Tuesday, 29 January 2008

The Hertfordshire Infrastructure Consortium met today in Stevenage. Jacquie Hime was unable to attend, but Steph Gallagher overcame colds etc to help hold things together.

The meeting considered options for renaming the Consortium. Some felt that "HIC" should be retained. I wasn’t amongst them. If the ambitions of the ChangeUp programme are going to be met, it is essential that support agencies gain a higher profile among front-line charities and community groups. I don’t see how we can successfully raise our profile with a name that contains three words and eleven syllables, describes what we are rather than what we do, and exudes as much charm and finesse as an East German border guard.

The meeting concluded with a presentation from Laura Cronshaw of St Albans CVS on the complex issue of representation. Much food for thought - particularly with a consultation on voluntary sector representation currently underway.

I finally arrived at the office about 2:00 pm and I was pleased to see Angelo here talking with Maria about databases and websites. I caught up with colleagues, talked with Angelo on budgets, with Vanessa and Maria on our 9 February trustee conference, organised several meetings with local groups, read 200 e-mails, sent 25 e-mails, made a dozen telephone calls, checked the minutes of the morning’s meeting (Steph is very quick off the mark), and installed two printers.

I arrived home about 10:00 pm. A taste of the weeks ahead, I fear.

Over my supper, Jacquie and I watched a thoroughly depressing documentary on the genocide in Darfur.