Lyon: France’s gourmet capital

Lyon: France’s gourmet capital

I’ve just taken Lyon’s cable car up to the top of Fourvière Hill, the perfect spot for a bird’s-eye view over this majestic city. The ancient funicular dates back to 1878, but has recently been renovated with gleaming new coaches, a little like the city itself, which is going through a renaissance, suddenly staking its place as one of Europe’s hot new weekend hideaways. Lyon boasts both Unesco World Heritage status and cutting-edge architecture by the likes of Renzo Piano, Jean Nouvel and Santiago Calatrava. Traditional bistros are booming, alongside a new generation of creative young chefs in elegant fine-dining restaurants.

Culture lovers can choose between Old Masters displayed at the Museum of Fine Arts and avant-garde installations that regularly transform the Museum of Contemporary Art. Throughout the year, there’s always a surprising event energising Lyon, from biennales dedicated to dance, music and art, a cinema festival, classical concerts or techno raves, culminating in the famous Fête des Lumières at the beginning of December, when four million visitors marvel at the city spectacularly lit up for four nights.

Looking down, it’s clear how Lyon has logically evolved from the grandiose Roman ruins that mark its beginnings up here on the hill, running below to the bank of the Saône River with the grand mansions of medieval Vieux Lyon, and across to the baroque splendour of the Presqu’île neighbourhood. Then the metropolis stretches from the other side of the mighty Rhône River to the modern, 20th-century business quarter of La Part-Dieu and a whole new city-of-the-future, under construction at Confluence, where the Rhône and Saône merge.

The Romans rapidly made Lugdunum the capital of one of their Gaulish provinces, and if the French had followed their famed Cartesian logic, then Lyon, not ­Paris, would still be the French capital today, perfectly positioned in the centre of France’s “hexagon”. But it is only now that La Ville des Gones – The Kids’ City, as Lyon is known – is emerging from the shadow of Paris to become France’s fashionable new ­destination.

A local guide, Jérôme Fayet-Trevy, tells me that “tourism has suddenly taken off here. Lyon is being discovered by both the French themselves and foreign visitors, and I suspect we Lyonnais are all rather perplexed by this. Tourists used to be concentrated in Vieux Lyon, the historic centre, but now they realise that this is more than a day-trip destination and that it is worth taking time to explore the whole city.”

The one thing that everyone agrees on is that Lyon is France’s capital of gastronomy, and I decide to head straight off on a foodie pilgrimage to the flagship restaurant of the world-famous chef Paul Bocuse. Lyon may be the birthplace of the likes of Le Petit Prince author, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, and the Lumière brothers, inventors of modern cinema, but the 88-year-old chef towers over ­everyone. You can book a table in one of his numerous, reasonably priced brasseries dotted all over the city, or the new gourmet restaurant of his cooking school, while all of Lyon meets for weekend shopping in the teeming food market, Les Halles Paul Bocuse (102 Cours Lafayette; www.hallespaulbocuse.lyon.fr), a cornucopia of stalls selling foie gras, oysters, truffles, cheeses and irresistible macaroons. You can even take a selfie of yourself with the great man – not in person, but in front of his mural at Place Saint-Vincent, probably the most-photographed of the 200 evocative frescoes that decorate the city.

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Is Amsterdam the best place to live ?

Is Amsterdam the best place to live ?

Have you read The Geography of Bliss: One Grump’s Search for the Happiest Places in the World? The author traveled the world in search of what factors, including money, culture, and democracy, affect happiness. Its opening chapter about Amsterdam is a great hook–interesting and hilarious. For me, reading about how people live in different places around the world related to my nagging interest in finding a simpler life abroad and made me reflect on what places might be my future home. Since my short but wonderful stay in Amsterdam, I have wondered if that just might be the best place to live. I plan to go back, wander its neighborhoods more, and find out what it’s really like to live there.

My husband and I stayed there for four days, and the only mistake we made was booking a hotel that was outside the city center. We got a hugely discounted rate but would have gotten more travel experiences from staying in a hotel right in the center. Lesson learned…and since then I have always told people to spend more to stay in the center. That way you can walk everywhere, go back to your room to rest during the day, and stay out at night without worrying about getting back to your hotel. Everything else about our time there was perfect, and we often talk about going back. Here are my reasons why Amsterdam is a wonderful place to visit and just might be a great place to live.

Amsterdam has excellent quality of life.

It’s clean and safe. It has a lovely environment, with little traffic or pollution and beautiful canals that give the city a special ambiance. According to a 2011 study, Amsterdam has the 12th best quality of life because of its infrastructure and environment.

Half of the population is not Dutch.

For someone like me who values ethnic and cultural diversity, this statistic is a welcome one. In fact, one source states that Amsterdam has residents from more countries than any other city in the world. It means that the schools and neighborhoods are not entirely filled with blond, blue-eyed Dutch; instead the city has a sizable immigrant population, as evidenced in the city’s variety of ethnic restaurants. How integrated this population is with the Dutch residents is a question worth asking, however.

“Leef en laat leven,” or “Live and let live”

This is a saying that the Dutch are known for, and it shows in the city’s liberal policies and the people’s laid-back attitude. The most famous example is the city’s allowing marijuana to be sold and smoked in “coffee shops,” but recently this has changed with a new law passed that allows only residents of Amsterdam to partake. While I personally don’t like pot or prostitution and don’t condone the objectification of women, I do appreciate the city’s tolerance of diverse lifestyles.

Amsterdam is a beautiful, unique city, and one that I liked right from the beginning, and I can’t wait to go back! Have you been to Amsterdam? Do you live there? Please share your impressions!

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Study at VU University Amsterdam and experience Amsterdam!

Study at VU University Amsterdam and experience Amsterdam!

About studying an international Bachelor or Master at VU University Amsterdam and living in Amsterdam, The Netherlands

I am Larissa and this is my last post of a series of 4! With things less busy now, I want to tell you about the last months of this master experience and give you an overview of my year. I have completed the master programme Law and Politics of International Security at the VU, year 2014/2015. I came from Brazil to the Netherlands on August 2014 and a lot have happened since then. The last months of my master at the VU were extremely intense. I cannot describe in words how intense the second half of my academic year was. I committed myself 110% to my final thesis and it was everything but easy. Fortunately, I had the support of my family, of my close friends and of my supervisor. They all, especially my supervisor, were crucial for my success in the end. The whole year was as stressful as it could be but I could learn a lot from it:) I also have met the most incredible people along my way and I have been to places and experienced things I am sure I would never had if I had not chosen to come to The Netherlands.


When you are doing a master’s programme you probably will not be able to attend many social events, staying focus is very important. However, it is also important to build a relationship with people that are going through a similar moment in life and with whom you can share your difficulties and achievements. I met incredible people living on my building and studying/working at the VU. Trust me, having social relations and moments to escape the heaviness of life is also very important to keep your sanity going:) The people I met in Amsterdam were definitely the best and the most unexpected aspect of my year.


I did not visit many other places in Europe but I could definitely visit a lot of the Netherlands and especially a lot of Amsterdam. Amsterdam has many great spots that vary from cute to alternative to fancy. Close to where I lived I enjoyed going to the Biertuin, to the Roest and to the Kriterion cinema. With respect to the country, I found the Netherlands great: it is super organized and pretty, everything is perfectly designed and it is small, which means that you can visit a lot! The weather is the only disturbing thing about this country. I had to use my winter coat 99,99% of the year, many the times with an additional raincoat over it. Whenever it is sunny and hot, people celebrate it as ifit was national holidays. My family came to visit me this summer and when they arrived it was pretty hot! During the year some of my best Brazilian and international friends came to visit me too and having them around was awesome!

My house in Pierre Lallementstraat was also one of the highlights of this year. I thought that the place would be nice but I did not expect that I would like it so much. It was definitely hard to say goodbye to my house after one year living there. The building is new and it is located in a very nice area of Amsterdam. The studios are super big for one person and, despite of the lack of common areas, there is a facebook page where people organize meetings and keep in touch. In addition, if you are doing a master programme you will probably need a lot of privacy to study and the least amount of stress possible, so living alone in the studio definitely was an asset for me. If you prefer studying at the University instead of home, the VU offer many nice spots and it is open till very late. The 7th floor, where I liked to study, became my second home in Amsterdam:) During the weekends, in order to vary from the university environment, I used to go to Amsterdam’s public library (OBA). OBA is in the centre of Amsterdam and many students go there and stay till late on Saturdays and Sundays. The public library is the best library I have ever studied in. It is huge and extremely beautiful. It is not particularly quiet because many tourists and teenagers visit the library during the weekends. Still, many people of all ages go there to study and you should arrive early in order to get a spot.

After submitting my thesis I went for a summer vacation in Brazil and it was absolutely great! Being back home after so long was super weird and super normal at the same time. Going out with my friends was just amazing and I felt like I had never left the country:). After this visit I came back to The Netherlands and I started an internship at the ICTY Tribunal in The Hague. Job hunting is the next step and only time will tell what the future holds and what the next adventure will be!

Finally, for all of you who have started or are going to start your studies at the VU, I wish you the best of luck! Work hard, keep your nerves and enjoy the experience!

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Here’s Why Your Content Marketing Strategy is Totally Failing

Here’s Why Your Content Marketing Strategy is Totally Failing

I talk with a lot of people who are frustrated with the fact that their content marketing strategy doesn’t seem to be working.

In fact, in some cases, their entire content strategy seems to be an abject failure.
Why is this the case? If content marketing is such an important marketing method, has proven success, and is used by nearly 90% of businesses, then why do so many businesses feel like their strategy is useless and ineffective?

There are some common trends that characterize many of these “failed” content marketing strategies. In most cases, the strategies haven’t “failed” at all. The “strategy,” whatever that is, wasn’t clear enough to guide the business to achieve its goals.

Instead, what the strategy needs is a hard reset and some new programming. That new programming comes in the form of SMART goals.

Why I’m concerned about ‘strategy’

Content marketing is something that everyone is doing, but not many people are very confident about it. You may have read CMI’s industry survey, which explained that only 9% of B2B marketers think their organization’s use of content marketing is “very effective.” That leaves the vast majority of the industry in a situation where they are not totally confident about their efforts.

This is a problem. If content marketing is the wonder technique that we think it is, shouldn’t we have a bit more confidence in it?

The core of the problem seems to be with strategy. The proof is in the data.
What we’re facing is an industry in which “strategy” – whatever that is – is either not working or nonexistent. Why? Because there isn’t a strategy at all.

This is an issue that I covered in depth in my Kissmetrics article, 10 Common Reasons Why Content Marketing Isn’t Working for You. The issue to notice here is that there’s actually no strategy. None.

If this is the case, then it’s no wonder your content marketing strategy is failing. You don’t have one. The problem is more common than you might think.

The percentage of B2C marketers who have a documented content marketing strategy is 27%. You might get hopeful, because 50% of marketers have a strategy. (It’s not written down, that’s all.)

That’s a huge problem. If it’s not written down, then it probably doesn’t really exist. Sure, it exists in people’s minds, but how clear is that? How can a strategy that exists in people’s minds guide an organization’s cohesive efforts?

Content marketing is a method that takes a team to carry forward. If the organization’s individuals are holding some nebulous strategy in their minds, that’s not really a strategy at all. That’s just some thoughts on content marketing.

I’m also concerned about this statistic: Only one-third follow their documented strategy “very” closely, with 57% following it “somewhat” closely. Why document your content marketing strategy if it’s not valuable enough to follow closely?

The problem seems to lie with the word “strategy.”

“Strategy” is a fuzzy word. Frank Cespedes wrote in the Harvard Business Review:

Ironically, after years of books, articles, and MBA programs dedicated to strategic thinking, that’s the danger with how strategy is used in business meetings. It’s too often a way of sounding smart or leader-like and used to avoid necessary choices.

People conflate business strategy with the aggregation of tactical plans … Studies show that a big problem with strategic planning processes is that the resulting ‘strategy’ is a bland compilation of capital budgets that, in turn, are a compilation (not integration) of separate functional initiatives.

OK, so most businesses don’t have a strategy – let alone a good one. Now, we need to talk about what “strategy” is. The HBR article explains it this way:

So, what is strategy? It’s fundamentally the movement of an organization from its present position to a desirable but inherently uncertain future position. The path from here to there is both analytical (a series of linked hypotheses about objectives in a market, where we do and don’t play among our opportunity spaces, and what this means for the customer value proposition, sales tasks, and other activities) and behavioral (the ongoing coordinated efforts of people who work in different functions but must align for effective strategy execution). And the trail always begins with customers.
That’s basically a complicated way of saying that we need to have goals.

I would argue that “strategy” should really mean “goals.”

“Strategy” sounds smart and sexy, but how different is it from goals? Goals are a much clearer way to look at the issue of strategy. I suggest that we stop trying to come up with an innovative “strategy,” and instead focus on goals.

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What is marketing strategy?

What is marketing strategy?

Consumers do not buy what you sell. They buy what has value to them.

We are exposed to hundreds, if not thousands, of marketing messages every day. Why would we be receptive to all of them? That would be mental chaos. So, in response, we tune out all but the most relevant ones. Our brain is actually very good at tuning out stuff that it does not want or need. We do this automatically. This prevents us from going insane.

You probably remember the experience of learning a new word—as a child or even as an adult—and all of a sudden you see and hear that word everywhere. This is an example of how our brains smooth over the parts of our environment that are not relevant to us. That word was always there, of course, but it was effectively invisible to our mind until learning its meaning gave it relevance. As a result, pop! like magic that word is now there where seemingly it never was before. A marketing message operates exactly the same way.

What does marketing strategy have to do with this materialization out of nothing?

Marketing strategy is sorting out who your audience actually is, and then finding out what has meaning for them. What do they care about, and how does this relate to your offer? What message can you deliver that is both true and meets your consumer squarely at the level of their needs? Marketing strategy is the process of uncovering messages that can be heard. Marketing strategy allows you to answer the crucial question your offer must address: “Why should I care?” To paraphrase Peter Drucker: Consumers do not buy what you sell. They buy what has value to them.


Why does marketing strategy matter?

In marketing, there is strategy and there are tactics. A lot of marketing, in practice, is preoccupied with what I call tactical experimentation. This is the act of throwing all kinds of things out at the world or at broad demographic targets to see what works. As you do this you are spending money, potentially lots of it. The idea in this method is to do this until you find some marketing actions that work, and when you find them you can then do more of those.

This process often results in the classic Wanamaker dilemma—”Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half.” He was speaking of advertising, but the principle applies.

Marketing strategy allows you to use pathways and footholds that apply your limited marketing budget more effectively (everyone’s marketing budget is limited). Marketing strategy facilitates your ability to apply marketing money to the correct half of the Wanamaker equation—the half you are not wasting on audiences who do not value your message.

To illustrate this principal with one of our own rather straightforward examples, when we looked at the South Bronx as a marketplace for the Bronx Museum, the situation we saw was reflected by the first competitive advantage diagram below; here, there is nothing in their offer, as understood by the consumer, that is of any perceived value. The strategy, therefore, could not be to simply support the institutional desire to communicate about all the great art that was on exhibit (see Drucker above).

We had to find factors that could legitimately be moved into the competitive advantage, things that were perceived as valuable to the desired audience, that were not perceived to be offered by the competition. In this case, there was no required product change, just an adjustment of the marketing message communicated through the website and advertising. By effectively marketing on the basis of the factors that reflected what was of value to the target consumer we cost-effectively supported the achievement of their desired objective to increase attendance from local audiences in the South Bronx. This is marketing strategy applied, and it helped them double attendance*. (You can read more about this campaign in The Marketing of the Bronx Museum.)

So, for the sake of your own institution or product, please spend the time and energy to really get inside the head of your consumer. Find the intersection between your offer and their needs. Answer Drucker’s Questions #2 and #3: Who is your customer? What do they value? Isolate those specific factors that actually drive behavior for them. Realize they are not buying what you are selling, they are only buying what is of value to them. And, by all means, use THAT in your marketing communications.

You’ll be very glad you did.

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Why Britain is one of the best places in the world

Why Britain is one of the best places in the world

Why Britain is one of the best places in the world: Personal security, job satisfaction and earnings rank above average in survey of 35 countries

• Britain ranks above the US, Germany, France and Ireland in many of the criteria set by the OECD

• Greece, Hungary, Brazil and Chile are among those ranked at the bottom

• British students spend 16.6 years in education, compared to 19 in Finland

• Income inequality has risen more in the UK than other countries since 2007

• Women spend 11 hours more a week doing unpaid duties around the home than men

The UK is one of the best places to live in the world, bucking the worst effects of the recent financial crisis, according to a leading think tank.
Personal security, job satisfaction and earnings are all areas in which the UK ranks above average among 35 nations in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
The UK sits alongside New Zealand, Canada, Switzerland and Scandinavian countries in being among the best places to live in the world.
In many of the criteria set by the OECD, the UK is above the US, Germany, France and Ireland, which are listed as average in the Better Life Index.

Researchers measured well-being in 34 industrialised countries around the world and examined factors such as education, housing, security and income.
It found that Greece, Hungary, Estonia, Mexico, Brazil and Chile are among those ranked near the bottom.
But the Paris-based think tank has warned that while in some areas the UK was ahead, in education it was falling behind.

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Is Samsung the best tech company in the world?

Is Samsung the best tech company in the world?

Samsung has shown it is the Alpha of the phone market. While leading Android as their leader, Apple and other companies have done many things to take them down like acsesive sueing or false accusations of copying. They have shown to have the best camera, specs, and processors in the world. They give their engineers a free life for their families with top notch education. They also support and government and invest heavily in Asian markets giving people better lives. They give tons of money to charity and gives schools around the world and in the U.S. To conclude, Samsung it the best company.

Innovation at its best No one comes close when it comes to atleast the hardware aspect of things. They lead in manufacturing TVs and smartphones. They are definitely getting screwed up in the lower segment by Xiaomi etc and in the upper segment by Apple, but their latest flagships are the best phones you can possibly buy, without doubt.
They have superior technology in displays, and are the only one capable of building curved displays. They have the best cameras. Even for the popular iPhones, a lot of its components such as displays are manufactured by Samsung. They are investing heavily in software, and hopefully will become more complete in near future, so that they could achieve their true potential in tech industry.

Samsung is the best Unlike apple Samsung makes phones for all classes of people. If anyone says about its not so good things better stop comparing with low end varieties , the high end varieties are always ahead of other phones, even apple. Apple always copies the design from Samsung and os from android .Waiting for the day when apple brings edge phones claiming it their invention and all apple geeks following it blindly.

Samsung is best tech company Samsung is best tech company. I heard someone say apple makes more money. To Samsung it's not about the money. To Samsung it's about being a innovator and trendsetter. They are way ahead of most of their competitors by 10 yrs. This includes apple. They do everything well. In my opinion, I believe samsung has more cash than apple, microsoft, htc, google etc. Just because you make more money doesn't make you the best. For yrs guys made more money than Michael Jordan, but, they weren't better than him. With Samsung it's about the Love and specs

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