Vignettes

Perspectives and musings on life and politics by Erik Winther Paisley

Det, der engang var De

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Som nogle sproglige arkælologer og andre antikvarister som undertegnede måske har bemærket, så fandtes der en gang for mange, mange – ja nærmest utallige år siden – to måder at tiltale andre direkte. Man kunne – hold på hat og briller! – tiltale en med pronominet du, men – og her går det sandelig løs – man kunne også anvende prominet De! Read the rest of this entry »

Written by Erik Winther Paisley

March 27, 2008 at 1:12 am

Posted in Life in general

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Charming old music

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I Danmark er jeg født – Axel Schiøtz

This is fantastic. Axel Schiøtz sings I Danmark er jeg født in that glorious, classical style that seems to have died out today in favor of more “naturalistic” styles.

Written by Erik Winther Paisley

March 26, 2008 at 11:15 pm

Posted in Life in general

Being Fairly Fair to the Fairer Sex.

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As I sit and ponder life over a cup of chamomile tea, I have taken the time to consider the question of feminine titles. Read the rest of this entry »

Written by Erik Winther Paisley

March 25, 2008 at 1:29 am

Market research #2

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So, I’m at work right now. I’ve got some down time while I wait for my calls to connect. It’s the eternal problem with business-to-business (b2b) jobs; you always spend more than half your actual time on the phone negotiating with receptionists, dialling your way through phone menu… (why isn’t there ever a “… dial 7 if you’re a market researcher trying to find an able and willing respondent…”?) and being told that the head of Marketing / Sales / Human Ressources / etc.. isn’t available till next week. However, surprisingly, companies will tell you  a lot if you just ask persistently and politely. 

Gave up on market survey by interviewing; sales figures simply aren’t accessible that way. Mini-qualitative investigation didn’t yield other than expected results based on websurvey findings. Well, it’s interesting anyway… I do need to practice doing qualitative interviews some more though. They’re supposed to be my forte as an anthropologist(-in-the-making).

Written by Erik Winther Paisley

March 12, 2008 at 12:55 pm

New job: Market Research Deluxe

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So, I finally found  a new job. Phew.

I’m working two-three days a week at Optimizers, a pretty small market research / consultancy in downtown Copenhagen. Now, rather than just interviewing day and day out, I’m actually involved in the entire research process: Meeting with the client, drafting questionnaires, processing survey results, writing reports, conducting interviews … It’s great. It’s quite a mouthful, but I’ve been dying to get out and do something with my studies. … Oh, and the pay is better., and I’m no longer working nights and weekends.

I called and quit at Nielsen Company this evening, and I’ll be going in Thursday to say goodbye and see if I can get my reference, otherwise they’ll just mail it to me. I’ve been there two years, learned a lot, but it’s was definitely time to move on.  It just wasn’t going anywhere. I’ve tried moving on and upwards twice in Nielsen, but to no avail. Last year, I contacted the Qualitative Research dept., since I was considering applying for an internship there. I exchanged some emails, had an interview with them… and then never heard a thing. This year, I applied for a job as a qualitative project assistant … but I haven’t heard a thing either. So I started looking elsewhere, and got it. Bu-bye Nielsen. There really isn’t all that much to say.

Except hurray! I have a real job!

Written by Erik Winther Paisley

March 10, 2008 at 11:42 pm