*credit Danny Last © 2012

Supporting sideburns

You’ve no doubt all seen the numerous Photoshop edits of Chelsea captain John Terry doing the rounds on the internet, ever since the suspended player appeared out of nowhere in full kit to bask in the glory of a Champions League victory. Well, I’m happy to say that friend, footballing blogger, photographer and long time Brighton fan Danny Last has taken over the mantle of Terrymania and given us a new target – himself!

It all started with the now infamous ‘Picture 047‘ taken at the big City vs United derby…. in Cambridge last month. Most people would have pressed the shutter and moved on. But when it comes to great photography at football matches, Stuart Fuller is up there with the best. Most would have stopped at Picture 046 but not Stuart, and one more shot just to be sure led to the birth of a new hobby, namely photoshopping Danny and that wave.

So for some fun, I give you some of the best.

A Champagne breakfast was the order of the day.

I experienced every conceivable emotion last night as my home town club secured promotion among the elite once more. For only the second time in their 141-year history Reading FC will line up in the English Premier League. Congratulations to everyone associated with the club.

Having spent the best part of 12 years working at the club as part of the PA team, I was there to experience the euphoria around the first time in history they reached the top flight of English football in 2006. At that time, they walked away with the title amassing a record breaking 106 point and scoring 99 goals. They spent two seasons at the highest level before succumbing to the cruellest of relegations on the final day by goal difference.

This season however has been nothing short of sensational in such a different way. By January 2012 they were 11 points adrift of the challengers, but through grit and determination under the leadership of Brian McDermott they lost just once in 17 games to pick up 46 points from a possible 51 and surge to the top of the league. This is a great example of a team working and playing for each other both on and off the pitch. The same ethos that I saw in 2006 and is what makes this club one of the most respected and admired among its peers in how they conduct themselves. Huge credit to the Chairman and all the backroom staff at the club.

Last night I witnessed the second coming of my club in the relatively peaceful surroundings of the hills above Rome some 1,200 miles from my Mecca, the Madstad. I was a nervous wreck for most of the evening, only able to follow on Twitter and Sky Sports Radio on-line. It was very reminiscent to the early years of following your team on Ceefax waiting for the page to change!

Does anyone know where Adam’s desk is?

As news came through that West Ham had only managed a 1-1 at Bristol City, it was clear then that Reading needed just the one goal to win and send the Berkshire faithful into raptures. It duly arrived nine minutes from time courtesy of a Mikele Leigertwood header. There was just a small scream heard in the Eternal City at that time, followed in the next minutes by the removal of all my fingernails!

I didn’t waste much time in sharing my joy with colleagues in the office, having arranged a ‘Royal Champagne breakfast’ this morning and adorning my desk with photos from a memorable night. Here in Rome, you’re either AS Roma or SS Lazio. Now though, there are a few more who can claim a small town west of London as their second team.

Congratulazioni Reading. Urrrzzzz!

Photo: Ray Lloyd © 1975

It’s great to see the company I work get involved in a project close to my heart – photography. Ericsson are founding partners in the ADAY initiative which is asking you and people all around the world to pick up your cameras and picture what is close to you – to document daily life in one day, May 15th 2012.

I’ve always had a passion for taking photos, but only ever as an amateur. You see, my father is the professional photographer in the house earning a living by capturing those special moments at weddings and sporting events. One of his most famous photographs was of Professor Tatsuo Suzuki, 8th Dan Hanshi and founder of the Wado International Karate-Do Federation, dishing out the kicks at the UK Karate Championships at Crystal Palace in 1975. The picture went on to be used in many martial arts posters worldwide.

Of course, it wasn’t all glamour and glitz with worldwide recognition. Growing up I remember the days he worked at the Wokingham Times newspaper and I would always accompany him behind the goal as sports photographer at Wokingham Town FC. Weird and wonderful memories also include holding Leslie Crowther’s cigarette while his was having his picture taken, when my Dad was the resident photographer at the Top Rank Bingo Hall in Reading. He eventually moved on up to Reading Evening Post and into advertising with a certain, now Sir, John Madejski in the same department. But photography was, and still is, his love, even recently getting awarded for 2012 Wedding Photograph of the Year!

The good thing about photography is to be able to share your work with others and this is where the shift is happening. Years ago we would have had the film developed, prints returned in a few days, placed into an album to then show off to family and friends when we next see them. Now of course, society and technology are coming together in a significant way. The world is a lot smaller and a lot closer, opening up exciting ways for everyone to share, interact, comment and connect.

One day. Millions of perspectives. Add yours. May 15th.

The ADAY project is calling on professionals, amateurs, school children, farmers, social media fans, astronauts and office workers to let a part of your life inspire a generation and generations to come. Mobile phone camera, Hasselblad, home-made or borrowed, whatever you use can tell a story, capture a moment, illustrate the way you live and connect the world. The perspectives of everyone who enjoys photography can inspire perspectives on humankind – today and tomorrow.

The project goes live on May 15th 2012. That’s the day I and hopefully many of you will also join in this unique experiment by uploading your photos into any of three categories – Work, Home and Connect. All images will be displayed online for you and everyone to explore. Some will also be selected for a book, others will be displayed in digital exhibitions. Every single one will be saved for future research and inspiration.

So what are you waiting for? Register for free on the website and get ready for May 15th.

Now, I never have been a lover of trains back in England. You can never get a seat, always late and carriages that have seen better days. But so far my experience in Italy has been a positive one. Ok I’ve only ever done the Frascati – Roma – Frascati but still, a positive experience. Today was a first time on the Freccia Rossa high-speed train. Admittedly even before boarding, the free wifi sign won me over! After a smooth 90-minute trip, I arrived in Florence having managed to check off a few emails, post updates to the company social network, catch up with my Twitter feed, see what the rest of my world were up to on Facebook and of course finish a couple of outstanding games on Draw Something!

Now it was time to do some real work. Hosted within Palazzo Vecchio is the main town hall of Florence and the home of the Mayor, Matteo Renzi. At just 37-years old, he is a Mayor that believes technology can play a part in improving society and that’s certainly the case with his backing and support of this initiative to bring mobile ticketing to the residents of his home city. Standing alongside him were Telecom Italia, Wind, 3 and Vodafone who together had previously signed an agreement to implement a solution, with Ericsson as the technology partner, to benefit the Fiorentini people. Inside Palazzo Vecchio it was a chance for me to grab some video interviews with our customers from the mobile operators before taking position in the press conference. It was a great turnout with media from print, online and TV vying for prime spot in the room to capture the words from the very charismatic Renzi. In a not at all surprising animated speech, he managed to tweet to his 100,000+ followersabout the new service and then proceeded with a demonstration from his phone to purchase tickets, much to the delight of those in the room.

Matteo Renzi, Mayor of Florence

Of course, I was here to cover the event for employees back in the offices in our region. News of how our technology has enabled and simplified the sale of public transportation tickets was soon spread onto the internal social network. The media scrum that followed at the end was fun. All video cameras, microphones, handheld recorders etc were thrust into Renzi’s face, I couldn’t get close at all. However, we were at the heart of this, working with operators and public service to deliver a solution that simplifies people’s lives, so we carried some clout. Within seconds Renzi was ushered to one side and like the parting of the waves we were given an exclusive one on one interview while the hungry pack of journalists were kept back. Oh that felt good. With the interview ‘in the can’, or on the SD card as is now the case, it was time to call it a day and head off back to get our train. Complete with my paper ticket to Rome!

More details on the solution provided to Florence in the Ericsson press release.

I was lucky enough to be at school during a similar shift, as the computer age started. My education finished with programming on a BBC Micro computer, typing pages of code to play a game on the ZX81 at home before upgrading to a Commodore 64 via the Sinclair Spectrum. Ah, remember Additive Football Manager anyone?

Needless to say Messers Fuller and Last, seasoned travellers of Europe and all things (and all leagues!) football promptly booked a flight over for what was one of the world’s greatest footballing derby matches. Both report regularly on their travels to witness some of the most far removed football matches from the Premier League – pop over to The Ball is Round and European Football Weekends to understand more.

Of course I couldn’t invite them over for a weekend just to see the Roma derby. Oh no, just down the road is the picturesque town of Frascati. Yes that Frascati. And yes they have a football team too! With the matches confirmed and tickets purchased, a weekend of football was set.

But this is where I leave you to the professional writers and handover to wonderfully recounted reports from the weekend by The Ball is Round. First up is the Sunday morning visit to Stadion VIII Septembre, Lupa Frascati vs San Cesareo.

The the big one – AS Roma vs SS Lazio in all its glory. Enjoy.

Ericsson Italy is all set to host its traditional Annual Event tomorrow in Rome, gathering many leaders from the telecommunications segment, institutional representatives and other key stakeholders from government and media.

This event, in its 13th year, will be characterized around Inno.Vision, a merging of two concepts, innovation and vision, aiming to shape societies and set a sustainable development.

The first part of the meeting will focus on innovation, presenting some of the ideas generated during previous Inno.Vision workshops. This method developed by Ericsson brings together digital natives, municipalities, universities, organizations and professionals in order to hear and support innovative ideas from different kinds of end users.

The second part of the meeting will around collaboration between institutions and firms, sharing the best innovative case histories. How can ICT accelerate the social-economic growth, reduce CO2 emissions and improve the efficiency of public services such as health, transport and education, but also simplify and reduce costs of the public and private spending?

Representatives of Italian government and organizations will participate in round table discussions on all these topics and contribute to building the future we imagine: a Networked Society.

You can follow the event online live via webcast, available in both Italian and English.

Our Communications team will also be posting updates throughout the day via the broadbandwithus Twitter account – join in the conversation by using the hashtag #innovision2011.

Here’s the article from Contact Magazine, the Ericsson staff magazine. Circulation 90,000+

Alex Rupprecht, Alexander Gellner, Amy Lloyd-Andrews, Amy Parton, Anders Runevad, Andrea Missori, Andy Weller, Anna Durbridge, Annemieke Nobelen, Birgit Kirschner, Carl Mellander, Carol Barnes, Charlotte Williams, Chris Butler, Chris Hemmings, Chris Houghton, Christine Cornelius, Dad, Derrick Picha, Dusty, Eline Evenhuis, Ellie Murray, Ern Whitehead, Graham Digby-Jones, Harry Lloyd, Helen Wilson, Jake Weller, Jane Lawes, Janine Weller, Jens Karolyi, John Wheatley, Jordan Lloyd, Karin Ronander, Kathryn Whitehead, Kevin Bonner, Kim Mclaughlin, Kirsty Fitzgibbon, Lars Bayer, Laurence Servais, Lawrence Martin, Lena Jansson, Lesley Wright, Lotta Persson, Maria Bambury, Marjetka Simoncic, Mats Granryd, Matt Cardle, Matt Mills, Mauro Silva, Me, Mike Catt, Miriam Whitehead, Mum, Nathan Hillman, Paul Allen, Paul Smith, Paul van t’Hooft, Ray Wilkins, Roland Nordgren, Sabine Filip, Sailala Mapusua, Sarah Persson, Stefan Koetz, Steve Hall, Stuart Croucher, Sylvia van Haren, Tadeja Ulrych, Ted Hermans, Tillie Weller, Tobias Jenssen, Toby Booth and Tom Light.