Blogs

I can't believe it's a year already.  So much has happened.  It's a year today since I joined the team at the Woodend Barn!

We've had disagreements along the way but I don't think I've worked anywhere else with such a nice atmosphere and a genuine passion for the work.  Everyone really wants to make a success of the Barn and it shows in everything we do.  When your passionate you'd expect a couple of disagreements but they're never serious, just proof that we all believe in what we're doing.

It's my first blog of 2012 and I'm rather excited.  I had a great relaxing festive period, enjoyed the fireballs in Stonehaven and have come back to the barn ready to face the year ahead.

The first treat was discovering the new delights on Buchanans menu.  Lots of wee bites and savoury snacks to keep us going in the office.  I also got far too excited about getting a new diary.  It's a sad day when stationary is what gets you excited. 

This week I have felt as though I've missed out on the party of the century. I'm not talking about a fabulous new club night in Aberdeen, or the possibility of reeling with the best at the Burn's Supper. No. It's that elusive and incredible phenomenon, the Aurora Borealis or Northern Lights. This week has seen the most solar activity for years, resulting in the most incredible light shows as far south as Northumberland. Even Edinburgh was backlit magnificently for one lucky photographer.

At this time of year, the days just don’t get lighter quick enough so we will do our best to inject some sunshine into your lives with our new spring programme – hurrah!  Not long to go until we open our doors to welcome you back, starting with The Kings Speech on February 7^th.

It's January and I am back in the Barn office, rattling away at the keyboard making sure that the programme for February and March is ready to be sent out and the website is updated.

Bit of a relief to be back, if I'm honest. Two weeks of having all the family at home generally results in more cleaning, more washing and much more cooking. Add to that my role as events organiser, nurse, referee, and countless other jobs, I am happy to be back in the place where my role is clearly defined and a few people appreciate the effort I make.

Happy, apart from two things.

This morning, on my drive into work, weaving between freshly ploughed fields, I saw the oddest thing.

A mid life crisis can appear in many forms. Mine arrived in the burning desire to own a trike. Yes that’s right. One of those odd, three wheel motorbike things - think Billy Connolly cruising the open roads of Britain, the wind in his beard. How cool is that?

My winter coat is now hanging on the coathook in the barn office; my scarf draped over it and my gloves stuffed deep in the pockets.  There's even a torch snuggled in there somewhere.  I've also put the heating back on the timer. 

All this means that autumn is upon us and winter is round the corner.  Apparently there's snow in the Cairngorms already.  Instead of the hyperactive chirping and swooping of swallows, martins and swifts, the sky is full of honking geese as they fly back and forth from their feeding grounds each morning and night.

One of the things we discussed at my interview for the Barn was how to grow our audience and attract new people to the venue.  It's a tricky thing and there's no easy solution.  The Barn was already putting into place a number of things such as hiring Sam Thom our Digital Media Co-ordinator to train everyone in producing content for this site, facebook etc and we've been actively using them since, but one area that could be improved was programming for that new audience.