Monday
The Institute's Director, Vijay Singh, called a meeting to plan the AGM to be held in February.
This meeting is being called expressly to decide the Institute's future, with Alec Nussbaum from Head Office presenting his Pathways for Change paper which will basically argue for abolishing the independence of the organisation and merging it into one of the Head Office departments. He is expecting a simple afternoon meeting. Unbeknown to him Vijay Singh is planning a two-day conference at which the Insitute's members will be "showcased" (horrible verb) the work of the Institute and sufficiently enthused so that when Alec Nussbaum addresses the meeting at the end of the Saturday session he finds his proposals voted down.
Secrecy is of the essence.
Tuesday
When I looked at my e-mails this morning there was a curt one from Vijay Singh asking for a review of communications this afternoon. I wondering what might have impelled him to spring this surprise inspection on me. He is prone to paranoia, so I was a little apprehensive.
A meeting in the morning with Abi Reed (Surveys and research manager) made me feel more confident - there are lots of positive things happening. Abi Reed has a habit of making faces when thinking. All the partitions on the ground floor have been removed apart from the Library area.
Library Assistant Gary has begun shaking hands with me when he brings round the post in the mornings. This seems a silly thing to do as we have worked together for months now. But I do not know how to stop him doing this without hurting his feelings (he is regarded as not very bright by most of the Institute's staff, and has become a sort of dogsbody).
The meeting with Vijay Singh went very well. My list of current projects is quite impressive, even though I have not been working all that hard recently. I have a knack of talking-up the work that I do, and I could tell that Vijay Singh was completely persuaded of the value of the work I was doing.
But so many notes to write up afterwards - I can hardly keep up.
Wednesday
We have been working on a joint campaign with the fund-raising department at Head Office, and it became clear this morning that they had double-crossed us (not mentioning the Institute in the appeals publicity that has gone out). After discussing this with Vijay Singh I sent an e-mail to Terry Solomon (head of fund-raising at Head Office) declining to pay anything towards the campaign. Vijay Singh wants to entirely sever all contact with Head Office until after the AGM.
Thursday
I went to the doctor in the morning to have the results of the recent tests. "You've had pneumonia" he said matter-of-factly, as if it was as no more serious than a common cold. The x-rays show some scarring on my lungs.
I got to the office by 10.30, feeling very sorry for myself. A quiet morning. I drank one cup of tea after another, half-heartedly looking at projects I am meant to be getting on with.
An afternoon spent checking proofs.
Friday
Spent the whole day rushing out a Newsletter aimed at the Institute's members. There are only 150 of these, so I wanted to have it digitally printed, but Vijay Singh insisted that production had to be of the highest quality.
Apparently we are going to issue monthly editions of these newsletters (which are only four-pagers) until the AGM.
The Institute's Director, Vijay Singh, called a meeting to plan the AGM to be held in February.
This meeting is being called expressly to decide the Institute's future, with Alec Nussbaum from Head Office presenting his Pathways for Change paper which will basically argue for abolishing the independence of the organisation and merging it into one of the Head Office departments. He is expecting a simple afternoon meeting. Unbeknown to him Vijay Singh is planning a two-day conference at which the Insitute's members will be "showcased" (horrible verb) the work of the Institute and sufficiently enthused so that when Alec Nussbaum addresses the meeting at the end of the Saturday session he finds his proposals voted down.
Secrecy is of the essence.
Tuesday
When I looked at my e-mails this morning there was a curt one from Vijay Singh asking for a review of communications this afternoon. I wondering what might have impelled him to spring this surprise inspection on me. He is prone to paranoia, so I was a little apprehensive.
A meeting in the morning with Abi Reed (Surveys and research manager) made me feel more confident - there are lots of positive things happening. Abi Reed has a habit of making faces when thinking. All the partitions on the ground floor have been removed apart from the Library area.
Library Assistant Gary has begun shaking hands with me when he brings round the post in the mornings. This seems a silly thing to do as we have worked together for months now. But I do not know how to stop him doing this without hurting his feelings (he is regarded as not very bright by most of the Institute's staff, and has become a sort of dogsbody).
The meeting with Vijay Singh went very well. My list of current projects is quite impressive, even though I have not been working all that hard recently. I have a knack of talking-up the work that I do, and I could tell that Vijay Singh was completely persuaded of the value of the work I was doing.
But so many notes to write up afterwards - I can hardly keep up.
Wednesday
We have been working on a joint campaign with the fund-raising department at Head Office, and it became clear this morning that they had double-crossed us (not mentioning the Institute in the appeals publicity that has gone out). After discussing this with Vijay Singh I sent an e-mail to Terry Solomon (head of fund-raising at Head Office) declining to pay anything towards the campaign. Vijay Singh wants to entirely sever all contact with Head Office until after the AGM.
Thursday
I went to the doctor in the morning to have the results of the recent tests. "You've had pneumonia" he said matter-of-factly, as if it was as no more serious than a common cold. The x-rays show some scarring on my lungs.
I got to the office by 10.30, feeling very sorry for myself. A quiet morning. I drank one cup of tea after another, half-heartedly looking at projects I am meant to be getting on with.
An afternoon spent checking proofs.
Friday
Spent the whole day rushing out a Newsletter aimed at the Institute's members. There are only 150 of these, so I wanted to have it digitally printed, but Vijay Singh insisted that production had to be of the highest quality.
Apparently we are going to issue monthly editions of these newsletters (which are only four-pagers) until the AGM.
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