All the way to Galway

I've been invited to speak at IUISC - the Irish Universities Information Systems Colloquium Conference - in a few weeks time. The theme of the conference is the changing service environment, and I'm going to be talking about the changing way we offer services to students, including the Information Commons. The Conference is being held in Galway, and it 's slightly ironic really. I've never been to that part of Ireland, despite the fact that my Dad's family is from Ennis in County Clare which is not too far away. The last time I planned to go there was a few years ago when the IC was in it's final plannning stages. The architects had suggested cladding it in pre-patinated copper, and there was a lot of nervousness about - what would a bright green building look like? How would it weather and last? We were used to much more conservative buildings. So, the architects wanted to show us something similar -the Galway/Mayo Institute of Technology Learning Resource Centre had magnificent green "sails", and it was agreed that a small group would go and see it. I was in a car just pulling into Luton airport when my phone rang - it was the Registrar telling me that the funding for the project had been stopped, and I should get back to Sheffield asap. So, I never got there. But, a review was carried out, funding was agreed again, and the rest is history. At last I shall have the opportunity to see the award winning building - and tell them about ours.