Guilty pleasures

For the last six months I’ve been working on an intranet re-design project. I don’t like calling it that, because it’s so much more… but to explain the ‘more’ would take me a day (and I don’t want to let on to our competitors what we’re upto!) Let’s just say, that next year, we’re going to own the Nielsen Norman Group Intranet Design Annual: Year’s Ten Best Intranets and the Intranet Innovation Awards. That’s how passionate I am about the work we’re doing.

The bonus is that it’s challenging me. Taking me places I’ve wanted to go in my career, but not had the chance to go to, until now. I’m reading. I’m researching. I’m discussing and bouncing ideas with some pretty darn intelligent industry experts (and a few kiwis too… but hey, gotta remember my project team – kidding guys, luff you!) To give you an idea of what’s on my reading stack, here is a brief list:

• The Intranet Management Handbook by Martin White
• What every intranet team should know by James Robertson
• Designing intranets: Creating sites that work by James Robertson
• Web Analytics 2.0: The Art of Online Accountability and Science of Customer Centricity by Avinash Kaushik
• The New Social Learning: A Guide to Transforming Organizations Through Social Media by Tony Bingham and Marcia Conner
• Letting Go of the Words: Writing Web Content that Works by Janice Redish
• Content Strategy for the Web by Kristina Halvorson
• Seamless Teamwork: Using Microsoft SharePoint Technologies to Collaborate, Innovate, and Drive Business in New Ways by Michael Sampson.

So what does all this have to do with guilty pleasures… apart from proving just how much of a geek I am?

Well my life changes depending on what state my mind is in. My interests change. If I’m not challenged career-wise, my personal life takes on a dynamic and quite challenging perspective. My taste in books, music, movies, activities etc. all reflect a need to be mentally challenged. But when I’ve got it happening at work? My personal tastes go down hill…

I’m grooving to the sounds of Britney Spears new album ‘Femme Fatale’ with Lady Gaga’s music coming up next. I know… it’s sad… but oh so much fun in such a naughty guilty way! I need the light and fluffy from my personal life now that work is all go. Don’t judge me!

Disclaimer: After Lady Gaga, it’s Faith No More then Massive Attack. I still retain some taste, I promise!

p.s. image used for this blog post was a design I stitched ages ago; highly appropriate, even if it was originally stitched for subversive reasons.

What are your guilty pleasures?