Are You Connected To Someone Famous In Your Social Network

The reason I met him was because his sister Yioda shared a flat on Magdala Road in Nottingham with a good friend of mine from Germany. They were having a fancy dress party based on the colours of UK candy called Smarties. Their other flat mate was a guy in the in the RAF. George was there just days before the release of Wham's first single.

click photo for more on Derek Batey

One sure fire way to become an expert name dropper is to have a friend in the entertainment industry. My friend is a keen guitar collector and he got to know Brian when he used one of his songs in a computer game he was publishing. Brian built a replica of his own guitar and gave it to him as a gift, along with a sixpence piece (his plectrum)

Peter Gabriel enjoys soccer. That's how my friend got to know him. Peter Gabriel's creative interests span and and wide and he has been involved in the development of a neat instant messaging application called Gabble

He is particularly active with the musical event Womad and humanitarian work through The Elders

To be fair I'm sure many people have, because UK TV star Brucie is an avid golf fan and in the 1980s he was a regular guest on the corporate golf day circuit along with fellow entertainer Jimmy Tarbuck. I have vivid memories of being at Beeston Fields Golf Club in Nottingham UK in the refreshment tent on the 9th hole when Bruce stormed into the tent to tell everyone to be quiet because he was about to putt out!

When I was at school I had a part-time job at a gas station in Nottingham. It was in the city centre and so close to the main theatre. I met the The Glitter band who were the support band to the now notorious sex offender Gary Glitter. They pulled onto the forecourt in a massive yellow Ford Granada. They re-formed in 2009 and are now back on the road, I wonder if they still have the same car?

I remember as a kid my Dad pulling the car over in Carlisle in the UK to talk with football legend Bob Stokoe. who he knew. Bob was manager of Carlisle United from 1968 to 1970.

I met England and Nottingham Forest soccer legend Stuart 'Psycho' Pearce when he worked with us on marketing a quiz game. An absolute gent, and of course a real hero for any English soccer fans. What a penalty! click the photo to see it.

I met Constance Shacklock because my mother was in the Nottingham Operatic Society. Starring in London's Palace Theatre premier of The Sound of Music in 1961, Constance was the Mother Abbess. It was through her influence that Nottingham Operatic Society (an amateur group) were given permission to perform the show on the Theatre Royal in Nottingham in 1970. My mother played the part of one of the nuns. Constance was once a member of the society too, and always attended as a guest of honour every last performance night.

I was on a business trip from the UK to Orlando Florida and was at a popular science talk in the EPCOT centre. Being keen on astronomy since I was a kid I had followed the Mars Pathfinder project with great interest. Donna had been talking and I simply went up and introduced myself as a fan. She was completely taken aback by the guy with an English accent saying 'how do you do, nice to meet you!'

Buzz Aldrin was there as well so that was a real bonus.

This is a gruesome connection. A colleague of mine has the dubious claim to fame that notorious serial killer Rose West used to be her office cleaner.

She was convicted of 10 murder with her husband Fred West (dec) in 1995.