We all know that the future consists of electronic communication and virtual meetings, and here in the Webmag we’ve done our bit to promote the future. However, it is still nice to meet face to face once in a while. It gives a chance to communicate more fully, picking up on the non-verbal messages, developing group bonds and so on.
From left to right: Keith White, Diane Stevenson, Jim Hyland, Bill Stevenson, David Lane, Linda Hyland, Kathleen Lane and Ruth White
The month-by-month preparation of the Webmag has been overseen by a small group of people, and during its first six years, for the most part this consisted of Keith White (as the Chair), Jim Hyland (initially as a representative of the Social Education Trust which then managed the Webmag, but later in his own right), Bill Stevenson (as Production Manager), and David Lane (as Editor). Occasionally the Web Operations Team, or WOT, met face-to-face for discussions about long-term strategy, but for the most part communication has been by email and phone.
When Bill Stevenson decided to retire from his role as Production Manager, we decided to have a celebratory dinner to mark the occasion, and it took three months to get everyone together from different parts of England. The dinner was held at Pembroke College in Cambridge, in a beautiful sixteenth century panelled room named after Christopher Smart, the poet.
Not only were Keith, Bill, Jim and David present, but also their wives, Ruth, Diane, Linda and Kathleen, who have had to endure the backwash from the production of the Webmag. It was good, therefore, to be able to acknowledge their support over the years.
WOT now consists of a new team, still managed by Keith and with David still as Editor, but with Jeremy Curtis as Production Manager, Chris Durkin as the representative of Northampton University and Valerie Jackson as Consultant specialising in early years material. We can look forward to another dinner at Pembroke College in 2012 perhaps to celebrate WOT’s next six years, but for the present, we thank the original WOT team for what’s past.