The Alpaca in the room

The Alpaca in the Room is 1 year old! Woop Woop. To celebrate our 1 year birthday, it's only right that we go back to our origins! Episode 1 was 'what is wrong with linkedin'. So today we ask asking ourselves 'How is Linkedin in 2025?'How is activity on Linkedin affected by other social networks? Are there any topics on Linkedin that don't reference AI? Can we all agree everyone is on linkedin to take, rather than give? All this and we debate if Stephen Hawking was eaten by a shark! Enjoy and thank you for being with us this year.

We are back! After a short recording break, Mick and Janina are back and this episode is all about generating creative energy. Many people right now in 2025 have found that previous channels and projects have stopped working, and for the first time in a while they are being forced to come up with brand new things. We talk about how to make group creative work, or not work, and how to find inspiration when you hit those mental blocks. Janina confesses that she using AI for creative processes, and Mick doesn't hide his disappointment. Mick and Janina also share why we were away for the last 8 weeks. I'm sure nobody would guess the reasons. So thanks for waiting for us! We hope you like the episode and let us know in the comments!

Its the last episode of 2024 for the Alpaca in the room!  We are going to give you 3 gifts as topics this episode! :D  Gifts in business. What is hot and not about sending and receiving gifts professionally. Do you feel pressure to share gifts on social media? When is branding too much branding? Are socks still cool?  New Year Resolutions that Mick and Janina have for 2025. What are the things they didn't get around to in 2024, but are really looking forward to doing?  What are they looking forward to in 2025? If anything!  All this plus in this episode Janina somehow loses a sock mid episode, they talk all about how the podcast is blowing up in China and how we've been inspired by the story of the Backstreet Boys. 

2024 was a little crazy for marketing, especially with our future AI overlords disrupting more than ever.  But we ask, will 2025 be any different!?  During today's episode Mick and Janina both share their 5 predictions for 2025 for Marketing. What do they think will be a trend that continues to grow, what channels will make a comeback and what campaigns will die in 2025.  Who doesn't want to end the year with 10 ideas of what they can use in Marketing next year? Only a Llama would be so crazy.  So please join us and let us know in the comments what you feel about the 10 predictions we make, and which ones did we miss? We want to hear from you.  Added Value!  This is a very unique episode as it was recorded at 9am, which is way way earlier than when Janina normal starts her day! So we finally get to see a grumpy tired Janina, don't say you were not warned.

Season 2 is here! The Alpaca in the Room podcast is back with an all new season! Mick and Janina start with the topic all around Black Friday! After years of the hype of Black Friday, what really should your business do on this very special day? Is it a day to win first time customers, or the day to convert your existing fan base? Will it be the year of fewer discounts? In this episode we cover these important questions, and also just how it is to be a consumer on Black Friday and work through the communication overload. Mick of course overshares and discusses why he doesn't like people who pay with their watches. Some things don't change. All this and of course more in the all new episode and season of The Alpaca in the Room podcast! Yay!

t's episode 12! We made it!  The finale of Season 1!  During today's episode Mick attempts to create and sing an all new The Alpaca in the Room theme tune.  If you make it past that insult to music, Mick and Janina talk all about their favourite episodes from the season. Mick also presents Janina with some surprising gifts.  Once that emotional rollercoaster ends Mick and Janina start the all new game. Alpaca vs Llama.  They ask each other about topics such as to TV adverts work, movies, historical figures, and they answer Alpaca if they love it, and Llama if they don't. Yes, it's a fun and crazy as it sounds. Come join us for this celebratory episode of The Alpaca in the Room Podcast

I have an idea, what's next? On how to change your Great Business Idea into a side project.In today's episode Janina & Mick talk about putting into practice all those Great Business Idea that we all have. Does it make sense to drop your job immediately, in order to become second Steve Jobs in your parent's garage? When does it make sense to turn the idea into a side project, and what to check and do before you actually start? They also discuss whether businesses and employers should encourage such projects, or just keep all the employee's time to themselves? As a reward for listening, at the end of the episode you will find the cherry on the cake, as Mick shares his Great Business Idea on how to make money out of dead people.

In this special episode we talk all about Pride Month!  During the episode Mick and Janina talk all about how businesses can interact with PRIDE, and the challenges that come with it.  While Janina is a lifelong ambassador of PRIDE, Mick is rather a novice so today's episode covers both the basics and more developed approaches to PRIDE. Basically Mick is an uneducated Dinosaur, but he also brings up the fear of some businesses of trying to support and doing it wrong.  They talk about companies who rainbow their logo and is it enough? Janina shares about great examples of companies who don't only support PRIDE externally, but also internally in their organisations.  Mick and Janina also talk about the fact that supporting PRIDE is not only a big company thing, and should companies worry that supporting PRIDE can lose them customers.  Mick also covers the other serious topic of the month. How long should you hold a door open for someone who is behind you?  All this and more in another episode of The Alpaca in the Room podcast! 

Let's talk about one of the most needed skills in the current job market… creativity! In today's episode Mick and Janina discuss how to boost creativity in yourself (fresh from Janina's amazing presentation at Infoshare), your team and you organization, what is the key business lesson brought to us by panda bear rolling down the hill, and how to create organizational culture which will make you become next Apple, Dyson and Tesla. This is also the historical episode in which Janina and Mick meet in person for the first time ever!

2024 is the debate of our lives. Just how should businesses work and where? Episode 8 is all about working remotely vs in office, and why it's such an online battle to be proven right.  Mick and Janina talk about collaboration pros and cons for both tenured employees and brand new ones.  They cover the rise of offsite meetings, why throwing people together is not enough, and Janina's hate for Kayaks.  Mick and Janina also cover the ‘workation'. Is it healthy or hipster. Is it for inspiration or instagram. Just how will you get sand out of your keyboard when you drop your laptop on the beach? All this and more on another episode of The Alpaca in the Room Podcast!  P.s. Mick joined us from a different recording location this week and that's why he sounds like he is in a cave. Mick has been punished for this poor planning and will have to consume one tomato one episode 12. 

Does personal health take a back seat when your career accelerates upward? How many times have you pushed 'through' an illness, just because you felt one more thing needed to be done? In an episode that could be sponsored by Red Bull and Seven Days, Mick and Janina share their personal stories with developing their careers, and struggling to balance their personal health. They talk about leaders and do you have a responsibility to be healthy to set a good example for your team members. They also debate if businesses have a responsibility to help their employees be healthier? Come join Mick and Janina on this rollercoaster episode, and please let us know your journey with career and health!

As AI summarized today's episode: “today's gonna be a little bit wild”. Janina and Mick talk about all the awkwardness in business relationships. When greeting your business partner should you go for a hand shake, high five or a hug? Is it OK to be late to the meetings and how to handle it, if it happens? We also talk about judging one's professionalism based on his or her clothing – both in face to face meetings and… on Linkedin profile picks. These are just few topics we cover in this episode, not to mention the most important one, that is: Mick reveals his childhood trauma and it's so good that you really need to hear about it.

Who would you be if you were not a marketer? In Episode 5 this is the question Mick and Janina discuss. While their answers are both funny and unexpected (super unexpected), it also opens the door as to why they discuss it and why it's such a common question therapists ask. Working in marketing has changed. What was the fun, creative job of the past, has now developed into a more demanding role, full of expectations with a summit that cannot be reached. Conversions can always be improved. All this plus a bunch of randomness in Episode 5! Come join in the fun and let us know what your perfect job would be if you could be anything you want.

In this episode Janina and Mick talk about building a personal brand (that's not strange) and about going to the gym (that's soooo strange). As the gym stuff can't really be explained and is a mystery to both of us, let's address some alpacas in the room in terms of branding: does everyone need a personal brand nowadays? Is it possible to build it offline or do you need an online presence for that? How to decide whether you have something interesting to say and post about (spoiler alert: everyone has!!!)? And most importantly - what's the biggest mistake that you should avoid when building your brand? We also give a shout out to Paweł Tkaczyk (or as AI calls him: Paweł Kaczek), as a man that knows everything about branding. And we reveal what was the craziest gift ever that Janina got from a brand as an influencer. Just to say it was a gift that would be highly appreciated by… alpacas and horses.

In episode #3 Mick and Janina are talking about events! How to choose which you want to go to, and just how to plan, if you are an attendee, sponsor, or keynote speaker.  Can events have an ROI? Should events deliver leads or learning, or is attending events now an employee benefit with zero expectations? How much does the agenda matter? Should you prioritise the speaker or the presentation topics? How to get started as a public speaker?  So many questions I know! All these questions and more are covered in this episode!  Added bonus content includes 

In today's episode Mick and Janina talk about her recent trip to New York and why she didn't like it. Then they move right on to why is marketing broken and how to fix it. Can we make marketing fun again? Why is it OK that sometimes your campaign fails? How to boost innovation in your marketing team? This episode will bring you some answers and hopefully help relight the joy and excitement in your marketing activities. We also continue with the investigation of the anti-dog sentiment of a certain Polish celebrity.

This is the historic first episode of the Alpaca in the room podcast, where we talk about what everybody thinks and nobody says about business, and other topics sometimes. As it's the Performance Review Season, this is the episode in which we offer feedback to… our favorite professional social media platform. What's wrong with Linkedin and how to fix it? Do people on Linkedin lack a sense of humour? How many Linkedin messages do you need to sell somebody a Thermomix? Those are only some alpacas in the room that we will address! Join us on this journey and please subscribe to receive notifications for our next epsiodes.