Heather Townsend

"So you're an international best-selling author!"

Lunch with Heather Townsend was a real privilege and I was honoured she could spare the time to see me now she is in such demand!  Heather's book, Business Networking, an FT Guide to using the power of online on offline networking for business success was only launched on 1 July, but already it has sold almost 2000 copies worldwide. 

Heather has an unusual skill-set.  With a background in engineering (including a degree from Oxford) and logistics, Heather is a master of process - and this is evident in the way she has structured her book: it is designed as an interesting read from cover to cover, but works equally well as a reference tool with a useful summary at the end of each chapter and a list of action points, (Heather is a strong believer in the practical application of new skills as soon as possible after the learning, to embed the new knowledge) as well as tips highlighted in box-outs throughout.  A highly recommended read. (You can order it from Amazon here.)

Heather worked for many years as an in-house training & development partner at BDO Stoy Hayward and today works equally comfortably with accounting and legal partnerships.  Her speciality is equipping professionals for partnership, latterly with a particular focus on how they can use social media to help, by building their networks.  Given her logistics background, she is particularly interested in prescribing systems for management and control of social media, also policies, in larger firms.

Follow Heather on twitter - you'll find her tweets useful.

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The week started sadly, with reports of Amy Winehouse's death last weekend.  Not surprising, some say, but deeply tragic none-the-less.  Of all the write-ups, I found the Economist's particularly touching, describing how she lived her life backwards: "Barely out of her teens ...she already had the knowing tone of a performer with a lifetime of heartbreak behind her. Then, in her 20s, she set about acquiring the tragic worldliness that the timbre of her voice conveyed."  Read the full Economist report here.







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Judgment Day on Wednesday made this an exceptionally busy and exciting week at Kysen.  The Supreme Court issued no less than five judgments,(clearing the decks before the Summer break do we think?), four of which we have been actively working on.  Phew! 

The Star Wars copyright case was particularly fun to work on: being such a massively loved global brand, the mention of Star Wars caught journalists' interest right away - and sent newspaper picture editors into a lather of excitement.  Subeditors also had a field day with the headlines, for example the Evening Standard's 'Empire Strikes Back in copyright War'.  The judgment brought a legal surprise as well, changing the law more dramatically than many expected and potentially opening the floodgates for foreign copyright litigation in the UK.


This is exactly what we come to work for!