Author Archive for Andrew

Reflections on 2008

Published
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Andrew
on 1 January, 2009
in Life stories
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It’s a few minutes into 2009 and I sit on my sofa back from a New Year’s Eve party I attended almost out of a sense of compliance because to be honest I don’t particularly enjoy New Year celebrations. However 2008 was such a remarkable year personally that I feel it deserves some moments of reflection. It was a year of many highs, a few lows, but it was never dull, and provided some very special memories.

The year 2008 actually started in a sad way. After spending a wonderful couple of weeks around Christmas with Tina over from the USA, 1st January 2008 was the day I had to take her back to Manchester Airport for her flight home. We didn’t know when we would next see each other, although it was likely to be late March or April when my Annual Leave entitlement was replenished. December had marked the flourishing of our relationship to something stronger than just “friends with benefits”. On the way back from the airport I tried to cheer myself up with a trip on the East Lancashire Railway, but the drizzly day, and the feeling of missing someone special beside me prevented a real upturn in spirits. The house seemed empty, I felt like a part of me was missing, and the year was off to a bad start.

Yet there were plenty of highs too. I lost almost a stone in weight, getting myself fitter and leaner for when I next saw Tina, and making myself feel more positive about my appearance. I started being mentored by our Head of Department in February and the first session alone went a long way to raising my confidence and increasing my positivity. In early March I obtained a worldwide recognised qualification in software testing, and later that month the wait was finally over - I was heading to Florida to see Tina. Those 17 days opened my eyes and I went from showing general disdain for all things American to contemplating a whole new lifestyle for myself over there. Tina and I did some touring around, some highlights being the Ocala National Forest area with Juniper Springs, the JFK Space Center, and walking in the Apalachicola National Forest.

I enjoyed myself so much that I returned home and immediately booked to go back in June. In the meantime I went to Coniston in the Lake District and was taught how to drive a 7.5 inch gauge steam locomotive for the first time, something I’d continue to do regularly for the rest of the year. Furthermore I had a fantastic trip to Brussels in April, meeting fellow Stoke City message board users who have since become friends, and with them experienced the quite surreal moment of being introduced former Stoke manager Johan Boskamp. A week later I was in Scotland walking in the Cairngorm mountains when news trickled through that Stoke City had won promotion to the top flight of English football for the first time in 23 years.

May was finished off by a trip down to the South West walking in Exmoor and Dartmoor with my friend Jen, and taking in two preserved steam railways during the Bank Holiday period, while the final Saturday of the month presented a beautiful day in the Lake District walking up 4 peaks around Buttermere. Then came another trip to Florida in early June. Another Stoke message board name became a face as Tina and I met Calvin and his wife Margaret for the first time, and another friendship began, while again there were road trips to see parts of Florida neither of us had seen before. I also met a new addition to the family - Hadley the kitten - and Tina’s youngest son. The trip was enough to make me decide I wanted to spend much longer in Florida, so plans were made to rent out my house, ask for a sabbatical at work, and spend several months with Tina to see how the relationship developed.

This is where the year took a bit of a nose dive. A new boiler and double-glazed windows were needed to get the house up to scratch to rent it out, and I hoped this work might be done by August and October was suggested as a best case scenario for my arrival in Florida. However delays with projects at work, the complexities of arranging finance and the availability of the contractors meant that the house improvements were finally completed at the end of October! I still had decorating and minor DIY work to finish too. I was not in Tina’s good books. The excitement of meeting Johan Boskamp again when he brought his team FCV Dender to a friendly game at Leeds Utd, plus Stoke City starting their first ever season in the Premiership punctuated the downturn. But when it became obvious that Tony Pulis was going to deliver his usual brand of negative football, it took the shine of things. The obstacles in the way of an extended stay in America seemed to becoming more difficult to overcome, leading to a growing malaise and a growing waistline as I put back on the weight I had previously lost. Still I did turn some of my energy to positive things like discovering my political activism again, joining the Green Party and attending an anti-war demonstration in Manchester. Overall the tail end of the year was bleak, and I was angry with myself for not achieving what I had set out to do. Self doubt had returned.

Yet the year ended on a positive note. Tina secretly arranged a wonderful gift for my birthday in November - a ticket to see Leonard Cohen live at the M.E.N Arena - and I also decided to spend Christmas in Florida, luckily managing to obtain a cheap fare. How can anyone complain about a year that saw three trips to Florida?! The final visit in many ways was the best of the three. There may have been no road trips but there was plenty of quality time with Tina and two of her boys, seeing Calvin and Margaret again, and spending time with Tina’s family. It reinvigorated my desire to spend some serious time over there, and strengthened my belief in our relationship at a point where I was beginning to wonder if it could actually work.

The year 2008 has been memorable. I have been exceptionally lucky to experience what I have. Only a perfectionist like me would pick fault with it. Despite the achievements and experiences I still feel a certain disappointment about not being able to see though all my plans and not completing what I intended. This coming year has a lot to live up to, but if I do manage to achieve those dreams then 2009 will be equally memorable. Now it’s time to strap myself in and enjoy the ride however choppy.

Jacksonville Jaguars 24 Indianapolis Colts 31

Published
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Andrew
on 20 December, 2008
in Football, Life stories and Travel
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Jacksonville Municipal Stadium

When I was a teenager during the 1980s I was a keen viewer of Channel 4 / Cheerleader’s production “American Football” hosted by Nicky Horne. The Sunday night show brought edited highlights of a main game, and a summary of all the action from the rest of the weekend’s matches. Back then I had no real allegiance to any particular team but looked out for the results of the Washington Redskins, LA Raiders, and New England Patriots mainly because I liked the design and colours of their kits, or because of particular team members. The flying close range touchdowns of Raider’s Running Back Marcus Allen were a reason for my interest in that particular team. One year I even had an American football for Christmas, and my mates would play the game on Wolstanton Marsh instead of our usual football or cricket. As time passed my strong interest waned, although I would occasionally watch the annual Super Bowl match. However since my earlier visits to Jacksonville this year I’ve followed the fortunes of the Jaguars, a franchise that was not around when I watched American Football in the 1980s. So far I’ve never been in the country while the season was taking place. Until this December that is…

I picked up a ticket on the day of the game after a very protracted phone call to Ticketmaster who struggled with my British accent. The cheapest seats were $55, and $10 more after service charges and other spurious additions. An expensive outlay but it would be an experience I kept telling myself. So armed with my Jaguars vest, Jaguars teal cap, and my decent camera I perhaps foolishly set off by bus from the beaches to Downtown. I say foolishly because the stadium is very much geared to serving the King Car of course. There are park and ride services, but frustratingly nothing that seemed to cater for the public transport user. Additionally frustrating as the BH-1 bus hurtles past the Municipal Stadium, but does not stop until the Rosa Parks station about 2 miles away. So trying the memorise the route I set off on “Shank’s pony” to the game.

The game was due to start at 8:15pm so I was giving myself plenty of time by arriving at Rosa Parks at 6pm. The weird thing about Downtown is that by that time of night the city workers have gone home and the place is deserted. The only people wandering around are daft nervous Englishmen and the homeless. The first mile was main city streets, empty and yet vaguely threatening. After that as the stadium got closer fans trickled along East Duval Street with me, having parked in streets and private lots in the vicinity for a price considerably less that the official parking’s $25. My route took me past the Veteran’s Memorial Arena where Barack Obama had addressed his followers the day before his historic election victory. As I got nearer to the stadium, which looked like a huge alien craft lighting up the surrounding area, fans were “tailgating” - enjoying food and drink from the back of their cars often under tent like structures, and generally partying before the game started.

I collected my ticket, bizarrely from a young woman from Surrey in England, and wandered around the huge complex. Once in I got myself some sweet potato fries, and taking advantage of a 30% sale ordered myself a Jaguars gameshirt with my name on it. I don’t think I was really prepared for the size of the place and I think I was walking around with my jaw permanently hanging open in astonishment. This was especially the case when I saw where my seat was up in the “Gods” which gave an incredible view of the pitch, and the massive scoreboard to my left. (Stoke City take note - now that’s a scoreboard!)

Jacksonville Municipal Stadium early doors

In true American over the top razmataz the game was preceded by the singing of the national anthem while troops held a US flag so large it must have been about a quarter of the pitch, and the final lines of the song were accompanied by a flypast of 3 airforce jets. The coin toss was conducted by ex-Jaguar Richard Collier who in September had suffered 14 gunshot wounds outside an apartment building in Jacksonville as he and former Jaguars teammate Kenny Pettway waited for two women they had met at a nightclub. The shots, including five to his bladder and two to his lower spine, left him paralyzed from the waist down, and a blood clot later caused the amputation of his left leg above the knee. It was Collier’s first appearance at the stadium since the incident and he received a very warm welcome and great ovation.

Jaguars take to the field

I wasn’t expecting much from the Jaguars given their recent poor form and the Colts more impressive record. However the Jaguars came out firing on all cylinders, scoring two touchdowns with their first two drives. The Jaguars swiftly marched down to the Colts’ 28 yard line, allowing QB David Garrard to find WR Dennis Northcutt with a fine pass for a touchdown. Their next possession was a 17 play drive culminating with Garrard rushing in himself for a touchdown giving the home side a 14-0 lead. However the Colts hit back with the next drive, moving up the field before QB Peyton Manning fired in a 41 yard touchdown pass which exposed hopeless cover in the Jaguars defence. The next Jaguars drive resulted in a punt on 4th Down and the Colts seemed certain to score again as they moved from deep in their own half to the Jacksonville 9 yard line. However the Jaguars defence held out and limited the Colts to a field goal attempt which was missed. In contrast the final action of the first half was a successful Jaguar field goal to send them in 17-7 up at Half Time.

Jaguars first drive

Touchdown dance

Collecting my new shirt delayed my return to my seat and I was shocked to discover in their opening drive the Colts had pulled back another touchdown through a ten yard pass. Yet it was tit for tat again as the Jaguars spent the rest of their 3rd Quarter possession moving the ball up from their own 24 yard line to the Colts’ 2 yard line where Montell Owens emerged from a ruck of players to rush in for a touchdown. Now leading 24-14 in the final quarter it seemed I might have brought a bit of luck to the Jaguars and they were set for an unlikely victory. However the last 15 minutes were a disaster, the Jaguars offense suddenly shambolic, while Peyton Manning for the Colts was inspired. The next two Colts drives produced a touchdown and field goal to tie the game, and the contest was over when Garrard threw an interception which was returned for another touchdown to give the Colts their first lead in the game 31-24. At this point I left, not in disgust, but because I had to get the last bus home. My return journey was once again edgy as I made my way at speed through Downtown Jacksonville and I was happy to make the safety of the bus five minutes before it departed. I later learned that Jacksonville got as far as the Colts’ 9 yard line with their final drive of the game, but Garrard was sacked on the last play as he sought a touchdown to take the game into overtime.

Jaguars snap

One of the benefits of the Channel 4 programme was watching only the higlights of the game without many of the interruptions, and there are quite a few. The stop-start nature of the game becomes frustrating and starts to grate, as players and fans alike await the next play while some commercial break is being run on TV. While the viewers get their commercial dose, those in the stadium watch farcical competitions such as “John from Orange Park” trying to throw a football through a hole in a shed to win a $2000 shopping spree at Winn-Dixie stores, or seven contestants seeing who has the lucky ticket in their price boxes to claim a year’s supply of Bubba Burgers. (And remember folks, Bubba Burgers are THE BEST burgers). The winner looked like he was already quite partial to a Bubba burger so was no doubt delighted with the prize.

The experience was a novelty for me, but I’m not sure I’d be in a hurry to repeat it. I think I’d rather spend less and watch the games on TV. I think the game was like America in microcosm - at times brash, over the top, highly commercialised, self-important, ritualised, repressed and directed. There seemed to be a lack of the natural passion of football (soccer) matches played in Britain where the crowd is a living organic beast on a wave of emotion in a blood and thunder atmosphere. The American crowd only raised the volume when the opposition were in possession, and burst into life to celebrate First Downs and Touchdowns. There were none of the crowds songs, or “mental” celebrations that follow the scoring of a goal in the game I love. What take place on the field can be exciting and full of tension, which is the draw of any sport, but for me it was interrupted too often and too sanitised. A stadium that size needs a few rowsing “Delilahs” ringing around it! ;-)

More Photos

Dogged resistance on the doorstep but NHS deliver quality response

Published
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Andrew
on 9 December, 2008
in Life stories and Politics
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Determined to be more than an armchair supporter, a week ago today I started to deliver leaflets for the Green Party. Tonight was my fourth outing, not too far away from the library in Armley. The first street I had to do was a dimly lit back alley, and dispatching the first couple of leaflets easily I had a little difficulty with the next letterbox. At first I couldn’t get the folded paper to go in, so folding it again to increase its thickness I tried again. Second time of asking it went in, unfortunately my fingers slipped through to the other side with it where they were met by the mouth of some unidentified beast.

Given the power of the grip I had to wrestle my hand from I assume it was a dog, but it made no noise to give away its identity. What was certain was my fingers were bleeding quite badly and I was dripping on the pile of leaflets until I fashioned a homemade bandage from my hankerchief. I clearly could not go on. My fellow leafleteers advised that I go to hospital for a tetanus jab, something that did not fill me with delight as I hate needles, and I’m sure the last tetanus jab I had was administered to one’s fleshy derriere. But I duly complied and set off to the Accident Unit at LGI.

It was busy in the reception waiting room as usually is the case. Amongst others there were a collection of gammy legs, kenched backs, and some dazed youth with a substantial bandage around his head. I expected a long wait, my ailment neither life-threatening nor particularly painful. But I was pleasantly surprised. The National Health Service might get some stick but it does a marvellous job in difficult circumstances and with stretched resouces. Indeed I was out before one hour had passed, assessed, cleaned, bandaged up, and armed with a box of antibiotics because I’d been bitten by an “unknown quantity”. “Might have even been human”, advised the Sister. Thankfully I escaped the tetanus injection because apparently the new guidelines state that the inoculations received in childhood will last a lifetime. Whether these are the guidelines of the British Medical Association or NHS accountants I’m not sure. But I’m not complaining, indeed I have only high praise for the care I received. I shall just have to develop a new technique next time I’m delivering for the cause.

Leonard Cohen is a real birthday treat

Published
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Andrew
on 1 December, 2008
in Life stories
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30th November, Manchester Evening News Arena: Leonard Cohen in concert. A good way to spend a birthday. I thought so, and thankfully Tina and Dave thought so too, plotting in secret to organise a ticket for me, the wonderful present from Tina.

The journey to Manchester from my parents’ wasn’t ideal, motorway traffic jams and alterations to Manchester city centre had me arriving at a dubious “car park only” 15 minutes before the show was to start. Dave, having made his way from Leeds by bus, was already in his seat. But it was well worth the travel chaos and the worry that the car might be missing a few windows on our return.

Leonard Cohen has established a wonderful group of superb musicians, experts in a collection of beautiful instruments. On vocals Cohen was backed by the sublime Webb Sisters, and co-writer and collaborator, Sharon Robinson whose voice was warm and soulful. All suited and wearing trilby hats, the ensemble treated a huge crowd to all the favourites. My night was made by “The Partisan” and “Famous blue raincoat”. At 74 years of age Cohen’s voice is still tremendous, as is his energy. The performance involved two hour long sets with a short break in between, but the encore lasted around a further thirty minutes. My words can’t do it justice so until the official DVD comes out, here’s a sample of the tour footage I’ve found that’s decent quality.


Leonard Cohen 2008 Tour “Dance me to the end of love” - Helsingborg Sweden, July


Leonard Cohen 2008 Tour “The Partisan” - Prague


Leonard Cohen 2008 Tour: The Webb Sisters “If It Be Your Will” - Royal Albert Hall Nov 17 2008

Pointon endorses Obama!

Published
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Andrew
on 4 November, 2008
in Life stories and Politics
. 1 Comment

I suppose as a Green I should be supporting Green candidate Cynthia McKinney or Independent and environmentalist Ralph Nader in the US Presidential Election. However I am also a pragmatist and I realise that this is a two horse race between Democrat and Republican.

Senator McCain once impressed me in an interview many months ago before he had even entered his nomination. He seemed a reasonable man with principles unafraid to stand up against the ill deeds of the Bush Administration. However as this campaign has gone on, the vile side of Republican politics have appeared, using smear and deceit instead of forceful argument about policy. Any notion of putting “country first” went out of the window with the appointment of the horrendous Sarah Palin as running mate. This clearly was to help a flagging party and rightfully has made many people question McCain’s judgement. For me the Republican Party now represents narrow minded bigotry, the privileged, and corporate interests of America. It has little to offer the vast majority of Americans and hopefully voting Americans are waking up to that fact.

On the other hand while no means perfect, Senator Obama represents hope to the marginalised in US society, and the record registration levels show that rather than resigning themselves to their lot, many Americans now are engaging in a political process they feel might deliver them better opportunities. I read Obama’s “Audacity of Hope” a few months ago. Obama’s plans for health care, education, green jobs, and a foreign policy based on diplomacy not unnecessary force, offer real measures to combat America’s difficulties, while for me showing a better analysis and understanding of what America and the world now faces. McCain is a man of the past, Obama is a man for the future, and that’s why I hope he becomes 44th President of the USA.

Obama was in Jacksonville Florida yesterday on the final day of campaigning before Election Day. Tina was in the crowd and kindly provides these pictures.

Obama in Jacksonville 3rd Nov
Obama in Jacksonville 3rd November

Obama in Jax - Florida for Change
The crowd shows Florida wants change at the Obama rally in Jacksonville 3rd November
[c] CrazyHair Productions

“Are you Tottenham in disguise?”

Published
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Andrew
on 3 November, 2008
in Football
. 1 Comment

Stoke City 2 Arsenal 1 - all you need to know!

“Are you Tottenham in disguise?” sang the Stoke fans to the visiting Arsenal fans. Cruel. But the scoreboard above says it all. A most unlikely scoreline, Arsenal’s millionaires and artistic expressive talents defeated by determined effort and a more direct approach. A report to follow soon, but for now here’s some photos of the event. Click them and they grow…

Fuller waits at the back post to flick in Delap's throw
Fuller waits at the back post to flick in Delap’s rocket throw-in

Pulis and Wenger
Who would have thought the one on the left would overcome the one on the right? Not me!

Delap - strikes fear into Premiership defences
The architect of Arsenal’s downfall. Delap strikes fear into Premiership defences

Blunderland

Published
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Andrew
on 30 October, 2008
in Football
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Ok so turning up five minutes before a match might not be the best idea but there were mitigating circumstances. Firstly my Sunderland supporting colleagues and I had to travel down from Leeds after work on a busy motorway network. Moreover the opportunity to get a feed at my parents’ house was too good to miss, especially the cake.

So I found myself in a long queue at the ticket collection point with five minutes before kick off. Tempers were fraying as the Ticket Office employed its own unique style of ineptitude. The queue descended into farce as the match started, people shouting out their names before even reaching the window, and the law of the jungle took hold. I’d printed out my details to make it easier, or so I thought. My surname in big letters at the top was clearly not prominent enough. In any case a bloke next to me shouted louder so the assistant scurried off to find his tickets arriving back to me with a blank expression even when I explained she had my piece of paper still behind the glass. Thankfully I checked the envelope before I departed the window as it contained only my Arsenal and Hull tickets and not one for the match that night. I was amused to see that any Sunderland fans arriving to claim tickets did not receive the usual printed version, but a slip of paper with their name on, more akin to a school chitty. “Take this to turnstile 47 and show it to them there duck”, said the assistant. I wondered if it excused the recipient from games lesson.

I finally found my seat 15 minutes into the match, so I feel I cannot provide an adequate match report. However the offering was so poor there’s little to report in any case. It was not one for the purists and no great loss if you’d remained at home and followed it on Teletext. Indeed I missed plenty more of the game as a creature that appeared half human half Ewok kept blocking my view as she and her offspring leapt up at the slightest hint of excitement. Needless to say the excitement was actually minimal. Apart from one decent move resulting in Fuller hitting the post after Tonge slipped in a delightful reverse pass, Stoke largely employed the Delap missile as their main creative outlet. Sunderland, who showed little appetite to perform, largely coped with this approach until Fuller darted in to head home a Delap throw on 76 minutes. Kenwyne Jones forced a good save from Sorensen late on but there was no way back for the under par visitors.
FT Stoke City 1 Sunderland 0

It was a vital three points that pulled Stoke out of the relegation zone but it was far from pretty, and not just the football. Mrs Ewok’s partner was revealed towards the end of the game minus his shirt, a portly youth settled several rows behind us proudly displaying his naked belly. As I said, far from pretty. Indeed after the long delay on the M6 returning to the Leeds and the arrival well after midnight it was hardly worth the effort! At least I had bragging rights in the car, although there was little to brag about!

Mondays with meaning

Published
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Andrew
on 21 October, 2008
in Politics
. 0 Comments

Monday evenings have recently turned into an interesting time to settle down in front of the television. I say that as a fan of investigative journalism, and believing it is necessary to hear two sides to a story, especially when powerful forces back one point of view to the extent it becomes accepted as unquestionable. There two good broadcasts last night, one from the BBC and the other from Channel Four.

The BBC’s Panorama programme Should we be scared of Russia? provided a differing interpretation of Russia’s recent alleged aggression. By contrast it argued that having embraced capitalism, consumerism and democracy, Russia has felt let down by the West , and indeed has been found itself threatened by Western expansionism. The defensive organisation NATO was not disbanded at the end of the Cold War along with the Warsaw Pact, but has changed its ethos to a more interventionist approach, and has recruited former soviet states on Russia’s border into its membership. The plan to establish US missile bases in Poland and the Czech Republic has rankled Russia further, and in response Russia has increased military expenditure. With 20 million Russians living in the now independent former soviet states it is no wonder that what goes on their borders is of interest to them. The BBC report asked us to look beyond the rhetoric of Western politicians and look deeper into Russia to what is happening in their society, and consider another point of view.

Closer to home was Channel Four’s Dispatches programme which examined whether the energy companies’ claims that rising fuel prices meant that huge increases in household bills over the last year were justifiable, and they have no choice but to pass these rises on to the consumer. Is this the truth? There is also evidence that shows that the profits paid to shareholders has increased by 20% over the same period. I recommend a viewing
Dispatches.

Globalisation and a Green Alternative

Published
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Andrew
on 15 October, 2008
in Politics
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Green Alternatives to GlobalisationConsidering the global economic crisis that has been unfurling over the last few weeks, I guess it’s timely and appropriate that I’m currently reading the so far excellent book “Green Alternatives to Globalisation: A Manifesto” by Michael Woodin and Caroline Lucas.

Arguing that globalisation increases poverty, undermines democracy and destroys the environment, the authors attempt to demonstrate the urgent need for a new approach, namely economic localisation, which is based on the Green principles of equity, ecology and democracy. So far I’ve read about the critique of globalisation, and I’m about to start the section that prescribes the alternative and the necessary solutions. It’s a very accessible book, easy to understand, interesting, and enlightening. It highlights some of the important counter arguments to globalisation which largely get swept under the carpet by the economic elite who attempt to portray the current path as being an unquestionable consensus, and not merely the latest incarnation of capitalism.

Here’s a few excerpts, firstly a definition:

“Globalisation
Noun: 1. the process by which governments give away the rights of their citizens in favour of speculative investors and transnational corporations.
2. The erosion of wages, social welfare standards and environmental regulations for the sake of international trade.
3. The imposition worldwide of a consumer monoculture. Widely but falsely believed to be irrevocable.
(From the dictionary of ISEC - International Society for Ecology and Culture)” [1]

Here’s part of the introduction to what the alternative may be:

“Adding a few environmental clauses here or a social clause there will not alter the fundamental nature of the beast. The bottom line is that a planet of finite resources and increasingly unmet social needs cannot sustain an economic system that is driven by corporate and interests and based on ever-increasing free trade and international competitiveness… The drive for international competitiveness is one of the greatest obstacles to achieving higher social and environmental standards and the whole raft of Green policies needed for a more sustainable society. As soon as proposals like this are suggested, corporations put the brakes on by claiming it will reduce their competitiveness, and threatening to relocate.

Greens believe therefore that rather than trying to make dog-eat-dog economic globalisation a little bit kinder and a little less ruthless, it can and must be replaced by an alternative that challenges its insistence that all economies be contorted to the end goal of international competitiveness, and its emphasis on beggar-your-neighbour reduction of controls on trade and investment.

Economic localisation is the antithesis to economic globalisation. This involves a better-your-neighbour supportive internationalism where the flow of ideas, technologies, information, cultures money and goods has, as its end goal, the rebuilding of truly sustainable national and local economies worldwide. Its emphasis is not on competition for the cheapest, but on cooperation for the best.” [2]

George Monbiot also wrote an interesting piece on the global market turmoil in the Guardian yesterday arguing that the economic crisis is petty by comparison to the nature crunch. However they have the same cause.

[1] “Green Alternatives to Globalisation: A Manifesto”, Goodwin & Lucas p.18
[2] “Green Alternatives to Globalisation: A Manifesto”, Goodwin & Lucas p.68

Talking about a (social) revolution

Published
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Andrew
on 14 October, 2008
in Life stories and Politics
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TALK www.talknet.euI’m just on a train heading back from London, browsing the internet courtesy of National Express East Coast’s free wifi service for all passengers. I’ve been to an event at the stunning National History Museum held in the equally impressive Mary Anning Room. While a welcome distraction from the usual working day, the event’s main concern was promoting a website called TALK, which aims to provide free space to public sector organisations to host content, and collaborate with other like minded bodies to avoid duplication of effort and swap ideas or highlight pitfalls. The site provides private “spaces” where project materials can be stored for sharing with colleagues and partner groups, but the ethos is very much about collaboration regionally and nationally, publicising experiences so all may benefit.

My grandiose title of “Content Manager” essentially means that I champion the site encouraging its use, and then setting up the news spaces and users as the requests flock in! Less exciting is the necessary compiling of statistics about site visits and use. Today’s event was to drum up new support and to promote the growing use of “social media” in the public sector, and how it has become an important consideration around service delivery and reduction of costs. Peter Kawalek addresses the Mary Anning Room crowd Everyone seems to be at it these days, writing blogs, posting photos about their local area, or campaigning online to improve aspects of life in their local community. Seeing the large numbers of laptops on this train that are not just in the hands of businessmen, it is clear that the internet is driving a social revolution, and is central to many aspects of life including the nature of how the public sector needs to work.

The guest speakers today included Malcolm Forbes, Director of Regenesys and Council Member of the RSA (Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce), Tom Reynolds an Emergency Medical Technician for the London Ambulance Service who writes a blog called Random Acts of Reality about his daily experiences, and Peter Kawalek of the Manchester Business School, who was once a sceptic thinking blogs were “self indulgent twaddle”, but now sees social media as being a profound yet unpredictable force in shaping our world.

I have to get off the train soon, but will add more later…

Well it’s much later and as promised here is a bit more on the day.

One of the delegates, Alan Holding of MDDA (part of Manchester City Council), was kind enough to provide a live blog of what was happening today, and it is an excellent and detailed summary of the speakers’ presentations (minus a few required insertions to come later). So it would be rude not to link to it here. To be honest it removes any need for me to report any further on matters. I encourage you to read it, especially the piece on Peter Kawalek’s entertaining use of Top of the Pops, bookshops, his fictitious social heroine Anna Eagin, and the romance to be found on a canal bench!