Posh Watch

If like me you like a nice watch on the end of your arm, I currently wear a Tag I bought with some money I made on a boat sale a couple of years back, then take a look at our client Since 1853 Ltd's website. Not only can you view the distinquished Swiss range of Revue Thommen, but brothers Peter and John Carmichael are now also the UK distributor of the Alessandro Baldieri Collection which Chris has recently photographed for them. They have several Norwich distributors including Dogfish, S Michlmayr & Co Ltd and the Leadenhall Suit Company.

Thunder Toffee Vodka - Sharing my Experience

Whilst on a recent visit to the Food & Drink Expo at the NEC, I was offered a sample of ice cold Thunder Toffee Vodka and all I can say is Wow! I am not normally a vodka guy but this was fantastic and I will definitely be ordering a bottle or two! For further information go to www.thundervodka.com

GGS on Google Earth

Want to see what the GGS building looks like? Well we are currently one of the few locations in Norwich that has a 3D model on Google Earth. How did it get there? Simple - we made it ourselves.

Just type NR4 6DG under the 'fly to' tab in the search section and zoom in.

Once I've worked out how to add a direct link here I'll do it.

GGS on Masterchef

Walked into the living room last night where the Good Lady Wife was watching the Masterchef final, and what's the first thing I see? The Jenny Lind Children's Department sign that GGS printed for the Hospital Arts project at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital as part of their commission for a large amount of wall and ceiling art. 'Look!', I shouted. 'GGS printing on the telly! We did that!'. Too late, the images were fleeting. 'Did what?' came the reply. To be honest I think she was more interested in the cooking for some reason. I carried on watching and several other pieces were also seen in the background as finalist Tim Kinnaird was filmed at work. But I don't think she was as excited about it as I was. Strange.
Thinking about it, I guess the title of this blog is a tad misleading; but hey...

Who is this Nigel Williamson anyway?

Remembering the birth of
UK punk...
(on the anniversary of the death of Sid Vicious from a heroin overdose).

OK... let's look the facts, it was a long time ago, so forgive me if I struggle with clarity and detail on this one.

Think hard! Ok, it must have been during my first year at Ravensbourne College (www.rave.ac.uk) when I witnessed the event - and I must have been around 18/19 at the time. When I think back from where I am now (working at GGS as a website designer/developer/administrator), to those heady days as an art college student in London, seeing the birth of a new revolution in music genres. Wow... that was a lifetime ago!

Our union team consisted of a pro-active bunch who were always on the look out for new ways to entertain the the student masses (us). But as luck would have it - this time they didn't have try too hard, for the band came to them, kind of cap in hand I seem to remember. A call was taken in the union office from the band's representative (I'm thinking this could well have been Malcolm McLaren) asking if it would be possible to play a gig at the college. He mentioned being friends with 'Skidmarks' who were our resident band at the time, so I guess the consensus was that he was kosher.

I was studying Graphic Communications and remember seeing a fellow course student struggling with a new brief. He was racking his brains, trying to come up with poster/flyer ideas for for a forthcoming gig at the college featuring this new band called "The Sex Pistols". He opted for a literal solution I seem to remember. Talk about spelling it out... how did we get that one passed the powers that be?!

The morning of the event saw us building the stage in the main hall. I remember a flurry of activity around us as we worked - culminating in the arrival of the band. Outside the relatively small (but fast growing) London punk scene - these guys were unknown at the time, so no one payed much attention to them. And don't forget - we're talking about an art college here, so dressing 'individually' was the rule, not the exception.

I seem to remember we ended up building the stage together... chatting and helping each other. All hands on deck as it were. The staging system was modular and went together quite easily. Consequently we were pretty much done by lunchtime. Time has taken its toll and memories blur, but I have this abiding memory of ending up in the local pub that lunchtime... us and the band. I can't remember what we were talking about exactly, probably the gig, the punk scene and college life. This must have looked pretty weird to the locals, for the college sits firmly in the 'stock broker belt' of south east London. But I hear that's all about to change with a sparkling new campus being built on the Greenwich Peninsula.

The night of the gig came and went and the place was packed. But was it memorable? Well it was for me because I was there getting involved for most of the day. Although has to be said that I don't remember much about the gig itself, other than the spitting and the obscenities. Whether it was a memorable gig depends upon the individual spectator I guess. Punk was this scary new thing with a pulse that demanded to be noticed. In time bands like The Clash would emerge with pure raw talent. Whether the slightly more 'manufactured' Sex Pistols package could ever be compared favourably is a question that has been asked many times over the years.

And so to the question asked at the beginning of this blog...
Who is this Nigel Williamson anyway?

Well, he's a well-respected article writer for The Guardian - and turns out he was there that very night. and with more clarity than I could ever muster he's recalled the event for us all to enjoy here.

OK, so he's trashed it, suggesting punk was a pile of Sh*t, but then... wasn't that the whole point?

If you're interested, I've found another link to the event - on 'The News Shopper' website here. This was (and quite possibly still is) a free-sheet newspaper for south-east London. It is at this point that I feel a confession needs to be made public here - after all these years of secrecy. For a very short while I was one of many 'paper-boys', delivering this free-sheet to the good people of Bromley to earn some beer money. It was impossible! No way could I deliver that many copies in time... before the next one came out. I was overwhelmed and my landlady (quite rightly) was taking issue with bales of 'The News Shopper' piling up on the stairs and landing. So what did I do? Well lets just say that a local church received more than one copy of 'The News Shopper' that week... and not through the letter box. I gave up that job soon after - and I'm heartened to see that 'The News Shopper' is still thriving, despite taking me on as a 'paper-boy'.

Keith Halliday
GGS

Oh, the ignominy!

The GGS team didn't exactly perform well at Thursday's Chamber of Commerce Networking/Bowling event at NUMBERten BOWL in Bowthorpe. The pins at the end of Lane 19 were relatively untroubled by advancing bowling balls and on the whole managed to remain in an upright position for a large portion of the game. As a result Team GGS were placed fairly low down on the leaderboard. At the bottom in fact. Yes; we came LAST!! Clearly every one else at the event cheated by using skill, manual dexterity, hand/eye co-ordination etc. which gave them an unfair advantage. (Some even used a cunning device which barricaded the gutters!) No sour grapes there then...
Thanks go to Peter Treglown of FOUR for stepping into the bowling shoes vacated by Peter Griffin. I suspect that our overall score would have been even lower than it actually was (hard to imagine, I know) if our Peter, whose sporting prowess is measured in minus figures, had managed to make it. We apologise unreservedly for letting him down with a performance the likes of which have not been seen since... the last time we were there.
Despite all team members being presented with a 'Losers' certificate we had a great time and are determined to improve for next time... when we expect to come second from last at the very least. Clearly we had better stick to our day jobs (which we are much better at - honest).

GGS, exhibition stands & the environment

Environmental issues and recycling are big issues in industry today and here at GGS we always aim to minimise our impact on the the environment. Every aspect of our business is conducted according to our strategy to do this and be an environmentally conscious and responsible company.

This is one reason why GGS has chosen to be a display partner with Octanorm, a world leader in the manufacture and distribution of modular aluminium systems for the exhibition and display stand industry. Using aluminium modular exhibition systems means that a large proportion of the exhibition stand can be reused, reconfigured or recycled after use.

When creating this exhibition stand (above) for WTA Books, we created it using the modular Octanorm aluminium structure so that the stand could be adjusted in size in relation to the amount of floor space available at exhibition events. Using modular exhibition stands in this way is both environmentally and financially beneficial to our clients.

Some other key areas of our environmental policy are to:

• Reduce consumption of physical resources, including energy and water, by increasing awareness amongst our staff and adopting good practices.

• Reduce manufacturing waste and administrative waste through consideration and good practice.

• Donate surplus material off-cut to Scrapbox for re-use in playgroups.

• Recycle waste materials wherever possible.

• Choose energy efficient, non-polluting technology when equipment needs to be replaced.

• Reduce carbon emissions and fossil fuel consumption by ordering stock in bulk to minimise long distance deliveries.

• Minimise pollution from printing processes by using low-emitting inks wherever possible and disposing of all hazardous waste inks in accordance with environmental legislation.

• Use only CFC free printing inks.

• Aim to use paper materials produced from sustainable forest wherever possible.

• Recycle electronic equipment where possible including digital ink cartridges.

• Discourage unnecessary document printing by providing our customers with emailable pdfs of technical information and user instructions for display equipment.
  

By implementing and continuously improving upon this strategy, we aim to fulfill our commitment to protect the world in which we live and work. About GGS - We are a design led visual media company providing a wide range of creative products and services to our clients. Our services include exhibition stands; pop-ups; banner stands; large format digital printing, graphic design, commercial photography and web design & hosting. Based in Norwich, Norfolk, England, GGS has been established for over 33 years and works with companies of all sizes to improve their image.