Retrospective of November 2008
On the work front, at the start of the month I completed two case study interviews for the CRR project, I visited: Carrington Corporate Wear (CCW) who dye, print and finish large quantities of workwear fabric; also Turner Virr & Co Ltd who specialise in formal military dress, also make more functional/high spec uniforms for the MOD, police forces and fire brigades. Work for Skillfast, I visited Expert Solutions with Verity-Gay Hardy, they are a training provider with roots in a very established dye stuff provider.
Probably the highlight of my year was my visit to Hong Kong for the Textile Institute conference. I flew out on 13/11/08, I went with Fin Air, via Helsinki, which I found effortless, and would highly recommend if budgets are an issue. When I arrived I met my fab friend Dr Penelope Watkins there, we had arranged to stay together in a hotel in Kawloon to keep costs to a minimum. The weather was pretty warm for the first few days, but indoors it tends to be chilly with the air-con. We had a few days in and around HK before the conference, as Penelope had been the previous year getting around was much easier than if we had been a couple of novices. Of course we went on walks around Victoria Harbour, across on the Star Ferry, up to ‘the Peak’ on the Tram, also to HK Park and the Tea Museum, and the tram along to Victoria Park. The night before the conference (on recommendation from a friend) we went to the Peninsula Hotel, bypassing the famous afternoon tea, instead going to Filipe Bar, on the 28th floor, to see the light show as the sun went down, it was amazing, but extortionate! Hmmm, and there was the shops! And there were shops, everywhere!
The conference had many speakers, and was run in parallel sessions, slightly frustrating as to plan who you wanted to listen to when was like a military operation! The title of my paper was: I presented on the Friday, and was thrilled to have a fairly room full, I like to think that the presentation went down well, as I put a good amount of time into its preparation. Oh, and I got three or four good questions! As part of the conference, there was an optional bus tour on the Friday afternoon. Penelope and I decided to go to HK island, going through the Eastern Cross Harbour Tunnel, we were taken to Repulse Bay, which was beautiful, then we left the tour and got a local bus to Stanley Market. One of Penelope’s colleagues Philip Delamore joined us when we went to the market, then sat on a pier watching the amazing Sea Eagles (that are all over the place around HK) and the enormous freight ships on the shipping lanes. We then got a bus back to the Western end of HK so we could get the Mid-Levels escalator up to the Mid-Levels where we had a few drinks and some food. We walked back down to get the Star Ferry back to Kawloon, for one more drink then back to the hotel.
One of the main reasons to go to this type of conference is the networking opportunities. There were a few that are worth a mention: following meeting at the cocktail party (with no alcohol!) I am very pleased to say I met with Rachel Philpot from the RCA and Rose Sinclair, who wears many hats; the name Kate Reily was given to me by Fiona at CRR as someone doing work on the corporatewear project, as an undergraduate at De Montfort she gave a very impressive presentation; at the conference banquet table was Vanessa Knowles from Textiles magazine, Philip Breedon and Katherine Townsend from Nottingham Trent, Gillian Proctor from De Montfort, Jane McCann from Uni of Wales; on the last day, just before and during the final lunch we met Alan Prichard from Boeing, that was a wonderful experience discussing first hand the issues Boeing is facing trying to attach wings to a fuselage using fabric!
Following the conference, I returned to the UK on the 22/11/08. HK airport is very big and impressive making the wait bearable , again the journey went without a hitch, it was just very cold in Helsinki where there was snow, and pretty chilly when I landed in Manchester.
When I came back, my friend Helena Seget had a launch for her first gallery exhibition. It was at a gallery near Durham, and was a showcase for the works of local North East Designers/Artists. It was a great opportunity for her, as at the same venue was a travelling exhibition by Grayson Perry, of Turner Prize and pink froufrou frock fame! It was a good night, as I went with Helena, Mark, Louise and Grant, meeting Joyce and Ray there.