Well, I haven’t even got into the air yet and already I’m blogging again!

Having inherited my mother’s over-cautious attitude to flying, I arrived at Heathrow four (!) hours before my flight was due to leave.

I have spent almost two of these mooching around the departure lounge getting stressed out by wailing kiddies and wheelie suitcases running over my feet. I also used up most of my laptop battery transferring tunes to my Mp3 to try and drown out the noise.

Then, on a hunt for a power socket, I remembered: I’m allowed into the Cathay Pacific Business Lounge. Having never been in a business class lounge, I thought I’d check in out.

Now I’m sitting in heaven! Peace, quiet, free broadband and as much food and drink as I could want. I’m not sure there’s much more on this mortal coil I could desire… expect perhaps a few friendly faces to talk to.

It does feel slightly odd though, as if any minute those well-manicured attendants will recognise me for the fraud I am and throw me out on my ear.

But… until that happens… I’m off to get another sandwich!

Fresh back from my trip to CERN, I’m repacking my bags to jet off to Hong Kong tomorrow!

I must stress, this is a one-off. Before this week my only foreign jaunt in three years as a journalist was a 24-hour stay in Brussels!

The trip is organised by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council and focuses on three Expos – World SME Expo,  Inno Design Tech Expo and (of personal interest) Business of Design Week.

In case anyone is interested, below is a rough itinerary.

 Monday:
Arrive in Hong Kong

Tuesday: 

8:30am Gather at hotel lobby for shuttle pick-up
9:30am Meeting with Mrs. Helen Chan, Principal Economist, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
11.45am Visit to Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
1.00pm Lunch.
3.00pm Visit to Hong Kong International Terminals.
5:45pm Briefing by Mr. Parker Robinson, Head of Corporate Communication, Hong Kong Trade Development Council.
7:00pm Welcome Dinner, Top Deck, Jumbo Kingdom.

Wednesday:

8.30am Gather at hotel lobby for pick-up by Andrea Chung
10.00am Opening Ceremony of World SME Expo and Inno Design Tech Expo
(Time tbc) Joanna Lavan, China Connect
3.00pm Ian BaileyTrade Commissioner, British Consulate-General

Thursday:

World SME Expo / Inno Design Tech Expo / Business of Design Week.
Please proceed directly to the events.
3.00pm Brigadier Christopher Hammerbeck, Executive Director, The British Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong.

Friday:    

World SME Expo / Inno Design Tech Expo / Business of Design Week.
Please proceed directly to the events.

Saturday:

Depart Hong Kong.

If there are any Hong Kong/West Midland related issues anyone thinks I should be checking out, let me know!

The report is out! But, I must confess, I haven’t read it yet.

At the moment I’m trapped between writing up my trip to Geneva, preparing two weeks of media & marketing stories, completing the registration for a postgraduate course and preparing to go to Hong Kong on Sunday (I know! I will tell all soon!).

However, Paul Bradshaw picks up on some interesting bits of the NUJ report. Press Gazette also covers it and so does the Guardian. There is a lot I want to say, but I want to hold out until I’ve read the whole report (something for the plane perhaps?!).

Also, I’ve been really interested in the creative director for Birmingham debate that has taken place of late and will have more to say on that very soon. I read the posts by Stef and Paul with interest. There have been a few developments and I’ll fill you in on these soon too.

Sorry for the poor post!

Ah! How I wish this were one of my interviews.

Mr Gilligan, of ‘sexed up’ dossiers, weapons of mass destruction and Dr David Kelly fame/infamy is being interviewed by journalism student/blogger Dave Lee.

This will form part of Dave’s dissertation and he is crowdsourcing questions to ask the ex-BBC journalist. So, go! Ask questions!

I’m very jealous. Back in the days when I was a literature student I did try and get hold of Gabriel Garcia Marquez but, oddly enough, was unsuccessful.

John Tighe.

Congratulations John!

As landlord of The Spotted Dog pub in Digbeth, John has battled against a noise abatement order served against the pub, after live music at the venue (which has been going for 20 years) affected some of the residents in a new apartment block built nearby.

A campaign website related to his plight (set up by a resident from the very same apartment block) keepdigbethvibrant.co.uk tells more.

Also congratulations to runner up and mentor to the Birmingham blogworld, Pete Ashton.

I am so excited about this!

On Tuesday afternoon I fly out to Geneva to visit the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN).

This has come about because I wrote an article looking at some of the world-leading scentific research that was taking place at our universities in the city. It turned out the University of Birmingham was a team leader in the LHC project.

So I’m off to walk around a tunnel that is over 26km long… and I can’t wait!! If you’ve got any questions for the team out there, let me know and I’ll ask them.

If it’s a question related to physics, write it in the comments and I’ll print it off and hand it to them!

Well, Mr Scotney may have evaporated from the blogosphere (I am assured it’s temporary, with a new blog due in the new year), but now Post journalist Rhona Ganguly has stepped up to the plate and launched her own independent blog.

Community Affairs in the Second City deals with the issue of social cohesion in Birmingham – a subject I know Rhona feels very passionate about.

One of her first posts is a thoughtful response to an appalling story that appeared on the front page of the Daily Express some weeks back.

The headline was: Migrants take ALL new jobs in Britain. (NB. The story has been removed from the Express website. The link above takes you to a site which also provides a bizarre photo library of international passports!!!)

Not only does the article make ridiculous and inaccurate statistical assumptions, but it is also inflammatory and, above all, an insult to journalism.

Grrr. I find it hard to write about such things as it just makes my blood boil. Luckily Rhona is far more clear sighted.

Thanks Jon

Phil Vinter, video journalist at the Birmingham Mail has posted up an interesting interview with Dan Reddington (of Reddington’s Rare Records fame) about his old shop and a penpal friendship he had with Reggie Kray!

I’m becoming convinced that this “hearing the person behind the story” is one of the few ways videos on newspaper sites can work really well.

On Tuesday a new five-part series started on Radio 4 looking at different immigrant communities in Birmingham and at the centres in which they gather.

Centre of our World is, of course, presented by uberBrummie Carl Chinn. The first episode focuses on Digbeth’s Irish Centre. It’s a place that, when I worked in the Custard Factory, I passed every weekday without a thought.

It’s wonderful to hear the history and the personal stories of those that use it:

“It wasn’t easy getting a job. I walked from Balsall Heath almost to the Dunlop before I found a job. I tried at every factory the whole way out. I walked out, all the way out there, through Aston onto the Tyburn Road and I got a job in this little factory and then I got into the Dunlop where I worked for five years making bus tyres.”

It’s only 16 minutes, but also covers the effect on the community of the Birmingham pub bombings and the current decline of the West Midland Irish population. If you missed it you can listen again.

This Tuesday will be the Polish community centre.

So, following my own advice, I was excited to come across a series of posts by D’Log about an event at the University of Birmingham yesterday.

This paragraph particularly caught my eye:

The city is considering appointing a “Creative Director” for Birmingham. A “Creative Village” area might be designated and signed by 2010; that may be either Moseley or the Jewellery Quarter, or possibly Digbeth. Creatives are providing free input into the proposed 20-year Birmingham City Centre Masterplan (the “Parkinson Report”), especially in relation to the relocation of BIAD to Curzon Street and the branding of the wider Digbeth area.

A creative director for Birmingham?! A creative village?! How positive and exciting!

As some may know, there was a shower of comment in The Birmingham Post after Micheal Wolff called for Birmingham to appoint a creative director, similar to Manchester’s Peter Saville.

He said that the council needed someone to oversee the cultural and creative image of the city. He spoke very passionately about it and had some very interesting points to make.

Personally if someone can help show the world just how innovative, passionate and creative Birmingham is, then I am all for it.

However, I’m a bit confused by D’Log’s linking as that takes you to Creative Republic‘s website. My understanding is that is a very different thing, more an industry lobby group. Am I right?