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Volume Four, Number Twenty-eight
"Zest
for Enlightenment"
The
Irregular Newsletter of Z/Yen Limited
October 2004
Z/Yen’s Superheros
are at it again –
Breaking Records…
It isn’t
all that often that a Z/Yen person is awarded a Guinness World Record, but one
of our number achieved just that a few weeks ago. And it wasn’t in the
Olympics.
For many years, as an avocation, Ian Harris wrote
comedy for several shows, including the long-running show Newsrevue. This
summer, in a simultaneous awards presentation at Newsrevue’s home in London and
at its Edinburgh festival location, the show was awarded a Guinness World Record
for being the longest continuously running comedy show in the entire world, ever
– 25 years and still running. How such a claim is proved is one of those
mysteries. Why a show that changes its material every week is deemed to be a
single, continuously running show is another mystery. But our Ian isn’t one to
look a gift horse in the mouth, nor is he one to miss a party with some old
friends. One of the resulting photographs is this month’s caption competition –
there is still time to get your entries in:
Caption Competition
(Ian hasn’t written for the show for 5 years – I
wish I still got Z/Yen awards for stuff I did that long ago! – Ed)
Fighting Crime…
As
mentioned in our last issue, we are currently investigating anti - money
laundering regulations. Mark Yeandle is leading a team, supported by Michael,
working on a project jointly commissioned by the Corporation of London and the
Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales. The study is examining
how compliance with the anti- money laundering regulations affects the
competitiveness of the UK financial services industry compared to other
jurisdictions and how effective regulations are in disrupting financial crime.
We are looking to survey relevant senior managers in banks, financial
intermediaries, accountants and lawyers. A questionnaire is being developed and
will be emailed shortly. Anyone who is willing to complete this, please email
mark_yeandle@zyen.com
Winning Medals…
Z/Yen is
pleased to be working with the British Film Institute on its Information
Technology (IT) Strategy. The objective of this three month project is to
develop a strategy that expands the impact of the British Film Institute through
the innovative use of IT. The work is being led by Mary O’Callaghan with
support from Michael. Michael was recently made a medallist for this year’s
British Computer Society Individual Excellence Awards as IT Director of the Year
for our work on PropheZy and VizZy (but I thought VizZy was about visualising
data? Surely, Mary and Michael don’t intend to show data films? – Ed)
Making Records…
What was
almost certainly the oldest audience at last month’s Edinburgh Fringe turned out
to see a member of Z/Yen’s Edinburgh team. Kevin sang, as well as played steel
and 12 string guitar, as part of the Soft Shoe Skiffle Band. They did all the
classic Lonnie Donegan songs including ‘Does your chewing gum lose its flavour
on the bedpost overnight?’ (there must be a risk/reward angle somewhere there –
Ed) as well as other favourites such as ‘Freight Train’ and ‘Sloop John B’.
Photographers were in attendance – we feel another caption competition coming
on…
And Helping Clients!…
Z/Yen are frequently asked by financial
services clients to help with market analysis. Our deep knowledge of the
financial markets has been rewarded with a number of assignments with clients
including Wolff Olins, LCH Clearnet and ADP-Wilco in which we have been able to
assist with both understanding and quantitative market-sizing of specific
f-market sectors.
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