TGS - 20th February 2022
UAE data protection law deadline, office hours, mission & vision statements, metaverse nonsense, and the true story behind London's worst-rated restaurant...
Welcome to the February 2022 TGS! Wouldn’t you know? It’s almost time to start preparing for Ramadan, which is set to start around 2nd April 2022. Need a hand with graphic design & copywriting? Have a gander at the Sloth’s portfolio here or drop me a message here. If you’re in the United Arab Emirates, there’s also the recently announced 9% corporate tax to consider - a surprising move, although most other GCC countries with the exception of Bahrain already levy similar taxes. The UAE’s new corporate tax won’t hit until next year, so there’s plenty of time to prepare - meanwhile though, the compliance deadline for the new UAE data protection law looms. 28th May isn’t all too far away, so it’s time to get organised and make sure you’re ready to comply.
Metaverse? Schmetaverse! You’ll have seen “metaverse” crop up more and more often ever since Facebook reinvented itself as “Meta”. Perhaps you wondered what it actually is and how it’s going to impact you and your business. I wondered, too, so I wrote an article about it, which you’ll be able to read in March. In the meantime, you’ll find some random ramblings about the metaverse, NFTs, and comparable oddities below.
uae data protection law - the deadline looms…
The United Arab Emirates recently introduced a landmark online privacy and data protection law, which came into effect on 2nd January 2022. Companies have until Saturday, 28th May 2022 to comply and avoid fines.
Saturday, 28th May 2022 isn't really that far away and, because DPL is a UAE federal law, it's unlikely that the compliance deadline will change - in other words, it's time to get your house in order! If you're running a small or medium sized business or if you are a self-employed freelancer, blogger, writer, or otherwise engage in licensable business activities in the United Arab Emirates, or if your business is based abroad, but markets to customers in the UAE, and you don't know where to start and what to do, don't panic, help's at hand. I've put together three nifty, value for money, and customizable offers, which you can buy online with just a few clicks:
1-2-1 consulting: Get EXCLUSIVE access to an hour of quick & dirty, one-to-one UAE PDPL consulting for less than the price of a good dinner! I'll answer all your questions about how the UAE's new federal data protection law will impact your business or, if you don't even know what to ask, we'll go through your operations and find out, prioritize, and make sure you're ready to comply with the new law by the deadline.
Website audits: Book a UAE DPL Website Audit and you'll get a hands-on, actionable report incl. a compliance gap analysis for your website and social media - you'll see exactly what's good, what needs optimizing, and what still has to be put in place before the deadline.
Marketing audits: Your entire marketing chain needs to be PDPL compliant - including 3rd-party systems and software, e.g. email marketing platforms, newsletter subscription services, marketing partnerships with 3rd parties, loyalty programs, etc. Book a UAE DPL Marketing Audit and you'll get an extensive, actionable report, an in-depth gap analysis, and prioritized compliance recommendations - in short, everything you need to avoid fines and laugh in the face of the DPL compliance deadline.
mission & vision statements
Does your company have mission and vision statements? I’d be surprised if it didn’t, but let’s face it; they probably stink. Most company mission and vision statements are horrendously bad. They are wordsmithed to the max in long-drawn meetings where in the end everyone is so tired that they sign up to any old rubbish. I know, because I have been in such meetings and I am sure many of you have, too!
Your company’s mission statement should affect everything you do—and everything your employees do, but if no one can understand or, more importantly, internalize your mission statement, you’ve got a problem. Most business owners have been told that they need to have a mission statement, but few have been instructed on how to create one that's useful and meaningful.
What gets you out of bed in the morning? Do you wake up when the sun rises? Or because you know your kids are already awake? I don’t know what got you out of bed this morning, but I do know that it probably wasn’t your company’s mission or vision statement.
I think, mission and vision statements largely fail, because:
They’re too generic: Your vision and mission should be specific and tailored to your company - otherwise they’re useless.
They’re too fluffy: Get to the point. If your employees can't relate to your mission statement, then it won't mean much to your customers, either.
They’re too confusing: If your mission and missions aren’t obvious from the start, you should consider going back to the drawing board, because you're not ready to put them into official statements yet.
They’re too boring: Ask 10 strangers if your mission statement makes sense and gets them excited. If not, it probably stinks.
They’re over-hyped & over-marketed: If you have to spend much dineros on hyping your mission and vision statements and trying to get your employees’ buy-in, you’re probably doomed. Good mission and vision statements speak for themselves without frilly marketing.
Think your mission and vision statements suck? Let’s make them better! Click here and schedule a FREE, no obligation, 100% entertaining, discovery call with me and find out how I can help you make your mission and vision statements stink less and shine more!
metaverse nonsense
From being announced in June 2021 to being estimated worth $800 million by 2024 by Bloomberg, the metaverse is currently rocking the world. The principle idea – a fully immersive and persistent 3D digital environment – is not a new and has been around since the ‘90s. The million-dollar question is, whether it’ll finally shape into something vaguely useful or just go down the Internet rabbit hole like a wet squib. Many people, right now, are asking what the metaverse means not only for them but also for businesses and society on the whole. Industries and companies are scrambling to see how they can jump on the metaverse bandwagon, hoping that it’s destined to change the world.
To a certain extent, talking about what “the metaverse” means is a bit like having a discussion about what “the internet” means in the 1970s. The building blocks of a new form of communication were in the process of being built, but no one could really know what the reality would look like.
To help you get a sense of how vague and complex a term “the metaverse” can be, here's an exercise to try: Mentally replace the phrase “the metaverse” in a sentence with “cyberspace.” Ninety percent of the time, the meaning won't substantially change. That's because the term doesn't really refer to any one specific type of technology, but rather a broad shift in how we interact with technology.
Simply put, the metaverse is a virtual reality world where users can interact, game and experience things as they would in the real world. Using current AR and VR tech, they can immerse into this world and interact with overlaying objects and people in the visual projected in front of them. Virtual versions of people, objects, and landscapes will allow us to explore brand-new environments and make experiences more accessible to everyone.
Wait a minute! Isn’t this all just a big pile of nonsense? Well, yes and no. Right now, some people are already making tons of money with selling virtual art, creating metaverse avatars, and buying and selling virtual real-estate, but what’s in it for regular people and businesses? What I’m missing are practical use ideas that go beyond what’s already available, e.g. immersive 3D tours, virtual and hybrid events, and virtual itineraries.
Right now, the metaverse somewhat annoys me, so I’ve decided to spend a little time to dig deeper and moodle over what it could be for companies in the hospitality, leisure, tourism, and retail industries. You’ll be able to read my musings in the March issue of Hotel & Catering News ME.
what’s the Sloth up to?
I recently launched “TGS Office Hours” - fixed times when I invite you to pop into my virtual offices without having to book in advance. Simply turn up and off we go. Stop by to ask questions, bounce ideas around, or discuss opportunities, challenges, or simply to get shit done. The first two office hours will happen on Monday, 28th February and Wednesday, 9th March - you can find out more about the new TGS Office Hours here and you can grab your slot for either date here (or, if you’re on Facebook, here for the 28th and here for the 9th). Future TGS Office Hours will be advertised on my BMC and Twitter feeds and on my Facebook Events.
The new office hours out of the way, I can now focus on launching my all-new, sparkling, and super affordable consulting on demand service: The Sloth on Demand (TSOD) - stay tuned! I’m also working on a revised version of Driving Direct Orders - The Toolbox and it’ll be available soon. The first of the two e-books I’m currently work on, “Innovation & Change in Hospitality”, should also hit the virtual bookshelves before too long.
Have you ever wondered who a plumber in Casablanca calls when he needs a new website and a better social media presence? The Sloth and his folks, of course! We recently completed Al Maghribia’s new website and, just like a great plumber, fixed a few other things in the process, too.
What else is going on?
Nominations for the 2022 Hotel & Catering News ME Leaders in Hospitality Awards are open. Just like previously, there are separate nomination forms for “people” and “hotels”, but the 2022 awards also feature some exciting new categories.
The game’s up! In the last TGS e-newsletter, I wrote about F&B revenue management. My piece on the rising importance of revenue management for restaurateurs appeared in the February edition of Hotel & Catering News. Missed it? You can read it online here.
A little while ago, my team and I entered a contest to redesign the logo for the world’s largest vegan & vegetarian food app, Happy Cow. We didn’t win, but that's okay - sometimes it's just nice to do something fun without obsessing about winning or money. Check out the three designs we entered into the contest here.
what’s the Sloth reading, watching, and listening to?
The True Story Behind London’s Worst-Rated Restaurant → TripAdvisor and the British media slam the Palace Restaurant Café near London’s famous Buckingham Palace as the city’s worst restaurant. The true story is, surprise, surprise, a little different and, dare I say, also a little sad & emotional.
How to do Everything → Half advice show, half survival guide, “How to do Everything” is a podcast that answers all your questions, from how to find a date, to how to find water in the desert.
Duck Ramps or “What’s my Role as a Mentor?” → What’s a “duck ramp” and what has it got to do with mentoring?
odds & ends
Not Always Right → If you’re working in hospitality or retail, you probably have a lot of stories about annoying customers and incidents. Not Always Right is a website where you can read similar stories from other people. Some of the stories on the website are quite hilarious, some are examples of really impressive comebacks, and some are a little horrifying.
Big Think → Big ideas in 10 minutes or less.