This week’s willing victim is the lovely Mr Colin Gilchrist, my favourite local social media evangelist. He’s the entrepreneur behind Tweetabits, a web-based Twitter search interface which allows you to tag and analyse tweets according to narrow search criteria. Among other things, he used to own a clothes stall in Camden Market, London and has also worked as a fashion buyer for Burberry! He has recently been invited to blog in The Drum magazine.
What’s your startup/company, and your role? Red Dress (and Tweetabits). My role is Managing Partner, my adopted title: Social Tailor. Everyone in the team was given a job title by someone else in the company; I provide social marketing strategy for our clients and I studied Fashion Design in the 80’s…
Give us your company culture in 3 words: Creativity, Passion, Results
What’s the next big challenge or hurdle the company needs to overcome? Whether to continue to accept supporting other agencies or bite the bullet and fully merge (again) with one.
What’s the personal dream? Retiring early to go back to painting and sculpture
And the professional dream? For our agency to have been responsible (or take the credit for) changing the mindset of big brand clients in Scotland into stopping pushing their message and accepting that creating conversations through their advertising (educational, fun, scary… tied to an emotion) is what works in new world advertising.
What do you do for stress relief? Exercise: Badminton, Tennis – and a few times a year take off to the holiday home, where there is no internet, no mobile phone signal and 4 miles to the nearest shop.
Your favourite ’skint’ meal? Beans on toast with melted cheese
How do you celebrate milestones or awards? Finish early, and head off to a bowling alley, a race course, pool hall…
What’s your biggest guilty pleasure? Ice cream and producing / writing music.
And the coolest event you’ve been to? Personally – being on the stage in front of an estimated 20,000 people at T in the Park (on stage with Edith Bowman and The Proclaimers).
Name a quirky fact about yourself: I’m an exhibited artist, last piece I sold hangs in an office on George Street in Edinburgh and was purchased for £2,000
Given the choice, would you prefer:
i) Truth or dare? Dare – as a previous Angel, on the board of 5 companies, I’m used to taking the odd risk
ii) Carrot or stick? Carrot – it’s more fun being part of a team than leading it, particularly when you majorly influence the decisions. For example I am a majority shareholder in a business but I don’t run it.
iii) Tea or coffee? Coffee…. oh, and Tea… sorry but like music, depending on the mood I can be into Mozart one minute and Tiesto the next.
StartupCafe 
“Changing the mindset of big brand clients in Scotland into stopping pushing their message and accepting that creating conversations through their advertising (educational, fun, scary… tied to an emotion) is what works in new world advertising.” — Absolutely!!
Big fan of this goal, and working on impacting the mindset of one I’m involved with in this exact vein. Never articulated it quite that concisely, but now that you’ve spelled it out, yes that’s exactly what’s been bugging me!