Storm on the beach

Today I saw some geography in action. Coastal erosion in fact. I am in Malaga for a few days. Yesterday there was an almighty storm. The gale force wind was parallel to the coast and the waves were crashing on the shore at an angle.

Today all is quiet But the Malaga beach has been transformed. One end is almost devoid of sand. The other end is full of sand, and stones and debris and driftwood etc. The local council lorries are busy cleaning up the far end and transporting sand back to the other end. No doubt tomorrow the beach will be as before. But this is a graphic example of the effects of longshore drift.

Parliamo Geo

I have been with the AGI now for over three years. I arrived as the Finance Officer from the world of the arts with no knowledge of GIS.

As the recent debate about the content of this year´s conference has shown, there is an ongoing debate within the GI world on many subjects and particularly about the march of technological progress and its effects. I wish I understood more about the issues, but somehow I don´t always grasp the nuances of the debates.

I don´t think I am stupid. So why are the concepts so tricky for me? I have tried my best, as shown by the existence of this blog. But now I am beginning to think that the problem is not the concepts themselves, but the language used by geographers to explain the concepts. This language is evolving as a tool for geographer to speak to geographer. But as geographers learn that language and use that language, it creates an increasing barrier between the geographers and the layman. And an idea only takes shape once language is used to communicate that idea.

So ironically, just as the technology is making GIS more accessible to the public, the language is making GIS increasingly less accessible. It is almost as if geographers are uncomfortable with widening access to their ideas beyond a perceived audience.

I have always assumed that the concepts are too difficult for me to grasp, and rather accepted that position. But what if the concepts are easy and it is only the language which is difficult?
That doesn´t leave me in any better a position, but it does prevent me from doubting my own intelligence.

At the recent AGI Conference, I was room monitor on a number of occasions. And during some of these presentations, I felt that I was listening to a foreign language. Yet at other times a complicated concept became obvious because of the skills of the presenter.

The balance between being patronising and being elitist is a fine one. When I produce my finance reports, I realise that they must be accurate and comprehensive, yet understandable to a range of readers. And if occasionally I repeat things or become too simplistic, well to be honest that is fine if at the same time this makes issues understandable to all.

So rather than giving up on GI concepts, I shall now listen to presentations or read reports with a more questioning attitude on the language used. And maybe, just maybe, I shall reach enlightenment, if not yet, perhaps, nirvana.

AGI GeoCommunity´08 - part 2

Some of the delegates who attended the conference have written blogs. Not all were entirely complimentary, though the criticism was about content and not organisation.

Since I am the finance guy at the AGI and not a geographer, I cannot really comment on the overall content or direction of the conference. Except perhaps to say that with nearly 600 delegates, the content will not reflect everyone´s views on every occasion. And some of the quality of presentation was, in my view, variable. But if the sessions have stimulated debate, then surely that is a good thing.

Yes the final session was a bit flat, and we will have to look at that for next year. How to conclude a conference on a high note is a difficult issue for us - especially as many delegates are keen to catch trains or to get home before dark. Keeping a buzz right up to the last minute is not easy.

From a personal viewpoint, I thought the conference went well. Being the accountant, I had to come out of my confort zone. I had to run the Icebreaker evening, attend a number of sessions, deliver the finance report and generally keep a profile that is a bit higher than I am used to. I was pleased at how well I acheived that. I thought the AGI team and volunteers were exceptional. All took their responsibilities very seriously and gelled very well. We, the AGI Team, get paid for what we do. The volunteers are exactly that - unpaid volunteers. My admiration for them knows no bounds. The conference would not happen without them. They were great.

We will of course have a debrief. Next year we will strive to make the conference bigger and better. But to bring 600 delegates to Stratford, manage all of their arrangements, produce a conference of a high standard, and have many of them intending to return next year, is a considerable achievement.

I am happy with that as a reflection on the past three days.

AGI GeoCommunity´08

The conference is over. I have returned from Stratford upon Avon after the 2008 AGI Conference. I am exhausted, but very pleased with the way it went. A lot of people did a lot of work to make sure it went well.

The AGI Conference is always a bit strange for me, especially since my training is not in geography. It is a mixture of hard work and alcohol and not much sleep. And most of the work is different to what I am used to back in the office.

The work started on Tuesday when the team had to stuff a huge number of inserts into 600 delegate bags. My back hurt. Then in the evening came the pre-conference Icebreaker event. It´s the first time we have had one of these, and, scarily, I found myself volunteering to run it. I decided to run a dinner, a quiz and a theatrical event - Buffet, Brains and Bard.

So I found myself on stage leading a ´Very Spatial Quiz´. It was not long into this that I realised that perhaps I´d made the questions too difficult, but there was nothing I could do now. So on I went. I got particularly nervous over question 20 where I had to sing the question. But anyway I got through it and it didn´t go too badly.Then came the ´Earl of Oxford´s Men´ who did two performances from Shakespeare, one from Henry V and one from Midsummer Night´s Dream. The standard of acting was mixed but overall it was fine and delegates enjoyed both pieces. Finally I gave the quiz answers and announced the winners. The winning team got 40 points out of a possible 60 which I guess shows how tough the quiz was.

Over the next two days I was heartened by the number of delegates who came up to me to tell me how much they´d enjoyed the evening. Next day, feeling a bit groggy from the glasses of wine I´d had the previous night, I was room monitor in the Blenheim Room. No real difficulty there - just handing the microphone round during question sessions. At the AGI AGM, I then had to deliver the Finance report. The news was good, and although I do get nervous when delivering prepared reports, it went okay. AGI is in an improving financial position thanks to collective effort and a high degree of budgetary responsibility from team and Council.

That evening I dressed up in a very spiky wig for the party which had an eighties theme. It was fun. Crucially, I did not drink too much and went to bed shortly after midnight. Next day I felt okay and resumed my room monitoring duties and, despite briefly dozing off on a couple of occasions, got though them without incident.

And suddenly the conference was over. Tomorrow I will reflect a bit more about the conference. For today, I am just tapping into the positive remarks from delegates. I take my share of a collective pride in a job well done.

Heading for Stratford upon Avon

I realise that there has been a huge gap in posts to this blog recently. But work at AGI has been continuing and the largest event of the year, our annual conference, takes place next week in Stratford upon Avon.

We´ve all worked hard on it, the programme is varied and of high quality, we have nearly 600 delegates booked-up. I have my outfit for the party! I am looking forward to the whole event.