Making Lists

As I write this, the office is covered in bits of paper of differing colours, questions and answers are being hurled back and forth, Orla is checking the data base, Hester is staring intently at her spreadsheets of delegates and hoping that divine intervention will make some bits of information appear, Mark is industriously sending final emails and checking speaker biography sheets, Chris (he is our marvellous man with the money in case you were wondering) is issuing invoices with the speed of summer lightning, and I am staring at the whiteboard, dry erase pens in hand like a twitchy western gun-slinger looking to cross things off The List.

The List is how today has happened. If it's not on The List, it hasn't been done. What terrifies me at the moment is the things that i have forgotten to put on The List. There is an enormous amount of printing still to be done (conference can only be so green) delegates are still booking on (though that will stop tonight) and phone calls are still being made. It is a well oiled machine, though the machine doesn't quite know what to make at the moment. Talking of well oiled machines (were we? -Ed) there was an omen this morning when Keith's scooter coughed its gear-box all over Balham High Road. But not one to look for evil portents of doom, it was hurriedly pushed into a side road, parked and the tube took the strain and allowed me a more or less timely journey to Rupert Street and since then, its fair to say, the day has got better.

The List also contains "things to pack" which is office based I am forced to say, rather than a reminder to do some washing. Inevitably things have been missed of this list too, but luckily there is time to correct this rather agregious oversight, and Monday morning will dawn bright and all to soon and the highlighted strip on my planner that I have stared at since I joined ABO last April will finally be here. The List says, "Monday is Conference Week"

KSM