ABOUT IAN FLORANCE

These sections of the site give more information on work in areas such as poetry and music. Hopefully this short autobiography shows how the two sides of the site - ONLYCONNECT and the arts - fit together.

Background and Education

I grew up in Croydon, Surrey and went to Whitgift School in South Croydon. I received a First class degree in English and Art History at Leeds University and took an MA course at Reading University on the relationship between literature and the visual arts in the early 20th century.

Tracy and I live in Henley-on-Thames. Tracy worked for Macmillan Children's Books but now sells her wonderful photographs at a variety of venues ( see www.tflorancephotography.co.uk.

Career

My first job was as a copywriter and then as a Promotions Manager at Macmillan Education. I organised direct mail campaigns and advertising both in the UK and for overseas companies. I got my first job because I could quote the Liverpool poets, the second because I am a Gemini and wore a duffel coat with holes in it: so much for objective human assessment.

I moved on to nfernelson, the major publisher of assessments, books and journals and then to Hamlyn. This taught me a lot about consumer promotions especially pr. Amongjobs was having tea with Barbara Cartland . At one stage I worked as a publishers' reader, reporting on manuscripts in the fields of sport, music, social history and political history, turning down many potential bestsellers on the basis of pure jealousy.

I moved back to nfernelson and worked in clinical, book, journal and educational publishing and marketing planning as well as developing an international network of agents. As marketing director I integrated direct sales, publicity, pr, customer service and order processing into a unified customer-facing group.It worked because of the exceptional people who worked there. I then became Director of ASE, the consultancy specialising in psychological testing, training and consultancy in business.

I developed a professional and intellectual interest in the area of human psychology. I was publishers’ representative on the BPS (British Psychology Society) Test Standards Committee, a member of European working parties on testing. I am secretary of the European Test Publishers Group and the Business Test Publishers Association.

I've attended courses at Henley, Ashridge, Chartridge and Insead Management colleges. I also enjoy training people and have run courses in copywriting, design, strategic marketing, brand development, personality theory, public relations practice  and intellectual capital management.

I founded ONLYCONNECT in 2002 after leaving ASE.

Writing

I started writing poetry and prose when I was at primary school and haven't really stopped since. You can find details of my two new books here.

I've always grabbed time to write, read and study and I enjoy interdisciplinary thinking. Being a visiting tutor in Context Projects for final year Advertising Graphic Design students at Central St Martins College of Art and Design keeps me up to date with new international thinking on marketing, design, music and film. The students are challenging thinkers.

The rest of this section of the site gives examples of my own writing and other arts projects I've contributed to.