Today is an exciting day (even if you are not an avid footie fan!) - historic in that it is the first large world sporting event to take place in Africa.  No right-minded individual could deny South Africa admiration and not a little pride in the significance of today's kick-off, and no small amount of hope and inspiration from today for the continent as a whole. 

Domestically however, the World Cup can have quite different implications for us here in the UK.  Even though most of our team are based in Scotland and the national team didn't qualify, I am sure many will be following and looking to enjoy the spectacle that is this, one of the great sporting occasions.

I am therefore writing this open letter to share with you all the (boring) policies here at Lumison but more importantly the philosophy I would like you to subscribe to over the coming weeks!

1. We will make the live coverage available on TVs in communal areas (customer areas / foyers, staff rooms etc) so that you can tap into the action if you wish during breaks.
2. Please do not stream live video to your desktop - the network and technology is as tempting to many as for a child in a sweet shop, but it will distract you from delivering great service to your customers!
3. If you are interested in getting updates for the matches, consider subscribing to one of the many RSS feeds from your browser or new reader of choice, such as that available from Fifa or the BBC (of course some of our team are heroically covering technical support and datacentre services 24x7, so those on shift will miss some evening matches!)
4. We will not apply any blanket network bans on video / world cup content as we trust you, the valued members of our team to do what is right and put our customers first, always.

My reason for an open letter is to share not only with you, the team that Lumison and our clients rely on every day, but also our clients so they know that we are doing everything to avoid unnecessary distraction from what they need from us, balanced with creating a workplace that is enjoyable and supportive of interests beyond the mundane.

In signing off, I would just like to say that I hope you all enjoy the spectacle, and hope that this pragmatic approach means we can all enjoy the programme of great football ahead and continue to deliver fantastic service to our customers when and where they need it.