Sunday, September 11, 2016

London

How a Kiwi can get to my age and have never made it to London before is beyond believe but there you have it.

Pleasure

I got to try out my new Koha Coat!
I stayed with my good mates Marty Pitt and Teresa O'Sullivan along with their adorable daughter Izzie who refused to give me a hug even after I left her a copy of Hairy McLary! Marty used to work at the Library many many years ago as an after-school student, along with Darren, who I also managed to catch up with while in London.

I was in London for the weekend and the Monday so we crammed as much into the time as we had. We visited the Tate Modern, Tate Britain (breathtaking), the British Museum, Victoria and Albert plus Hyde Park, Trafalgar Square, St Martins Square, Bloomsbury St, Bedford Sq, Belgravia and the West End and lord knows what else. Talk about a whistle stop tour! I seriously underestimated the time I would need to 'do' London!

Business

Sutton Hoo helmet at British Museum.
Nothing about Koha but a highlight of my visit.
I was sponsored for my London presentation by PTFS Europe and Catalsyt IT Europe which was such a delight. This aspect of vendors working in 'co-opetition' (cooperation and competition)  is one of the aspects of the Koha community which I really like.

PTFS  Europe are the 'good guys' and work very closely with the Koha community making significant contributions. A few PTFS clients were in attendance which was really nice but a highlight for me was meeting these good folk in person; people I knew only as names on mailing lists and irc meetings were now being met in the flesh.

It was small meeting in London being the first day back after the holidays but I thought it was very good. This tour is about meeting Koha community members as much as it is about the community and encouraging developers and librarians from every nation to get actively involved.

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