New romantic

What was your first job, and how did you get into IT?
My first salaried role was at Barclays Bank. My first role in IT was for Inmac UK. I had started at Inmac as an accounts admin, and was transferred to the sales team on the basis that I was too loud to be an accountant!

Planes, trains or automobiles?
As I can neither drive a train or pilot a plane I would have to say automobiles. I'm not very good as a passenger and prefer to be in control of arriving safely at my destination.

What sport should be in the Olympics but isn't?
I'm a huge fan of Strictly Come Dancing so I'd have to say ballroom dancing.

Which fictional TV character is borrowing ideas from your life?
Bridget Jones, for too many reasons to go into. I like to think that if Helen Fielding were to write another follow-up novel, Jones's life and daily dilemmas would still be as similar to and comical as mine.

What is your favourite joke or the one you heard most recently?
I heard this one on the radio this morning. A chicken crossed the road and met James Bond. 'What's your name?' asked the chicken. 'Bond, James Bond. What's yours?' replied Bond. 'Ken, Chick Ken.'

"In my dreams ..."
... the world would be free of proprietary standards.

What was your best business trip or junket ever?
A trip to reward my top distribution sales team. I hired a 65ft Sunseeker to sail around Nice and Monaco. The weather was truly glorious and we had so much fun acting out the scene from Duran Duran's Rio video clip that it will stay with me forever.

What was the best holiday you ever went on?
Gosh, I haven't really been on a proper holiday for years so I really can't remember. It's been all work, work, work. So I must admit this question has spurred me on to book one.

If you had a week to live, what would you do?
Considering my last response, I would have to say I'd head for the beach and have a holiday.

What would your superpower be?
To fly. No more queuing at airports or trying to decant my toiletries to fit into silly little plastic bags.

Do you read Channelweb.co.uk on your mobile?
Yes, I'll read it on whatever mobile device I have with me at the time.

If you were shrunk to the size of a pencil and put in a blender, how would you get out?
I would try to topple it over, and crawl out.

Print or online news?
Online every time. It's immediate, the graphics are great, and I don't have to worry about destroying the planet or recycling.

Do you use social media?
Both personally and professionally.

Will the economic recovery continue?
I do hope so. One good thing to come out of this crisis is that we're all much more aware about the need for value. In the quest to do more with less, we're asking more questions and that can only be a good thing.

What does the channel most need to learn this year?
For the most part I think we have a great channel in this country. I do, however, feel that some organisations still don't listen to their customers, and are too focused on selling point products rather than presenting a solution. Customers want really smart solutions, free of vendor lock-in, that will continue to deliver great value and enable their businesses to perform more efficiently than the competition.

Your closest near-death experience?
Thankfully I have none to recall.

Is IT well taught in schools?
There will always be room for improvement. However, a subject is only ever as good as its teacher. The challenge is that the world of hi-tech is so fast-paced and school budgets are always challenging. Therefore a good teacher will need to demonstrate a real passion for their subject and keep up to date with advances in technology.

Lorna Riddle is European sales manager at Digium