AGI Geocommunity´08 (part 2)

Some of the delegates who attended the conference have written blogs. Not all were entirely complimentary, though the criticism was about content and not organisation.

Since I am the finance guy and not a geographer, I cannot really comment on content or direction of the conference. Except perhaps to say that with nearly 600 delegates, the content will not reflect everyone´s views on every occasion. And some of the quality of presentation was in my view a bit disappointing. But if the sessions have stimulated debate, then surely that is a good thing.

Yes the final session was a bit flat, and we will have to look at that for next year. How to conclude a conference on a high note is a difficult issue for us - especially as many delegates are keen to catch trains or to get home before dark. Keeping a buzz right up to the last minute is not easy.

From a personal viewpoint, I thought the conference went well. I had to come out of my confort zone as an accountant. I had to run the Icebreaker evening, attend a number of sessions, deliver the finance report and generally keep a profile that is a bit higher than I am used to. I was pleased at how well I acheived that.

I thought the AGI team and volunteers were exceptional. All took their responsibilities very seriously.

We will of course have a debrief. Next year we will strive to make the conference bigger and better. But to bring 600 delegates to Stratford, manage all of their arrangements, produce a conference of a high standard, and have many of them intending to return next year, is a considerable achievement.

I am happy with that as a reflection on the past three days.

AGI Geocommunity´08

The conference is over. I have returned from Stratford upon Avon after the 2008 AGI Conference. I am exhausted, but very pleased with the way it went. A lot of people did a lot of work to make sure it went well.

The AGI Conference is always a bit strange for me, especially since my training is not in geography. It is a mixture of hard work and alcohol and not much sleep. And most of the work is different to what I am used to back in the office.

The work started on Tuesday when the team had to stuff a huge number of inserts into 600 delegate bags. My back hurt. Then in the evening came the pre-conference Icebreaker event. It´s the first time we have had one of these, and, scarily, I found myself volunteering to run it. I decided to run a dinner, a quiz and a theatrical event - Buffet, Brains and Bard.

So I found myself on stage leading a ´Very Spatial Quiz´. It was not long into this that I realised that I´d made the questions too difficult, but there was nothing I could do now. So on I went. I got particularly nervous over question 20 where I had to sing the question. But anyway I got through it and it didn´t go too badly.

Then came the Earl of Oxfords Men who did two performances from Shakespeare, one from Henry V and one from Midsummer Night´s Dream. The standard of acting was mixed but overall it was fine and delegates enjoyed both pieces.

Finally I gave the quiz answers and announced the winners. The winning team got 40 points out of a possible 60 which I guess shows how tought the quiz was.

Over the next two days I was heartened by the number of delegates who came up to me to tell me how much they´d enjoyed the evening.

Next day, feeling a bit groggy from the glasses of wine I´d had the previous night, I was room monitor in the Blenheim Room. No real difficulty there - just handing the microphone round during question sessions. At the AGI AGM, I then had to deliver the Finance report. The news was good, and although I do get nervous when delivering prepared reports, it went okay.

That evening I dressed up in a very spiky wig for the party which had an eighties theme. It was fun. And crucially, I did not drink too much and went to bed shortly after midnight.

Next day I resumed my room monitoring duties and, despite dozing off on a couple of occasions, got though them without incident.

And suddenly the conference was over. Tomorrow I will reflect a bit more about the conference. For today, I am just tapping into the positive remarks from delegates. I take my share of a collective pride in a job well done.

Where does the time go?

I was not working on Friday. I was not going anywhere over the weekend. I had a list of things to do and time to do them.

Therefore on Thursday evening, I was anticipating three days in which I could tackle some or all of the items in the 'to do' list.

So there was no need to make a start on Thursday. I could have a relaxing glass of wine and watch some television.

The weather was quite good on Friday, so I went up practice my golf. Which left me tired in the afternoon. And in the evening visited A for some dinner and to do the Amro management accounts..

I teed off at 6.57 on Saturday morning. Then we had a couple of pints. I checked my email for a couple of hours. Then I was off again to have dinner with A.

On Sunday morning I watched Andrew Marr and washed some clothes. Then we went to Sadlers Wells to see Matthew Bourne's 'Dorian Gray'. Dinner followed in Kings Cross. Train home and read the Sunday papers.

At about 11pm on Sunday evening I looked at my 'to do' list for the first time. But it was time for bed.

Maybe next weekend....

60 Years Ago

Yesterday we visited the house where my father stayed when he first arrived in Crathie in 1948. We visited the top dam where my Mum used to swim as a child. We saw the location of the house in which she was born.

And it was today, exactly 60 years ago, when my Dad and Mum first met, in September 1948 at the Braemar Gathering. 60 years ago today. This evening I was looking at old photos and I found a photo taken on that very day of the group at the Braemar Gathering with my Mum at one end and my Dad at the other end. Then I read my Mum's diary of that very day 60 years ago, about her day at the Braemar gathering. It was all very poignant.

And now here we are, 60 years later. Reviewing the past, but living the present and looking to the future.

The Paths of Glory

I am up in Scotland and today we again went over to Crathie, this time to visit the churchyard and to visit the gravestone of my grandparents which had been cleaned up and now had my mother's name added.

It was very strange and slightly unsettling to see my mother's name there. Somehow it didn't seem to fit. The finality of her death has not quite hit home yet. I wanted her to be beside me, as she had been on so many previous occasions. But today there was a space beside me but a name on the gravestone. It is too unsettling to share the photo of the gravestone here but this is a general photograph of the churchyard.

In another way it was deeply comforting to have my Mum acknowledged and in such a peaceful place in the area she was brought up and amongst so many family members who have died over the years. It of course seemed strange to know that some of the gravestones, of great-grandparents and great-great-grandparents would have been seen by my Mum when she was a child. And now she has joined them

Rest in peace.

Randy Pausch

In my post on 29 March, I put in an extract from a talk given by Randy Pausch who at that stage knew he had only a few months to live. I hope this is still running on YouTube and therefore still available on my blog.

There were two things he said which were really so hopeful and so uplifting. Randy died a couple of weeks ago and this is therefore a good time to repeat them. They need no embellishment.

'Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted'

'Luck is where preparation meets opportunity'

Thank you Randy for those two great thoughts. And rest in peace.

September

Today is 1st September. I always feel that as soon as we hit September, something changes. The 1st September is the start of the end of summer and a sign that autumn is just round the corner. Except of course that this year we didn't have much of summer. Where were the hazy, crazy days? Nowhere to be seen. And now the mornings are getting darker, the evenings are getting darker. No more shorts and tee shirt. Bring out the jackets and woollens. Switch on the heating.

But I mustn't get too down about it. On Wednesday I head for Scotland and at the end of the month I head for a few days in Spain. So I am lucky really.

Una Semana en Malaga

We've just returned from another week in Malaga. As ever I still love the city. And this time we were there during feria week which was fascinating. Everyone is on holiday and everyone parties all week. In the morning it is the turn of the more-elderly, more-traditional residents to take part in traditional music and dancing, espcially flamenco. By the afternoon the youngsters have taken over, carrying bottles of wine, meeting their friends, doing impromptu dancing etc. Everyone seems to disappear about 5 pm, presumably for a siesta. Then at around 11pm the party starts again either in the feria ground or in the streets of Malaga. Few are sober by this time, but there is no trouble and those who can still remain upright continue their dancing.

Halfway though the week, we took the train to El Chorro where we stayed overnight. A wonderful retreat. We also paid a visit to the Poseidon Beach, the gay beach, in Torremolinos. And at other times, we took trips to the Malagueta beach and just generally enjoyed wandering round Malaga. Most days we had a menu del dia in one of the local restaurants partly because this is the cheapest way of eating well and partly because it was just a bit too hot in the middle of the day to stay on the beach.

Having an apartment in the centre of Malaga, although small, is wonderful. It is somewhere to retreat to, a quite space for reading or just chilling, and a place where we can keep clothes which allows us to fly out with hand luggage only.

Although A's work interfered a bit (not his fault), it was a good relaxing week. I am looking forward to our return there at the end of September.

Brighton

As we have done for the past 6 years, we had a stall at Brighton Pride. This weekend we stayed down on the Friday and Saturday nights. I was disappointed not to have been able to spend more free time in Brighton, though the weather was not great.

Pride day itself was rather damp early on and quite windy all day. But it was fun, if rather exhausting, and I think we interacted well with potential clients, so it was worth doing.

More Cohen

There are more videos of Thursday's Leonard Cohen Concert now on You Tube. So here is a longer one of Hallelujah.

South Carolina not 'So Gay'

The media frenzy around our ads for South Carolina is intensifying and moving round the world.

In South Carolina, the State newspaper again have an article.

In the UK, the Guardian and the Independent have big articles.

It has reached Northern Ireland and Taiwan.

It is being reported in newspapers across the USA.

I understand that the International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association (IGLTA) have issued a statement as follows -
“We would like to congratulate Amro Holidays and Out Now Consulting on a phenomenal advertising campaign. The very creative campaign was thought provoking and created discussions worldwide about gay travel and the diversity of destinations that LGBT travelers visit. We are honored to have both of these outstanding companies as members of IGLTA!”

Hey - thanks guys.

And all of this from one small ad on one tube line in the London underground. Ian from Out Now Consulting who devised and led the advertising campaign has managed the media interest brilliantly and truthfully (not always the same thing).

So at last we are getting the name of Amro Worldwide known throughout the gay and lesbian community and beyond. All thanks to a naive and rather stupid Senator and Governor in South Carolina who felt unable to resist making bigoted and, frankly, untruthful comments.

And who knows? We may have made the people of South Carolina address issues which previously they had never addressed. And some of them might have started to realise that they actually don't mind attracting gay travellers. That in fact they have no real problems with sexual diversity. As Michael (Mouse) Tolliver said in Tales of the City - [there are] people who don't consider sexuality in measuring the worth of a human being.

If we have made some people in South Carolina accept their spirit of tolerance, then not only has Amro Worldwide benefited, but hopefully South Carolina as well.

Amro Worldwide

Where do I start with this one?

It's been a surreal week, and I've only been on the edge of it.

Let's start at the beginning. Andrew wanted a new type of advertising for the travel business and hit on doing panels on the London Underground around the time of Pride. To spread the cost he dealt with 5 American states who were happy to come on board. The 'So Gay' campaign was launched. At the last minute, South Carolina asked us if they could join the campaign and we agreed.

So for the past 2 weeks we have had a series of posters running up Leicester Square Underground advertising a number of American states as well as advertising Amro Worldwide. The tag line is 'so gay' as in 'Las Vegas is So Gay', 'South Carolina is So Gay' etc. The reasoning was that this reclaimed this phrase for the gay community and showed the attractions of each destination for gay and lesbian travellers.

The campaign was launched and went very well.

Then a blog in South Carolina objected to public money going to fund a campaign to attract gay travellers. The blog should have just been ignored but suddenly a Senator and then the Governor in Sough Carolina agreed and demanded that the ad be pulled and stated that they would not pay for the campaign. The person who approved the campaign was made to resign.

Suddenly the story grew and by today it has been featured in numerous US newspapers, blog sites, television news broadcasts etc and also now by media outlets in Britian.

This has given Amro Worldwide publicity and focus which we could never have afforded to buy. For us it has suddenly put Amro in the spotlight and hopefully shown the gay community that we are a serious travel company in their market.

As examples, it has been reported on by Time magazine in the States and the Guardian over here as well as on American television and on various blogsites.



It's all amazing. I can't believe the welter of publicity which at the moment shows no signs of abating. I am sure that the Senator and Governor regret what they have started. Amro, meanwhile, will continue to tell the truth and hopefully gather the positive exposure from the story.

Leonard Cohen in concert

I was privileged to see Leonard Cohen live in concert last might at the O2 arena in London.

The arena was a bit of a problem. It is too large for what should have been a more intimate concert. In particular during the whole concert, there were people going out, getting drinks, bringing them in. There were many people taking flash photographs when they were so far from the stage that all the flash would have done is illuminate some of the heads which would have been in the way. All of this, for me, spoiled the atmosphere.

But Leonard Cohen was brilliant and so were his band. His songs, his poetry is magnificent. I saw him in concert in Edinburgh in about 1978 and never thought I'd get the opportunity to do so again. To hear the master sing Suzanne, Bird on the Wire, Sisters of Mercy and, of course, Hallelujah was fantastic. Thank you Leonard.

Here is a short clip of Hallelujah at last night's concert.

Scattering the ashes

The final farewell.

Today we went over to Crathie, as I had done with my Mum on many previous occasions. This time, though, it was with the urn of her ashes to be scattered around the family plot in Crathie churchyard.

When we got there, the churchyard was deserted, which was just as I had hoped. Suddenly an old guy arrived - obviously the caretaker. And he hovered around the whole time, which was a pity. So the leaving of the ashes in the churchyard was not as private nor as unhurried as I'd have liked it to have been. But we did it, and finally my Mum is laid to rest.

Then we went to Braemar for lunch and on to the Linn of Dee, another place where we had been many times previously with my Mum. And finally to the top dam at Lochnagar Distillery where my Mum and played and swam as a child.

I think it was a fitting tribute to my mother and to the place of her childhood.





'Years have rolled on, Lochnagar, since I left you
Years must roll on ere I see you again
Though Nature of verdure and flowers bereft you
Yet still art thou dearer than Albion's plain
England! thy beauties are tame and domestic
To one who has roved on the mountains afar
Oh for the crags that are wild and majestic
The steep frowning glories o' wild Lochnagar'

Wester Ross

This weekend both my sister and I are up to be with my Dad and, on Sunday, to go over to Crathie to scatter my Mum's ashes in the churchyard there.

But first today we went for a drive in the car. Quite a long drive actually. In fact we drove over to Inverness and then north westwards through Garve, Achnasheen, Kinlochwewe and finally to Gairloch on Scotland's north-west coast.

It was a glorious day - warm and sunny. There were people sunbathing and even swimming at Gairloch. It is a magical place on a day like this and I enjoyed just walking around, taking in the views of the mountains to the east and the sea and islands out to the west.

When I was a kid, we spend a number of holidays in this area in a caravan or a rented cottage, and since then I have visited on a number of occasions. Gairloch never fails to get to me in an emotional way.

This time of course there was an added bitter-sweet response. I had always been here with my Mum. She loved the place as well. So each time I took a photo, I remembered old photos both of the early visits when I was a kid and of later visits.

But it was right to come here and my Dad enjoyed the experience.

From Gairloch we drove via Poolewe round via Gruinard Bay - still in my opinion the most beautiful road in the world. There was a feeling of moving on, but also of remembering past visits with pleasure and almost of still being able to talk to my mum and remind her of past visits.

It was a great day.

Leonard Cohen at Glastonbury

I am really looking forward to seeing Leonard Cophen at the O2 on 17 July. He has been receiving rave reviews for the concerts he has done so far, including his set at Glastonbury. Here is part of that set.

Malaga

It has been a good week and reminded me why I love Spain, and Malaga in particular. We didn't rush around, but we spent time in the hills, time on the beach, had good meals and generally were able to relax.

This is a picture of the block in which our flat is. Still building work going on all around, but slowly the neighbourhood is improving and bieng upgraded.

Most of the morning of the final day was spent trying to pay our outstanding rates bill, but even that was an interesting experience. We grabbed a final couple of hours on the beach and that was that. Back to London.

La Noche De San Juan

This morning we were at the Malagueta where we spend a couple of hours in the sun and in the water. Then we met a couple of girls at El Poseidon in Torremolinos before heading to Reg and Gloria in Fuangirola.



Finally once we had returned to Malaga, we headed for the beach at midnight. This is the evening that the Spanish celebrate the longest night, the festival of La Noche De San Juan, by lighting bonfires all along the beaches and partying until dawn. We didn't stay quite that long, but it was an interesting experience.

Hills and beach

I really enjoyed today. We took the car into the hills up to Casabermejo, turned off to RoiGordo where we stopped for a coffee, and then took the spectacularly scenic drive via Vinuela to the coast.

Then we headed for La Herradura where we had a paella for lunch in the same restuaruant that my Mum, Dad and I had been to 18 months ago. It is strange that I feel the presence of my Mum very strongly over here, I guess beacuse I tend to visit the same places and can remember taking her to them during her two visits out here. The memory saddens me, but also I am pleased that I was able to show her these places which now mean so much to me.

Later in the afternoon we found ourselves at the naturist beach just along the coast from La Herradura, and had a pleasant couple of hours there.

Traffic was bad on the way home, but it didn't spoil the day.

Cirque de Soleil

Andrew had some work to do, so I went to the beach for a couple of hours in the morning, we had an excellent menu del dia in a small restaurant in Calle San Juan De Letran. Then we headed off to the tent at the feria ground to see Cirque De Soleil. I had never seen Cirque de Soleil before and I'm afraid I was disappointed. Yes there were some amazing moments, but it was a 30 minute show stretched to over 2 hours with a lot of padding.