Before I get too accustomed to life back in damp, dull and dreary England, I wanted to publicly thank the whole team at Ning who made my three month stay in Palo Alto perhaps the most exciting and enjoyable period of my (sheltered) life to date.

Living in a different country and away from home for such a length of time could have been a daunting experience, and perhaps one that may have gotten the better of me under different circumstances. However, the positive, friendly and relaxed atmosphere I experienced during this trip meant I settled down very quickly, to the point that after only a few weeks, Palo Alto felt very much like home.

Back Row: Tim, Me, Martin, Alexei, Diego, Mike, Brian, Nancy and Scott. Front Row: Athena and Jermaine.

It was made enjoyable in no small part due to the team at Ning. I haven’t worked at a great number of companies in my time, and certainly none of this kind, but I know what Gina and Marc have built up here is something very special indeed. It’s really refreshing to be working with a group off people that are not only experts in their respective fields, but extremely helpful and friendly too.

However, I now have to adjust back to living on this side of the Atlantic, and that’s going to be hard for a number of reasons. This year still has a lot more in store however (and other parts of the globe to bring my rain cloud too) and I look forward to all that that entails!