Scrutable

Posted: **Tue Dec 29, 2020 9:40 pm**

Bird on a Fire wrote: ↑
Tue Dec 29, 2020 11:32 am
Hmmm. There's loads of Brit expats in Oz - surely they outnumber tourists at the mo? Not sure accents are a particularly reliable indicator of recent arrival.

They're definitely not recent arrivals. Even Australians trying to come home are waiting months for their chance to spend a fortnight in a quarantine hotel. Non-Australians are only allowed in for very explicit reasons (think senior government officials type reasons).

Presumably the claim is about British backpackers being filthy and unaustralian by having the party, rather than a worry that they might be bringing in the new variant.

There is a local outbreak of covid and the rules are pretty strict at the moment, so anyone gathering in big groups is going to be criticised for not being a team player. I assume the accents are just part of assigning the partygoers "non-team" status.

Posted: **Thu Dec 31, 2020 12:05 pm**

So it turns out the BA website, UK FCO website and the BA customer services representative I spoke to on the phone to ask for confirmation were all wrong.

The employee working at check-in confirmed that BA customer services don't have the correct information, and "only know how to sell tickets".

Testing on arrival in Lisbon isn't an option. Instead I have to get tested in the UK then spend 48 hours hunkered down in a tier 4 area trying not to breathe the air or touch anything. They've refunded the flight but it's still a pain in the arse having to spend two days at Heathrow just when I was looking forward to getting home, plus I've ended up having to road-test the Post-Brexit borders.

Bizarrely the test at Heathrow plus two nights in a hotel is the same price as the only test I could have got locally-ish, who were sold out anyway. It really is remarkable how much the UK has f.cked this up for people who don't have hundreds of spare euros in their bank account.

On the plus side the people at the test centre were quite nice and it was tickly rather than painful, but then again I don't think people employed by a fit-to-fly service have any motivation to find positive results. We'll probably get tested when we get back as well anyway.

It was also interesting overhearing a number of British people in the queue for our flight insisting that they definitely really were residents of Portugal but no they didn't actually have any legal proof. I'm sure I saw one guy throwing some shady side-eye when I whipped out my documents. I reckon a whole load of UK expats will be f.cked next year.

Posted: **Thu Dec 31, 2020 12:19 pm**

Bird on a Fire wrote: ↑
Thu Dec 31, 2020 12:05 pm
...

It was also interesting overhearing a number of British people in the queue for our flight insisting that they definitely really were residents of Portugal but no they didn't actually have any legal proof. I'm sure I saw one guy throwing some shady side-eye when I whipped out my documents. I reckon a whole load of UK expats will be f.cked next year.

Same here in Spain. There are an awful lot of UK expats with 2nd homes who have been used to spending 5 months (or longer) here who are already well pissed off with the situation. But apparently Brits will get special dispensation because "Spain needs Brits to survive".

Posted: **Thu Dec 31, 2020 1:29 pm**

Opti wrote: ↑
Thu Dec 31, 2020 12:19 pm
Same here in Spain. There are an awful lot of UK expats with 2nd homes who have been used to spending 5 months (or longer) here who are already well pissed off with the situation. But apparently Brits will get special dispensation because "Spain needs Brits to survive".

I suppose if the only thing you have seen in Spain is a strip of expat bars, you could imagine --- if you were very, very stupid --- that the entire Spanish economy consists of expat bars. And the "swallows" who come for the winter don't tend to spend more than a weekly grocery shop and a couple of menus del dia.

Actually, in theory Spain could give Brits special dispensation, because Spain has sovrinteeeee over immigration of third-country nationals beyond the 90-in-180 Schengen rules. However, the political capital they would need to expend with their Schengen partners to create a special 6-month extended-tourist-lite visa for Brits would be immense, as it would drive a coach and horses through the implicit principles of the Schengen visa system.

I do wonder, though, where the holiday reps are going to come from. There are only so many Irish people to go round, and people do like to have a native speaker to sort out their hotel plumbing and sell them excursions.

Posted: **Thu Dec 31, 2020 1:39 pm**

They'll just have to apply for work visas, it's not a big deal. An added expense and hassle for either the company or (more likely) the individual worker.

Or they can do it off the books like all those Ozzies in hostels.

Posted: **Thu Dec 31, 2020 4:39 pm**

Just got the results (negative of course) less than 24 hours later, so I could have got the 6.30 flight today and gone home. FFS.

Posted: **Thu Dec 31, 2020 4:52 pm**

Plus they emailed the certificate in HTML format but with a PDF file extension, so it won't open on mobile phones. Luckily we had a laptop with us to print to file, otherwise we'd have to go back to the test centre and hang around for a paper copy.

That's the kind of attention to detail and professionalism you can expect from a £100 PCR test in the UK private sector.

Posted: **Thu Dec 31, 2020 10:37 pm**

Sorry this is so sh.tty BOAF

at least you aren't missing any street parties.

Posted: **Fri Jan 01, 2021 2:00 pm**

Bird on a Fire wrote: ↑
Thu Dec 31, 2020 1:39 pm
They'll just have to apply for work visas, it's not a big deal. An added expense and hassle for either the company or (more likely) the individual worker.

Or they can do it off the books like all those Ozzies in hostels.

I presume this is in response to my point about holiday reps? I don't think it will be that simple. For Spain, for example, the company has to show that they advertised the job and no suitably qualified EU citizen applied; then they make you the job offer, and you apply to the Spanish consulate (before you leave the UK) for the work visa. I don't know what it costs, but the "non-lucrative" (retirement) visa is £500 per person. And even with that fee, I'm not sure that the consulates will be hiring large numbers of people to process the hugely increased demand.

As for off the books... well, lots of bars and restaurants have been doing this for years, but I can't see TUI or Jet2 doing it. And if people do come to work under the radar, both employer and employee will be in a lot more trouble than before if they get caught. Previously it was a labour code violation that resulted in a fine for the employer and relatively few consequences for the employee; now they will be employing an illegal immigrant, and the worker will be (a) violating the visa waiver no-work conditions, and (b) possibly overstayed the 90 days --- indeed, the latter may very well be discovered when they try to leave at the end of the season even if they don't get caught in the meantime. As a result they will go on the Schengen naughty list and be unable to enter 95% of the EU for any reason without a visa, for however long the authorities decide.

Posted: **Fri Jan 01, 2021 2:41 pm**

I didn't know how much a seasonal work visa for Spain would cost either but it turns out it's probably cheaper than that (the first time you do it, at least).

Posted: **Sat Jan 02, 2021 3:00 am**

sTeamTraen wrote: ↑
Fri Jan 01, 2021 2:00 pm
... the worker will be (a) violating the visa waiver no-work conditions, and (b) possibly overstayed the 90 days --- indeed, the latter may very well be discovered when they try to leave at the end of the season even if they don't get caught in the meantime. As a result they will go on the Schengen naughty list and be unable to enter 95% of the EU for any reason without a visa, for however long the authorities decide.

It's even worse than that. Anyone caught is liable to further consequances from other unrelated countries (e.g. USA). It may render the offender ineligible for visa-free access (if they would have had it), cause much greater scrutiny of visa applications, and may even result in denial of visas on the grounds that the offender is likely to violate the terms.

Posted: **Sun Jan 03, 2021 12:42 am**

shpalman wrote: ↑
Fri Jan 01, 2021 2:41 pm
I didn't know how much a seasonal work visa for Spain would cost either but it turns out it's probably cheaper than that (the first time you do it, at least).

That's not really a work visa, though. It's aimed at students who also want to supplement their resources a bit by working for part of a one-year trip. There's only a limited number a year (for example, 500 for Australians) and it's only for countries with which Spain has an agreement. You also need to have completed a certain amount of education and take out private medical insurance, plus a basic level of Spanish (which will kill off most of the potential applicants from the UK).

Posted: **Mon Jan 04, 2021 1:36 pm**

Posted: **Thu Jan 14, 2021 3:12 pm**

A British tourist has been blamed for a spike in coronavirus cases that led officials to cancel Switzerland's famous Lauberhorn ski race.

Well Switzerland should have done like other countries with Alps in them and closed the f.cking skilifts then shouldn't it.

The event was first moved to the Austrian ski resort of Kitzbühel, but an outbreak of coronavirus there has prompted another move, this time to Flachau, 100km to the east.

The cluster of cases in Jochberg near Kitzbühel broke out among a group of mainly British trainee ski instructors.

Posted: **Tue Jan 19, 2021 1:34 pm**

I've just received an email regretfully informing me that the international conference I am supposed to have a poster at will have to be held online, due to covid. It's in April.

I can only admire the, umm, optimism of the organisers in delaying the decision this long.

Posted: **Tue Jan 19, 2021 2:14 pm**

Squeak wrote: ↑
Tue Jan 19, 2021 1:34 pm
I've just received an email regretfully informing me that the international conference I am supposed to have a poster at will have to be held online, due to covid. It's in April.

I can only admire the, umm, optimism of the organisers in delaying the decision this long.

More like desperation if they were planning on making a lot of profit from the conference fees. They'll still charge for an online conference but at least in my experience a lot fewer people will be interested.

I hope you'll get some other way to publicize your work.

Posted: **Tue Jan 19, 2021 2:29 pm**

Squeak wrote: ↑
Tue Jan 19, 2021 1:34 pm
I've just received an email regretfully informing me that the international conference I am supposed to have a poster at will have to be held online, due to covid. It's in April.

I can only admire the, umm, optimism of the organisers in delaying the decision this long.

Royal Swing Fest, currently scheduled for 30 April - 2 May in Collegno near Turin, has yet to be postponed again. (It was originally scheduled for April last year, then moved to October).

Posted: **Tue Jan 19, 2021 4:31 pm**

I wonder when the Euros and Olympics are going to be postponed (again).

Posted: **Tue Jan 19, 2021 6:21 pm**

Squeak wrote: ↑
Tue Jan 19, 2021 1:34 pm
I've just received an email regretfully informing me that the international conference I am supposed to have a poster at will have to be held online, due to covid. It's in April.

I can only admire the, umm, optimism of the organisers in delaying the decision this long.

I might have mentioned previously but I changed my role in Nov 2019 to one which involved a lot of conference attendence as a sponsor/vendor; spent most of November, January and February jet-setting, got back in March fancying a little time at home and I've barely left the house since

Anyway we've spent a lot of time looking at virtual conferences but it looks like a Catch-22 for the organisers; a virtual conference doesn't have the appeal of a meatspace conference so attendence is down so the only way they can cover their overheads is to maintain the existing conference prices for a far-inferior experience further reducing attendence making them a non-starter for us.

In the end we've spent the money saved on producing our own webinars, SEO, PPC, MQL and the all the other three-letter acronym digital marketing dark arts with a lot more impact.

Last weekend, the BBC "Click" show reviewed the virtual "Consumer Electronics Show" which is one of the electronic industry's big showcase events and even people supposedly as tech savvy as them produced something resembling the sort of electronic Argos catalogue* you would have accessed on your dial-up internet connection in the late 90s. Bit of a step down from Vegas.

*the paid-for version is no better, the only difference is you can click on the exhibitors' squares (browsing for one is a PITA as it is merely gives you the logo and name) and it just brings up a short blurb about the company and a link to the website, you be better off JFGI.

Posted: **Thu Jan 21, 2021 7:02 pm**

Home Office considered electronic tags for travellers

Posted: **Fri Jan 22, 2021 10:00 am**

Little waster wrote: ↑
Tue Jan 19, 2021 6:21 pm

Squeak wrote: ↑
Tue Jan 19, 2021 1:34 pm
I've just received an email regretfully informing me that the international conference I am supposed to have a poster at will have to be held online, due to covid. It's in April.

I can only admire the, umm, optimism of the organisers in delaying the decision this long.
I might have mentioned previously but I changed my role in Nov 2019 to one which involved a lot of conference attendence as a sponsor/vendor; spent most of November, January and February jet-setting, got back in March fancying a little time at home and I've barely left the house since

Anyway we've spent a lot of time looking at virtual conferences but it looks like a Catch-22 for the organisers; a virtual conference doesn't have the appeal of a meatspace conference so attendence is down so the only way they can cover their overheads is to maintain the existing conference prices for a far-inferior experience further reducing attendence making them a non-starter for us.

In the end we've spent the money saved on producing our own webinars, SEO, PPC, MQL and the all the other three-letter acronym digital marketing dark arts with a lot more impact.

Last weekend, the BBC "Click" show reviewed the virtual "Consumer Electronics Show" which is one of the electronic industry's big showcase events and even people supposedly as tech savvy as them produced something resembling the sort of electronic Argos catalogue* you would have accessed on your dial-up internet connection in the late 90s. Bit of a step down from Vegas.

*the paid-for version is no better, the only difference is you can click on the exhibitors' squares (browsing for one is a PITA as it is merely gives you the logo and name) and it just brings up a short blurb about the company and a link to the website, you be better off JFGI.

I was extremely impressed with the (free) online SAS* UK conference last year. Slightly different from some conferences in that it's always free anyway and is run by SAS for their users. I've never actually been to the physical one but it being virtual last year made it easier for me to attend. The interface was a move-through-able 2 storey building laid out as a typical small conference might be. A welcome desk where you could access timetables, map of the venue, etc. A room for sponsors with individual stands where you could either just go to standard info pages, or could live message with the sponsors. An area with some other interactive stuff, I can't recall exactly what now. And up the stairs to the presentations themselves where you could select from whatever was live at that moment, and watch live.

I also "attended" the virtual "Data London" exhibition/conference thingummy a few weeks earlier. The interface was less swish but easy to navigate, they had some good speakers, including Hannah Fry, and the interaction with the presenters was well done.

But I do wonder how well any of the sponsors did out of either event. In the Data for London event, you really would have had to go out of your way to find the info on them. The SAS one did that better, with a visible room that tempted you to go and explore, but I wonder how many people bothered to talk to them. I don't often get to go to conferences but when I do, unless I have a specific mission to find out more about something, I tend only to talk to the sponsors in idle moments, between talks, etc. When you're at home, idle moments between talks can be filled by so many other things, you're just not going to bother to talk to them unless you really want to. But then, do they end up with fewer conversations, but still the same number of quality leads, as the mostly useless idle chatterers are excluded, or do they end up with far fewer quality leads as well, as people just don't bother at all?

*Stats software, not airline, military organisation, or any other entity going by the same initials

Posted: **Fri Jan 22, 2021 10:24 am**

bagpuss wrote: ↑
Fri Jan 22, 2021 10:00 am

Little waster wrote: ↑
Tue Jan 19, 2021 6:21 pm

Squeak wrote: ↑
Tue Jan 19, 2021 1:34 pm
I've just received an email regretfully informing me that the international conference I am supposed to have a poster at will have to be held online, due to covid. It's in April.

I can only admire the, umm, optimism of the organisers in delaying the decision this long.
I might have mentioned previously but I changed my role in Nov 2019 to one which involved a lot of conference attendence as a sponsor/vendor; spent most of November, January and February jet-setting, got back in March fancying a little time at home and I've barely left the house since

Anyway we've spent a lot of time looking at virtual conferences but it looks like a Catch-22 for the organisers; a virtual conference doesn't have the appeal of a meatspace conference so attendence is down so the only way they can cover their overheads is to maintain the existing conference prices for a far-inferior experience further reducing attendence making them a non-starter for us.

In the end we've spent the money saved on producing our own webinars, SEO, PPC, MQL and the all the other three-letter acronym digital marketing dark arts with a lot more impact.

Last weekend, the BBC "Click" show reviewed the virtual "Consumer Electronics Show" which is one of the electronic industry's big showcase events and even people supposedly as tech savvy as them produced something resembling the sort of electronic Argos catalogue* you would have accessed on your dial-up internet connection in the late 90s. Bit of a step down from Vegas.

*the paid-for version is no better, the only difference is you can click on the exhibitors' squares (browsing for one is a PITA as it is merely gives you the logo and name) and it just brings up a short blurb about the company and a link to the website, you be better off JFGI.
I was extremely impressed with the (free) online SAS* UK conference last year. Slightly different from some conferences in that it's always free anyway and is run by SAS for their users. I've never actually been to the physical one but it being virtual last year made it easier for me to attend. The interface was a move-through-able 2 storey building laid out as a typical small conference might be. A welcome desk where you could access timetables, map of the venue, etc. A room for sponsors with individual stands where you could either just go to standard info pages, or could live message with the sponsors. An area with some other interactive stuff, I can't recall exactly what now. And up the stairs to the presentations themselves where you could select from whatever was live at that moment, and watch live.

I also "attended" the virtual "Data London" exhibition/conference thingummy a few weeks earlier. The interface was less swish but easy to navigate, they had some good speakers, including Hannah Fry, and the interaction with the presenters was well done.

But I do wonder how well any of the sponsors did out of either event. In the Data for London event, you really would have had to go out of your way to find the info on them. The SAS one did that better, with a visible room that tempted you to go and explore, but I wonder how many people bothered to talk to them. I don't often get to go to conferences but when I do, unless I have a specific mission to find out more about something, I tend only to talk to the sponsors in idle moments, between talks, etc. When you're at home, idle moments between talks can be filled by so many other things, you're just not going to bother to talk to them unless you really want to. But then, do they end up with fewer conversations, but still the same number of quality leads, as the mostly useless idle chatterers are excluded, or do they end up with far fewer quality leads as well, as people just don't bother at all?

*Stats software, not airline, military organisation, or any other entity going by the same initials

They should have offered to send a flashing light-up ball, packet of mints, stress ball, or good quality biro to anyone who came by virtually, same as they would in person

Posted: **Fri Jan 22, 2021 10:35 am**

tom p wrote: ↑
Fri Jan 22, 2021 10:24 am
They should have offered to send a flashing light-up ball, packet of mints, stress ball, or good quality biro to anyone who came by virtually, same as they would in person

I did think about that. Who knows if they sent anything to anyone but there was definitely no obvious "come and chat and we'll send you a ...". SAS sent out free goody bags* to everyone that registered but it was purely SAS stuff, I was a bit surprised that there was nothing at all from any of the sponsors or other exhibitors in there, but it may have been too expensive to be worth it for them.

*Nothing exciting, a cheap but very useable cotton bag, good quality notebook and pen

Posted: **Fri Jan 22, 2021 11:46 am**

bagpuss wrote: ↑
Fri Jan 22, 2021 10:00 am

I was extremely impressed with the (free) online SAS* UK conference last year. Slightly different from some conferences in that it's always free anyway and is run by SAS for their users. I've never actually been to the physical one but it being virtual last year made it easier for me to attend. The interface was a move-through-able 2 storey building laid out as a typical small conference might be. A welcome desk where you could access timetables, map of the venue, etc. A room for sponsors with individual stands where you could either just go to standard info pages, or could live message with the sponsors. An area with some other interactive stuff, I can't recall exactly what now. And up the stairs to the presentations themselves where you could select from whatever was live at that moment, and watch live.

I've seen some better ones as well; online poster sessions, live Q-ands-As with KOLs, virtual treasure hunts to encourage you to visit every area, virtual break-out areas where you can live message other attendees but on the whole in terms of MQLs, we found ourselves getting better ROI with direct marketing.

TMA - Too many acronyms!

Posted: **Sat Jan 23, 2021 10:31 am**

Ministers will discuss at a meeting on Monday whether to tighten restrictions at UK borders - including the possibility of hotel quarantines for travellers

Another one of those headlines from nearly a year ago which for some reason is only just popping up now.

Scrutable

International travel

Re: International travel

Re: International travel

Re: International travel

Re: International travel

Re: International travel

Re: International travel

Re: International travel

Re: International travel

Re: International travel

Re: International travel

Re: International travel

Re: International travel

Re: International travel

Re: International travel

Re: International travel

Re: International travel

Re: International travel

Re: International travel

Re: International travel

Re: International travel

Re: International travel

Re: International travel

Re: International travel

Re: International travel

Re: International travel