A Call to Arms
I'd like to bring you up to date with future plans for this blog, as well as the challenges and solutions in the months ahead.
There are indeed many challenges to be faced. I look around and see a lot of broken morale at the moment. People are worried about the future and with good reason. No matter how tough or self-sufficient we fancy ourselves to be, our future depends on the opportunities others give to us. At some point, we will need a break to make it, and people around me are wondering if that break will ever come. They are in good company!
Lack of opportunity is an old story. I've heard it before as I'm sure you have in the 1980's, the 1990's. Even in the 00's, it was a hard fight to secure a place at a good company on graduation. That may be how life goes, but too many of the people I know are unhappy precisely because they missed a vital opportunity sometime in the past, or because they never felt they did anything with their life. We are all in danger of making this mistake.
The problem is that we are all focused on the wrong thing. Technology is the focus of our development: how sophisticated iphones can be, how fast we can make our broadband, how many features or apps can we enable on Facebook? And so on. It is easy to think that because of Facebook, Twitter and other social media, we are all interconnected, but people thought that with the invention of the telephone. We are forgetting that technology is only as good as the people who are using it.
If used to assist a well connected group of individuals, technology forms the icing on the cake. But as on stage, something has to be there in the fist place for the microphones, the costumes, the lighting and the make up to modify. We should remember, that despite all the progress of our technology, there is still unemployment, unequal development, and great social tensions to cure.
The challenge I believe lies not in connecting people: as this has already been made possible by our social media. No, the challenge will be to rebuild members and Alumni's awareness that they can make a difference. So many know more about performance and production than I have learned in a lifetime, and yet so many I speak to are doubtful that they have anything of value to offer.
This isn't modesty, but a fallout of the recession. Funding has been slashed, jobs destroyed, and industry crippled. In a world that's falling apart, it seems harder and harder to believe you can change anything. People must be able to rebuild their self-esteem first and it is my hope, that by being taken seriously, they can at last gain recognition for their achievements: something that is lost all too easily in the turbulent world of the workplace.
At this very moment, someone is filling out job application forms by the dozen, hoping they'll get a yes. Someone else is at a function, smiling through gritted teeth and shaking hands, hoping to make that vital networking connection. And finally, a third person is sitting at home, retired, or perhaps less active than most, with a world of knowledge in their head.
While I don't claim to have all the answers, one solution seems to be: invite all these people round the same table and let's discuss the issues. Countless fellow bloggers have done the same in other industries, so for our part, let us unlock the knowledge of all parties involved, and tap into 25 years of experience. This may not create jobs outright, but will lead to new ways of thinking, which in turn, will mean new developments. Information is a very effective tool, not to be underestimated. My former employer, Shop Direct Home Shopping Ltd., have studied and used vast amounts of it, through customers' opinions and feedback from media from blogs and networks like this, to create billions of dollars in revenue.
If all 600 or so GMTGers, past and present, came together now to discuss and debate the issues, the results would be amazing. This isn't something that can happen sometime in the near future. It is happening, even as I write. The ground swell for change is indicated by the massive growth in GMTG Birmingham's Facebook networks; in the groundbreaking community projects they are involved in, and the careers that Alumni have made for themselves. The blog is for the discussion stage of the process. Eventually, some kind of formal apprenticeship programme will come into being. The society is moving in this direction even now. At the very least, if members and Alumni were to network at a professional level, this will make people's lives easier and allow a few the chance to live their dream.
Once again, I remind members and Alumni reading this, that this is no chat room. The blog is, in effect, like an online magazine of sorts, and should be treated as such. In time, it will need a dedicted team of Alumni and currrent members to run it. The posts on this blog are scrutinised by a global audience of fellow academics, and businesspeople, looking for potential ideas and investments. You can and will be taken seriously here. Make your mark and the world will see it.
Work for the business sector has shown me that you need to be decisive and have a long term plan (or 'strategy' as it is often called), and I have therefore a plan of sorts to put into action in the coming months. But, it is equally important for us to think, as well as do. We need to reflect on ideas and consider different ways of thinking. Academics I've known have spent a long time debating the issues in many topics. Business professionals often undertake development projects to the same end. Whatever their methods, I invite both Alumni and current members to contribute to this process.
In the coming months, I will build and expand upon the Alumni contingent of the blog, in readiness for the University's new semester. When this arrives, I will then extend invites to current members, and together, we should reach a consensus on the rules of due process for the network. It will take time for them to realise how this blog differs from other social media, but let's remember who the members and Alumni of this society are. They are all highly competent, self-motivated individuals, who are on the look out for networking opportunities like this one. To quote a principle of my former employer, Worcestershire County Council, 'the people are the best assets.' They know what they're doing and it is their experience and skill that will make this network something far more. A great many are involved in projects of their own, and as a resource, this blog will serve them well.
There are certain key moments in life where we have the chance to make a difference.
This is one of them.
Let us make this moment count, for one and for all.
James Mcgarry,
(aka 'The Secretary')
Founder and Alumnus
