The only man in the room

You’ll find that some of my new blog posts are serious, and some are more light-hearted. They won’t be chronological, and they might well appear random. But what they represent are some of the thoughts and observations that struck me during the month.

When Charlotte’s waters broke, we knew it wasn’t great news. She was only 24 weeks’ pregnant, and we knew that our baby, our Tilly, would be unlikely to survive such an early labour.

Our local hospital, the West Cumberland in Whitehaven, quickly and sensibly transferred us to the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle, where our consultant is based. This is where we spent the best-part (best couldn’t be a less suitable word) of the next two weeks.

There are a few things worth knowing about the RVI:

1) It’s a very good hospital, and it has a specialist fetal/foetal medicine department, which is one of the best in the country

2) It’s a very large hospital with a dedicated maternity wing. This ward is quite some distance from both the main entrance and the multi-storey car park – i.e. anywhere I’d ever be coming from!

As a result of 2), my step count each day we were in the hospital tended to be impressive. I became a dab hand at knowing the quirks of the hospital and its navigation. These include things like wings only being connected on certain levels, needing to find a hidden staircase, and others.

Walking these routes meant I also had lots of time to take note of the signage. As you’d expect in a busy hospital – it needs to be clear and unambiguous. By and large they achieve this through consistent design, typefaces and colours (blue for the Leazes/maternity wing, black on yellow for the eye hospital, and so on).

I say by and large, because I spent quite a considerable amount of time pondering why the typeface on the signage is almost always Arial/Helvetica or similar, barring a few signs near to A and E which use the London Underground font.

On a similar note, the spelling of fetal occasionally had an added o.

As I say, walking the hospital each day gave me a lot of time to think!

Like my other recent posts, one of the reason I’m writing them is the remind myself of how I succeed when I’m in the zone, rather than focusing on the days when I’m struggling.

So one of the things I have noticed recently is that my attitude and mindset is changing. Only slightly, but the changes I’m making are positive and are helping my weight loss journey.

I’m writing this post on the train to London. I’m in first class, so get free food and drink. In the past I’d have said yes to everything on offer. Today that would have seen me have two meals and a handful of alcoholic drinks.

When they came and offered the second food choice today, I declined. I didn’t think, “I’m paying for it so should have it,” but instead noted that I wasn’t hungry and decided that was all I needed to consider!

Similarly, I’ve had a couple of gin and tonics and enjoyed them, but I don’t need more, so a diet soft drink is sufficient now.

I enjoy a meal out, and won’t stop doing that, even when trying to lose weight. But what I can do is make those choices healthier. That doesn’t have to mean only going for salads and light choices, but it means making an informed choice and cutting out things like unneeded courses, extras and side dishes. I used to be the king of thinking, what else can I have with this meal. So garlic bread, extra veg, the chicken on a Caesar salad were all obvious choices to me. Not now, I eschew these and choose the meal I really want.

I’ve been doing lots of exercises, as I’ve mentioned in a previous blog. I’m now at the stage where I look forward to this of an evening. In fact, I can’t remember the last time I didn’t choose to do a few extra minutes/calories/distance rather than wishing I could escape early. They say it takes thirty days for something to become a habit. I’m definitely feeling that now.

These are all fairly small choices on their own, but it’s what they represent to me that is more important. Being healthy has moved up the priority list for the choices I make, and that can only be a good thing!

To many people, I don’t doubt this sounds obvious and simple. But if I always thought that, I wouldn’t be trying to lose weight and writing his blog.

The only man in the room.

After more than ten years in local government – the majority of those in communications – I have recently left the sector.

When I started in local government, there was no Twitter, Facebook was only for college students in America, people didn’t blog, and local newspapers were your most important stakeholder.

Whilst local newspapers are still important and continue to be a major part of the communications professional’s day to day work, it’s fair to say that the landscape has changed dramatically.

If I say that one of my first tasks when joining the communications team at my district council was to contact our press release distribution list to check whether they would like us to continue to fax out press releases rather than email them (they did want this), you’ll appreciate just how much things have changed.

Dan and Darren have both blogged about the positives and negatives of working in local government communications much more eloquently than I could, so I won’t retread this ground. But I did want to give some of my own reflections on my time in the sector.

Firstly, I’ve enjoyed the experience thoroughly. I genuinely believe there is no better part of the organisation to work for – the scope and variety of the work really is second to none.

During my time at my council I have worked on projects as diverse as the opening of our new building (a PFI, so perhaps best not discussed in much more detail now), to the closure of our civic hall; from protest rallies to peaceful protests; from major national issues like the storage of nuclear waste to hyper-local issues like the location of litter bins; as well as sensitive and challenging issues like deaths on our land and one major and infamous national incident which will never leave me or the rest of the community.

I’ve worked with a range of people including the local MP, national politicians, celebrities, subject matter experts, Buckingham Palace, journalists from across the world (from Nippon TV to Al Jazeera), amongst others.

Secondly, the face of local government communications has changed, is changing and will change again. Successful local government communicators are those who recognise this and are keen to feel their way through these changes, learning as they go. If the idea of a press officer feels antiquated, it’s because it is.

Others have blogged about the range of skills needed in local government communications, but suffice to say that the list is probably already out of date. But the good news is that working in the sector in what will inevitably be a small and reducing team, means you will have plenty of opportunities to develop your skills.

As the senior communications professional in my organisation, I was responsible for a range of areas including public relations, media relations, internal communications, marketing, branding, design, consultation and engagement to name a few.

As well as the on-the-job experience I picked up in these areas, I also benefited from some excellent training opportunities including undertaking a management diploma and my CIPR diploma – both of which has proved useful, from both a knowledge development and networking point of view.

Whilst I am thoroughly positive about my time in local government, the experience I’ve gained and the skills I have developed, it does feel like the tide is turning, especially for small district authorities.

The last couple of years in local government have been almost entirely devoted to communicating difficult messages relating to budget cuts, at the same time managing budget and staffing cuts in my own team. Like so many of my experiences in local government, it has been a useful one. But more years of further cuts now don’t feel like as much of a learning experience, but simply another opportunity for people to beat us.

So it was with a heavy heart that I left local government; but I know it was the right time to do so. I am now looking forward to forging a new career in the nuclear sector, using the breadth of skills, experience and connections I have developed over the last ten years – conscious that there are very few places I’d have been able to get this.

To all those still working in local government communications, I wish you the very best of luck. One thing that is for sure is that those who innovate are those who will succeed.

Finally, I’d like to thank Dan and Darren for all their support and encouragement over the last few years. 

Picture credit.

So there is now less than one week remaining until the 2013 Jennings Rivers Ride, and my preparations are almost complete.

My previous blog outlined how my training was going. It also pointed out that this weekend was the last one left for some decent training. However, the weather has put paid to that. Two incredibly soggy days have meant that I’ve somehow been simply too busy to get out for a ride!

I hope I won’t come to regret this next weekend. I’ll try to get out for a couple of shorter rides this week, just to remind myself what I’m doing.

So because I’ve not been out, my thoughts turned to fundraising. I’m pleased to say that I am well on track for reaching my target of £500+ for the Cumbria Community Foundation and the great work they do in supporting important community projects in Cumbria. (Without getting too preachy, the role of organisations like the Cumbria Community Foundation is increasingly important in times of austerity where funding from local authorities and others is drying up).

I am delighted to report that my fund raising has received a massive boost thanks to the generosity of a number of people and one particular business.

I’d like to thank everyone that has sponsored me so far. I really do appreciate it, and it does provide me with more inspiration to make sure I get around in a decent time.

Special thanks must go to the fabulous guys at Stan Palmer Honda in Cockermouth, who have donated an incredibly generous £100 to the cause. This really is above and beyond what is expected and is testimony to the friendly attitude of Gary Redmond and the team there.

So I’ll issue a final call for sponsors… If you’d like to contribute, however big or small an amount, please visit www.justgiving.com/ian-curwen.

A few people have asked me what my aim is for next Sunday. It’s a hard question to answer. In one respect, simply finishing after having broken my back, will be good enough.

But my competitive nature means that I want to do better than that. Based on previous rides, a time of 6 hours would be brilliant. I doubt I’ll get under that but anything that isn’t too far over will be fantastic for me. That means an average speed of around 12.5MPH. Sounds doable, until you think of how slow some of the passes will be!

Thanks to everyone who has supported me, either in the form of sponsorship or through words of encouragement and motivation. They will be ringing in my ears on Sunday.

Finally, please let this weekend be the rainy one, and next weekend be the dry, wind-free one. Too much to ask?