Pointless and irrational but, hey, I’m hooked

April 27, 2009 by
Filed under: Uncategorized 

This blog  is very self indulgent. ’Really’, I hear you saying ‘and how exactly would that distinguish it from all the rest?’.

It’s been one of those days. It started with a speech at the QEII Centre this morning. I’m not saying I was brilliant, but I wasn’t that bad. But for all the positive response I got I could have been selling pork scratchings at a vegan convention.

It confirmed to me that the QEII is simply the worst venue for making speeches; its rooms are huge, featureless, echoing hangars with no natural light.  To make it worse, my next gig was also there, chairing the opening session of the National Digital Inclusion Conference. Last year I also chaired the event and it was great. But this year – in the QEII – even with four, yes four, ministers on the platform getting the audience going was like trying to start an Austin Allegro on a January morning after you’ve been away for a month.

This afternoon we had talks with RSA Regional Chairs about the plans for an elected Fellowship Council. This is a radical and important step for the RSA as we build our Fellowship strategy. The Chairs have their concerns but are broadly supportive, seeing the need for a body with the legitimacy to challenge both RSA HQ and regions and local groups themselves to improve the engagement of Fellows. It looks like we are going to get plenty of people wanting to stand for election to the new Council.

But unless you are an RSA activist or the marketing director at the QEII, I realise this is not exactly fascinating. Which is where the self indulgence comes in. Even though it’s way past the time of day when it’s worth doing a blog, I just can’t allow a weekday to go by without a post. 

Now, this might be for two different reasons. Either I am totally dedicated even to the point of writing blogs that no one will read. Or I am terrified that if I miss one day it will be a slippery slope; I will lose discipline and end up – like most organisational bloggers – doing it once a week at best.

I have been meaning for ages to write a blog about blogging; to pluck up the courage to ask, is it really worth it?  Perhaps, after all, this is it.

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10 Comments on Pointless and irrational but, hey, I’m hooked

  1. Hadleigh Roberts on Mon, 27th Apr 2009 9:15 pm

    2. Well I still read it. Sometimes even in the vain hope that others do the same for me!

  2. carl allen on Mon, 27th Apr 2009 9:54 pm

    3. Blogging is but for a time until we get busy with the real work of doing our individual bit, however small or large it may seem.

    A blogging consultation as one might say.

  3. barrie singleton on Tue, 28th Apr 2009 12:17 am

    4. CAN’T FIND ANYWHWER ELSE TO PUT THIS.

    I used to print out ‘Blair speeches’ and try to extract meaning. How can I tell who wrote what?

  4. Michael in UK on Tue, 28th Apr 2009 7:47 am

    5. I like this blog very much. Why? Good mix of real world complex issues/problems, against which you bring in theory and science/other research based evidence (as opposed to mere assertion of opinion).
    Also, your willingness to change your mind (and say so), and reflect honestly on experience (what worked, what didn’t).
    Finally, there is occasional good joke (did you see that Dali Lama one in the Guardian a week or so back?)
    Keep up the good work Matthew (and one or two posts a week would be fine if it came to that.)

  5. Ritchie Somerville on Tue, 28th Apr 2009 4:52 pm

    6. I was at the QEII Centre conference. Personally I found your presentation and that of David Godber of the Design Council illuminating, even if the overall atmosphere was not.

  6. Sarah on Tue, 28th Apr 2009 7:48 pm

    7. Digital Inclusion conference – if you are chairing next year, it would be
    good to see the dots pulled together into a coherent strategic plan.
    The Digital Inc champ and the Taskforce will perhaps be appointed by then.

    Kind of you to blame the venue and not the audience. The host was verging on stand up at points – very funny for a government gig.
    Thanks.

  7. matthewtaylor on Wed, 29th Apr 2009 7:09 am

    8. Thanks Sarah. It was fun and, yes, I hope there will be good progress over the next few months. And I hope the RSA is part of that progress

  8. matthewtaylor on Wed, 29th Apr 2009 7:20 am

    9. Thanks Ritchie your comments are a great deal more gracious than were mine n my post. Part of the problem was that I didn’t really know who I was speaking to or what they were expecting. But I’m glad you got something out of it (apart from the bad jokes)

  9. Adam Roake on Thu, 30th Apr 2009 1:03 pm

    10. Like Hadleigh I too read it anyway and I hope others read mine albeit I’m only a once-a-week at best blogger!

    At the end of the day why shouldn’t you write about something you’re interested in, concerned about or troubled by. Your views might not be quite as valuable as someone elses but they are still valid. And as it happens, I think your views, Matthew, are interesting and thought-provoking.

  10. matthewtaylor on Fri, 1st May 2009 9:52 am

    11. Thanks Adam. That’s really kind of you. I love blogging, and the conversations that it provokes. My problem is always workload. This week I have posted late and even missed a day yesterday (actually I did post but it was so weak I took it down this morning). I know it is OK to miss the occasional day but in a job which involves so much internal management and discussing other people’s ideas I find the expressing myself in the blog has become essential to my peace of mind!

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