Monkeys with Typewriters – Interactive Knowhow

Goodbye – it’s been real (or should that be virtual)?

After eight wonderful years, iKnowHow is calling it a day, kicking off its trainers and walking off into the sunset (while owner Jemima Gibbons looks forward to no longer having to talk about herself as a separate entity ☺).

It’s been a fabulous time. Made more so by the amazing people who I’ve met along the way. Thanks to all the particularly brilliant friends and mentors who’ve helped me out: Andy Bell, Anthony Mangion, Barbara Benedek, Charles Baden-Fuller, Clive Holtham, David Sims, David Wilcox, Dotun Adebayo, Gemma Lines, Joanne Jacobs, John Prescott (not that one!), Joseph Lampel, Karen McCarthy, Kate Kinninmont, Matthew Fairtlough, Nick Watt, Nick Witte-Vermeulen, Paul Richards, Ricardo da Sousa, Stowe Boyd, Zoe Black and, especially, Noam Sohachevsky.

The world has changed a lot since March 2002, when I set up iKH with Alison Linskey to “provide consultancy and training in digital media to film and TV production companies”. When we started television was still very much at the centre of the media universe and the early years were shaped by work with Women in Film & TV, BT (in its efforts to become a broadcaster), Skillset and the UK Film Council.

But things were shaken up so much more than we anticipated. While the web has gone stratospheric and mobile is truly ubiquitous, interactive TV has diverted up its own strange back alley. Instead of television becoming “all media”, the web has become the most powerful medium we have. To the point where we no longer see the boundaries (between us and “it”).

More recently, I’ve been working with Triarchy Press, Cass Business School and the RSA, the first two organisations focused very much on the future of business, the other focused on the future of society as a whole. And all three looking deeply at the impact interactive, digital and social media are having on our lives.

My 2009 book, Monkeys with Typewriters, was a stab at understanding this brave new world we’re in. It feels like I was only scratching the surface. Now, I want to focus more on my writing, and more on social business design. It seems like the time is ripe for a re-brand – this will be my final blog post at iKH.

If you’ve supported iKH over the years, thank you so much. If this is the first you’ve ever heard of it, feel free to read back through the blog for a re-cap. ☺

For the next three months, I’ll be based in Jaffa (Tel Aviv), exploring Israel from the grassroots up. Beach, sunset, here I come. See you on the other side!

In the meantime, you can always:

Join my Jaffa adventures on Twitter
Muse social business with me on the Monkeys with Typewriters blog
Follow the re-brand at jemimagibbons.com

I hate to mention politics but…

No, don’t worry – I’m not going to talk about The Election or ask whether any major UK party is a viable contender for government right now (because that would be a long and cheerless blog post), I’ve actually been thinking about politics with a very small ‘p’ – namely the way in which power might be shared between two hard-working blogs, and if the relationship can ever be harmonious between them.

You might have noticed that, since January, things have been a bit quiet here at iKnowHow, while over on my new blog, Monkeys with Typewriters (first post, November 2009), the interaction has been a little more lively.

I admit, I fell in love with Posterous‘ adventurous ways: its insatiable desire for tidbits and instant appreciation of dodgy iphone photos, its cute interface. WordPress, meanwhile, was the reliable and familiar partner: always here but less exciting, more demanding – and way more crotchety.

At some point I will find out why WordPress refuses to upload my photos (meh). In the meantime, you might be relieved to know that – at last – there’s a blogging gameplan!

I started this blog, first and foremost, to write the book, Monkeys with Typewriters (back then, the title was a twinkle in its mother’s eye).

At the time, the book was my sole project and thus the only work of this consultancy. Now, needless to say, there are other projects afoot.

Really, the time is right to parcel off my book neatly to its own eponymous blog and continue writing company-related stuff here. Sadly, it’s not as simple as that. I can’t say there won’t be a crossover because, of course, there will. The central themes of Monkeys – social business, social leadership, social evolution – are a key part of the projects iKnowHow now delivers.

So, instead, I’ve decided to make this blog the home for long-form pieces (essays, live-blogging, in-depth analysis etc) as well as any actual “news” (work/ life updates). Meanwhile, Monkeys with Typewriters will be more of a scrapbook – for short-form stuff: ideas, photos, sound-bites, musings and mutterings.

Let’s try it and see!

As ever, your feedback is much appreciated.