Duty calls
Posted by Ellee on Mar 19, 2007 in updates | 52 commentsI’m afraid I need to take a blogging break for a week to spend quality time preparing my next project for my CIPR PR diploma, as well as keeping on top of my work. Blogging is immensely distracting, as well as pleasurable, and my assignment requires much time and commitment.
I have to research and write a PR campaign for a fictitious local authority which has been accused of racism in its housing department and wants to demonstrate that this is no longer the case. I have lots of info I need to study closely, as well writing up on the theory behind my campaign.
I contacted the Commission for Racial Equality to see if they could suggest any best practice campaigns which had impressed them and was surprised when they replied that they do not help students this way. I’m still open to suggestions if anyone has any ideas.
I would like to get the lion’s share of this project under my belt by the end of the week for my own peace of mind, so it’s heads down for now, and I’ll be back soon.
Newmania’s 46 :
“An angel beating its wings in a vacuum …”
How true – we look at the stars and realise our duality, we are both everything and nothing at the same time. I no longer believe in God, my faith and hope is stored in human kindness and compassion.
The only other word that rhymed with impressive was regressive, I didn’t think that was appropriate for you.
Aha very cunning Ellee you have a different rhyme scheme . I went to a poetry writing course once and i wasn`t much good at it . I might have a go though
..and my future is reactionary nor progressive
Newmania, Just penned this quickly, especially for you:
Newmania hails from Islington
Where he puts the world to rights
Loving politics, blogging, his family too
He is sure to attain great heights.
His cheek, his swagger, amuses us all
His poetic knowledge is impressive
He takes no nonsense, but is a softie too
His future looks very progressive.
Crikey I can’t come up with anything for London or Islington which is a shame as I was trying to think of a panegyric to myself. I like EK`s comment about the stars , its only when you get out of London you realise why anyone wrote about them . All I ever see is that orange streetlight smear The claustrophobic nearness of light in London was used to great effect in Nil By Mouth the Gary Oldman Film. It worked as visual metaphor of the trapped characters.
There is a great Poem by Robert Graves about the quality of a Bear which was to seek his own company , like the poet . Finally he stares out to the Great Bear and joins mystically with all things in the surprising last stanza . I couldn’t find it which was a shame but I wonder if the fact we cannot see the stars or the process of death and much else has made us less human that we should be . Ever since organised religion has become ( to quote Arnold again)� An Angel beating its wings in a vacuum there is nowhere to go with this spiritual need that stubbornly persists People have always looked at the stars asking for something to be clearer.
Kevin and Joe, I seem to have lost the thread here, but as long as you guys are happy and know what you are doing.
Ow . Ow. Ow. I have a headache. Off to watch a football game now, but it seems I did some post alcohol commenting yesterday….
Well, what can I say, Joe. I feel very honoured indeed that you deem me worthy to hold onto your ‘sword’ until your return.
God speed !
E-K, I wouldn’t do this if there weren’t a reason.
Look after her and deal with Jessica whilst I’m away.
Bit quiet without you this week Ellee!
Yep. Fair to say that your blog measures well on all of those counts.
Good work.
Kevin,
And also:
There was a young lady from Ealing
Whose blog was very appealing
It was newsy and bright
A touch heavy, a touch light
And always gave you a lovely feeling.
(and a smile too, I hope, as well as a good conversation, though I am in Cambridgeshire).
I’m blooming. That was lovely, Ellee. Kevin of Devon – almost.
Yes, it is heartbreakingly beautiful around these parts – you wouldn’t need satnav either, on a clear night you can do it by the stars.
E-K, Funnily enough:
There was a young man called Kevin
Who said he would take me to heaven
He blogged on my site
Was always very polite
But instead, we headed for Devon.
(for its beautiful gardens, so pretty much heaven for me, I’m glad the satnav wasn’t working).
There was a young lady from Ealing …
Naw – it’s not working is it, Ellee ?
Joe, Surely not, especially if you quote the same lovely words to them, as well as some verse from those illustrious writers, how can they resist?
Girls say that all the time, but come midnight they remember they have to work tomorrow….
Joe, Thank you very much for those kind words. I miss you all too and I will be back on Monday with something very, very special if all goes to plan.
Matthew Arnoild? Do you people have no, soul?
Keats, Shelley, Coleridge, Spenser, Donne, Milton…
Feel the vibrations, people, the unbounded passion…
Arnold? Like Auden and Elliot, Pseud.
Ellee, we all miss you. As you can see we are bored but ‘Truth is beauty, beauty truth, that is all you know on earth and all ye need to know.’
You are both, Ellee.
Newmania, I realised that, but I know how fond we both are of George Herbert – and your wife too. I hope little E knows a few of his verses by now.
And yes sir, duty calls again!
Its an Arnold Poem Ellee
GET BACK TO WORK
Newmania, I wondered whether you were inspired by George Herbert, your poetic skills are boundless. You really know how to put a smile on a girl’s face, thank you.
Nicola and Zoe are in my class and I had an email a short while ago from the excellent blogger and PR leader Heather Yaxley informing me that everyone in our Cambridge group had passed our critical reasoning test which we had to work on over Christmas. I’m over the mooon, and I’m sure everyone else it too.
I’m sure Simon also did well – hope he finished the latest project in time for his wedding.
Hi Ellee
I’m studying for it too, although I’m quite enjoying it I will be glad when this part is over…feels like being back at school and there’s a reason why I didn’t stay there any longer than I had to…
Good luck with your project Ellee and hope to see you back blogging soon!
Nicola x
cough some bloke called Mathew Arnold chipped in a bit on that one but the feelings are all mine.
Absence
In a fair stranger’s blog of stuff
Thine blog, my love, I see.
I shudder: for the passing day
Had borne me far from thee.
This is the curse of life: that not
A nobler calmer train
Of wiser thoughts and feelings blot
Our passions from our brain;
But each day brings its petty dust
Our soon-chok’d souls to fill,
And we forget because we must,
And not because we will.
I struggle towards the light; and ye,
Once-long’d-for storms of love!
If with the light ye cannot be,
I bear that ye remove.
I struggle towards the light; but oh,
While yet the night is chill,
Upon Time’s barren, stormy flow,
Stay with me, Ellee , still!
Instead of peeping why don’t you join in the shower fun, Joe ?
He he !
Are we all going to hang around on this strand till Ellee gets back?
Why don’t we go and hang around on David Miliband’s blog and cause trouble, like pretend we know he’s really a Lib Dem mole.
E-K is busy reading about showers somewhere else and being a bear…
Newmania is there too, I think. By the time Ellee gets back their minds will be addled…
Down with homework !
Good luck.
Bon courage Ellee. I’m back blogging after an intensive work break…
I can’t say I’m entirely surprised that the CRE wouldn’t help, as they might be accused of helping people who want to ‘game’ the results rather than demonstrate actual improvements.
To avoid falling into the trap of this criticism being aimed at you, I would suggest that you need to show that the staff training has pervaded all layers of the organisation, and that diversity awareness is built into ‘customer service’ processes.
Otherwise you could be accused of merely trying to demonstrate that there is an absence of prejudice through hitting of ‘target metrics’.
Which might be fine this year, but if the whole concept hasn’t been embedded throughout the organisation, you might be back to square one with the problem in subsequent years.
You might need to cover off with ‘satisfaction surveys’ for all the residents as well [thus including minorities], to judge their perception of how they are dealt with.
I pretended tobe a jounalist and got someone into cocurt on a case the Police were busy doing nothing on.
It definitely works if you do it with conviction and some research
Bel’s probably got it right about being a journalist. Might have worked.
Have fun.
Have a look at Dungannon Rural District Council in Stormont times. A classic example, for your requirements.
Look forward to your return to supplying the rest of us with conversational matrter.
Arrive Derche!!
All the best with your project!
Zoe, I do sympathise, it’s difficult to focus on a huge project with so many distractions or other important demands on your time. I am really enjoying the assignment now I am focusing on it more single-mindedly, it makes an immense difference. Do put my name down for a tenner, btw. And good luck with the marathon.
David, I would certainly recommend the course, it is tough, but I’ve learnt a lot about business which I use now in my everyday thinking, such as organisational cultures.
Hi Ellee
I’m also trying to get stuck into my project at the moment, I seem to have been making very slow progress so far. Am also finding it difficult to balance study with my marathon training – doing both at once is proving difficult (and time consuming) and I don’t seem to have much of a social life left!
Zoe
Hi Elle,
would the behaviour of Cottenham residents towards Travellers (on their backyard) and how South Cambs is hoping to deal with (resolve) the issue – class as a sample for
“a fictitious local authority which has been accused of racism in its housing department and wants to demonstrate that this is no longer the case.”
All the best – Q.
Ellee, I want to take the time to thank you for your blog. I can only compare what is happening there to here, and things seem verysimilar. I also note this On Dr Michelle Tempest blog re doctors…
I also wnat to say just how sorry I am for my typo’s and spelling!
(
HAve a great break!
Simon
Good luck with your project Ellee.
I’ve been considering beginning the road towards chartered status for a discipline. How much of a benefit has it been to you?
Jill, Thank you so much for the link, though my project does not include travellers, I was interested to read it.
Simon, You are way ahead of me, but then you have good cause, and you don’t want to take Grunig on honeymoon, do you?
Bel, I was very surprised too by the CRE response. I will tell you that when I was writing a paper on the rise of UKIP during the last Euro election, I emailed Nigel Farage wearing only my student’s hat and he phoned me twice to answer my questions, which was very generous of him. The following week I was in Brussels having a coffee in the EP lobby when Nigel walked by and I called out to him and told him we had been speaking on the phone the week before. So he does have his good points and I shall always be grateful to him because my empirical qualitative research earned me a distinction.
Good wishes to you with your project, Ellee.
We’ll all miss you, Ellee, but buon lavoro!
The CRE don’t help students this way? I too am surprised.
Not to be cynical, but who knows, if you had rung up pretending to be a journalist, they would probably have fallen over themselves to provide the information.
Did I just say ‘pretending’? Scratch that – blogging is, after all, journalism. After a fashion.
Hi Ellee
I’m trying to get my project out of the way too by the end of the week….. but mainly because I’m getting married on Saturday!
http://www.rewm.org/RED15.pdf Would this be of any help to you. It’s about how race equality councils can help.
Hope it goes OK.
Jill
All the best with your project, Ellee. Knock ‘em dead!
Good luck with the project, Ellee.
Hopefully, you’ll blog about it once it’s done.
I wish you every luck with your studies – you deserve a distinction. Go for it! Michelle
Oh dear what are we to do ? I have followed up your Janice thing she seems ok really considering.
Good luck Ellee, it sounds hell of a project!