C O N T E X T 1 1 6 : S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 0 9 Going for Gold in 2010: a capital conference delivering excellence in conservation, we were on the starting blocks. The organising committee became Team London. We were keen not to delete fun entirely from the proceedings, so when one of the team mentioned that he knew where to source medals for sporting events, Team London ran with it. They were instantly recognisable when organising or marshalling throughout the school by wearing our IHBC 2010 Going for Gold medals. We were well aware of the logistics of moving (we hoped) a large number of people around London, so we decided to focus on the Regent’s Park and Bloomsbury area of central London. There we knew of high-quality, contrasting venues within a hop, skip and a jump of each other. We also knew that the official full school would need to finish by lunchtime on Saturday. Competing with England’s first World Cup match and the temptations of the many attractions in this world city on a Saturday afternoon in June was not a viable option. We had to overcome the hurdle of obtaining sponsorship, which we knew was going to be hard won but never more necessary in the current economic climate. Luckily Sheila Stones writes: Buxton in 2009 and Llandudno in 2011; London branch’s organising committee rapidly realised that unlike those IHBC Annual Schools, delegates based in the capital city for the 2010 Annual School would not be a captive – in the nicest possible way – audience. We knew we would have to shape the school to fit the circumstances. A much higher proportion of delegates than usual would be non-residential and we would have to entice them during a seismic economic recession. We soon decided that the theme of the school would be how the historic environment meets today’s leisure needs in the context of the run-up to the Olympics, and issued our first publicity flyer. We then realised that for local authorities and other potential delegate sponsors to approve, we would have to play down the leisure aspect in case it was perceived to be fun (a totally unacceptable prospect). So we refined the theme to explore the provision of high-quality conservation services, and how they can be delivered now and in the future. Once we had written our strapline Going for Gold: IHBC Annual School 2010 Eddie Booth welcomes delegates at the Grade II* ArtWorkers Guild, venue for Thursday’s seminars
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjgyMjA=