Terriffic Turku!

Along with thirteen other JCI Edinburgh members, I have just returned from European Conference 2008, in Turku, Finland. A European Conference is an annual event where over 2000 JCI members from all corners of Europe come together to meet each other, network, attend training, participate in competitions, and most importantly for all of us, party at various events hosted by other countries.

Four of the members there were attending for the first time, and it was a pleasure to watch them enjoying themselves so much- partying well into the night then getting up early the next day to attend training!

It was an ideal opportunity for me to spend time with my members as well as meeting all my JCI friends from all over the world, as well as making some new ones. All in all an amazing, and highly recommended experience.

On Parade

As President of JCI Edinburgh, part of the job is playing a part in civic events, and on Sunday Louise and I had our first experience of this. Every year there is a procession from the City Chambers to St Giles Cathedral for a service to mark the opening of the Edinburgh Science Festival.

And it rained!

But interesting nonetheless.

There's been a murrrderrr....

Every year, it's become a JCI Edinburgh tradition that the President hosts a weekend away, normally including a murder mystery. Therefore, murder was in the air this past weekend when I was joined by ten other super sleuth members at Chalet Flaubert- basically the chalets at Crieff Hydro- for a weekend of mystery and intrigue.

Friday kicked off with dinner, drinks and a variety of games, projected on to a bath towel pinned to the chalet wall! Giving up on that we moved on to the less technical "Who's in the Bag?"! On Saturday we nursed our sore heads with a pub lunch, whilst some relaxed in the spa or even had archery lessons! Then came the main event- Murder at Chalet Flaubert over another meal.

After a particularly dramatic death scene from Louise it eventually transpired that Shona was the culprit- but not after a fair amount of dodgy dealing, including yours truly paying $50 for two tic tacs in return for some information!

All in all it was a great weekend and one that is highly recommended.

Linked at Lunch...

Today saw the first of our Links at Lunch networking events, organised by Director of Business Programmes, Julie Diver. In recent memory we have never held an event at lunchtime, nor have we had an event where "formal" networking was on the agenda...however in a recognition that there was the demand for this, Julie and I were keen to include this as part of our 2008 programme.

Today, 25 young people with businesses to sell and new ideas to promote met over delicious food at The Stockbridge Restaurant on St Stephen Street- we met, chatted, learned more about JCI, and learned more about the Business Environmental Partnership from JCI Edinburgh member Jo Polson.

JCI will never be an organisation that concentrates solely on networking...but we hope that it is a natural consequence of our members getting involved in our programme, meeting new people and putting what they learn into practice. I hope to meet you at the next Links and Lunch in March :)

Going North

It was good to travel to Aberdeen for their 60th Anniversary, attended by a number of members, friends, past presidents and others from across Scotland. The dinner was held in the City Chambers.

JCI Aberdeen have a high profile locally and enjoy the support of a number of businesses, and I am sure that my counterpart, Pam Cradock- 2008 President- will ensure that this continues and grows.

A particular highlight of the evening was a JCI UK tradition- the "Taking Wine" toasts which was basically a posh drinking game. I won't spoil the idea incase we decide to do it at one of our events in the future, but ask me when you next see me and I'll fill you in with some of the more "interesting" moments!!! :)

Bored Meetings?

Last night was the first board meeting of 2008. Chairing a meeting, as I found out last night, isn't quite as bad as I expected! Of course I was helped by an enthusiastic team. Everyone is full of ideas for the year ahead and I know that they would all appreciate your support- whether you give them ideas or support them at their events.

This is a busy week in JCI Edinburgh with three events- a board meeting, Personal Development seminar and the second of our Winter Warmer events on Thursday, and next week sees our Charlotte Square Club programme restarting on Wednesday.

I look forward to seeing you soon.

Happy New Year!

Welcome to the first "proper" post of 2008. I hope that you all had a great Christmas and New Year and are ready to capitalise upon the opportunities that 2008 will present. I'm just back from a trip to Chicago and Las Vegas and even with the jetlag I'm excited about what lies ahead...

JCI Edinburgh is a hive of activity at the moment with a new team full of energy and enthusiasm as the 2008 programme comes into fruition. We're kicking off our calendar with the first of our "Winter Warmers" on Thursday, and I look forward to seeing you at one of these events. Meantime we're organising Personal Development seminars, sorting out Open Evenings, planning the Burns Supper and organising National Conference. I'm in the process of putting the finishing touches to the first of the 2008 newsletters, as well as arranging to meet with new and existing patrons. If you know of any companies or organisations that might be interested in working more closely with JCI for our mutual benefit, drop me an email.

It seems like everyone is blogging at the minute. I've just seen on the news that it may even be influential in choosing the next President of the USA! I hope that this blog will allow you to find out more about what we're up to...by telling you what we're doing we hope that you'll be able to engage more with the organisation and get the most from your membership. Until next time...