My actual office job

Some of you may not know I'm the Development Officer for the Association of British Climbing Walls - what I refer to as my office job. Most (definitely no longer all) walls in the country are run by climbers - so its a pretty relaxed affair - and most of my meetings take place in walls & quite often involve a climb - or at least the telling of climbing tales.
Recently however our interactions with national bodies such as the CWA. BMC and most significantly Sport England have started to change the role of the ABC within the sport - and also the perception of it by others - and indeed our own membership. - In short we're growing up, filling out & becoming a new, shinier and more respected organisation, one with an important part to play in the development of our sport. Whilst the management committee have been able to deal with this to a point - we've also had to bring along a membership that haven't always been able to see the 'larger' picture - the macro dynamics of our change haven't always been communicated - and the repercussional benefits not highlighted or even acknowledged.

To this end this year the Training Committee & I have implemented a series of seminars - cumulating in a National Conference at Plas y Brenin (the national mountain centre for England & Wales, owned & funded by Sport England) - a chance for the membership to see what we've been doing in their name, to get some fairly highly subsidised benefits (child protection courses, equipment inspection courses, after dinner talks from World Champions etc etc) and for us to showcase & more importantly explain, our blossoming role on the national and international stage. In short its been a lot of work - but sat at breakfast this morning - the sun is shining, the room is buzzing - there's a palpable air of excitement - I think we're going to pull this off. Coffee in hand - I've taken a wander down to the lake - time for a quick gather of thoughts, a practise of my speech & a last moment of calm - but also - however exciting this all is - time to stop, pause & enjoy the view.