Hey ,

Good to write after a couple weeks break (it was going to just be the Easter weekend, and then I lazed out last weekend). I've been grading student exams all day and I feel my brain about to begin leaking out of my ears so I'll keep this edition short and sweet (for those interested in the exam topic for that 'Global Brands & Brand Culture course I'd be glad to share it, just hit that reply button).Good and busy week overall though!I was part of the launch for the Le Planneur, an initiative with a bunch of French speaking strategic / brand planners looking at starting some kind of collective and/or community. I talked about a variety of international initiatives I've come across and participated in the past. Here is the launch event video (in French). A few other things bubbling in the pipeline, hopefully some will turn into new clients and work projects, let's see.To keep you up to date with Teaching Tangents with James D'Souza, , last week's question was: "I'm scared to hang out one on one with people, I'm scared they will not find me fun and interesting and there will be blanks, and that I won't have anything to say. Do you feel that sometimes too? How can I fix that?"Our call for questions is still out here - it is a super simple one question survey, please take a minute to give us new kinds of questions! Last week was a great one for just about everyone, I'm sure you'll agree, and I had fun with the conversation.As usual, please keep in touch if you need anything, and please share the newsletter with a friend if you enjoy it!Have an awesome week ahead,Willem

 Weekly Combo Typically a mix of playful and strategy flavours. 

The Unlikely Rise of the French Tacos 

(NY Times, like 20 min read)

If you enjoy food and France you're going to love it. Fun fact: I still haven't tried the French Tacos, it seemed just unsightly to me - and the article kind of gives me hints as to why, though it has been on my list to actually try for while, I just havent gotten around to it.

(Phys.org - like 5-7 min read)

It's pretty easy to describe in Mario Kart if you're familiar with the idea, if you fall behind you will get some of the strongest items, whereas if you're first in a race you risk being blasted by blue and red koopa shells more often (the blue shell automatically targets the first in the race). In short the article makes the case for considering game design principles in ways to improve agriculture and sustainability initiatives - though to be fair, while the overall idea is certainly interesting the articles doesn't really how it can be achieved. Good foo for thought though. One possible link with the previous article and the success of the French tacos is to look at possible ways to mix and match easily available elements (rather than invent things that are hard to implement and dont work, like that children playground water pump - the Playpump, that actually didn't work at all).