This week I was up in Nottingham attending and presenting at Networkshop. My session was on collaboration. I did enjoy the keynotes from the conference, listening to Klaas Wierenga on the history of eduroam was insightful. I can’t quite believe that eduroam in less than twenty four years old, then again Wi-Fi isn’t that old really either. It was nice to meet up with colleagues from Jisc at the conference as well.

Nottingham is quite a trek from Weston so it takes a while both to get there and get back.

My first visit to Nottingham was as a child visiting my aunt and uncle. My main memory was thinking how small Sherwood Forest was and how on earth did Robin Hood hide from the Sheriff of Nottingham when the forest was so small… Of course what I didn’t realise was back then the forest was huge in comparison to the size of the forest today.

Over the last twenty five years I have made quite a few visits to Nottingham, for events, conferences, and sometimes staying there when travelling further north.

Exploring the city now I realise I still don’t really know the place and found it hard to get my bearings. I would walk up one street and find myself somewhere completely different to where I expected to be.

I did spend some time reviewing one of the business cases for the UUK project I am working on, going through the comments from various stakeholders. I did need to write some new sections, and other areas needed a rewrite.

I also looked at the concept plan for the NREN work I am participating in.

At the end of the week I took a volunteering day, it’s nice that Jisc allows staff to take time off for volunteering.