What have you done lately?

I think it’s fair to say, I’ve been a little busy recently…

The other day I looked out at my poor old garden and thought “I must plant something, add some colour. Now spring (or summer) has finally reached Scotland, it’s time”…

Well… that had to wait a little longer because if I was going to be in any fit state for the next day, I needed to rest.

Having worked the previous 3 weekends, I needed to put my feet up. After all, those feet of mine were going to be important for the events of the next day…

The Edinburgh Half Marathon

On Sunday 30th May, I woke up semi-refreshed and ready to run in the Edinburgh Half Marathon.

It was a virtual event, though the running was still very real. Organised so several thousand people could run their own race, wherever they wanted, in a socially distanced way. And sure enough, there were lots of us out on the streets …running …encouraging each other along.

I’m getting slightly ahead of myself though, with my dodgy knee (old injury) and injured shoulder (new injury ) taped up by my husband Michael, aka “chief supporter, water station coordinator and coach”, I was ready to go.

Due to Edinburgh’s infamous sea mist, the promised blazing sunshine never materialised – which actually meant the weather was perfect for running.

And the run was great, I almost hit my best time…

However, don’t get over-excited, it’s not fast!

I came to running late so I’m now grouped in the veteran class. But hey, “veteran and proud”!

At times, it was a little lonely (particularly at the 20th out of the 21.09km), but mostly it was lovely running past other runners coming the other way, or more likely being passed by faster runners, sharing a cheer or a smile…

In a round about way, that run was just the warm-up act for the Great North Run later in the year. For both of the runs, I am running for a charity close to my heart, MIND. To quote their website:

“We provide advice and support to empower anyone experiencing a mental health problem. We campaign to improve services, raise awareness and promote understanding. We won’t give up until everyone experiencing a mental health problem gets support and respect.”

MIND – www.mind.org.uk

As I’m sure you agree, following the last 18 months their services are needed by a great many people. So if you want to support them and me, please check out my JustGiving page at…

www.justgiving.com/fundraising/linda-christon-parker3

And then there’s that other thing I squeezed in…

BALIFE2021
The BA Learning and Innovation ‘festival in a day’

So fresh from my run on Sunday, literally, on Sunday afternoon what did I do? …put my aching feet up to relax? …do my favourite things? …have a nice G&T? …eat Maltesers?

Of course not! We still had our spectacular event to get out in four days time and a dress rehearsal was scheduled for that very afternoon!

So, slightly wobbly and a little tired, I joined the call for an excellent guided tour of the BALIFE platform and the final checklist of what the whole BALIFE team and our IIBA Scottish Branch committee members (who kindly jumped in to help on the day) would be doing.

And we were good to go….

Well, almost.

There were of course a few last-minute things to do… there always are with any big project. But, after 2 years of planning and organising, we were in the final few days before going live with our event. BALIFE was something we’d dreamed about for a long time and the year’s delay thanks to COVID and lockdown, nothing was going to stop us making it a success.

I’d love to tell you what happened between that Sunday and Wednesday evening, but to be honest it’s a bit of a blur! We were adding the polishing bits to the virtual platform, finalising video recordings, checking everything ran ok. And thanks to a flurry of ticket sales in the last few days, adding yet more delegates as we went.

Inevitably, there were a few last-minute hiccups!

For example… almost all of Wednesday was spent sorting out a totally unexpected issue with the supposed ‘automated’ emails that provided the all-important delegate login keys.

(Quick short out for Ben Warr: Huge thanks to you for manually sending out many, MANY emails. You saved the day!)

Whilst doing this, and as all committee members are volunteers, we were also doing our day jobs as Business Analysts throughout the whole time.

And of course, life/work being the wonderful things that they are, it’s always the case that work becomes extremely busy when life is already extremely hectic!

So, Wednesday…

To get away for a bit, and thanks to a much needed relaxation of Covid rules, we went out to meet some friends for a few hours. It was a really welcome break.

As you would expect, the subject of conversation inevitably turned to BALIFE.

And as we talked about it, well, it made me quite proud: Explaining what we’d done …how the presentations had come together …how fantastic they all looked …how amazing all of the speakers were …how great the sponsor sites looked …how popular our (previously unknown and inaugural) event had proven to be with so many attendees. And, of course, how brilliant and supportive the committee was …particularly my main partner-in-crime Julia Newell.

Wednesday was a late night – and not because of sharing a few drinks with aforementioned friends. Nope, we came home and then spent a few hours working on BALIFE! …tidying up the platform, making sure it was perfect for the next day. I say “we”, because the other big support was my husband Michael, who helped out with so much, from technical issues to design.

And then…

Thursday. BALIFE day!

Before we knew it, the frenetic fun of the day was quickly upon us, with the presentations and chat all in full swing. With people enjoying the talks and asking great questions, social media was buzzing with #BALIFE.

We had a ‘selfie’ competition …and a beautiful dog called “Roamer” won! Clever dog! Good girl!

And then, as quickly as it started, it was suddenly the end of the day …with a smile on their face and glass of gin in their hand thanks to the post-event Gin tasting!

The closing talk was made by Gavin Ross, both committee member and a director of IIBA. During which he thanked everyone involved from the sponsors and speakers to the committee members and volunteers helping on the day …and of course, the all-important attendees.

It was truly an amazing day …and what a buzz!!

“Thank you”

It’s such a small phrase and sometimes doesn’t seem enough for all the effort and support given. And yet, it’s perhaps one of the most important phrases we ever learn.

And in the case of BALIFE it is HUGE …so a big THANK YOU goes out to EVERYONE involved.

Oh …and I’ll see you at BALIFE2022!