With the success of the Ipad came a whole new way to consumer media, companies have been falling over themselves to invest in better ways to present media to their audeince and make the experience as positive as possible. New start ups have appeared such as Fllipboard and Treesaver who have developed new formats and templates that are pretty amazing to sift through content and the feeling is that these will be applied to all kind of daily content heavy sites that you come in contact with.

2011 isn’t just a new year for me, it’s a new everything! A new Job with GyroHSR, a new apartment and a new car (soon!) but I’ve realised that’s just the path that my life has been taking in recent years. Every 2 to 3 years I turn my life upside down, sell up everything and move to a new country. Clearly I like a challenge! Last year I traveled and worked in California US and spent some time in my native France with my NEW NEPHEW ! But having lived in Dubai a few years back, it wasn’t long before its sunny shores tempted me to return. I’m determined to make the most of my time here second time round by exploring the great travel opportunities on offer and nurturing my favourite hobby, photography. Check out my website at www.baafandcha.com and see what I make of 2011!

I don’t think I have ever made a new years resolution. Don’t get me wrong I’m always thinking up things that I want to improve upon or try out but as soon as I decide to do them I’ll go ahead and do it. Saying that though, there has been something that I have been promising myself that I will do for quite some time and I have yet to embark upon. Being a writer of sorts and a creative I’m embarrassed to say that I don’t have my own blog. While I have always been fond of writing, it has always been under the umbrella of another publication and I find that there’s some comfort in that. Once I start writing on my own blog the onus will be on me and me alone. I guess the fear is that of any writer, what if no one reads it? Well, the time has come and this year there will be no more wimping out, it’s time to venture out into the blogging world on my own.

Christmas is a time of giving and New Year is a time of new beginnings…or so we’re told! Everything from New Year resolutions, gifts that we’ve received over Christmas to January sales…there’s a lot talk about new things in January. In our household this year there will be lots of change as we’re expecting the delivery of the newest “gift” we’ll ever receive…our first baby! Lots of new feelings, new social scene (or the removal of one altogether), new name (mum!) but most of all lots of new items that seem to be filling up our home. I’ve been to quite a few sales in the last few weeks and the pressure to buy is quite intense. You have to be pretty disciplined not to go mad and buy everything in the shop. I’ve also noticed that there is a lot of scare marketing and selling when it comes to baby products. Everything has to be approved by some baby safety standard and when you are buying anything the shop assistants always try to up sell to the latest, greatest product. Whilst of course I want to have the safest and cutest products for our new arrival there is something really lovely about having hand me downs.

My cousin recently gave us her cot that has been used by her four wee ones and was built by her husband. There is something really lovely about having something that has been passed down from someone you love and the fact that someone would want to give something away that they have made themselves. So whilst I am loving baby shopping and all the new gifts that I am receiving, there is something super special about getting hand me downs. Besides I was dressed in blue for most of my formative years, having two older brothers and being a bit of a tom-boy my parents obviously thought that this was perfectly acceptable. Let’s just hope that my new arrival is a girl as I think bright pink on a baby boy might be a little too much!

So, although I am in marketing and at the heart of what I do is “the action or business of promoting and selling products or services” I urge you that the next time you buy a gift perhaps think about if you need to give something new – maybe something that you have or you can make will be far better gift:).