Week 248

Last week was our first week without Tom. I want to thank him for his kind words in last week’s notes and reciprocate by saying that I’ve learnt a lot working with him over the last few years – he’s been a real asset to GFR. We’re definitely going to miss having him around, but we’re glad he’s still going to be based in London – hopefully we can still hang out with him from time to time – and we wish him all the best in his new job.

Chris also deserted me last week – he spent the week in Austin, Texas, accompanying his partner, Amy, and her friend, Emily, who were out there researching for their Minimum Viable Book project. Fortuitously, since James A is based in Austin, the two of them were able to meet up and sample the delights of the Austin coffee shop scene.

Otherwise, work on FutureLearn continues apace. Last week was the first week of the first “proper” course – The Secret Power of Brands, run by the University of East Anglia. In related news, a couple of interesting articles have appeared on the FutureLearn blog in recent weeks: Continuous Delivery at FutureLearn by Tom following on from the talk which I mentioned in the links for week 237, and What is Beta? by our product owner, Matt Walton.

In the middle of next week I’m off to Spain by train for a few days cycling in Catalonia. I’m hoping the weather there is going to be sunny, but not too hot. Anyway, enjoy what’s left of the weekend and have a good week next week.

– James.