It’s been nearly a week since we first brought Dulcie home and such a lot has happened!

Dulcie is a bundle of utter delight. Drew and I both love her completely. That’s the first development – a really big emotional attachment created very quickly.

It’s amazing to see how quickly she goes from “terrified” to “fine”. The first couple of days, we couldn’t get a collar anywhere near her. Now, it goes on with no problems. Soon we’ll try putting the harness on her – this is much kinder to her neck but as neither one of us has a clue how to put it on Dulcie we’ve held off until she completely trusts us to touch her. There may be some fumbling.

Dulcie has mastered going upstairs – she just followed Drew up one day. Yesterday, when I was pottering around the house she followed me up every time. She’s so comic going upstairs. What’s even more funny is that downstairs is a concept that still hasn’t occurred to her. Stairs are for going up only – she needs to be carried back down. Today I spent some time trying to coax her down the stairs with treats, one step at a time. More work to do there!

We have to work at toilet training and recall. All the world’s a stage, and all the house is a toilet! We’re following guidance from books – we’ve blocked off the gap behind a chair where she was going, and we’re making sure she goes out more often. We’re also introducing as much routine as we can.

Dulcie’s great at coming when she’s called (she gets a treat every time she comes) so long as there isn’t anything more interesting competing for her attention – like a clump of grass

We’ve been out in the park twice – yesterday Dulcie would only walk a few paces into the park on her lead, today she was confident as you like – on lead, and safely off lead. We kept her near us when she was off the lead by playing with noisy toys the whole time.

Oh yes, toys! We’ve learned you have to constantly change them as she gets bored quickly. Like fathers, like little furry daughter…

Dulcie has been to one vet, but we didn’t like them. It was very very hard sell on certain products. The local vicar has recommended a different vet who he used for his dogs for years – so we’re registering her there instead. It’s not as local but the personal recommendation really counts.

Time to go… It’s 11pm and that means its time for one of us to go out into the garden and say “poo Dulcie? Dulcie poo? Yes Dulcie, poo!”

She is here. “She” is Dulcie, and Dulcie is an 11 week old Miniature Schnauzer.

Finding her was a challenge in itself – having scoured the Internet to choose a breed, we eventually settled on the Miniature Schnauzer after using several breed quizzes, and browsing hundreds of puppy photos. Such a chore. Once the breed was selected, we emailed probably forty breeders from the Kennel Club Assured Breeder Search Engine before finding somewhere that sounded right.

There were a few key criteria – we were looking for a puppy to come home around May time, we wanted a salt and pepper coloured Miniature Schnauzer, and ideally we wanted a girl. Our search was over when Helen Pike wrote back to say that she had puppies ready to go in April, and there was just one girl left. One quick trip to an idyllic cottage home in Gloucestershire, and we had found our girl.

Dulcie wasn’t old enough to leave her mum when we saw her in March, so she moved in over this last weekend. She was as good as gold in the car – sitting first on my lap, then Drew’s, as we took it in turns to drive back with excitement and adrenalin coursing through our veins. At this point I think it’s fair to say excitement and pure terror reigned in roughly equal proportion. Despite the fact I grew up with dogs, almost everything feels unknown.

When we got through the door she clung to Drew, and wouldn’t let go. After a few treats she started to explore. Dulcie seemed to know instinctively what her bed was. She knew which treats she liked and which she didn’t – the subtle way of communicating the “don’t likes” being Dulcie just staring at the proffered treat with a look of mild bewilderment.

As evening drew in, we had our first new-puppy-owner panic. She was breathing SO QUICKLY while asleep – 120 breaths per minute. Naturally, quick Google searches convinced us our new arrival was critically ill. Telephone calls and emails to the breeder, to vets and to relatives followed, and much undignified waking of the pup to check it was still alive. We discovered that we, two known hypochondriacs, had a new object onto which to project our fears. The poor wee thing. Eventually she was popped in her cage and got a good night’s sleep.

We had been warned that the dog would cry on its first night alone, in the cage. We got lucky. The cage was right next to the bed, the dog was pooped, and there was not so much as a whimper.

Speaking of pooped, as recommended by the truly invaluable Dog’s Trust You and Your Puppy app, we set an alarm for 3am to go out with her into the garden so she could toilet. This she willingly did, and there was no mess in the house overnight at all.

We both have a couple of days off with her now, and she is going to the vet for the first time tomorrow. In the absence of nearby friends with pets who could recommend a good vet, we have chosen an RCVS Accredited Practice and registered her there.

So puppy and her two daddies have all survived Dulcie’s first night home. Phew. This child rearing business is harder than it looks.

The Liberal Democrat leadership have lost their senses. They can’t see or hear supporters who have turned their backs on the party.  They can’t smell the putrid stench of inevitable electoral punishment in 2015, and they’re certainly out of touch with public perception. Should a self-preservation instinct kick in any time soon, there’s only one thing for it – it’s time to leave the coalition.

I split my vote across a broadly progressive ticket on Thursday – Siobahn Benita first, Ken Livingstone second, Green in the constituency and Liberal Democrats London-wide.  I’ve not had much luck backing winners in elections, but this time round my vote felt particularly futile. I can see why many just don’t bother.

Shoved in a constituency vote for the greens. What the hell. It's as good as spoiling the ballot paper.

May 3, 2012 4:53 pm via Twitter for iPhoneReplyRetweetFavorite

@rfenwick

Robin Fenwick

Nick Clegg and his acolytes have disastrously shifted public perception of the Lib Dems from being a distinctive party of the centre-left, to an identikit party of the centre right. In making this shift many socially progressive voters felt deserted, and conservatives are deeply suspicious of the over-eager new kid on their patch. It’s hopeless terrain for Clegg.

The party is in danger of becoming a toxic brand. The local elections again demonstrated that Nick Clegg’s calamitous dance with the right is dragging down the fortunes of all associated with the title “Liberal Democrats”.  There are some who would vote for Lib Dem campaigners – stalwarts of their local communities – if they stood as independents. wilde progressive voters will not vote for candidates associated with a party which is daily sacrificing its principles in order to cling to power. As independents are not yet a credible political force, most simply don’t vote.

Though I (and many thousands of others) have left the Liberal Democrats, I swallowed some pride on Thursday and voted Lib Dem on the London-wide ballot. This ballot paper is intended to express party support, but I used it to elect an individual – Caroline Pidgeon. Caroline has been a tireless and effective campaigner over the last four years, and was top of the Lib Dem list. The assembly will be stronger for her presence. The vast majority of voters simply saw the Lib Dem logo, and moved on. That’s why the Lib Dems now have just two London assembly members – on level pegging with the Greens.

We are told the Liberal Democrats stay in government for fear that they will be obliterated if they walk away. Even Nick Clegg must now have noticed that they are being massacred for staying.  The public are not stupid.  Everyone can see the Lib Dems aren’t advancing their agenda in government. Time after time Liberal Democrats have held their noses and voted for measures with which they do not agree. Brilliant campaigners like Norman Baker and Lynne Featherstone have been gagged by stifling protocols of government communication.

The Liberal Democrats have little to show for their loyalty to the Tories, and no clear plan to wrest control of the government agenda now that their big potential prizes have slipped away.

The party should take the genuinely brave decision to say “this isn’t working for us, this isn’t why people voted for us, and it’s time for us to walk away from this coalition.”

They could maintain the national financial interest from a position of supply and confidence. With this, much stronger, hand they could have a great deal more to show  their voters in 2015.

There is always a danger of clinging to the past of course, but I’m convinced there is still space for a credible minor party to break the Lab-Con pendulum swing of politics. Just look at what the SNP have achieved in Scotland. Hell, if the SNP dropped independence and fielded candidates across the UK, I’d probably vote for them in the absence of an alternative. That isn’t going to happen.

Hell will freeze over before I vote for an unreformed Labour or Conservative party in a General Election. There are thousands just like me. If the Lib Dem leadership would only admit a terrible mistake, and become an independent party once more, I’d come back. So would many more.

2011 was quite a year for travel, as my online travel diary shows! I think I’d like a rather more settled 2012. Happy new year to you and yours, if you’re celebrating it at this time of year.

We hold a huge, global, annual competition each year at CIMA called the Global Business Challenge. There are several rounds of the competition, culminating in country finals, and then the global final.

This year’s global final is in Chengdu, China. Our team on the ground have been providing a constant stream of social media updates, which my team and I have been gathering, editing, and adding to over the weekend in a Cover it Live embedded on our website and on Facebook.

Back here in Britain, I realised that we were in danger of swamping new readers with a torrent of updates, and that’s where Storify is brilliant. In less than an hour I was able to drag and drop video, tweets, and Facebook updates in to an easy to read edited highlights telling the story of the event. I *heart* Storify.

I’ve written a piece commenting on university marketing operations, which you can find over at Dale and Company.

“Every time someone is interviewed on the news about universities, it’s always that guy from Buckingham or Bedford or wherever” – so said a consultant to me during my time as Director of Communications at the University of Westminster.

Though she didn’t know it she was referring to Professor Les Ebdon, Vice Chancellor of the University of Bedfordshire. Professor Ebdon is a capable media performer, and an asset to the sector. But why is he alone so prominent?

First, he is chairman of the Million+ mission group of ‘new’, widening participation Universities. Second, he’s within an hour’s taxi of most news studios. Third, he delivers the goods – he has a clear message from his mission group, and sells it well.

Individual universities are often happy to trumpet their own academic or civic achievements, while leaving the messy debate about higher education itself to the missions groups. But there’s a problem. Virtually no-one out here in the real world has heard of the Russell Group. Fewer still Million+ or the 1994 group. Hamstrung in penetrating the consciousness of a frenetic public by their obscure names, the University Alliance at least does what it says on the tin. But with their intrinsically sedate pace and safe messaging, are the mission groups safe guardians of the HE message?

I would argue that they are not. Right now, thanks to the new fees settlement, the public are confused. They don’t know what a university education stands for any more. They’re unsure as to the benefits. In setting fees at or close to the new cap, and failing to collectively explain why, they even appear greedy. High fees intrinsically set high expectations – star lecturers, the latest facilities, enough contact time for extensive teaching, and the a decline in supported self learning. If a student commits to repay £27k for a three year degree, and fails to leave with a first, they will feel – perhaps not always unjustly – that for that sum of money, the lecturers must bear at least some of the responsibility of failure.

It’s time for universities to be clear. To be honest about the service they offer, the experience you can have, and your financial return on investment as a student. It’s time for universities to stand up and champion the virtue of developing yourself as a critical thinker. When it comes to communications, that needs two things – collective action, and academic personalities.

Collective action is about universities speaking boldly, with one voice. I would be excited to see as many universities as possible break mission group and competitive boundaries, to prepare a new creed. A clear, unambiguous statement as to what Higher Education is FOR. The mission groups could make themselves useful by paying for that creed to be run as a full page advert in every national newspaper.

Academic personalities are about individual, media friendly, senior academics (particularly Vice-Chancellors) stepping out from behind the mission groups and building up a personal profile. There are V-Cs in British Higher Education which the media would lap up – combative, entertaining, charming, engaging. They may feel don’t have a mandate to speak on the future of Higher Education. They’re wrong.

So let’s have a National Decleration, and let a thousand (V-C penned) Op Eds bloom. Higher Education is kicked and down, who will help to put it back on its feet again?

Croydon Minster are a lovely community, and it’s always fun to work with those who are passionate about the organisation they belong to and support, so I was pleased to launch croydonminster.org with their support earlier this month.

Video

I particularly enjoyed filming the two-hour long Minster Making service, though condensing it down to a 15 minute highlights video was tricky! Here’s that video:

Technical gubbins

The site runs on a Drupal 7 core, and is a departure from the Parish Church’s site, which was more static. I’ve tried to take across the concise copy and really good navigation from the old site in to the new, while adding new features like online ticket sales, fundraising, and an integrated CRM (CiviCRM).

In its first two weeks the site raised £106 in event ticket sales, which is great for a small site, and has offset the hosting charges (£19 per month VPS from myhosting.com). For the first time the Minster has a Twitter feed, YouTube channel and Audioboo channel, and their established Facebook page is being used more actively. We’re also using Posterous to make things like uploading the weekly newsletter as easy as sending an email.

Moving to Drupal 7 has not been without some pain – important CiviCRM modules like GiftAid and the Theme switching module aren’t yet Drupal 7 compatible. But it’s good to be very future proof at the earliest stage.

Next steps

The Minster community have been involved in supplying ideas and content, and the next step is to hand it back to the community to own it and run it themselves.

All in all it’s been a great project to work on, and there’s one last challenge to overcome – because the VPS is based in the US, it’s natural SEO for UK searchers isn’t strong. So it’s no coincidence you find me blogging about Croydon Minster, yes, that’s Croydon Minster, at croydonminster.org.

It was great to be asked to make a return visit to the Association for Cultural Enterprises Annual Convention earlier this year. ACE is the UK’s largest network of heritage commerce professionals – the people who make money for the museums, galleries and other institutions which we enjoy like churches and even parliament.

ACE asked me to speak to the session title “social media hysteria” – now a few months have passed I can share my presentation from the day, and it’s really pleasing to see my big prediction – search is changing and becoming social – really starting to come true in the last few months.

As I’ve mentioned in earlier blog posts, a CD and DVD is about to released by a group of singers called I Fagiolini - the little beans. It contains, among other things, two pieces of music for a phenomenal forty separate voices* (hence my attempt to get the #phenomenal40 hashtag off the ground – help!). One is called Spem in Alium (a well known piece to music boffs and people who generally don’t see enough sunlight), and the other is called the Missa Ecco sì beato giorno / ecce beatam lucem.

This is such a crazy, big, groundbreaking recording, I’ve gone out and bought a surround sound DVD system just to hear it at its best.

Composed around 450 years ago, there is a real connection through this music to an age long past, but which fascinates us still – the age of Tudor England, and our intoxication then and now with the elevated lives of royals and high society.

If you’ve seen the first of these two videos, you’ll know that last weekend I was lucky enough to grab a couple of hours with the man who has made this recording happen – Robert Hollingworth. In this video there’s a tantalising extract of the recording, you get a sense of what it is like to stand in the middle of these ethereal voices – choral and instrumental – and how it feels to be totally enveloped by Striggio’s mighty, long lost Mass.

If, like me, you learned a new word while watching the video. You’ll find the definition of “bifurcated” here. A day without learning, ey?

Because this recording is unlike anything so many people will have heard before, I really want to encourage you to share this video and blog post, to get news of the recording out there. If you’re excited by this recording I’d love you to share this blog post, Facebook ‘like’ it (up there at the top!) and if you tweet it, it’d be great if you could use the hashtag #phenomenal40.

Thanks!

• MUCH MORE about the recording available on the official site at www.ifagiolini.com/striggio

More from me:

• Video: Introducing the recording
• Buying a surround sound system off eBay, just for this.
• A ten minute radio recording on the history of the piece and the recording

* It gets even better – at one point the ‘new’ Striggio piece goes up to sixty separate voice lines. Incredible.