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From CallCentre UK website.
Posted August 30, 2012.
Sophie Patrikios, Senior Director Consumer Services, LEGO
Sophie Patrikios is Senior Director of Consumer Services at LEGO. She has taken
the multi-lingual, multi-skilled LEGO customer service operation to new heights
since joining in 1999. The division’s 200 staff handle more than 1.5million
contacts every year, all at an NPS of more than 84%. Sophie loves data
crunching, managing people, and...Quorn.
How did you get into customer service?
I had been a category manager for Mars Confectionery, Walt Disney Company and
then LEGO Group and in that process discovered that I liked managing people
almost as much as I liked data-crunching. Running a contact centre was the
logical collision of two passions.
And how did you end up in your current role?
I sat on an acorn and waited. I was the operational manager for our European
contact centre, then an EU Director position was created and I got it, then a
senior director position was created to take responsibility for customer service
globally and I got that too. Our company continues to grow and change so quickly
that even if I’d stayed in my original role it would be almost unrecognisable
now.
How has the industry changed since you’ve been involved in it?
There’s a lot more focus on NPS, a greater willingness to make the leap of faith
that service excellence will pay off even if you can’t prove it to your CFO and
a stronger conviction that to achieve service excellence you have to have happy
employees.
What is your greatest achievement?
Winning the European Call Centre Awards ‘Best Customer Service’ Award in 2007,
the same year that Richard Stollery won ‘Best Business Strategist’ after I
submitted a secret entry for him.
What is your biggest regret?
That I thought we wouldn’t win so I didn’t invite the whole team to the gala
dinner.
What is the best thing about your job?
The variety. Every sixty minutes I seem to need to activate a different part of
my brain, team up with a different group of people, focus on a different country
or product. And if I can sneak a second thing in, it’s no secret that I love the
fact that my job allows me to present to large audiences where I’m the only one
with a microphone and no-one is allowed to interrupt my monologue.
Who has had the greatest influence over your life or your career?
Richard Stollery, now Global CRM Director at Adidas. He chose me in the first
place even though I had no contact centre experience, he believed in me, pushed
me, and set a vision so compelling it was easy to deliver it for him.
Which companies do you admire and why?
I visited British Gas in Cardiff recently and was really impressed by the way
they have invested in their people and the clarity with which they can all tell
that story.
What do you do for fun?
I read voraciously and watch non-competitive cookery programmes (I like the
total absence of drama or even human interest).
Tell us one unusual thing about yourself.
Despite being a huge attention-seeker, I’m actually an introvert and after being
surrounded by people I have to go off on my own and re-charge. It’s why I love
my long drive home after work, it’s a chance to de-compress.
Name one thing you couldn’t live without.
Quorn. Really, how did vegetarians ever feed themselves before those beautiful
nuggets of laboratory grown goodness were invented?
What keeps you awake at night?
Pretty much everything! I don’t like being caught off guard, so most of the
night is spent contingency planning for every possible eventuality. I’m aware
that other people find spontaneity fun but to me, suddenly deciding to go to the
cinema is the thin end of the wedge...
www.callcentre.co.uk
-end of report-
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(Originally Posted May 21, 2012 from the DailyMail website.)
LEGO tycoon Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen gives more than a third of the voting shares
to his three children
By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
LEGO tycoon Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen has given more than a third of the voting
shares in his $6bn holding company to his three children, beginning the process
of handing over the toy empire to the next generation, writes Richard Orange
from Denmark.
The latest filings for Kirkbi, the holding company that controls LEGO and the
LEGOLAND theme parks, show that Kirk Kristiansen, has diluted his own vote to
just under 65 per cent, leaving Sofia (35), Thomas (33) and Agneta (29), with
11.61 per cent, 11.71 per cent, and 11.69 per cent respectively.
Kristiansen is Denmark’s richest man. Born in 1947, just before the company was
founded, he was the grandchild on whom LEGO founder Ole Kirk Christiansen tested
his original prototypes before arriving at the modern brick design in 1958. He
succeeded his father Godtfred as president and chief executive in 1979.
A spokesman for Kirkbi said: ‘We’ve made this change to prepare for an effective
change of generations in the future. We want to prevent any unpleasant family
disputes that might occur.’
The three children’s 49 per cent stake in Kirkbi was previously comprised solely
of non-voting shares, leaving their father Kjeld in total control. Their
increased say is expected to be formalised with executive positions.
Dailymail.co.uk
-end of report-
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LEGOClubTV YouTube channel:
The LEGO Group celebrates its 80th Birthday on August 10, 2012, take a look back
at its history with this short animated film.
Video: 17:09
LEGOClubTV channel Video: The LEGO® Story YouTube.com
Enjoy!
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From Surveymonkey and LEGO.
Dear LEGO fan,
The LEGO fan community is important to us. To improve and support the LEGO fan
community we have partnered with Aarhus University, Denmark, and DePaul
University, Chicago, to carry out this survey. The survey is part of a large
ongoing research project aimed at better understanding user activities and
interactions in communities.
We would greatly appreciate if you would complete the questionnaire. It will
take you approx. 20-30 minutes. Please note that you must be at least 13 years
old to take this survey.
The survey ends by May, 17, 2012 (midnight GMT). All responses are strictly
confidential. We will share the top line findings (in English) with you once we
have analyzed the data.
Thank you very much for your help!
Kind regards,
Jan Beyer, Community Operations Manager EU/Asia
James Foulds, Community Operations Senior Manager, Americas/Australia
Tormod Askildsen, Head of the LEGO Community Events & Engagement team
Link: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/LEGO_Fan_Survey_English
If you have questions regarding the research, please contact Yun Mi Antorini (in
English) on this mail address: Yun.Mi.Antorini@LEGO.com
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In lugnet.people, Larry Pieniazek wrote:
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http://www.flickr.com/photos/12622904@N03/7021501535/
Reposted to give it wider exposure. If you know anything, that group has
contact info... keep an eye open. Especially if you’re in the US Pacific
Northwest.
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http://www.flickr.com/photos/12622904@N03/7039579861/
I’m so sorry to hear this. My condolences go out to all of her family and
friends.
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In lugnet.people, Larry Pieniazek wrote:
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/12622904@N03/7021501535/
>
> Reposted to give it wider exposure. If you know anything, that group has contact
> info... keep an eye open. Especially if you're in the US Pacific Northwest.
I have posted about this on several non-brick-related forums that I frequent and
which have nationwide readership. I hope that others will consider doing the
same.
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It is with great sadness I have decided to quit LDraw.
LDraw has been my primary hobby for about 15 years and an endless source of joy
and relaxation, combined with intellectual challenges. But in the last few
years, it feels like LDraw has changed while I haven't. Instead of joy and
relaxation, LDraw has caused me anger and frustration. And while my health is
steadily declining, the challenges presented by the changes of the LDraw format
are too great for me to overcome. I haven't even been able to achieve status quo
in my projects; ie had the time to repair all the damage made by the perpetual
changes of the LDraw format standard. So my projects have been going backwards
instead of making progress.
I've come to the point where I am forced to realize that my LDraw projects will
never ever be finished, or even move forward again. Therefor it is pointless to
keep on. Better spend my time on something I have I chance to finalize.
I want to try to remember LDraw for all the countless hours of work made by
hundreds of volontairs from all over the world, the abundance of great LDraw
models from thousands of enthusiastic LDraw users. I will try not to keep the
bitterness of the many times I tried to explain why some changes are such bad
ideas, and the frustration of never been taken seriously. Hope you are also able
to forgive and forget the words I have used in my anger and frustration.
Happy Building and LDrawing,
/Tore
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Warsaw art museum buys Zbigniew Libera’s ‘LEGO’ concentration camp
(Jan. 3, 2012 LA Times update of a old report)
Some controversial artworks never completely lose the taint of the taboo despite
changing times and evolving tastes. When Polish artist Zbigniew Libera created a
faux LEGO concentration camp toy set in 1996, he drew widespread criticism from
people who believed he was making light of the Holocaust. Since then, his
death-camp toys have been shown in museums and galleries around the world,
including New York’s Jewish Museum in the 2002 exhibition “Mirroring Evil.”
This week, the Museum of Modern Art in
Warsaw, Poland, announced on its website that it has acquired Libera’s
concentration camp creations. The museum said it purchased the artwork on Dec.
30 from a Norwegian art collector for 55,000 euros, or approximately $71,800.
The museum described the pieces as “one of the most important works of
contemporary Polish art.”
The work features LEGO renderings of crematoria and barracks as well as scenes
depicting skeletal prisoners being beaten by guards.
A 1997 report
in The Times stated that the creations were so disturbing that the Lego Group
tried to persuade Libera to withdraw them from public view. (The company
eventually backed down from its demands.)
“I understand that Lego must defend its good name, but this is not a product
being offered in a store,” Libera told The Times. The artwork caused additional
controversy when Libera was invited to participate in the 1997 Venice Biennale,
but was asked by Polish officials to not show the Lego pieces. “This is
censorship all over again,” the artist told The Times. “I created this work to
inspire discussion, not to suppress it.”
Born in 1959, Libera is one of the most provocative Polish artists currently
working. His other works include ironic and sometimes darkly humorous
deconstructions of children’s toys and mass-produced consumer goods.
LAtimes.com
Link from the 1997 Article
An Artist’s
Volatile Toy Story
-end of repot-
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In lugnet.starwars, John Neal wrote:
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In lugnet.starwars, Ahui Herrera wrote:
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Is the falcon & the ISD the only midi-scale models that TLC has done to
date? Any ideas if they will release other models in this size?
Thanks!
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Ahui???
You are still around? Wow, even a youngster like you is prolly old by now!
JOHN
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Hi John l-o-n-g time that I have not stopped here.
ROFL yeah I’m old now. My daughter tells me that all the time since he has to
use 2 hands and then some to figure out how old I am.
LIFE and TLC’s decision to no longer use 9V and use “flesh” color minfigs made
me walk away from LEGO. I sold the vast majority of my unopened LEGO sets and
the opened stuff got boxed up and put in storage. Several different hobbies can
take over since then and the LIFE brought me a little girl in 2005, followed by
a little boy in 2007 and then another little girl in 2011. Needless to say it’s
been DUPLO for a while in the house. But last year some of the old sets (trains
+ star wars) came out since my 2 older ones could finally enjoy them.
I still cringe when they play with MY LEGO but I don’t have the heart to play
with it anymore. Especially when I know that my 9v trains are no more and as
much as I have looked at the new stuff I am just not “into” going with the new
system. Anyways back to the topic at hand as it’s depressing thinking about my
old collection.
We where at Target yesterday and my oldest was going ga, ga over the new LEGO
Friends sets. She loves them and wants them all. Kids! That got me looking at
some of the star wars sets and wondering about the LEGO Star Wars PODs that I
built a while back and that lead to the midi-scale sets and well that got me
back here.
So anyone know the answer? Best I can tell it was only those 2 sets and nothing
else.
AHui
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