BAJR conference - who is willing to give a paper.

[drpeterwardle]

I thought it might be useful to start thread to see who would be willing to give a paper at this conference.

I would be happy to talk about any consultancy topic including who needs a consultant?

Peter

[troll]

Thanx Peter. In my prompts over on another thread-I was hoping to suggest that actually, the public needs a consultant and frankly, developers should be required to come up with a defence! I too would very much like to offer a paper...just need to work out how to condense a million of them into a digestible offering for the event.By the way, I`m not going unless chocolate bikkies are on the cards!

[monitor lizard]

Hi all

I have mixed feelings about this and suspect I am not alone.

I would like to give a paper, something on the current status of curatorial archaeology, but am concerned about the resulting lack of anonymity. My relations with my present employer are not good at the moment, and our curatorial service is in the middle of 'restructing' which the less generous may call being shafted.

Perhaps a way of getting around this would be the submission and distribution of relevant papers to the conference, whereby they are used as a prompt for a discussion based seminar session. Or am I just being chicken? It's not just the diggers (or archaeologists as the recent poll has suggested) who are concerned with potential loss of employment!

Cheers

ML

[BAJR Host]

Interesting point.... these could be read by ghost readers!

Another day another WSI?

[deepdigger]

It is a good point but, how do you ask a ghost reader any questions??

deep

[Moley]

If you're chicken ML then count me in as doubly so.

There is a pervading culture of spin in some LAs. You simply cannot admit when things are going wrong. Granted it's a lot harder to get rid of a local government worker than someone in the commercial sector, but cuts, demoralisation and undermining of authority are pretty good at getting shot of people.
I've been considering the problem of how to write a paper on the good, the bad and the ugly of the curatorial side of things on-and-off for nearly a year now. How do you gather information when nobody can talk about the problems? I'm as guilty as the next person, when I'm being assessed, or even going to a regional conference with my closest colleagues I always put on my best suit and winning smile and say things are going ok because to do otherwise carries the danger of you being sidelined as 'negative' or people thinking you're rubbish at your job. Maybe frustrated curators need a secret handshake - 'Hi, let's go to the pub where I can tell you about it honestly and we can figure out how to fix it'...

All the 'evidence' I have for problems in the system is anecdotal, or observed from reading between the lines. I would love the time, money and freedom to put together a well-balanced, cogent argument backed up with statistics, case studies (good and bad) and cold hard fact. I might even find out that things aren't as bad as I think they are and I've just been unlucky, or even better, that other people have been able to fix the problems and can tell me how they did it! However, with a full time job I find it difficult putting a post on BAJR (just look at the time - I should be in the pub, not at home giving myself the PC equivalent of snow-blindness) let alone the mileage and networking required for this sort of endeavour. The options I've considered and the problems associated with them are: 1) going back to university - Problem: a crusade is not the best reason for going back to academia, and is unlikely to make your tutors sympathetic 2) taking a career break and hoping I can fund it myself. Problems: am I really that selfless? Would I have a career to come back to? Sadly 'no' on both counts I suspect. 3) Figuring out if there's a body out there (IFA, ALGAO...) who'd pay me to do it. Problem: would I face the culture of 'can't complain' as described above if representing a formal organisation?

If anyone has another option then I'd be more than grateful to hear it...

[troll]

Understand completely guys. One solution for the conference would be to write your papers and I will gladly stand up and present them without providing details of authorship. I agree wholeheartedly-a coherent and well researched critique across the heritage sector is needed. I would argue that the public deserve nothing less. On the funding front, plenty of Canadian/North American Sattelite T.V companies to approach.........if you remember, I have been asking for examples of bad practise and critique of the current status quo for ages now.Will compile a document with them all (minus details of authorship) and prompt Mr IFA to read it. If confronted with the usual selective hearing from them, Tessa Jowell and the (carefully selected) media get it....Mark Thomas product anyone???Not chicken but fowl.......

[monitor lizard]

submitting a ghost paper doesn't necessarally mean you're not also in the audience for discussion!

[deepdigger]

Very true ML but, if you answer won't you lose your anonimity??

deep

[troll]

Naaaah. Write the papers-I will be more than happy to present them.If faceless authors are in attendance-even better, the resultant dialogue (and conference publication) will be much richer for it.