The zavvi reunion

18:00: Big zavvi reunion tonight. I'm starting writing about it now while I'm sober, in the hope that when I write more on my way home tonight it'll compensate for the decline in quality from this point on.

23:00: OK, so it goes downhill from here as it's 11.00 and I'm on my way home. It was a mega night. I arrived at around 6.30 and, making my way to the bar, found David Green, who bought me a drink (which is a pretty good start) and promised, under some duress, to become a follower of melvtopia. This may be become a recurrent theme, because I have a target of 25 followers by the end of February - so if you haven't signed up yet please get following...

After chatting with David, and urging him to get a LinkedIn profile working for him, I spent some time with Steve and Heather, and then Simon. It's difficult for everyone, but when you've started the company it has to hurt even more. Some of the stories of stores closing down and how staff reacted are both heartbreaking and inspirational; we had something special going on at zavvi.

Then, the customer services team. Amy has found a new job, which is fantastic. Kelly is considering a local opportunity that she is so much better than. I mentioned that I'm going to meet with Ann Summers about a Head of eCommerce position and - well, let's just say there was some interest there - I may not get the job but I'll try my darndest to get Kelly a job there! As it happens, Richard W is interviewing for a position at Ann Summers too - so we agreed a mutual support strategy.

I didn't get to spend much time with Lee, but one thing I know is that if any of us are going to go on to greater success it's Lee. Delighted that he's been asked back to meet again with Best Buy.

I managed to catch up with Wren, Ned and Paul Byrne. As usual, Greg was giving little away...

There were lots of other people; Suki, Tilly, Kevin, Louise, Kirsty, Paul Pledger, Guy, Patrick, Dave R - and others that I've probably forgotten in my slightly mellow state. Good to see Michael again, too. Finally I spent some time with Suzanne. A while ago I thought of adding a zavvi 'hall of fame' to melvtopia, listing people's names as they found jobs. But we all knew that SJ would be the first, so there wasn't much point, was there?

12:00: I'm sitting in my kitchen, having just cooked myself a fry up since I haven't eaten for 12 hours. I can only reflect on the fact that I was privileged to work with such amazing people. And tonight was, for me, a form of closure. Not that I don't want to meet up with these guys again, but because this is now my last memory of zavvi; having a laugh and a good time. This is what I'll remember, not picking up my things from an empty office in January.

11:00: Tired. The head's not too bad but I'm starving. At least I can have a cup of coffee in my zavvi mug...