Monday
The "highly confidential" excursion last week was a flop. Friday morning I did some freelance work, then early afternoon drove to the northern home counties and booked into the hotel, meeting Keith Chandler (Senior Campaign Manager). We seemed to have the hotel to ourselves. Half-bored half-excited we walked around the ground floor rooms, not daring to go out into the gardens in case "the balloon goes up" (an expression Keith Chandler used frequently). Director Vijay Singh arrived and fidgeted non-stop. At 7.30 we had dinner, then waited around some more.
At 3am it became clear that the meeting was not going to go ahead, so we all went to bed.
I the morning when Keith Chandler and I met at breakfast we found that Vijay Singh had already left. I asked Keith Chandler if this sort of expedition was typical. He told me no.
When I got to the Institute Monday morning Vijay Singh was in his office all morning and not to be disturbed. When we met at midday I half-expected a debrief about the failed presentation, but nothing was said. When I asked Keith Chandler what had gone wrong he told me "best not to ask".
The team that had gone to the exhibition on Friday asked Keith Chandler where he had been. He told them he had been ill. I spent the day writing Campaign Plans.
Most of the morning a briefing from telephone research supervisor Abi Reed (large young woman, black hair, pugnacious manner).
In the afternoon a briefing with the archive team downstairs - I tried not to appear bored.
Long discussion in the afternoon about magistrates' courts and whether they work properly or not.
An unannounced visit from the large "sister organisation" the Institute works for. Alec Nussbaum is supposedly a trouble-maker, always interfering in the Institute. On this occasion he rifled through our campaign plans rubbishing our efforts in a way that was highly offensive ("I'm inwardly seething" Campaign Manager Callum Smith told me quietly).
When I went home I tried a new route - there were no traffic hold-ups, and the scenery was nicer, but I didn't get home any quicker.
I find myself drinking more coffee in this new job. This is mainly because people keep offering to make me one, and it seems ungracious to refuse. But I want to get back to drinking two litres of water a day.
At 3pm Callum Smith and myself presented a Campaign Plan to Director Vijay Singh. This was a key moment for me, as most of the plan was my work. It all seemed to go well, and the questions were interested ones rather than the critical pulling-apart that Vijay Singh is renowned for.
The "highly confidential" excursion last week was a flop. Friday morning I did some freelance work, then early afternoon drove to the northern home counties and booked into the hotel, meeting Keith Chandler (Senior Campaign Manager). We seemed to have the hotel to ourselves. Half-bored half-excited we walked around the ground floor rooms, not daring to go out into the gardens in case "the balloon goes up" (an expression Keith Chandler used frequently). Director Vijay Singh arrived and fidgeted non-stop. At 7.30 we had dinner, then waited around some more.
At 3am it became clear that the meeting was not going to go ahead, so we all went to bed.
I the morning when Keith Chandler and I met at breakfast we found that Vijay Singh had already left. I asked Keith Chandler if this sort of expedition was typical. He told me no.
When I got to the Institute Monday morning Vijay Singh was in his office all morning and not to be disturbed. When we met at midday I half-expected a debrief about the failed presentation, but nothing was said. When I asked Keith Chandler what had gone wrong he told me "best not to ask".
The team that had gone to the exhibition on Friday asked Keith Chandler where he had been. He told them he had been ill. I spent the day writing Campaign Plans.
Tuesday
Most of the morning a briefing from telephone research supervisor Abi Reed (large young woman, black hair, pugnacious manner).
In the afternoon a briefing with the archive team downstairs - I tried not to appear bored.
Long discussion in the afternoon about magistrates' courts and whether they work properly or not.
An unannounced visit from the large "sister organisation" the Institute works for. Alec Nussbaum is supposedly a trouble-maker, always interfering in the Institute. On this occasion he rifled through our campaign plans rubbishing our efforts in a way that was highly offensive ("I'm inwardly seething" Campaign Manager Callum Smith told me quietly).
When I went home I tried a new route - there were no traffic hold-ups, and the scenery was nicer, but I didn't get home any quicker.
Wednesday
In my new position at the Institute I have considerable purchasing powers. I decided to hold a review of printers and designers the Institute uses, and invited Joey (a designer I worked with some years ago) to quote. Although he is based in south London, the projects are sufficiently large for it to be worth his while to travel to the Institute. He arrived this afternoon waddling into the office with his familiar bow-legged walk. Returned from an overseas holiday so that his face was almost black (no exaggeration). He talked about various football injuries he had experienced.
News that I had reviewed suppliers must have spread quickly, as the managing director of the main print and design company used for our reports came to see me in person later in the afternoon (I wonder who at the Institute had tipped him off). I told him he would still receive commissions but would no longer be the sole supplier. He hinted he might go over my head.
I had to hang around until well past 6pm before I could talk to Deputy Director Lois Cooper. We discussed an article that is to be "placed" in a magazine. Then I sat at my PC and drafted it, got approval from Lois Cooper, then sent it off.
Thursday
A whole day spent on databases - integral to the Institute's work.
Friday
I find myself drinking more coffee in this new job. This is mainly because people keep offering to make me one, and it seems ungracious to refuse. But I want to get back to drinking two litres of water a day.
At 3pm Callum Smith and myself presented a Campaign Plan to Director Vijay Singh. This was a key moment for me, as most of the plan was my work. It all seemed to go well, and the questions were interested ones rather than the critical pulling-apart that Vijay Singh is renowned for.
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