EFDSS New Chief Exec.

Subject: FDDSS New Chief Exec.
From: Vic Smith
Date: 26 Nov 07 - 10:54 AM

****Just received this from the EFDSS****

ENGLISH FOLK DANCE AND SONG SOCIETY

PRESS RELEASE                                                   
26 November 2007                                                                            Immediate Release

New Chief Executive for English Folk Dance & Song Society

The English Folk Dance and Song Society is delighted to announce the appointment of Katy Spicer as its new Chief Executive.

Katy Spicer comes to the EFDSS with extensive experience in arts management. She is currently General Manager of Rambert Dance Company, the UK's flagship contemporary dance company, where she has been managing a new capital project, as well as promoting and managing Rambert's overseas and special performance projects alongside other management responsibilities.

Earlier in her career, Katy was Executive Director and Co-Chief Executive Director of Arc Dance Company. She successfully raised Arc's profile, developed partnerships, as well as an education programme, and boosted the company's fund raising.

Katy is also a former Administrative Director and Co-Chief Executive Director of Chester Gateway Theatre and General Manager of Green Candle Dance Company. As a freelance arts manager and consultant, Katy has worked with theatre and dance companies, as well as venues, on strategic and business planning and financial management.

Katy is a trustee, and currently Chair, of Independance, a London-based organisation nurturing artists working in urban dance forms. She has also been an advisor and performance assessor for Arts Council England.

Katy's experience of folk music and dance started at school, and her parents organised folk music events in Shoeburyness, Essex in the late 1960s.

Katy Spicer says, "I am delighted to be joining the EFDSS, particularly at such an exciting time in the organisation's distinguished history."

Mike Norris, Chair of the EFDSS, welcomed Katy's appointment. "These are exciting times in the folk music world and the appointment of such a talented arts manager demonstrates our determination to be at the forefront of this movement."

Katy Spicer's appointment starts on 18 February 2008.

Ends

Subject: RE: FDDSS New Chief Exec.
From: GUEST,MargotF
Date: 26 Nov 07 - 08:01 PM

Ballet Rambert??? That should keep EFDSS 'on its toes'!!

:-)

Subject: RE: FDDSS New Chief Exec.
From: the button
Date: 27 Nov 07 - 05:24 AM

Strikes me as a good appointment, and quite imaginative in terms of her previous experience. Urban dance probably has as much, if not more, of a claim to be a folk art than... (reaches for tin opener for can of worms).

Subject: RE: FDDSS New Chief Exec.
From: mattkeen
Date: 27 Nov 07 - 05:36 AM

Not that she's got a lot of dance experience then......


I am sure her skills are transferable to the music side of things as well as the library

Subject: RE: FDDSS New Chief Exec.
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 27 Nov 07 - 05:44 AM

I think I might be tempted to worry, but let us wait and see.

Subject: RE: FDDSS New Chief Exec.
From: GUEST
Date: 27 Nov 07 - 06:10 AM

While Katy clearly has a lot of experience in contemporary dance, the point is that she is a highly experienced Arts Manager. The fact that she doesn't come from a specific folk artform bias (what Rambert do is about as far from morris or ceilidh as it's possible to get) means there's no personal agenda.

As someone primarily interested in music and song I am not remotely concerned that her previous dance experience will be an issue. She has substantial experience in certain key strategic areas which are essential to the society's growth and development in the coming years - this is much more important than whether she likes dance or song or even melodeon playing best.

Subject: RE: FDDSS New Chief Exec.
From: The Sandman
Date: 27 Nov 07 - 06:47 AM

I wish her every success.Dick Miles

Subject: RE: FDDSS New Chief Exec.
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 27 Nov 07 - 07:47 AM

EFDSS has co-operated with Ballet Rambert in the past, and Dame Ninette de Valois (she and Rambert were enormously influential on the development of ballet in Britain) was a Patron of the Society; the connection with ballet and contemporary dance is of long standing.

I am glad that the interregnum is over. We should not forget Hazel Miller's excellent work as Chief Executive in getting the Society on a sound business footing and implementing the new publishing programme, but now we look to a new stage of development, which I hope will be both interesting and productive.

Subject: RE: FDDSS New Chief Exec.
From: Lanfranc
Date: 27 Nov 07 - 07:58 AM

My concern, other than her inevitable dance bias, is the fact that she has only been with Rambert since July 2006. I would have hoped that EFDSS might have tried to recruit someone with a somewhat longer focus or with some evidence of long-term commitment!

However, she seems to tick a lot of the right boxes, so we can but hope.

Alan

Subject: RE: FDDSS New Chief Exec.
From: GUEST,David
Date: 27 Nov 07 - 07:59 AM

I hope we're not in for a reign of PC boswelox at EFDSS. Most contemporary dance companies (including those mentioned as previous employers) have been infected with this anti-reality, anti-indigenous arts, fashionable nonsense in recent years. All the Arts Council management-speak about partnerships and strategic this 'n' that is usually smoke and mirrors. Let's hope she "thinks out of the box" (ha, ha!) and doesn't see tradition as a dirty word.

Subject: RE: FDDSS New Chief Exec.
From: GUEST
Date: 27 Nov 07 - 08:07 AM

"All the Arts Council management-speak about partnerships and strategic this 'n' that is usually smoke and mirrors."

Thus speaks someone who's presumably never had to play the game, and probably never achieved much in the way of funding. I think we're better off with someone who can navigate relationships with external funders than someone with a passion for country dancing, to be frank.

Subject: RE: FDDSS New Chief Exec.
From: GUEST,MargotF
Date: 27 Nov 07 - 08:17 AM

Lanfranc... It seems to me that a move from General Manager to Chief Executive is a wise one on her part and points to some ambition to succeed.

GUEST,David..

She successfully raised Arc's profile, developed partnerships, as well as an education programme, and boosted the company's fund raising.

Strike 'Arc' & insert 'EFDSS' and hope for success. Ok, in terms of profile I've never heard of Arc but I guess lots of people who have aren't aware of EFDSS so that doesn't mean much.

Anyway, I'll be renewing my membership this time round

..... and I'm enjoying the magazine these days.

Subject: RE: FDDSS New Chief Exec.
From: GUEST,David
Date: 27 Nov 07 - 08:27 AM

"Thus speaks someone who's presumably never had to play the game, and probably never achieved much in the way of funding. "

Au contraire, on both counts: I have and did. I now see it as a dirty business that ultimately corrupts the art form it is supposed to be saving. Folk music and dance would be better, imho, running in the opposite direction whenever one of these fly-by-night Arts Management wonks comes calling. I used to be one - to my shame - but never again. The beauty of the traditional folk arts is that they really do not need to engage with this baloney; they've survived and flourished without intervention for centuries. They are not, and should not be, reliant on consultants and quasi-governmental handouts. Art as welfare is not edifying... or even usually worth seeing/hearing.

Subject: RE: FDDSS New Chief Exec.
From: GUEST,Ruth at work
Date: 27 Nov 07 - 08:43 AM

"I now see it as a dirty business that ultimately corrupts the art form it is supposed to be saving."

Oh for the days when we could afford to be purist! Unfortunately, everybody now knows how to play the game.

"Folk music and dance would be better, imho, running in the opposite direction whenever one of these fly-by-night Arts Management wonks comes calling...The beauty of the traditional folk arts is that they really do not need to engage with this baloney; they've survived and flourished without intervention for centuries."

Really? And are you proud of the place they occupy in contemporary British society right now? Proud of their status, the general level of public engagement with the national heritage in the form of traditional arts? I'm not. When people hold up Scottish and Irish tradition as a shining beacon and ask what they've got that the English tradition has, I've got one answer: money. Status comes from being acknowledged and supported at national government level, both in policy and financially. That ain't gonna happen if you keep your head in the sand and run away from government "handouts".

"They are not, and should not be, reliant on consultants and quasi-governmental handouts. Art as welfare is not edifying... or even usually worth seeing/hearing."

Right - so that counts out most of the professional arts companies in this country, including the RSC, ROH, Royal Ballet, and most of the regional theatres and venues. And a substantial number of folk festivals, companies and projects which have all, at one time or another, been in receipt of government subsidy. I'd love to know how these have all been "corrupted" by the government's dirty money.

Happily, EFDSS is moving into the 21st century and looking forward, and not getting tangled up in such ridiculous and reductive perspectives.

Welcome Katy.

Subject: RE: FDDSS New Chief Exec.
From: GUEST,David
Date: 27 Nov 07 - 09:04 AM

Ruth at work "Really? And are you proud of the place they occupy in contemporary British society right now? Proud of their status, the general level of public engagement with the national heritage in the form of traditional arts? I'm not. When people hold up Scottish and Irish tradition as a shining beacon and ask what they've got that the English tradition has, I've got one answer: money. Status comes from being acknowledged and supported at national government level, both in policy and financially. That ain't gonna happen if you keep your head in the sand and run away from government "handouts"."

Do you really think that the relative strength of the Scottish and Irish folk scene is down to public funding and Arts Management gurus? Admittedly, they've latterly become a feature but it's a pretty Johnny-come-lately thing.

The strength of those traditions is probably more to do with national pride and a distinct identity rather than a hand-out and a cynical consultant-led arts scene. We've seen for over twenty years that the Arts Council (in its various guises in England) has been more concerned with government targets for "inclusion", ticking charts on clipboards and the religion of homogeneity/multi-culti rather than anything recognisable as an English tradition. In its search for the New it actively funds activities which water-down Englishness and tradition.

For Grand Opera and other large-scale, technically complex, forms to survive, patronage is needed (though not necessarily from government). Folk traditions do not; they can be self reliant and deliciously at variance with the "Approved Art" sector. They come from the people, for the people. Professionalised Arts Management MBAs (who rarely commit to more than two years in any job) are as likely to be the enemy of authentic traditions as their saviour, regardless of what their own hype says to the interview panel.

Subject: RE: FDDSS New Chief Exec.
From: GUEST,Ruth at work
Date: 27 Nov 07 - 09:26 AM

"Do you really think that the relative strength of the Scottish and Irish folk scene is down to public funding..." yup. And government support. Both of which are sadly lacking in England.

"We've seen for over twenty years that the Arts Council (in its various guises in England) has been more concerned with government targets for "inclusion", ticking charts on clipboards and the religion of homogeneity/multi-culti rather than anything recognisable as an English tradition. In its search for the New it actively funds activities which water-down Englishness and tradition."

Yes, the inclusion agenda has led a lot of funding policy (though I wouldn't say it's been 20 years - the Tory government was much more interested in the arts becoming self-funding. The inclusion agenda can pretty much be traced back to the PAT 10 Report on the impact of the arts on social exclusion in the late 90s).

But things do change, and a lot depends on specific circumstances, time and place, etc. As it happens, there are myriad projects around right now which are not about watering down the tradition, but about giving people access to it without any social or "multi culti" (my, what an offensive term!) dimension. EFDSS's Take 6 Project, recently funded by Heritage Lottery, is one example. The folk outreach project I do with local schools would not be happening were it not for Grants for the Arts. There are lots more.

"Folk traditions do not; they can be self reliant and deliciously at variance with the "Approved Art" sector."

Yes, if you want them to remain an insular, amateurish backwater. Personally, I don't. I refer back to my point about the numbers of people actively engaging with their folk heritage. Small as it already is, you would have that number decreasing exponentially with every ACE grant you turn your nose up at. It's a straightforward fact.

"Professionalised Arts Management MBAs"

Is there such a thing? It's usually a BA or an MA degree.

"(who rarely commit to more than two years in any job) are as likely to be the enemy of authentic traditions as their saviour, regardless of what their own hype says to the interview panel."

Well, as a BA Hons (1st Class) in Arts Management, who has in fact taught Arts Management at university level, I would dispute this. I can think of several colleagues who did my course who are working very hard within the folk and traditional arts, both as part of their current brief and in addition to their day jobs, bringing their wide-ranging skills and experience into the folk sector. I've been in my current venue for three years and hope to be here for some time to come - I run a small folk festival and a folk outreach project as part of my job, by the way.

Oh, and I'm on National Council for EFDSS. Us Arts Managers, we don't give a stuff about the tradition, you see.

Subject: RE: FDDSS New Chief Exec.
From: GUEST,Ruth still at work
Date: 27 Nov 07 - 10:06 AM

Hey - look what just popped into my e-mail in-box!

"White Horse Ceilidhs present

Boldwood + Will Hall

in Grove Village Hall, OX12 7JY, (nr Wantage, Oxfordshire)

Supported by The National Lottery®
through Awards for All via
SEFAN's Ceilidh Consortium scheme

Doors open 7.30pm for 8pm-11:30pm"


A ceilidh consortium being run by a bunch of clearly self-interested Arts Managers, achieving funding through the lottery...who'da thunk it?

Subject: RE: FDDSS New Chief Exec.
From: GUEST,The Mole Catcher's Apprentice
Date: 27 Nov 07 - 11:42 AM

"Status comes from being acknowledged and supported at national government level"

How sad.

Subject: RE: FDDSS New Chief Exec.
From: greg stephens
Date: 27 Nov 07 - 12:18 PM

There is a lot to what "GUEST Ruth at work" says. But I do think it is a bit of a shame that we have allowed the country to reach such a cultural state that is necessary to understand modish phrases like "reductive perspectives" in order to get on as a folk musician.The people who made the name we call it by managed not to lard their songs with this sort of thing.
Remember, it is diffult to touch pitch and remain undefiled. Just as a little thought(or listen) experiment: have a little listen to some recent folk projects that have attracted cultural funding to enable them to be created. Then have a listen to some stuff that didn't. And see if you can see a pattern emerging.There's a difference in style, isn't there? Whether it is to yopur taste or not, you can't deny a difference.

Subject: RE: FDDSS New Chief Exec.
From: GUEST
Date: 27 Nov 07 - 12:18 PM

Sorry if it's sad - I'm being pragmatic. And I was speaking quite specifically about something that is part of our national heritage.

I'm not suggesting it needs to become institutionalised, but surely most people would agree that the level of support and status afforded by the government - and by the public at large - to England's folk and traditional heritage is pretty poor. Especially when compared to that of other nations.

Subject: RE: FDDSS New Chief Exec.
From: oggie
Date: 27 Nov 07 - 12:20 PM

I looked at the appointment and thought, "Thank God, not one of the usual suspects, an experienced administrator, not aligned to any of the factions. Great and imaginative appointment, now watch all the carpers come out of the woodwork prophesying doom and gloom"

Sadly the last bit seems to be happening too quickly, I still believe that time will show it to be a good choice.

Good luck in the job.

Steve

Subject: RE: FDDSS New Chief Exec.
From: GUEST
Date: 27 Nov 07 - 12:53 PM

"modish phrases like "reductive perspectives" in order to get on as a folk musician.The people who made the name we call it by managed not to lard their songs with this sort of thing."

sorry - I'll try to use fewer syllables in future. I did find Guest Dave's perspective reductive: the idea that any funding is fundamentally evil is frankly over-simplistic and absurd.

"see if you can see a pattern emerging.There's a difference in style, isn't there? Whether it is to yopur taste or not, you can't deny a difference."


Wheras, of course, it would be much better if everyone just stayed the same.

Subject: RE: FDDSS New Chief Exec.
From: GUEST,Ruth still at work
Date: 27 Nov 07 - 12:53 PM

BTW - all these guests are me - I keep forgetting my cookie's at home.

Subject: RE: EFDSS New Chief Exec.
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 27 Nov 07 - 12:54 PM

On the other hand, if she is truly to Execute the FDDSS why should the EFDSS or folkies care?

Management speak is usually an evil thing, and while the EFDSS needs to raise money I would worry that that might be corrupting, so that FOLK dance and song could become forgotten. I do however think we might wait and see!

Subject: RE: FDDSS New Chief Exec.
From: GUEST,The Mole Catcher's Apprentice
Date: 27 Nov 07 - 02:03 PM

what was quoted:

"see if you can see a pattern emerging.There's a difference in style, isn't there? Whether it is to yopur taste or not, you can't deny a difference."

what was actually said:

"Remember, it is diffult to touch pitch and remain undefiled. Just as a little thought(or listen) experiment: have a little listen to some recent folk projects that have attracted cultural funding to enable them to be created. Then have a listen to some stuff that didn't. And see if you can see a pattern emerging.There's a difference in style, isn't there? Whether it is to yopur taste or not, you can't deny a difference."

can YOU spot the differences..?...there I knew you could :-)


The Mole Catcher's Apprentice (non-government subsidised)

Subject: RE: FDDSS New Chief Exec.
From: Ruth Archer
Date: 27 Nov 07 - 02:39 PM

the fact is, no one makes an artist apply for funding. If people want to stay out of the funding quagmire (having just completed a G4TA applicaton today, I am well aware of the quagmire), that's fine. They can stay within the boundaries that make them happy, and good luck to them. But why this suspicion of people who want to do something different?

I'm not sure what this "pattern" is supposed to be: innovation? Risk-taking? Collaboration? Well, crikey. Run away now. Goodness knows we can't have any of that in folk music.

Subject: RE: FDDSS New Chief Exec.
From: GUEST,The Mole Catcher's Apprentice
Date: 27 Nov 07 - 02:55 PM

""reductive perspectives" in order to get on as a folk musician"

well I heard from a form pilot that he felt you need a degree in Computer Sciences to fly the modern combat planes...so why not a First in English Grammer to be a folk musician? *LOL*

The Mole Catcher's Apprentice (nursery school drop-out)

Subject: RE: FDDSS New Chief Exec.
From: Ruth Archer
Date: 27 Nov 07 - 03:15 PM

Grammar doesn't have an E in it. Just saying.

Subject: RE: FDDSS New Chief Exec.
From: GUEST,The Mole Catcher's Apprentice
Date: 27 Nov 07 - 03:29 PM

never admited to being a good speller *LOL*

The Mole catcher's Apprentice (hukt on fonix neva werkt fourmee)

Subject: RE: FDDSS New Chief Exec.
From: Folkiedave
Date: 27 Nov 07 - 05:33 PM

Once the Beijing Olympics are over then the run-up to the 2012 London Olympics will begin.

As people interested in the folk arts we can be part of that and look towards the funding that may be available to promote our interests. There will be money missing as the games take funding but there will also be a huge cultural festival which will run alongside the Games (it is a less well-publicised part of the Olympics).

If Katy Spicer and the Arts Managers of this world can help the folk arts in general and the EFDSS to gain a part of that, then great.

Or we can blink and miss it.

Subject: RE: FDDSS New Chief Exec.
From: GUEST,Yet another guest
Date: 27 Nov 07 - 06:29 PM

A lazy bit of googling - taken from http://www.arcdance.com/index2.html
        
"Katy Spicer Biography
        

Katy Spicer is the Executive Director and Co-Chief Executive with Kim Brandstrup and joined Arc in August 2000. She is responsible for selling the company's performances to theatres and festivals in both the UK and overseas, financial management and fundraising, human resource development and general company management.

Katy has been working in arts management since graduating from London University in 1983 with a degree in English Literature and History. She has worked in a variety of areas including marketing, finance, fund-raising, tour management, training and general company management, and with numerous arts organisations. Posts include Training Officer at the Arts Council of England, General Manager of Green Candle Dance Company and Administrative Director / Co-Chief Executive of Chester Gateway Theatre. In a freelance capacity she has worked with Manchester International Theatre Consortium, Northern Soul, English Touring Theatre, Bolton Octagon Theatre, Cheshire Dance, London Contemporary Dance School, Warm Gun Films and Method and Madness.

Katy has also served on the boards of Dance UK, Cheshire Dance and Dance North West and has been Chair of the Management Liaison Group (Dance UK), a member of the Independent Theatre Council's Training Committee and the Arts Council of England's Development Advisory Panel for Dance, and a performance assessor for the Dance Department of the Arts Council.

Katy has a post-graduate diploma in Arts Management from City University and a post-graduate certificate in Script Editing from Liverpool, John Moores University."

Not for me to get too puzzled about the chronology - either ARC haven't updated their site for her leaving or she's still there as well as General Manager of Rambert Dance Company. I'd guess at a web-site nonsense. Jolly good luck to her, anyway.

Speaking of Olympics as above, sailing club to which I belong has had mention of Weymouth 2012, and needing to have proposals in order some years before. I suspect that while it seems an age away, the time will fly. [Just heard what sounds like Chris wood on R3]

Subject: RE: FDDSS New Chief Exec.
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 27 Nov 07 - 06:45 PM

The track record certainly looks worrying - Chief exec of FFAFS (F**K Folk and F*K Song) looks like the style - but let us wait and see. She might go native!

Subject: RE: FDDSS New Chief Exec.
From: Ruth Archer
Date: 27 Nov 07 - 06:52 PM

"The track record certainly looks worrying..."

LOL!!!!!

Yes, would've been much better if she'd spent the last 20 years as squire of her local morris side, or running a folk club. That would have prepared her for the role of Chief Exec of EFDSS FAR better than - oh - all that pesky arts management experience.

God, if you didn't laugh you'd cry...

Subject: RE: FDDSS New Chief Exec.
From: GUEST,DonD
Date: 27 Nov 07 - 10:32 PM

The press release in the original post reveals to us colonials that EFDSS is the English Folk Dance and Song Society --- but what the hell is the FDDSS? FD? Hmm -- FD? Fancy Dress? Folk Dance (Dummy)& Song Society? Fundraising and Donation-seeking Dance & Song Society???

Subject: RE: FDDSS New Chief Exec.
From: Folkiedave
Date: 28 Nov 07 - 05:39 AM

She might go native!

I think it is a good idea to wait and see what she does when she gets there.

Although plenty of people haven't noticed the EFDSS is changing - for the better IMHO - plenty of others have noticed. I am hoping she will be able to effect that change even more. It would be easy to effect a drastic change given unlimited amounts of funding - but that doesn't exist so it needs to be done slowly whether we like it or not. The CV certainly makes it look as if she knows what she is doing in the field of Arts Management.

She will get frustrated with the EFDSS at times - haven't we all - but the best way for you personally to effect any change is to support her, become a member, and make your voice heard.

Subject: RE: FDDSS New Chief Exec.
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 28 Nov 07 - 05:54 AM

Just so. We all need to put our money (and our time) where our mouths are.

The thread title, since Don mentions it, was mis-typed. It would be a kindness if a nice 'clone' would correct it.

Subject: RE: FDDSS New Chief Exec.
From: Doktor Doktor
Date: 28 Nov 07 - 07:38 AM

Cue for a song about how good the old administrators were ... any volunteers ... ???

Subject: RE: FDDSS New Chief Exec.
From: GUEST,The Mole Catcher's Apprentice
Date: 28 Nov 07 - 12:34 PM

"a post-graduate certificate in Script Editing from Liverpool, John Moores University"

this degree ought to prove very useful......

The Mole Catcher's Apprentice

(The English Fancy Dress and Fan Dancing Society {Hons])

Subject: RE: FDDSS New Chief Exec.
From: The Sandman
Date: 28 Nov 07 - 12:56 PM

while,I wish her every success,I will be continuing my membership of Comhaltas.
They are[as far as Iknow] the only organisation in many parts of England who give lessons in traditional music.
as far as I know EFDSS do not do this,which I think is a pity.

Subject: RE: FDDSS New Chief Exec.
From: johnadams
Date: 28 Nov 07 - 01:16 PM

"a post-graduate certificate in Script Editing from Liverpool, John Moores University"

this degree ought to prove very useful......

The Mole Catcher's Apprentice

Assuming you're being ironic, there's nothing wrong with that. Lots of people have qualifications that don't quite match where they've ended up. I don't consider my aero engineering qualifications wasted even though I teach audio.

I'm impressed with Katy's track record and if she can handle the management of some of the capital projects at EFDSS then we'll all be better off as a result. Her track record seems to suggest that she can. Things like the quarter million pounds raised for the Gateway Theatre for instance. (... and she didn't have to be an actor to bring that one off!).

J

Subject: RE: FDDSS New Chief Exec.
From: GUEST
Date: 28 Nov 07 - 01:16 PM

Moleskin, how's Life in the Country these days?

Surely your Hons qualification ought to be in the study of the recording career of Ashley Hutchings - very useful. When you actually have something to contribute (here, or anywhere) do let us know. But in the meantime, don't be snide about other people's qualifications. People who do that sort of thing are usually just chippy because they haven't had the decdication and commitment to achieve anything themselves.

Subject: RE: FDDSS New Chief Exec.
From: GUEST,Frug
Date: 28 Nov 07 - 01:53 PM

Wow I'm glad I didn't apply.................I thought about it! But in hindsight I wouldn't have fancied the public proctoscope !!

Frank

Subject: RE: FDDSS New Chief Exec.
From: The Borchester Echo
Date: 28 Nov 07 - 02:11 PM

Ah, yes. I see who the Moleperson is now.
How slow of me.
Though I didn't see him/her/it outside C# today, as another post led me to believe.
If he/she/it had been, the opportunity could have been taken to note that the former staff living quarters @ C# are in the basement, not the attic.
As a welcome to Katy Spicer, I suggest the theme tune on her entrance should be something other than Let The Goode Times Roll.

Subject: RE: FDDSS New Chief Exec.
From: GUEST,The Mole catchers Apprentice
Date: 28 Nov 07 - 02:16 PM

Oh but I do, Guest...I do....and have done...actually I live in the city...not the country, but that's by the way...no sense of humour apparently... I wish Katy Spicer all the best in what seems to me to be a somewhat thankless task.

Subject: RE: FDDSS New Chief Exec.
From: GUEST,The Mole Catcher's Apprentice
Date: 28 Nov 07 - 02:21 PM

Was Ashley Hutchings in line for the job.....? Couldn't see him accepting the position though, and wisely too.

Subject: RE: FDDSS New Chief Exec.
From: The Borchester Echo
Date: 28 Nov 07 - 02:32 PM

Why would Ashley Hutchings apply for an accountant/fundraiser/administrator job?
That's not what he does.

Subject: RE: FDDSS New Chief Exec.
From: the button
Date: 28 Nov 07 - 02:56 PM

As I've said, I think this is a good appointment -- a good, imaginative appointment, in fact. I'm not too bothered about what exactly she was doing in her previous role, but it's clear that she's used to, and good at, promoting minority art forms to a wider audience. And that can only be a good thing.

Also, I wasn't (quite) taking the piss when I said that she's got experience in folk arts, meaning her involvement in promoting urban dance.

Anyone (at this stage at least) saying that she's going to be biased towards dance because of her previous experience is being a touch paranoid, in my opinion. I have no cause to doubt her professionalism in meeting her full brief, so am prepared to give her a chance.

Exciting times for the EFDSS, I reckon. If anything, I'm tempted to contribute a bit more, rather than my current status as a subs-paying member.

Subject: RE: FDDSS New Chief Exec.
From: GUEST,The Mole Catcher's Apprentice
Date: 28 Nov 07 - 02:57 PM

Ummmm...never mind....*LOL*

Subject: RE: FDDSS New Chief Exec.
From: johnadams
Date: 28 Nov 07 - 03:07 PM

the button:

Exciting times for the EFDSS, I reckon. If anything, I'm tempted to contribute a bit more, rather than my current status as a subs-paying member.,/i>

After 7 years of contributing to the governance side of EFDSS I'm really happy that things are slowly turning the corner. There are a number of people on Mudcat who are contributing to EFDSS in in various practical ways and if you want to join them you will be welcomed warmly.

Personally, having achieved a number of things in those seven years, I'm ready to back of a little and get back to my research and other projects, much of which will benefit the society anyway.

If you're serious, PM me and have a chat about it.

J

Subject: RE: FDDSS New Chief Exec.
From: the button
Date: 28 Nov 07 - 04:22 PM

Just PM'ed you, John.