Roasties and Trifle
Listed on March 7, 2014 in Blogs!
In the 1970s I seem to remember that meetings between government and trades unions were characterised as ‘beer and sandwich’ events. They were workmanlike – nothing fancy. How times have changed. I doubt if trades unions even get invited to Downing Street these days. On Tuesday we hosted a Service Design Workshop – organised by New Leaf – which attracted delegates from around the country. At the start of the day, New Leaf Director, Becky Wright, announced she was looking forward to the famed roast potatoes at lunchtime… I quietly prayed they would be on. Then our key speaker – Arne van Oosterom – all the way from Amsterdam – announced that he hoped the day would go well but he feared that it would be remembered just for the roast potatoes. The pressure mounted and I offered up another prayer for ensuring roast potatoes were on the menu. Now I am not a religious man by nature so I had little confidence that my prayers would have any effect whatsoever. I need not have worried since not only were there roast potatoes aplenty but also trifle too. The day and the lunch was a great success. It was innovative, creative and fun. The food utterly delicious. The programme was stimulating and deeply relevant to our changing times. And, yes, it will be remembered for the roast potatoes (and the trifle) but also for the stimulating company and intellectual stretch. Congratulations to all concerned.
