Batman decides
It was a milestone week for the EG Awards, with the industry’s great and good descending on EG Towers to decide the winners. With some 70 judges deliberating over 200 submissions across 22 categories in two days, the rigours of the task were lost on no-one.
But the judges brought light relief to serious debate and discussion with colourful turns of phrase. “Like a dad with a hoodie” was the description of one company, while another judge noted the revitalisation of a place where “we used to pee in a corner”. “Speak for yourself!” came the sharp reply of a comrade. Then there was the arbiter who likened himself to Batman. There was hardly a dull moment. The shortlist will be revealed next week.
Croydon’s Namey McName game
The Shard, the Cheesegrater, the Gherkin… are we about to see a new iconic building name added to the list? Westfield and Hammerson have no new name yet for the ageing Whitgift shopping centre they are redeveloping in Croydon, south London, prompting one reader of local blog Inside Croydon to dub it Mally McMallface – inspired by the public’s hijacking of a vote to name a new polar ship. Diary McDiaryface is happy to cut the ribbon when it opens.
Despina strikes a pose
When your name is Despina Katsikakis, you get used to a multitude of failed attempts at pronunciation. The workplace expert is known the world over for her views and advice on the sector, and yet still people stumble over her unique appellation. “It’s hilarious,” she told Diary at this year’s BCO Conference dinner in Amsterdam last week. “People really do struggle.” Recently though, a colleague came up with a possible solution. Given the fact that her first name on its own is pretty rare, he suggested she drop her surname altogether and rebrand simply as “Despina”. All very Madonna-esque isn’t it? “It really is,” she laughed. “Do you know what Despina means in Greek?
…Madonna.” And like a prayer, the problem was solved.
Madam president’s potty
More from the BCO Conference and this time a woman standing up for equality one loo at a time. One delegate regaled Diary with her personal battle against a north London pub’s choice of description to distinguish between the male and female facilities. “It was presidents and first ladies,” she said with raised eyebrows. “How shocking is that? Are they saying women can’t be presidents?” Determined to take a stand, said lady insisted on using the men’s toilets to make her point. “All the guys looked at me and I said: ‘What? It doesn’t say men on the door. It says presidents. Are you saying I am exempt just because I am a woman?’” A few stern words with management were exchanged but then, months later, success! “They have changed it now to guys and girls,” said the triumphant campaigner. And not a moment too soon. Because, let’s be honest, if women can’t be presidents we are all well and truly Trumped.
BCO bling backfires for diamond delegate
Is it every cloud has a silver lining or every silver lining has a cloud? The latter may be true for Roger Hawkins of architect Hawkins/Brown. He was one of three
lucky attendees at last week’s BCO Conference to discover that the diamond at the bottom of their champagne glass at the opening reception was real, not fake. Worth the trip to Amsterdam. Or so it seemed until he went home and presented said diamond to his wife. “Ooh, lovely,” she said. “Now I’ll need another one for the other ear.”
