Stuart Macdonald

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Managing director, Seric Systems

Career so far I ran a tuition business while at university, worked briefly for IBM, and since then have been growing the current business.

If you could be anyone else for a week, who would you be? Aldous Huxley. He had a pretty interesting run and many of his insights I’m sure were discussed with his contemporaries, many of whom were the leading thinkers of their day.

What will next year’s most overhyped industry buzzword be? Ideate – it is a great word. I see 20/20 slipping into reports, company names and program reviews more and more, so that will probably be in there too.

Has 2012 been a good, bad or ugly year? It has been a very good year, though not one without its challenges. It isn’t easy.

What would you have as your last meal? What a depressing question. My mum’s Christmas dinner; actually thinking that cheered me up a bit.

What keeps you awake at night? Too too many things: I have trouble sleeping. I do think rather a lot about gamification (to throw another buzzword) and its potential implications on addiction and addictive behaviour.

What piece of technology could you not be without? The crackberry and on low-fi days the humble pen.

Have any of your predictions come true this year? Finally seeing the more of the rise of social business. Vive la revolution!

What is the best partner/customer trip you have ever been on? ISI and IBM’s ski trip to Val d'Isère in 2011. A one-way ticket to oblivion and plenty of business done too: great stuff.

What do you see as the channel’s biggest challenge in 2013? The perennial channel challenge: squeezing the margin balloon, while continuing to justify the V in VAR and VAD.

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Careers and Skills

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