Sunday Sum - 10th September 2023

Hey , welcome back to

The Sunday Summary

, a collection of insights and my behind the scenes from the past week.

🗼💂🏻‍♀️ A London experience:BT Tower!Wow, I cannot express just how lucky I am to experience this. I managed to win entry via OpenHouse Festival.  BT Tower being one of the exclusive ballots (including no. 10 Downing Street).  I literally shrieked when I saw the email. To me it just represents the most visible and iconic of London, but of course not being open to the public, I put it in my mind of one of those things I’d never be able to experience.  To give some context of how much this means to me.  I’ve literally had dreams of going up BT Tower!  Here’s some photos for you all.  Timing couldn’t be better as it was the last slot of the day, so we got to see London in that golden hour!  I'm still pinching myself and reliving it in my mind!🛞 The end of my shift videos?And no, it's not because of TfL! 😑Everytime I complete and render out a shift video.  I tell myself “This will be the last one”.  I posted this on my YouTube community tab and it’s incredible how it got interpreted as; “Is Tom still a taxi driver”, “Tom is leaving YouTube”, “Have TfL got involved?”. 

So let me set the record straight and share my intentions.

Making shift videos are incredibly laborious. 

1st I need to go to work (don’t mind that bit). 

2nd, I need to film little bits in-between on the GoPro. 

3rd I need to script and film the “studio piece”, along with map shots (almost 1 day of work), and then I need to edit it all together (approx 3 days work). 

It’s very difficult for me to share out this workload as almost every step of it requires me. 

And then the edit (arguably the only bit someone else can do), it’s incredibly difficult for an editor to look at a night time piece of footage from say Southwark and match that up with the studio and map shots!  Shift videos do pay me well, but I’ve arguably made myself a second full-time job (that I enjoy less than just going out and driving in the taxi).

Labour aside (and that’s one of the largest reasons), here’s several other reasons why I don’t want to pursue the shift videos.

1. 🔁 It’s largely all the same.  There’s only so many times I can explain how Curzon Street and Bolton street sets me up perfectly for the Picadilly underpass on the route to Knightsbridge.

2. 👨🏼‍🏫 There’s not really a compelling narrative other than; will it be busy?  Will I get a job in the correct direction?  Etc?  So much so that I even reached out to and got mentioned on Creator Support with Colin & Samir. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQ89d0ilocU (30:00 minutes in).  Other than stopping to ask passengers if they consent to be filmed and then asking them about their day (which is way too far out of my comfort zone).

3. 💨 I literally have time for nothing else!  There’s always this low hanging dread of (oh I need to edit this video).  I’ve looked at every avenue to speed this up. Reframing through Tim Ferriss’ “what would this look like if it were easy?”  The issue is that I’m constantly on this hamster wheel and no longer innovating on the channel.

4. 🤒 I find that strangely I get ill or run down near to a upload deadline (self imposed deadline I might add).

5. 🏔️ What is the overall outcome from this?  Where will these take me?  I honestly can’t see where.

So. TfL didn’t get involved.  I still actively enjoy driving a taxi. And I still will remain on YouTube.  Just more than likely.  Not shift/working stuff.  More London and knowledge related content.

What I will be focussing on is content that invigorates me.  Stuff that I stay up late thinking about, not because it comes from a position of fear, but because curiosity is driving me to.  Like spending hours mapping out a way across London without using Traffic lights!  (Still ongoing that one!). The POV tour/drive was fantastic because it pushes me out of my comfort zone (just enough) and I learn through the process, and it doesn’t consume an entire week to edit!  So we’ll certainly see more of those!I will also be sharing more shorts, and I'm back on Instagram, as a way of putting creative stuff out without the heavy lift! https://www.instagram.com/tomhutley/

📖 🎤 A talk I will be doing:Lord Mayors 695th Lecture series - The Gresham SocietyI will be a part of the Lord Mayors 695th Lecture series.  Hosted as an online webinar by The Gresham Society.  I will be delivering a treatise on the importance and vital role that The Knowledge of London still posses.It’s not until November (plenty of time for me to procrastinate) so I’ll remind you nearer the time.  Free to attend.  20 minute talk followed by a 20 minute Q&A. 

🥤 Some London (and UK news):yFood are in WHSmith!This is a little extra, on Friday I went to Waterloo station (London’s busiest station) to see the full wrap advertisement that yFood have put in place. This is a big launch to celebrate the fact that they are now available in WHSmith across the country including their travel hubs at the major London stations.  Many of you have asked me if they can be bought in store, so now I can thankfully say that they are! But heads up, it’s cheaper to buy it online with my exclusive discount 10% https://bit.ly/tomthetaxidriver_yfood_500ml TAXI-YOUTUBE 😉 

📺 On YouTube this week:

Big Events = Big Traffic?Sponsored by yFood (Get 10% off site-wide)

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

Please feel free to reach out to me with your; comments, concerns or just general conversation.  

I'd love to know what you're up to or what you might be working on!

 📝😁

Have a great week everyone!

Tom

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