Spaced Out :: 04 2007

I’ve just finished a two-day training course on public speaking with SkillStudio. Some might think a lecturer going on a course in speaking is a strange thing to do!! However, whilst I don’t have a problem in standing up in front of 100 or so people and warbling away, I do feel there is always room for improvement. Hence the course.

And finding a course on public speaking wasn’t as easy as I at first thought. After a few dead ends and much trawling of the internet, I booked myself on the Advanced Presentation Skills workshop which took place in a single training room with four other participants (normally, I gather, there are 8 in total). Whilst I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, it covered the sort of ground, retrospectively, that I would have imagined. This included a videoed presentation at the beginning (and feedback), relaxation, warming up (neck and voice), intonation and tone, and a variety of exercises to practise this. There was also plenty of ground covered in structuring a presentation, writing endings and intros, “hooks” or “spices” to really interest the audience, movement, pauses, removing “umms” and “errs”. And lots of practise between it all. Day two, in particular, involved practising many parts of the presentation, lots of feedback and a final videoed presentation. Our trainer, Alison, was relaxed and very familiar with the whole topic. Whilst its not the sort of place that you give your CV at, she has done, training, acting, media relations, lobbying, script writing etc etc. And I have no qualms about her effectiveness and can only sing her praises when it comes to really rooting out ways of improving body movement, voice, structure, phrasing etc etc. She was really on the button.

So a really valuable two days that I can heartily recommend (as long as you can swallow the price). And to finish….. toned down evangelical preacher.

Clearly the GRADE report on whether geodata should come under copyright or database right (in Europe) is a topical issue, with this article recently published.

I recently came across the somewhat dated (well 2006) Starbucks advertising, Geography is a flavour (why the Americans can spell flavour correctly, but not colour is beyond me). Its interesting that the ad campaign focuses on the “where” and “why” of geographical thinking for understanding coffee tastes. It also moves away from the more recent trend in categorising purely by taste, as per many modern wines (e.g. Sauvignon Blanc).

However I think the last word has to go to the YouthBlog (you need to scroll down for the entry) which read the tag line slightly differently. And Ken, the last line was almost written just for you!!!

I’ve just returned from a weeks field course to Swansea with the first year geography students. Yet again, the weather was fantastic and offered some memorable days at Oxwich Bay. This year we again did some footpath surveying, but this time targeted some areas that Carmarthenshire County Council were interested in. The county has ~2,500 km of rights of way (>90% footpaths) of which around 50% are open (which means they know little about the remainder). Most of these are in the more inhabited south of the county. We were therefore very grateful to Gary Carlsen, the Senior Rights of Way Officer, for his support. He provided copies of the definitive maps the county uses and suggested some routes to survey in and around Llandovery. What’s interesting about this area is that there are increasing amounts of tourism to the region (and its now the number one industry in Carmarthenshire) in the form of walkers, riders and 4×4. Yet it remains heavily reliant upon agriculture with some truly remote valleys.

On the day we had a real mix of results. The area I walked in (around Myddfai) is just inside the Brecon Beacons National Park and consequently, whilst in Carmarthenshire, is managed by the National Park. The paths were well signposted and maintained. Of interest was the construction of the LNG pipeline. In this area they were removing topsoil and placing it in “buns” at the side ready for replacement after the pipeline has been laid (thanks Colin!). As a result the footpaths were closed (and this was very well signed) which meant a walk back to the van by road (see the KML if you are really interested!). Of the student groups, one traversed the pipeline just outside the National Park and whilst the closure was well signed, many of the paths weren’t. Another, close to Llandovery, found a path re-routed, but generally in good condition. The last two groups had real problems. One found non-existant paths, overgrown and unsigned. The other was met with unhappy farmers, dogs, hedgerows blocking routes, a one-eyed farmer (seriously!) and a bungalow across the route. Upon talking to some of the landowners, anecdotal evidence would suggest that these routes were used for postal delivery on foot and have seen little or no use for about 20 years.

Clearly then there is much work for the council. The “definitive” maps are 40 years old and many rights of way remain to be established. And this has to be achieved by 2026 (Countryside and Rights of Way Act, 2000). In fact it has been estimated that it will require ~£26M to bring all paths in Wales in to operation and ~£8M per year to maintain. If this is amortized over 5 years, it equates to £400 per km. A huge undertaking, but with tourism the top industry something that would appear worthwhile.

I think the photo says it all….