Reviving old memories

Took a step down memory lane today when I visited the Quality Hotel this morning. Most people in and around Glasgow will know it as the Central Hotel, attached to Central Station. The only time I was there was over twenty years ago when the work's Christmas night out was held in there. The night was made memorable for the fact that it was Kim Conway's, Kim Beaver at that time, 21st birthday as well and we all made her night slightly embarrassing with the gift we had all chipped in for. Hopefully, her boyfriend of the time enjoyed it!!

Jo Hunter, the venue's sales executive was showing me around all the various meeting and conference rooms the hotel has at its disposal. In many ways its a schizophrenic experience. On the one hand you have all the traditional rooms that give such hotels their unique character. Panelled walls, high ceilings, chandeliers, long long corridors and if truth be told some areas where a lick of paint or new wallpaper wouldn't go a miss. And then Jo showed me the new Focus room suites which were beautifully decorated and furnished and had all the hallmarks of a really new conference centre. Jo has her mind set on transforming all the rooms to this level of service which will make a huge difference.

Jo had even done her homework on me before I arrived having visited both the Think Different Events website and this blog. As far as I could make out she was giving me about 6 out of 10 for my musical taste and given she's at least twenty years younger than me I reckon that's not too bad a score.

Think Different Radio

As regular readers may have gathered, I kind of like my music. It's probably not to everybody's taste, right now I've got the Cocteau Twins Blue Bell Knoll playing.

Unfortunately, I'm one of those music wannabees, I wannabee a singer but anybody who's heard me knows that I can't put two notes together. If I ever got on stage and the keyboard player asked me what key I would be singing in, I'd tell him just to shuffle the keys in the hope that we got in tune at least once during the song.

I wannabee a guitar player, and even though I got a great electric guitar for my fortieth birthday sometime in the last century, I can't put two notes together.

I therefore wannabee a DJ. And here's the thing, I think I've got an idea what I'd like to do, I just don't know how technically, or maybe even legally, possible it is.

What I'd really like to do is create my own internet radio station which plays a fairly eclectic list of acts. From Fats Domino to the View via the Kinks, Pink Floyd, the Clash, the Stone Roses, Oasis, Groove Armada, Massive Attack, Nick Cave and of course the Bathers to name but a few. Each week I'd send out to potential advertisers what the following week's tracks are going to be and they can, for a small consideration of course, tag their advert to an individual track. e.g. If I decided to play Bloc Party's The Prayer from A Weekend in the City album, a tour operator might have its latest city breaks advert showing during the duration of the track. And before Fiona gets in on the act I'm sure she would want a Headache tablet advert associated with any bathers tracks.

Once the track ended and the next played a new advert would appear. Say 100 tracks per week, average length of track 4 minutes each. 10080 minutes in a week, so each track, and advert, would play about 25 times. No interuptions from the radio station's 'sponsors'. No two minute interludes while we listen to public broadcast announcements about healthy living, etc. Just non-stop music and no Dominik Diamond trying to massage his already inflated ego.

So if anybody can help me out or point me in the direction of someone else doing something similar let me know. I wannabee.

And with an office comes....

Well should have the keys to the office early next week. No the picture on the right here isn't it, but I'm allowed to dream.

First couple of months rent have been paid, now all I have to buy is - a couple of desks, a meeting table, sundry chairs, a couple of bookcases/filing cabinets, a microwave, fridge, kettle, cups and saucers, etc., a couple of telephones, a fax, printer, copier, scanner or hopefully a contraption that will do most of the previous four functions, a new computer, software, broadband connection, maybe a name plate, a network setup requiring a server and no doubt a few other things that aren't on my immediate list. And here's me thinking my start-up costs were all but complete!!

If you've been reading the blog for a while you know some of the reasons for leaving group headquarters, i.e. the spare bedroom come study. But hopefully, now I've got a proper workspace I can start looking for other business, especially as I hope to have Laura starting with me in a couple of weeks to take the weight off me in certain areas.

So far this week's been a bit manic. I've been sending gentle reminders to a whole host of people who expressed an interest in speaking at the Scottish Learning Festival. The deadline for a short descriptor is this coming Friday but it seems the whole of the world has adopted the Just In Time approach to life, so I've been promised by a number of people that the descriptor is in the electronic post and should arrive by Friday. There's a very apt Glasgow festival taking place right now called Aye Write and that about sums up the way I feel about the chances of getting everybody to weigh in with their presentation template.

They say that changing your bank account is so much easier these days. Don't believe it! I've been with the same bank for years and while they've never showered me with great offers or shown any real interest to make my own money work for me they've never actually did much that I could complain about.

However, the business account is with a different bank and to safe hassle I agreed to change my own current account to the same bank as the business account. Call me naive but I thought it was just a matter of going into a branch, telling them my old bank details, opening up a new account and the banks between them would sort out all the details like direct debits and standing orders and the like.

Well almost two hours after entering the local branch of said new bank, I left with a new current account which is what they wanted but I had to let all the organisations and businesses know that I had changed account and get them to send me a new direct debit mandate. If I had known that I would have stayed at home and did some more meaningful work. I'm sure there's an easier way to changeover but before you do make sure the bank your moving to will take charge of all the necessary changes.

One bit of worthwhile business this week so far was meeting up with Marian Borde at Oran Mor today. Like me, Marion is out on business on her own, although she's been at it a lot longer and me and, up to a few months ago, also had a partner in the business.

Marian has been working with a number of blue chip organisations over the years helping them manage change within their organisations. Only yesterday she was working with a group of North Lanarkshire headteachers so even here we have a common client list.

Anyway, if your organisation needs a mentor or coach to lead managers and staff through change in the workplace then maybe you should give her a call.

I've told her that I'll blog an account of our meeting, a term she wasn't entirely familiar with, but hey neither was I up to a few months ago. So Marian, I hope this leads you to developing you own blog. If you need any help.......Ach it's OK there are millions of others better placed to help you, just like a couple of my pals, John and Ewan did for me.

Time to change the CD. So far tonight it's been George Harrison's All Things Must Pass album but I feel a little Bloc Party or Cocteau Twins coming on.

Haven't touched my email since I came in from my meeting with Marian today, I wonder how many emails I've had? Not bad 17 and nearly all of them relating to the Scottish Learning Festival. Oh for more gentle reminders, like the companies who still owe me money!!

And on the cd player this week you'll find

You know how I bought the Hours album the other week and reckoned it wasn't what I thought it might be. Well I can't say that about the Hedrons album One More Won't Kill Us.

On the plus side they're a four piece girl band from Glasgow. OK that's two pluses. They sound somewhere between Patti Smith and Blondie so that's in their favour too.

A three and a half to four out of five star rating I'd say.

Moving out

Looks like I'll finally be able to move out of Group Headquarters into a wee office which I found thanks to the Internet and Google in particular. Hardly a surprise there I suppose. Originally I had hoped to move into a city centre address and be near the likes of Learning and Teaching Scotland and a couple of the other agencies and commercial organisations I work with. However I took a financial reality rain check and agreed with my business advisor, well that's what she likes to think of herself as!!, that it might be better to look for an office a bit further out and one that wouldn't drain the bank.

Hadn't really considered Dalmarnock, and having drove around the area it looks like Glasgow City Council, the Executive and a host of other regeneration agencies haven't considered it either. It is the area where the Commonwealth Games site would be built so if there's one good reason to win the bid then it has to be to make some meaningful changes to this part of the east end of Glasgow.

I'm hoping to sign a one year lease tomorrow that will see me move into the Strathclyde Business Centre in the first week of March. From memory I think the office is the middle door on the top floor in the picture. It's an old school building that has been renovated to house a number of other small companies and I even have a very close up view of Parkhead, home of Glasgow Celtic, from a couple of the windows in the office. I'd have been far happier if it was Hampden or Firhill, but hey, maybe next year.

All I need to worry about now is office furniture, telecommunications links and informing everybody I've been dealing with to date that I'm moving address.

And this week's musical feast brings you....

Went to a couple of gigs this week. When I say went I mean we turned up at the venue on Monday night to see Thirteen Senses only to find that it had been cancelled, or should I say postponed, until Sunday 11 March. King Tut's was absolutely dead. Appears that everybody who had bought tickets had the sense, or thirteen of them if you don't mind the pun, to check the website to confirm they were playing.

Fortunately the week was saved by seeing the Guillemots at the Carling Academy. What were they like. I think it was best summed up by a couple of guys on the way out when they said that each song was radically different which made it different from what they expected. I thought it was great, despite some technical difficulties first with the double bass then the guitar. The acoustics at the Academy are shit as well but the band were able to overcome all these difficulties to put on a really great show, just a pity they didn't perform an encore. If you haven't bought or downloaded their recent album Through the Windowpane then you should, you won't be disappointed.

Had my weekly retail therapy session at Fopp this week (I see they took over most of the MusicZone Shops across the UK, apart from those in Scotland). Had heard a few tracks of the Get Cape War Cape Fly album on the radio and thought I'd buy the album to see how the rest of the tracks were. Not bad from the few listens I've had and would probably give it three and a half stars out of five with the hope it jumps to a four. Not much chance of going any higher I'm afraid.

Also bought the Hours debut album Narcissus Road.The cover is a skull with a couple of time pieces for eyes and there's the now obligatory Parental Advisory sticker. I'd heard the single and bought the album thinking/hoping it would be a bit like the Arctic Monkeys/The View/Little Man Tate, at least a bit upbeat and raunchy. Ooops. More Embrace I'm afraid. Not that that's an entirely bad thing but unlike Ronseal it doesn't do what it says on the tin!!

Maybe a three stars though again with a few more listens it might grow on me.

The hunt for an office goes on

Spent a couple of hours last week trying to get an office together. Just like buying a house there seems to be so many obstacles to overcome. The price for one thing. The shortage of suitable accommodation for another. I suppose its a bit like being a first time house buyer. You know what you want and where you would like to move to but if there's nothing in your price bracket then you lower your sights, and sites at the same time!! and when you do that you also feel that if its not what you really want why invest the time and money.

The vast majority of offices are only available 'To Let' and as previously mentioned they don't come cheap. Well not in and around the Glasgow area anyway. So I've started investigating investing in some property for myself. Use my pension, equity on my house, sell off some of the endownments, take out a commercial mortgage? The numbers are scary but at least you're not throwing money away each month to another investor in rent. It'll take a couple of months to get off the ground, maybe even more, so in the meantime I'm hoping to get a short term lease to see me through until the end of the Scottish Learning Festival project.

Saw a couple of places that might have suited the bill. The first was in Shawlands but that was just too big. The other is in St.Vincent Street, again a little too big, but I'm hoping Lucy from the agents will be able to do a deal with the landlord. If lucky that means I can get half of the available space for the short term period I'm after. Should hear about that next week.

Of course if there are any readers of this esteemed blog who know of someone who wants to sell some office space or offer a cheap letting deal until the end of September then you should know how to contact me.

Back in the old groove

It feels like old times, well this time last year really. And each of the past six years for that matter.




The Scottish Learning Festival is starting to take shape with daily emails and calls from people and organisations either being invited or wanting to take part in the two day event. As ever that's been the easy part, the hard bit is to make sure the potential speakers give you all the information you need before the deadline date at the end of this month. Its sometimes even worse than getting paid by the clients!!



And then every day you remember another person or group you've still to contact!!!



So if I haven't contacted you yet and you meet all the criteria then give me a shout.



Fortunately the various teams are starting to get a bit more organised as we sort out who's doing what, whether it be the planning group or the daily working group and we're all working together to make sure it comes off in September.


All the more amazing given that Elaine is a couple of months pregnant (though she looks nothing like the cartoon you'll be glad to know!!). Just as well she's so organised that by the time she goes on maternity leave we'll have everything covered off.

Anyway, more details about keynote, spotlight and seminar speakers over the next couple of weeks, and all the other fringe activities of course, and if lucky we'll actually see you at the SECC in September.

Cheaper than Fopp. Its an ASDA disaster!!

Before I went to stock up with food the other day I spent a couple of minutes in the DVD/CD section of the local ASDA store. Nothing strange there I suppose but then I noticed the price on two newly released albums that would put CD-WOW and FOPP to shame.

Jamie T's Album panic prevention at a mere £7.97 had to be worth a listen to.

And just a few CDs along was Just Jack's Overtones at the same price.

Now the only reason I knew of them was through XFM Scotland and what I had heard was pretty good so they have now been duly added to the collection. Unfortunately, when I went to pay for them at the counter the not so young lady assistant asked if I was buying them for my kids!!! Hey come on. I might not have the wide musical ear of someone like John Peel but does that mean I have to stick to Pink Floyd, Black Sabbath and Barclay James Harvest? Don't think so.

The first four months are over

Where did all the relaxation time go. When people said it would be great to be on your own, no bosses to worry about, no required attendance at fairly meaningless meetings, no more chasing your own tail trying to catch up with all the emails, telephone calls and of course the meaningless meeting tasks you were given that somehow seem to be important to everyone else.

Aye right! I feel like I haven't had a minute to myself, although of course I have. More time on the golf course? Don't think so. Haven't played since I left LTS in September and the weather can't be blamed for all that. More time to return to the Tartan Army and travel to obscure lands, drink obscure beers and, for some reason that beats the hell out of me, meet the rest of the fans at some Irish Bar in the middle of the capital city. Where are all the ex-pat Scots? Can't they open a Scots bar we can all meet in? More time to fix all the wee things that bug me in the house? Nope you can forget that one too.

Meetings. Yes but there's a lot more travel involved. You can't wait until a couple of minutes beforehand and then skite down a couple of floors to the meeting room. Nope. 40 minutes from my house, sorry office, to even a meeting bang in the town centre. Are they still meaningless? Some are. Some aren't. So you can't take the chance. You go along all spruced up having recently shaved and did a quick iron on the first shirt that looks respectable. And then hope you've got a tie that might match. Although according to long time pal Paul, I've never got that double act together.

emails. Still inundated with spam and people desperate to get you to come and see what they have to offer you? And I'm still waiting my first free lunch too, though that's bound to be just around the corner!

Project reviews? Well they're kind of a thing of the past in some ways. Though with so much going on just now I could do with some project structure and review even if just to confirm everything in the business plan is going OK.

Telephone calls? The worst thing about working at home is the amount of cold calls you get from people trying to sell you a new mortgage, double glazing, a second mobile phone - now why would anyone want a second mobile? So they can multitask with their hands to their ears looking like a complete richard.

Finances? Four months down and one cheque received so far. Kind of tells its own story, though to be fair I don't expect to get paid for a couple of jobs I've worked on, or are working on, for another couple of weeks yet.

Regrets? Not at all.

Back in a routine

For all the ups and downs of the past few months, this week probably rates as one of the best from a productive point of view and that's partly down to all the meetings I have had about the Scottish Learning Festival and the eLearning Alliance Scotland Conference (20 April, book your places now!!)

Next week looks even busier so the first round of golf of the new year will have to take a back seat - again.

The last couple of days have been spent back in the Optima and while not sitting at my old desk I wasn't far away and it was great to get a bit of crack with a whole load of people that I hadn't seen since before Christmas. Please note. That's not to say that LTS staff are on crack, though far be it for me to criticise anyone's personal habits!!!

Also gave me an opportunity to catch up with my accounts and send off a couple of invoices. So the race is on to see who pays first and what the best excuse is for late payment. Watch this space for further developments!!

What price an office?

Started looking for office space this week. Nothing serious, just enquiries, and visited three office spaces that were up for let as well? For those of you who know Glasgow one was in Ibrox and the other two were around the Charing Cross area.

OK lets start with Ibrox. Maybe not the most obvious of location and there would be some concerns about bringing people on board who were travelling by public transport, but the serviced office was adequate for what I wanted and there were loads of other tenants who you could meet and chat with during the day and even build up some business links with. Between the rent and telecommunications which were extra there probably wouldn't be much change out of £450 - £500 per month.

Want to make a guess about the other two? The first was a large area on the first floor above a garage which had been split into a number of self contained units. About 8-9 tenants here, similar service arrangements to that in Ibrox and the telecoms were extra. Approximate monthly bill. Let's round it to about £800.

The final one I saw today. Four townhouses linked together with offices and meeting rooms dotted here and there. Nice plush reception and again a similar level of service support with extras for printing, photocopying, faxing, telecoms and coffee. Oh and a nice wee price tag of around £1000 per month.

And all three were exclusive of VAT!!

Certainly makes you think how much developers are making out of businesses small and large in the city.

Where do I go from here? Well hope to see a few more places in the coming weeks, but its fairly certain that anywhere in my budget radar will be a few miles out of the city centre.

Of course if there are any philanthropic developers who wish to help a start up company then you know how to contact me.

Eclectic choice of music

I'd like to think I've got quite a varied taste in music. Some people, no names mentioned but lets call them Fiona, might argue I've no taste in music, but we can discuss that at another time.

Between the ears this week I've been listening to a number of new or recent albums which vary widely in style but each of them have made a decent impression on me to the extent that I'd recommend each of them to you my esteeemed readership!!

Country music. If there's a genre of music I can't really be bothered with it would be this, and anything to do with Simon Cowell, Pete Waterman, etc.. Sometime last year I went to see the acclaimed Johnny Cash biopic Walk the Line. The acting was fine, the story reasonably interesting but I couldn't get off on the music in the way that I did for the Ray Charles movie, Ray, where the music was just brilliant.

However, a couple of months ago I was channel surfing, as you do, and I caught the last two or three minutes of Johnny Cash playing one of the last songs he ever recorded and I was fair struck by how tender it was. Maybe not enough at the time to rush out and buy it, but it changed my opinion of some of his music. Anyway, I bought American V:A Hundred Highways and though it might not be a regular on the playlist it is actually quite good.

Star Rating: ****

At the other end of the spectrum, and again without wishing to jump on the bandwagon, but if you like the Arctic Monkeys, you're probably going to love The View's Hats Off to the Buskers. Right now they are Dundee's finest and tipped to be the next big Scottish band to make it big across the UK and beyond. There first three singles, Wasted Little DJs, Superstar Tradesman and Same Jeans have been played to death on XFM Scotland but the other tracks on the album are just as catchy. As someone said recently its a change to see something good coming out of Dundee!!!

Star Rating *****

Another of Fiona's favourites is likely to be the new Tom Waits album, Brawlers, Bawlers and Bastards. Tom's an aquired taste and to be honest some of the albums I have are a bit hit and miss. However when he's on form I think he's just a great storyteller. This new triple album has him at his best with three different styles showcasing his range. I've only heard it a couple of times but I'm sure there'll be plenty of more playbacks in the months and years ahead. If you have to start your Tom Waits collection, start here.

Star Rating

Brawlers ****

Bawlers *****

Bastards ***

Sometimes I go into FOPP for a wander around to kill some time and end up buying an album that I think I've heard some of on the radio, or the cover looks interesting, or in the case of FOPP, it's relatively cheap. I can't remember exactly why I bought The Long Blondes, Someone to Drive You Home, but whatever it was it was a very good decision even if I say so myself.

Again, not heard it too often to make a definitive claim that I'll still be playing it regularly in five years or so, but early days yet. If you like Siouxsie And The Banshees, Patti Smith or the Ramones then chances are you'll like this.

Star Rating ***

Finally for this week I should mention the Gossip's Standing In The Way Of Control. Like the Long Blondes it reminds me of female led punk bands like Siouxsie, Blondie, etc. (The etc. just means I can't think of any similar influences at this moment!!). I got this as a Christmas present from Lucy and a fine choice it was too.

Star Rating ****

So there you go. Five albums covering a wide range of music and not an X-Factor winner in sight.

Feeling like I've never left....

Over the past few weeks, and in the weeks to come, I've been in and out of the Learning and Teaching Scotland's offices working on the Scottish Learning Festival 2007.

A lot of the core team who worked on the event over the past five or six years have left during the last six months or so including myself. That leaves Elaine, Tracy, Moira, Jeremy and Jackie as the sole survivors, though as you can tell I've managed to come back as the dreaded 'consultant / contractor' to work on various aspects of the festival this year, especially the development of the conference programme.

I've even got my own hot desk, a temporary staff badge to get me in and out of the offices and I'm meeting so many people I was working with only a few months ago it really seems as if I've never left. The best bit of course is that I can come and go as I please, though some folk have been getting away with that for years!!!

It seems quite a few of the gang even pop in to read this blog so see what I've been getting up to. Just today I was ambushed in a conversation between Jan and Robin about how I had failed to keep up my daily musings on life on the outside. Robin's take was quite insightful. He reckoned I had a rotten lawyer who failed to keep me out of jail for my latest escapades. Robin, if only that were true!! So how often do you add to your blog? Do you eventually get fed up due to a lack of response, or does the novelty wear off and it gradually slips down the priority list? Others are obviously blogging furiously, John Connell, Ewan McIntosh and Derek Robertson to name but a few. Me? I'll keep you posted, if you excuse the pun.

How time flies

I've been that busy recently that I didn't even realise that it's been well over a week, nearly two since my last post. So here is a quick run through what's been happening since.

BETT 2007 was a great success, as you would expect when you get well over 25,000 people attending the UK's biggest educational ICT event. Is it Europe's biggest, the world's? I'll leave that to emap to fight over. Whatever way you look at it, it was a big, big show, with almost all the key players in the UK and beyond in attendance. I say almost all but not everybody was there and those who didn't make the trip this year, especially from Scotland were sorely missed by all who met me and asked where so and so was and when they would be coming down or why they weren't coming, etc. The biggest loss was the whisky tasting night the Learning and Teaching Scotland had traditionally hosted on Thursday evening. The number of people who were gutted about that was unbelievable!!

Working in the VIP Pillar Hall was a change for me and one that I thoroughly enjoyed, though there are areas where the lounge could improve and I'm sure emap will consider some of the comments I made in my reporting back to them.

I just managed to get back to Glasgow in time for Match of the Day on Saturday night despite the efforts of the weather and BA to keep me at Heathrow. Not that I've anything against London, but the thought of another night there didn't really appeal.

Tuesday saw me working with Steljes Ltd at Dunkeld House Hotel as they showcased their new technologies to a host of luminaries from across Scotland. Well OK maybe not luminaries but there were a whole host of ICT Advisors or Quality Improvement officers or whatever their job titles are who were present. Many were the usual suspects and I have dealt with them over the years first with SCET and then LT Scotland so it was very much like a home from home throughout the day. The setup Steljes provided was a lot more than I had anticipated with a false wall being built and two Interactive whiteboards being suspended from it. Needless to say Malcolm Stewart, one of the main Steljes people, was a bit reluctant to hang from any of the wall mounted projectors despite some good natured heckling from the audience. The event went without a hitch as far as I could see and with a bit of luck I might get some other work from the company in the future. There were also a couple of other leads which might bring in some work so all in all a richt' good day as they say.

And then the rest of the week was all but taken up with the Scottish Learning Festival, first contacting a whole load of senior people at the Scottish Executive to explain the process of developing and delivering the conference programme and then with a series of meetings at Learning and Teaching Scotland to update a number of people on where we are, where we should be and what's happening next. One of the meetings was with John Connell, who has now left to join CISCO - lucky for them that's all I can say. You can follow John's work across the world in a new blog he's created especially to make us all feel jealous!!

I'm also going to have to find the time to update the company website, somehow manage to pull my accounts together and begin the process of looking for some office space. You can read earlier posts as to why this is necessary for my mental well being.

So with all this work to be done there hasn't been much time for any play. Got some brownie points by taking my maw for wallpaper. What started off as a wee trip down to Newlands ended up with a tour of the north west of Glasgow in pursuit of the last four remaining rolls of the same batch of wallpaper!! Fortunately she's got a painter and decorator coming in to do the living room and hall but she feels I need to keep my hand in just in case this business goes pear shaped so she's got me painting her bedroom for her, just as soon as I can find the time. God bless her!!

Also managed to buy a couple of new albums, Tom Waits - Brawlers, Bawlers and Bastards, The Long Blondes - Someone to drive you home and Gruff Rhys - Candylion. The Tom Waits album is brilliant, though Idare say he's not everybody's cup of tea. The Long Blondes is also good and they remind me of someone else though I can't put my finger on it - kinda like Blondie but I'm sure it's nearer someone else and I'm hoping Gruff Ryhs is a grower in the same way that Badly Drawn Boy was. The album has its moments but right now it's not one you would play over and over and over again.

Looking forward to a hectic week in London

Here I am down in Olympia, setting up for the BETT Show which begins tomorrow and runs through until Saturday. They're expecting in excess of 25000 people through the doors this week which is about as many as will see Partick Thistle at home all this season!!

Its been a bit manic as ever but working in the VIP area should be OK and not too stressful. Just hope the foreign contingent can understand my accent.

On another note my best man, Dek, only stays a couple of miles away. Maybe its a guy's thing, but we only seem to see each other about once a year. Met him on Friday with his three boys to see what he was up to and tell him a few stories about setting up on my own. As ever we left with promises to meet again soon, have a game of snooker and maybe sink a couple of pints. Anyway where is this story going..... sitting at the airport today waiting for the flight down to London and meandering my way through the Herald with its lead story about the alledged failure of the McCrone agreement for teachers. The chartered teacher system came in for a bit of criticism and who's ugly mug and words of wisdom was there to back the chartered teacher process, the bold Dek. And I thought he only went into teaching so he could have numerous holidays throughout the year!!

First payment!!

After three months and four days Think Different Event's bank account finally bulged with its first pay-in from a client - the Scottish Executive. As you can imagine, cash flow during these first three months has been a bit like travelling on a one way system with any savings I had slowly running down as all the necessary bills were paid and it was a relief to see all the work that we did during October and November finally pay off.

Hopefully it'll be the first of many in the coming months and years though I hope to improve the cash flow process by billing clients on a more regular basis as milestones are reached rather than just when the work is completed.

Time Management

I haven't made any resolutions for this year. But I should probably have made one about better time management. Here I am, coming up to eight o'clock on a Wednesday night and still firing off emails here, there and everywhere. Will the recipients jump up and down when they receive it tomorrow morning?, maybe not even until next week if they're still on holiday, I doubt it. So why bother?

Because the wee guilty devil is on my right shoulder telling me that if I had bothered to do some of the work a few weeks back there wouldn't be the same rush to complete the task now. So just get on and finish it!

Anyway, I've been busy on the BETT blog over the past week or so, trying to give people an opportunity to comment on their various experiences of the event. I'm pretty sure I could structure it better, and maybe some of the blog whizzes can give me some tips, because it's just got so huge, it'll be hard for visitors to the blog to follow the train of discussions. Can 'Comments' be highlighted in some way? Can the most commonly accessed posts be put to the head of the blog? Don't know the answer but I hope someone out there does.

2007 is the Make year. Notice I didn't put the Break in - that's next year, or never I hope.

Objective number one is to work with at least 10 clients throughout the year on various projects. Already have work for three clients in the coming weeks or months and a site visit to Dunkeld on Friday will hopefully make the organisation of one of them fairly straight forward. With a bit of luck I might get some more work down in London next week with a few other clients and it won't be for the lack of trying.

Next objective - to move into some kind of office environment as I've decided that home working may be OK or some but it ain't for me, certainly not on a full time basis anyway. It'll possibly mean taking someone on to help with the admin and other aspects of events but if I can get the client structure in place then that should be a worthwhile investment in itself.

I'm sure there are a host of other objectives but hey ho I'll post them as I come across them.

Nothing better to do on a Saturday so.....

With the Thistle game cancelled due to the fact that we couldn't raise a team, some might argue that's been happening for the past three years since Lambie retired, I've found myself upstairs working on the BETT 2007 blog.

Started off with the BETT Awards shortlist and have progressed to the seminar programme. Hopefully by the time I head down to London I'll have been able to post quite a few bits and pieces about the event. If you're going down to the show and see something that might be unique or relevant post a comment to let other know.

I've already had a few comments from people across the UK which just goes to show I'm not the only sad beggar at this time of the year, or should I say that I'm just part of the professional community of educators who are dedicated to improving the chances of those in their care.

Either way the work has to be done so might as well chip away at it when I'm not doing much else.

On a personal note the concert last night was great. The Grim Northern Social, I think its a great name but others don't - any opinions? - treated us to a mixture of material from their debut album and tracks from their hopefully to be released second album though they don't seem to have a record deal.

They even finished the night with a one song encore - New Rage Hope Song which, if you read the previous post, was my favourite track of their debut album.

The new single Connected, is released in February so with a bit of luck they'll get some decent exposure and maybe the record deal they deserve.

Album of the week

This week's album of the week belongs to the Grim Northern Social with their eponymously titled debut album.

The real reason for choosing it for this particular week is that I'm off to see them at King Tut's tonight. Saw them this time last year and they put on a real good show. Maybe not everybody's cup of tea but hey who's asking!!

Best song on the album - probably New Rage Hope Song but if I remember the best song live last year was Gasoline Queen.



Tracks:
Urban Pressure
The Changes
Maybe It's Time
Star
Snap The Imposters
New Rage Hope Song
Honey
Clash Of The Social Titans
Gasoline Queen
Money
Favourite Girl