{"id":7324,"date":"2017-12-03T10:39:15","date_gmt":"2017-12-03T10:39:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/?p=7324"},"modified":"2017-12-03T10:42:47","modified_gmt":"2017-12-03T10:42:47","slug":"weeknote-6-user-group-and-mvp-events-a-new-smartwatch-ghost-trains-and-the-start-of-christmas-week-48-2017","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/2017\/12\/weeknote-6-user-group-and-mvp-events-a-new-smartwatch-ghost-trains-and-the-start-of-christmas-week-48-2017.htm","title":{"rendered":"Weeknote 6: User group and MVP events; a new smartwatch; ghost trains; and the start of Christmas (Week 48, 2017)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Milton Keynes – Rochdale – London – Leicester. Not quite New York – London – Paris but those are the towns and cities on my itinerary this week.<\/p>\n

Every now and again, I find myself counting down the days to the weekend. This week has been different. It was manic, squeezing work in around lots of other activities but it was mostly enjoyable too.<\/p>\n

The week at work<\/h3>\n

My work week started off with an opportunity to input to a report that I find quite exciting. I can\u2019t say too much at the moment (though it should be released within the next couple of weeks and I\u2019ll be shouting about it then) but it\u2019s one of those activities that makes me think \u201cI\u2019d like to do more of this\u201d (I already get referred to as the extra member of the risual marketing team, which I think they mean as a good thing!).<\/p>\n

Bills have to be paid though (i.e. I need to keep my utilisation up!), so I\u2019ve also had some consulting in the mix, writing a strategy for a customer who needs to modernise their datacentre.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday evening, I managed to fit in a UK Azure User Group<\/a> (@UKAzure<\/a>) meeting in London, with Paul Andrew<\/a> (@MrPaulAndrew<\/a>) talking about Azure Data Factory<\/a> – another opportunity to fill some gaps in my knowledge.<\/p>\n

Then, back to work on Thursday, squeezing in a full day\u2019s work before heading to the National Space Centre<\/a> in Leicester in the afternoon for the UK MVP Community Connection. I\u2019m not an MVP anymore (I haven\u2019t been since 2011) but I am a member of the MVP Reconnect Programme<\/a>, which means I still get invited to some of the events – and the two I\u2019ve been to so far have been really worthwhile. One of my favourite sessions at the last event was Tony Wells from Resource IT<\/a> (the guys who create the Microsoft Abbreviation Dictionary<\/a>) talking about storytelling. This time we had a 3-hour workshop with an opportunity to put some of the techniques into practice.<\/p>\n

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How not to tell a story! Tony Wells from @ResourceiT_Ltd<\/a> reminds us that storytelling is a learnt skill, which we somehow seem to forget at work! #CinderellaInBullets<\/a> #MVPBuzz<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/UHQzr6w1SB<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Mark Wilson ???? (@markwilsonit) November 30, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The evening started with drinks in the space tower, then an IMAX film before dinner (and a quiz) in the Space Centre, surrounded by the exhibits. We returned the next day for a Microsoft business update, talks on ethics and diversity, on extending our audience reach and on mixed reality.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, my Friday afternoon was hijacked by other work… and the work week also spilt over into the weekend – something I generally try to avoid and which took the shine off things somewhat…<\/p>\n

Social<\/h3>\n

I\u2019ve had a full-on week with family too: my eldest son is one of six from Milton Keynes who have been selected to attend the Kandersteg International Scout Centre (KISC)<\/a> in 2019 and, together with ten more who are off to the World Scout Jamboree in West Virginia<\/a>, we have a lot of fund-raising to do (about \u00a345,000 in total). That meant selling raffle tickets in the shopping centre for the opportunity to win a car on Monday evening, and a meeting on Tuesday evening to talk about fundraising ideas\u2026<\/p>\n

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Fund-raising with @MKscouting<\/a> for 10 young people from Milton Keynes to attend the World Scout Jamboree and 6 to go to the Kandersteg International Scout Centre in 2019 #NeedToSellALotOfTickets<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/X3ypClvnbg<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Mark Wilson ???? (@markwilsonit) November 27, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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Meeting parents and young people to kick off our fundraising plans to send 10 young people from @MKscouting<\/a> to World Scout Jamboree and 6 to the Kandersteg International Scout Centre in 2019. We need to raise about \u00a345,000 so if anyone has ideas, I\u2019d love to hear them!<\/p>\n

\u2014 Mark Wilson ???? (@markwilsonit) November 28, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So, that\u2019s out every evening, and a long day every day this week\u2026 by Friday I was ready to collapse in a heap.<\/p>\n

The weekend<\/h3>\n

No cyclocross this weekend (well, there was, but it clashed with football), so I was on a different sort of Dad duty, running the line and trying not to anger parents from the other team with my ropey knowledge of the offside rule<\/a>\u2026<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also December now, so my family have declared that Christmas celebrations can begin. Right from the moment I returned home on Friday evening I was accused of not being Christmassy enough and I was forced to listen to “Christmas Music” on the drive to my son’s football match (the compromise was that it could be my<\/em> Christmas playlist<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Even I was amused to be followed in my car by a certain jolly chap:<\/p>\n

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Look who followed me in my car today! It seems Father Christmas has traded his sleigh for a convertible Morris Minor? pic.twitter.com\/2c74NeZCNH<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Mark Wilson ???? (@markwilsonit) December 2, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

My part in decorating the house consists of getting everything down from the loft, putting up the tree and lights, and then finding myself somewhere to hide for a couple of hours until it all looks lovely and sparkly. Unfortunately, the hiding time was actually spent polishing a presentation for Monday and fighting with Concur<\/a> to complete my expenses… not exactly what I had in mind…<\/p>\n

New tech<\/h3>\n

A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned that we now have a teenager in the house<\/a> and my eldest son has managed to save enough birthday money to buy a smartwatch. He was thinking of a Garmin device until I reminded him how bad their software is when we sync our bike computers so he went for a Samsung Gear Sport<\/a>. It looks pretty good if you have an Android phone. I have an iPhone and an Apple Watch (as you may recall from my recent tales of woe<\/a>) but if I was an Android guy, I think the Gear Sport would be my choice\u2026<\/p>\n

Ghost trains<\/h3>\n

I forgot to add this tale to last week\u2019s week note but I was travelling back home from Stafford recently when I noticed a re-branded Virgin Pendolino at the platform. My train wasn\u2019t due for another 10 minutes so I didn\u2019t check out where this one was going, so I was a little surprised to pass it again as I arrived in Milton Keynes two hours later, after I\u2019d gone the long way (via Birmingham) and changed trains\u2026<\/p>\n

Checking on Realtime Trains<\/a> showed me that I could have caught a direct train from Stafford, but it wasn\u2019t on the public timetable. Indeed, although it stops at several stations, it\u2019s listed as an empty coaching stock working (which is presumably why it is pathed on the slow lines including the Northampton loop). So, in addition to trains that stop at Milton Keynes only to set down (southbound) or pick up (northbound)<\/a>, it seems that Virgin run \u201cghost trains\u201d too!<\/p>\n

Listening<\/h3>\n

I listen to a lot of podcasts when I’m in the car. This week I spent a lot of time in the car. I recommend these two episodes:<\/p>\n