Hamilton and the Seminar

There was a lot of anticipation in the run up to the Hamilton Seminar. It was to be the first of three following the ANZTSR conference and aimed to pull together a number of the strands that were demonstrated there; the resource pack was to be launched and it was to be the first test of brand new video conferencing equipment. The latter worked well - far better than the UNISON set up - despite lots of noise and movement the images and sound stayed solid.

In fact all of it went really really well. There are some photo's showing me with Conor (the brunette) and Jane (the blonde). The numbers were higher than expected and the feedback was great. There are also photo's that include Buddy who is a very special person to the project. He is a Maori Methodist Minister but more importantly he is a Maori elder held in enormous respect and affection. It's a postition to be earnt not granted making it all the more special. Buddy is unwell and there was some doubt about whether he would get there. There was great pleasure that he did but also sadness about the state of his health. I was privileged to meet him and to hear him speak.

After the seminar we went to the CTU (Council of Trade Unions - equivalent of STUC) for drinks. Amongst those I met was the Labour Party shadow spokesperson for women who was keen to hear about equal pay in Scotland - and what not to do!

Conor and Anne left us for the weekend. Anne for a wedding and Conor to see her sons and husband and to celebrate her birthday with them.

Jane got the short straw - she fed me again and did my washing and helped me plan for Friday.........