Same task, different times

The picture is of a reflector, set up (with lots more gear) to allow me to record my first speech for an SNP Conference as SNP President.

The conference starts on Friday and as it is an on line one again the set piece speeches are being prepared in advance , with the motions and debates being live.

I was suddenly struck as I prepared to record by the fact that twenty five  years ago, when I was SNP Chief Executive,  I used to help the then President Winnie Ewing to get her speech written by allocating a member of our HQ staff to sit at a word processor in our conference office  and essentially take dictation from her. 

She would have a pile of press cuttings and notes  in a bag which, over a couple of days, would become her contribution.

Yet although the task is the same  there is  a very different technology approach  and audience now.  

I started to draft on Sunday, shared the text by email  with a number of people on Monday and Tuesday, who gave valuable feedback and had it away to the tv crew by Tuesday evening so that it could be put on the autocue for today.

Then I rehearsed  it this morning (I always do that with a set piece speech) , with Cathleen listening to the final run through (and giving it the seal of approval I am relieved to say !)

This afternoon there were  two takes in front of the camera  - the whole thing delivered twice just to be on the safe side  -  which with  setting  up and striking the equipment meant that it was all over in an hour and a half though it was so hot doing it (today was the hottest September day in Scotland for over a century) that I was melting by the end.  

It will be played to delegates and on the SNP video channels on Friday at 3.45 , and then later that afternoon I will do a question and answer session with party members.