weeks have been the busiest and most anxious for as long as I can remember. All of last week I was in Los Angeles, sorting out our new office, meeting new colleagues and agreeing protocols, guidelines and systems around handling clients, projects and fieldwork. I was also interviewing potential field ethnographers. The interviews were a pleasant surprise. We now have two amazing new additions to our team over there.

I think, though I can't be sure, my anxiousness stemmed from not knowing how things were going to pan out once I left. It felt a little like leaving a child somewhere far away and hoping they would be capable of managing alone. The child being our brand, EverydayLives. I was also aware that the success of the LA office would depend a lot on the success of our Middle East office in Dubai and our yet to open office in Sao Paulo to service Latin America. Three balls that need to be kept juggling so clients will become aware of EverydayLives as a global player and not just a company who do international research or worse still, a series of loose partnerships.

In order to kick start our ventures we have used our panels to carry out a series of ethnographic deep dives in each region. Prompted by colleagues who have asked, "Can't we offer a lite version of what you already offer?" They were, of course, talking about productising part of our offer. So we have been busy making a whole series of short films to showcase our capabilities and, when brought together across all of our markets, showcase our international scope. The topic of exploration we chose in the US will be no surprise: Shopping Habits in a Recession. The US film is complete and the the others in progress. Would love to have your thoughts on the first of a bunch of 2 minute teasers. The idea is that if clients are interested, we deliver the remainder of the 'iceberg' in the form of more analysis and all day workshops tailored to individual briefs. Go here and click download to watch a .mov version.

I will keep you posted on progress and any complications.