C O N T E X T 1 2 5 : J U LY 2 0 1 2 31 Welcome to new members The following members were voted in at the June 2012 council meeting.Welcome to you all. cattle. My cousin knows his way around a prize Charolais bull. I wondered if it was like an exam for the beast and shared this thought with my cousin. I was promptly put in my place. It was an exam for him. If his stockman’s coat is not starched to military stiffness or his bowler hat buffed and black, he has failed. The fluffy mane and bright gleam in the eye of the bull is secondary to the preparation and homework he has to complete before he gives his all in the show ring. When I was in theYoung Farmers we used to have evenings practising cattle judging, pig judging and sheep assessments. Clearly I never paid enough attention – I never got the bowler hat. The bovine beauty pageant brought to mind a similar test of looks and form on site a few weeks ago, when a contractor proudly displayed his sample panels of brickwork for inspection and approval. I felt a little like I was trooping the colour as I walked along the ranks of slightly varying brick panels. I have never seen so many just for one site. The colour differences were so subtle and the jointing so perfect that it was hard to make the final choice. My mother is a keenWomen’s Institute member. No one does examination and testing and assessment like theWI. She has a book with all the rules relating to competitions and judging. This awesome publication is a manifesto of calm practicality and decision. Every last detail is included. To flout these conventions is to invite expulsion, opprobrium and, frankly, outright incredulity. The pages that relate to the rules and conventions relating to cheese as opposed to plain or fruit scones are magisterial. Often our work is not as clear cut as the scone issues. It might be closer to the Charolais judging: some basic Upgrades from affiliates to full members Elizabeth Humble (YO) Simon Malam (NW) Pozy Metz (SE) Stephen Morris (WM) Stuart West (SC) Affiliate members David Archer (NO) Alison Baisden (LO) Rebecca Barrett (OV) Richard Barrow (OV) Kim Batten (SO) Desmond Brack (EM) Michael Cole (SW) Ewan Harrison (SC) Ruth Hitchen (WM) David Littlewood (EM) Peter Meehan (SW) Renato Messere (LO) Barri Millar (SC) Paul O’Brien (SO) Thomas Pearson (LO) Bridget Pereira (YO) Simon Revill (EM) Matthew Roberson (OV) Peter Salmon (SE) Henry Skinner (LO) Glenn Stundon (OV) Peter Thomas (WA) Jennifer Tonkins (EA) MartinWright (SC) Associate members David Bates (WA) rules and standards, but ultimately a question of judgement and experience. An architect I know says that if you get three conservation people in a room, you will get five opinions. My eldest daughter does not like maths because there is always a right answer or a wrong answer. ‘Why can’t it be like English when I can have an opinion?’ she asks. My youngest daughter finds English unsettling. ‘There’s never a right or wrong answer, the teacher expects me to form an opinion.Why can’t it be like maths and science? I know where I am going with calculations and experiments.’ We all react differently to exams, tests and yearly appraisals. Some relish the chance to review progress, set targets and improve performance. Others find it tedious and an impediment to the job in hand. It is necessary, though. It is like a professional MOT or the check-up at the dentist.We could all do with an annual test to ensure the tubes are clean and the engine in order. Our very own IHBC is having something of a check-up at present, an organisational MOT perhaps: our governance review. I know it is not the most exciting thing going on in our IHBC world at present but it is necessary. It will be worth the effort in the long run.Your branch chairs or reps should have sought out your views with regard to a range of issues relating to how we run the institute and how we might improve performance.You may think we are close to perfection already. That is a valid response but please tell us about it.You may be champing at the bit to make your opinions known about the organisation, like a grumpy old Charolais waiting for my cousin to put his bowler hat on and get the judging completed. The range of opinions we have received will be discussed at council and then reported back to you through your branch reps. It may not be as painful as GCSEs, as straightforward as brick samples, as tasty as a fruit scone, or as beautiful and creamy as a prize Charolais, but our organisational MOT is necessary and will help us improve in the future. As the advertising says, we’re worth it. Jo Evans, chair@ihbc.org.uk
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