Through the Phases

Preparation

Not a great deal to report back on from work this week.  The first two days were taken up helping out another project that required some input.  I have a presentation coming up in a week or so on the use of YouTube which I’ll post on this blog so it might be worth keeping an eye out for that.  I’ll be talking about basic video capture, editing and publishing using a Flip Camera and YouTube.  It’s on Flip Cameras because that’s what we have available, yes I know the Kodak Zi8 has an external mic jack (sigh).  Anyway, as my friend in the army would say “Prior planning and preparation prevents piss poor performance” (the 7 P’s).  I couldn’t agree more.

Event Organisation

The rest of my week was taken up by organising an event.  For anyone that hasn’t come across it yet, Eventbrite is an excellent online tool for allowing people to register on your event.  A colleague of mine will be writing a post on it’s use soon which I’ll point to but for now some of my favourite functions include:

• You can add all the relevant event details for promoting the event e.g. map, times, background etc.
• It allows you to set up different ticket types e.g. organiser, speaker, delegate etc.
• It allows you to customise the completion page and confirmation email automatically sending it upon completion of the registration form.  It also sends you a copy just for info.
• It allow you to embed a widget into your own webpages/blog etc.
• You can download an iPhone app for the day to check delegates in.

Fathers Day

We invited my parents over for a fathers day meal on Saturday night and I think it’s my favourite meal that we’ve ever cooked.  We started off quite simple with grilled goat’s cheese on a nice baguette accompanied by some rocket and caramelised onion.  I was actually surprised how easy caramelised onion was was to make.  We then had chicken cacciatore for a main with a chocolate pate for desert, followed by cheese and red wine.  We always have slices of baguette available to dip in olive oil and balsamic vinegar which I’d recommend anyone try!  In terms of drinks we started with our favourite mojito followed by some champagne from a previous birthday or something.  For anyone interested, we use the following recipe for mojito’s.

Elderflower Champagne

My wife and I set out the other night picking some elderflower heads to try and make some of our own homemade elderflower champagne.  If it works I’ll post the recipe.  We’ll find out in two weeks!

Visiting Peacocks

I also fed some peacocks this week which isn’t all that usual…

Resource Writing

I’ve been working closely with some colleagues on a project due for completion later this year.  We’re determined to get the resource finished on time and so decided to block 3 days out of our calendar this week.  It was extremely productive concentrating solely on the resource and time well spent.  We managed to review all the material we have, create a skeleton structure and start highlighting what might fit where.  we also managed to fully organise our showcase event.  Watch this space – Collaborating Across Boundaries.

Presenting & Facilitating(ish)

I was in attendance at a recent event where I was presenting on work my more formal team are responsible for – Business and Community Engagement.  It was a fantastic day and I felt my presentation went well.  I also took part in various group activities in which I played a facilitation role.  I prepared quite well in that I had thought through some questions and answers to provoke conversation although I rarely had to call upon them.

[slideshare id=4489262&doc=jiscadvancerscsandbce-100613150606-phpapp01]

Google Analytics

I’m involved with a small working group looking at future technologies and we were lucky enough to have some input from an expert in Google Analytics give us an in-depth tour of what’s possible.  I’ll try to write this up in a later blog post

Sport Galore

I’ve been watching loads of football and loving it!  the world cup absolutely rocks and even though England could only manage a draw I remain hopeful.  I was really impressed by Ghana and thought Germany were fantastic.   It was also a great weekend for us Brits in F1.  Hamilton and Button were awesome!

Homemade Fat Balls

Ver and I made some homemade fat balls this weekend.  Hope the birdies like them!  We used a recipe from the BBC.

Homemade Mint Sauce

We also made our own homemade mint sauce which you can see the recipe for here: Mint Sauce Recipe

After growing our own mint I decided to make some fresh mint sauce today with a recipe my dad’s used from as far back as I can remember.  It was bloody lovely so I thought I’d share it with you.  The recipe below would be enough for a large family and more so you might want to halve the portions.

Fresh Mint Sauce Recipe

• A good handfull of mint – approx. 5 large sprigs
• A good handfull of looseleaf lettuce – approx. 7 large leaves
• Radish x 5
• Spring Onion x 3
• Cucumber, about 3 inches
• Tomatoes x 2 (large)
• Sugar, half a cup
• Malt vinegar, half a cup

Steps for Making Mint Sauce

1. Finely chop all of the ingredients and put them into a mixing bowl.  Just to note you only need the mint leaves.
2. Pour the sugar on top and then add the vinegar.
3. Stir everything until the sugar is dissolved.
4. Taste the mixture and add more sugar to suite your taste.  I actually prefer 3/4 of a cup.

You may want to add/reduce quantities of certain ingredients depending on what you like best but this really is a great sauce!