AP Recommends – what’s got us talking in February?

Welcome back to AP Recommends, our new blog where each month we share some of our favourite reads, listens, wellbeing top tips and life hacks, as well as industry news and events that have piqued our interest.

February

 The days are getting longer and lighter, we’ve just celebrated one of the most delicious days of the year (pancake day) and Easter eggs are back in the shops – what’s not to love? And in the month of love, we’ve enjoyed a whole heap a great content.

 Check out our recommendations for February:

Place team’s pick:

Social value is one of the hot topics in the property sector right now, with one of the many points of discussion being how we actually define it? On the 25^th February, the UK Green Building Council is launching its Framework for Defining Social Value which will help to review the impact that buildings, infrastructure and places have on people.

If you’re joining the event too, drop us a line afterwards to let us know what you think?

Managing metrics with the Growth Marketing team:

As busy marketing professionals, we’re big fans of anything that can save time and let’s face it, nobody likes manual reporting.

Using Google Data Studio, we’re able to automate a lot of our metric reporting, so we can focus time and effort into adding value and delivering outstanding results for our clients. With Google Data Studio, we’re able to showcase data in a much more engaging and visual way, which bring our results to life. Time saver and looks great – that’s a win-win in our eyes.

Inspirational women

It might still only be February, but International Women’s Day isn’t far away, so if you’re looking for some inspiring feminist reads, then we’ve got you covered. Our team is reading:

• Feminists Don't Wear Pink and Other Lies
• Becoming by Michelle Obama

Green fingers

Thanks to Valentines’ Day, flowers tend to get all the glory in February but we’re trying to bring a bit more greenery into our lives. Even if your house plants usually look more lifeless than leafy, our recommendations are here to save the day (and the planet):

• Patch Plants
  • Nicky says: “I bought some plants from here during lockdown and can highly recommend. They come delivered to your door in a lovely box and then you get emails each day from the Patch Plant Doctor giving you tips on how to look after them - perfect for beginners/former plant murders like me.”
• Planta
  • If like Nicky you’re naturally more of a plant killer than carer, then you need this app in your life. Upload your plants, what room and conditions they’re in, then let the app do the work. (Well, you will still need to water them yourselves, we’ve not been taken over by robots just yet.)

 We’re supporting:

• Our favourite artists and creators by subscribing to their content on Patreon.

We’re watching:

• It’s a Sin
  • This hard hitting, heart breaking drama about five friends in the 80s and 90s living in the shadow of AIDS has been our most talked about TV show since we binged the latest series of The Crown. If you haven’t seen it already, this is a must watch on catch up.

 We’re finding our zen with:

• Insight Timer is a wellbeing must have. Whether you’re looking for help with getting to sleep, meditating or simply finding a moment of calm, there’s endless free content to keep those zen juices flowing.

Out of context overheard in the office

Friday drinks on Zoom are always prime opportunities to capture some of the more random conversations that take place the AP ‘virtual’ office…

“If my meat has arrived...I'll show you.”

In case you’re wondering, we never did see that meat.