Very, very establishment

Today has been a busy RSE day, with the highlight being the reception of a VIP visitor to the building, to sign the fellowship roll (as a new Honorary Royal Fellow - you can see the RSE has quite a collection of autographs of other honorary fellows), to confer a royal medal and to view a range of activities amongst the huge range of things the Society does. I was particularly taken (as was the Lord Provost of Edinburgh, whom I sat next to for the second time in a few weeks - he was at the Polish-Scottish thing I was at in June) with a project engaging young people in Dumfries and Galloway on using insights from research to foster creative confidence and resilience. One thing is notable. The DoE managed a sustained effort to be interested in everything he was shown and seemed unassuming and relaxed, so was an easy guest for us to receive. As he left, a little crowd of Americans had gathered outside to take photos....he seemed to have quite a fan club. It was quite funny to see.

Later in the afternoon, together with fellow officers, the CEO and a facilitator, we did a deep "visioning" dive, which was very creative and constructive. Afterwards the CEO and I went for a quick drink. An exhausting, but rewarding day.