Amusing

Invertebrate stationery

Every now and then you really do have to do a double-take, scratch your head and then the penny drops. So it happened the other day when Jo was asked a question by a customer who referred to Mollusc Keynay. Reading it makes no sense, but say it out loud and all become apparent. In case it hasn’t made sense yet, he was referring to a very well known brand of notebook. No? Try Moleskine notebooks.

And the winner is…

The 2013 ECMOD Awards

We’re probably the least showy company around, and at times it is almost as though we go out of our way to avoid the limelight, but I took the decision to raise our profile last year. Small can be beautiful but we have to survive as well! We love what we do, we are very proud of what we do, and although not perfect, we do try and offer something better than you will find elsewhere. When an industry awards competition came up last month, we decided to put ourselves forward for an award, and Outstanding Customer Service seemed a suitable award to show how we try and do things a little differently. Given that the submission for the award came on the same day we were moving premises, it was something of a mad rush to get the entry prepared and in on time. It was therefore a bit of a nice surprise when we were shortlisted for our award, and invited to a glitzy ‘do’ at Chelsea Football Club. I can’t ever remember winning anything previously – maybe a tombola prize, and I did score the required three penalties at the school summer fair a couple of years ago to win something – so it was something a shock and slightly surreal when Dermot Murnaghan called out our name. Hopefully the video interview afterwards will never see the light of day.

The honest response to winning is a mixed one – I personally do believe that we go beyond the usual empty customer service promises that you find around. We may also make a mess of your order, but will take personal responsibility to resolve it if we do. However, I also feel that we have a lot of improving to do, so nice as it is to get such an award, we will hopefully do a much better job of it over the next 12 months and beyond.

A big thank you to anyone who has submitted positive feedback as we did use this as part of our submission, to show how we tried to establish relationships with customers. The feedback was very nice to receive, and it demonstrated that we were trying to do something that others were glad to receive – real people who were prepared to be helpful and available and to treat you as we would expect to be treated. Here’s to a better future for Bureau and yet more exciting stationery coming your way.

Lamy Safari limited editions

An annual event

Here is an update on a post from 2011 – the limited edition Lamy Safari pens over the years. This year it is neon yellow, last year was the apple and then we had aqua (2011), lime (2008), pink (2009 & 2010), white & black (2007), orange (2009) and blue/red (not sure what year…2006?)

neon yellow

apple

aqua

lime

pink

white

black

orange

blue/red

If anyone has any more photos of previous limited editions, or even of their favourite limited edition, please do send them in and we’ll post them for you.

10th Anniversary – a postscript

Firstly, to anyone that has made it to the blog to find out more, a big thank you for taking part in some or all of the day’s questions. It has been fun if exhausting working out the quiz along the way. I wanted to take the time to particularly say thank you for everyone who attempted the final day’s question which was just a bit harder than most other days, and as a result it generated some very well thought out responses. I might even say that some of the answers made my own actual answer seem a bit poorly thought through. Although incorrect if judged against my answer, I feel these deserve a mention, so here they are. I haven’t attempted to verify any of the facts quoted, but I do like their ingenuity.

Lorraine Blencoe’s answer was ‘records’ -

• Titian’s ‘Madonna and Child’ sold for a record $16.9 million in 2011
• Queen Victoria is the longest reigning monarch at 63 years
• In 1924 the first baby to be born on the London Underground was born on the Bakerloo Line
• Central Park is the most visited urban park in the United States
• Ian Thorpe holds the record for the most Olympic golds won by any Australian -

Allan Engelhardt said ‘brown ‘ -

• Gordon Brown got into a fight with David Cameron over the age of Titan when he died – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titian#Present_day
• Ian Thorpe’s favourite foods are brown: Caramel Space Food Sticks and chocolate – http://news.bbc.co.uk/sportacademy/hi/sa/swimming/features/newsid_3236000/3236946.stm
• Olmsted, one of the two designers of Central Park, was heavily influenced by “Capability” Brown, and often Mount Auburn cemetery is cited as another source – http://www.nypap.org/content/central-park and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Auburn_Cemetery
• Queen Victoria was sometimes called “Mrs Brown” due to rumours of a relationship (marriage, even) with her manservant John Brown – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_Victoria#Widowhood
• The Bakerloo line is of course coloured brown on the tube map

Ron Goodwin came up with ’9′ –

• Titian: Believed to have moved to Venice to commence art training at the age of NINE.  Additionally, Titian’s  Digital Modern Deco Giclee Urban Art On Canvas is comprised of NINE panels.
• Ian Thorpe: Has won NINE Olympic medals (5 gold, 3 silver, 1 bronze), NINE Pan Pacific titles, and, in 1994, won NINE individual gold medals at the New South Wales Short Course Age Championships.
• Central Park: New York’s NINTH Avenue runs through Central Park.
• Queen Victoria: Had NINE children – Victoria, Edward, Alice, Alfred, Helena, Louise, Arthur, Leopold and Beatrice.
• The Bakerloo Line: Is the NINTH busiest line on the London Underground network.

Natalie Raybould suggested ‘red/ginger’ -

• Titian famously painted redhaired female subjects
• Queen Victoria and In Thorpe both are/were redheads
• The Bakerloo line was originally the red line before it changed to brown
• And the red-tailed hawk ( the famous breeding pair being Pale Male and Ginger) are famous residents of Central Park.

Verity Wood nailed her colour to the mast and said ‘queen’ -

• Titian painted several monarchs including Queen Christina of Denmark
• Queen Victoria was queen of Great Britain from 1837 until her death in 1901
• In 1915 the Bakerloo Line was extended to Queen’s Park
• Ian Thorpe often trains at the Queen Victoria Building in Sydney
• The rock band Queen played a concert at New York’s Central Park in 2008 ( a final link was that Sydney also has a Central Park that is currently being redeveloped)

Stephanie Dedbar also had the idea it was ‘brown’ -

• Gordon Brown compared himself to Titian
• Ian Thorpe has had a brown rose named after him
• Queen Victoria was known as Mrs Brown
• The Bakerloo line is the brown one on the map
• And Central Park…well, I’m not sure. I thought James Brown had a song called Central Park Blues, but the majority of the internet suggests it was Nina Simone. Then I thought it might be Gordon Brown again (Central Park shares its name with the home of Scottish football club Cowdenbeath and Gordon Brown is the MP for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath) but that seems a bit tenuous (though perhaps prize-worthy in its tenuousness!).

I may yet turn this into something more regular but we’ll have to wait to and see on this. Thank you once again for taking part.

Dominic

10th Anniversay – Day 31

Archived Questions

Day 31 – March 31st 2013

So the final day has arrived. Maybe you’ve only just discovered the competition today, maybe you’ve dipped in and out on some days already, or maybe you’ve been a daily addict. Who knows, maybe you’ve even won one of the previous 30 prizes (or two of them….Allan). It was meant to mark a little milestone, that of 10 years trading online. Many people have been online for longer, but there are also many others who have popped up since, and 10 years does feel like something of an achievement. It also coincided with our move to new premises, which in itself was something of a milestone event in trying to grow our (little) business. We were in Camden for too long, and had outgrown our tiny little home.

So 30 days, 30 questions. We went from a Beth Bag to Tom Baker via jazz musician Ken Colyer, Victor Meldrew, Lincoln Cathedral, Julius Caesar, The Rolling Stones, Woody Allen, Crewe Alexandra and Concorde. All of which had a link to Bureau, however tenuous. At times it may have resembled Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon, but it hopefully also gave a little insight into who we are (and were) here at Bureau, and probably just a little sense of what we like (well, a lot of what I like, and quite a bit of what others like). My personal favourite question was Day 25, about the link between Woody Allen and Kentish Town West station, although I was also fond of the link from Robyn to Trading Places on Day 3, possibly because it was one of the first questions I came up with and was suitably rambling to make me want to do the whole 31 days.

And the next 10 years? That’s a scary thought, although I will re-read this in March 2023 if we are still here and remember fondly the mornings spent tapping out a new question, mug of tea in hand. We do have big hopes and aims for the coming year though, and by March 2014 I really hope that we are much bigger, better and more exciting, but without ever losing the personal side. In fact, I hope that we will see far more involvement from others – there are rumours of a guest-edit slot on the Stationery Wednesday one day soon….

So, today’s question. I’ve given up trying to guess what makes a hard question and what is an easy one. Given the big prize on offer today, I’d like to think that this question is suitably testing, but who knows. As long as it makes you think.

Q: What is the link between Titian (16th Century Italian painter, Venetian school) and Ian Thorpe (Australian swimmer, 5 times Olympic gold medallist, all round Olympic pool legend), Central Park, Queen Victoria and the Bakerloo line?

A: Oxford Circus tube station

In The Great Bear by Simon Patterson, Oxford Circus was represented by Titian (the Victoria Line was for Italian Artists and for whatever reason, this took precedence over the Central Line). Last year, in the run up to the Olympics, TfL re-drew the tube map and The Great Bear with Olympic Legends, and in this map, Oxford Circus was represented by Ian Thorpe (the Central Line was for pool events and took precedence over the Victoria Line this time round). Oxford Circus is served by the Central, Victoria and Bakerloo lines.

PLEASE DON’T ENTER THIS PRIZE. THE COMPETITION IS NOW CLOSED AND HAS BEEN POSTED HERE AS AN ARCHIVE ONLY.

10th Anniversary – Day 30

Archived Questions

Day 30 – March 30th 2013

The most recent member of the team to join was Paul. Actually this isn’t strictly true since Tim joined last week, but when I set out to produce 31 questions of which some would be staff-based, Paul was the last to join. He joined in 2012, during the summer, and is particularly noted for his clothes. On any given day this can vary from bow-tie to Family Guy t-shirt, and he currently can’t quite handle the ‘heat’ in the new offices. This heat is what the rest of us call a ‘normal’ office temperature, and after Camden it is a huge relief. Still, I get to work and change out of my cycling gear into trousers, and Paul now puts shorts on when he gets to work to keep cool. He also has an interest in all things film and (some) TV shows, including Doctor Who. Since our shop in Covent Garden was also frequented by one of the Doctors on a regular basis, it makes sense that today’s question is…

Q: Which Doctor Who married his assistant? (clue – it was the same Doctor that came into the Covent Garden shop)

A: Tom Baker married Lalla Ward (or Sarah Ward) who played Romana

PLEASE DON’T ENTER THIS PRIZE. THE COMPETITION IS NOW CLOSED AND HAS BEEN POSTED HERE AS AN ARCHIVE ONLY.

Please click here to see the latest daily prize question.

10th Anniversary – Day 29

Archived Questions

Day 29 – March 29th 2013

For anyone who had ever visited our last offices in Camden you would have known that we were situated under a railway line. Hence the address – The Arches. Maybe you just spoke to us on the telephone and wondered what that strange rumbling noise in the background was. For the most part you got used to it, like any noise, and it was the look of surprise and worry on visitors faces that reminded you of the passing Stratford to Richmond train overhead. And then there were the freight trains. They would generate a loud vibration that went right through everything, not least your head, like some method of CIA interrogation. If you have ever tried placing an order over the phone and been repeatedly asked for your details, it was probably a passing train. Acton is so nice and quiet. Still, very occasionally the passing train would be a steam train, and you might get a warning with that familiar toot and approaching noise. I even remember being on the platform on Kentish Town West station – a bleak place at the best of times (see March 25 for more on this), and whilst waiting for the 18.04 home along rolled an old-style train (pulled by a diesel locomotive, sadly) with the traditional Orient Express style dining cars, full of beautiful people sipping cold champagne and waiting to be served the first of many courses of their meal, sitting at tables with tablecloths and real china and cutlery. The contrast to us bedraggled commuters was a sight to see, and the looks on our faces when the train had passed said it all. We just had that look of ‘did I really just see that, or have I been at work too long?’. So, today’s question is…

Q: What year did the last passenger steam train run in this country?

A: 1968 – see a BBC film on the end of steam trains here

PLEASE DON’T ENTER THIS PRIZE. THE COMPETITION IS NOW CLOSED AND HAS BEEN POSTED HERE AS AN ARCHIVE ONLY.

Please click here to see the latest daily prize question.