Welcome to Optimism

James Ramsden makes it top of The Times’ Table

Wieden + Kennedy has been working with food explorer and cook James Ramsden for some time now, helping him to develop his blog and broader culinary exploits.

W+K has been working with food explorer and cook James Ramsden for some time now, helping him to develop his blog and broader culinary exploits. Check out his front page evaluation of the best cookery apps on the market in today's The Times Food & Drink section, a quick article he whipped up whilst cooking for his massively popular Secret Larder Supper Club tonight. Spot the dodgy breast joke.

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Blood, sweat and phone boxes.

After an intense, sweaty and nerve-wracking twenty-fours over the weekend, Nike GRID is complete. Challenges were set, personal-bests were beaten, phone calls were made and winners were crowned.


We’ve learnt a lot. Real-time communication and distributed events are very, very hard to control. Phone boxes don’t always work (but they’re fixable). Self-organising communities are remarkably helpful, efficient and powerful. And sometimes, the odd person will try to cheat (but the GRID always works it out).


40 postcodes were claimed. Over 2,700 people joined the Facebook community. Around 3,000 individual runs were logged at all times throughout the day and night. A few hardy players even ran marathon distances. We had requests from around the world asking if we could replicate GRID in other cities. And judging from most of the anecdotal feedback, lots of fun was had. But this is only the start.


Will we do it again? Let’s see what happens.


Below: Ben Satchwell, SW3 winner, basking in the glory of his very own phone box.

 

Grid winner 

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