{"id":13825,"date":"2026-06-14T19:13:30","date_gmt":"2026-06-14T19:13:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/?p=13825"},"modified":"2026-06-14T19:13:32","modified_gmt":"2026-06-14T19:13:32","slug":"weeknotes-381-conferences","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/2026\/06\/14\/weeknotes-381-conferences\/","title":{"rendered":"Weeknotes #381 \u2014 Conferences"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class='e-content'><span hidden class=\"__iawmlf-post-loop-links\" data-iawmlf-links=\"[{&quot;id&quot;:7309,&quot;href&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/www.evanta.com\\\/cio\\\/uk&quot;,&quot;archived_href&quot;:&quot;http:\\\/\\\/web-wp.archive.org\\\/web\\\/20260115172432\\\/https:\\\/\\\/www.evanta.com\\\/cio\\\/uk&quot;,&quot;redirect_href&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;checks&quot;:[{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-06-14 19:13:46&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:206}],&quot;broken&quot;:false,&quot;last_checked&quot;:{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-06-14 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19:14:37&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:206}],&quot;broken&quot;:false,&quot;last_checked&quot;:{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-06-14 19:14:37&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:206},&quot;process&quot;:&quot;done&quot;}]\"><\/span>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" src=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/DraggedImage-scaled.jpeg\" alt=\"An intriguing, ill-fitting door in the wall at Lancaster Gate tube station. Who knows what is hidden behind it?\" class=\"wp-image-13818\" srcset=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/DraggedImage-scaled.jpeg 2560w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/DraggedImage-300x225.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/DraggedImage-1024x768.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/DraggedImage-768x576.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/DraggedImage-1536x1152.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/DraggedImage-2048x1536.jpeg 2048w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/DraggedImage-700x525.jpeg 700w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><figcaption>An intriguing, ill-fitting door in the wall at Lancaster Gate tube station. Who knows what is hidden behind it?<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p>Two days in the office followed by two conferences, one in London and another in Sun City, South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1920\" height=\"2560\" src=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/DraggedImage-1-scaled.jpeg\" alt=\"The morning agenda for the Gartner UK &amp; Ireland CIO Community Executive Summit, 10 June 2026\" class=\"wp-image-13824\" srcset=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/DraggedImage-1-scaled.jpeg 1920w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/DraggedImage-1-225x300.jpeg 225w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/DraggedImage-1-768x1024.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/DraggedImage-1-1152x1536.jpeg 1152w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/DraggedImage-1-1536x2048.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/DraggedImage-1-525x700.jpeg 525w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\" \/><figcaption>The morning agenda for the Gartner UK &amp; Ireland CIO Community Executive Summit, 10 June 2026<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p>On Tuesday evening and all day Wednesday I attended the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.evanta.com\/cio\/uk\" title=\"Gartner UK &amp; Ireland CIO Community\">Gartner UK &amp; Ireland CIO Community<\/a> Executive Summit for the first time. Compared to other Gartner conferences, this one is very intimate, with only CIOs from the UK and Ireland in attendance. It was good to see some old faces and meet many new ones. As was true of <a href=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/2026\/04\/01\/weeknotes-370-i-dont-know-why\/\" title=\"Andrew Doran: Weeknotes #370: I Don\u2019t Know Why\">the CIO Leadership Forum in March<\/a>, the best slots were the roundtable sessions where people got to talk to each other. I wasn\u2019t as taken by the plenary sessions this time, and it didn\u2019t help that the venue was freezing cold for the whole day. Tuesday\u2019s dinner was a good way to start things off, chatting to other CIOs and hearing a conversation between Pooja Bagga, Group CIO at The Guardian, and Paul Dongha, Head of Responsible AI and AI Strategy at NatWest Group, about \u2014 surprise! \u2014 AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<p>As soon as the conference finished, I headed to Paddington Station to catch the train to Heathrow, and a flight to Johannesburg. One of my colleagues and friends picked me up from the airport on Thursday morning for the two-and-a-half-hour drive to <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Sun_City_(South_Africa)\" title=\"Wikipedia: Sun City (South Africa)\">Sun City<\/a>. I felt very looked after as she handed me an incredibly thoughtful bag full of snacks for the journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<p>It had been <a href=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/2025\/03\/25\/weeknotes-317-johannesburg\/\" title=\"Andrew Doran: Weeknotes #317 \u2014 Johannesburg\">over a year<\/a> since I was last in South Africa. Having worked in and around my Johannesburg-headquartered company for the past 17 years, I always feel a powerful sense of reconnection when I visit, both with colleagues and with the purpose of the organisation. The reason for this visit was to join our divisional Leadership Conference, being held over a couple of days at the resort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<p>On Thursday night we wandered down to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.suninternational.com\/sun-city\/restaurants\/shebeen\/\" title=\"Sun City: The Shebeen\">The Shebeen<\/a> to watch the opening game of the FIFA World Cup, where the South African team (known locally as <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/South_Africa_national_soccer_team\" title=\"Wikipedia: South Africa national soccer team\">Bafana Bafana<\/a>, which means \u2018the boys\u2019 or \u2018go boys\u2019) took on their Mexican hosts. There were so many people there that I hadn\u2019t seen in person for a long time. We gathered outside, eating a buffet dinner and shouting over the sound of the DJs before the match started. Unfortunately, things didn\u2019t go quite to plan, but that probably meant that people got to bed at a decent hour instead of celebrating all night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" src=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/DraggedImage-2-scaled.jpeg\" alt=\"Watching the South Africa vs Mexico FIFA World Cup game, 11 June 2026\" class=\"wp-image-13823\" srcset=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/DraggedImage-2-scaled.jpeg 2560w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/DraggedImage-2-300x225.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/DraggedImage-2-1024x768.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/DraggedImage-2-768x576.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/DraggedImage-2-1536x1152.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/DraggedImage-2-2048x1536.jpeg 2048w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/DraggedImage-2-700x525.jpeg 700w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><figcaption>Watching the South Africa vs Mexico FIFA World Cup game, 11 June 2026<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p>The conference itself was excellent. Our colleagues in South Africa really know how to put on a show, one that is distinctly African. We had a mixture of keynote addresses, panel interviews and insights about significant recent deals that our company had been pivotal in achieving. During the breaks, I kept bumping into even more old friends and colleagues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" src=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/DraggedImage-3-scaled.jpeg\" alt=\"Ren\u00e9 Carayol on stage at our conference.\" class=\"wp-image-13822\" srcset=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/DraggedImage-3-scaled.jpeg 2560w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/DraggedImage-3-300x225.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/DraggedImage-3-1024x768.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/DraggedImage-3-768x576.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/DraggedImage-3-1536x1152.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/DraggedImage-3-2048x1536.jpeg 2048w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/DraggedImage-3-700x525.jpeg 700w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><figcaption>Ren\u00e9 Carayol on stage at our conference.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p>Towards the end of the day, we were treated to a conversation between our Group CEO and the Chairman and CEO of a leading US bank, probably one of the most significant leaders in our industry. It was amazing to have him dial in for the discussion. It made me think how some of the conferences I\u2019ve been to bring in celebrities and sports personalities, but this always leaves me a little wanting; having someone on stage who is a significant person from one or both of the two areas I am involved in professionally \u2014 technology and banking \u2014 is always going to be more relevant and directly applicable to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<p>After an exercise-starved week, I managed to get up and out for a couple of laps of the 5 km track at the Gary Player golf course. It was very cold until the sun came up, and I was regretting not bringing any thin running gloves. But the area was stunningly beautiful, with mist rising from the lake and impala chasing each other across the course.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" src=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/DraggedImage-4-scaled.jpeg\" alt=\"Mist rising from the Sun City lake at dawn.\" class=\"wp-image-13821\" srcset=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/DraggedImage-4-scaled.jpeg 2560w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/DraggedImage-4-300x225.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/DraggedImage-4-1024x768.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/DraggedImage-4-768x576.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/DraggedImage-4-1536x1152.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/DraggedImage-4-2048x1536.jpeg 2048w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/DraggedImage-4-700x525.jpeg 700w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><figcaption>Mist rising from the Sun City lake at dawn.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" src=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/DraggedImage-5-scaled.jpeg\" alt=\"Impala watching me, somewhat judgingly, as I ran around the track.\" class=\"wp-image-13820\" srcset=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/DraggedImage-5-scaled.jpeg 2560w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/DraggedImage-5-300x225.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/DraggedImage-5-1024x768.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/DraggedImage-5-768x576.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/DraggedImage-5-1536x1152.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/DraggedImage-5-2048x1536.jpeg 2048w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/DraggedImage-5-700x525.jpeg 700w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><figcaption>Impala watching me, somewhat judgingly, as I ran around the track.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p>We then hopped on a coach for a ride back to Johannesburg. On both legs of the journey, it was fascinating to see parts of the country that I hadn\u2019t been through before. (Which, to be fair, is pretty much <em>everything<\/em> outside of the metropolitan area of Johannesburg.) I left the conference feeling connected, happy that I work for an organisation filled with such friendly and talented people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" src=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/DraggedImage-6-scaled.jpeg\" alt=\"Ebenezer Driving School, Lekgalong, seen from the coach as we passed.\" class=\"wp-image-13819\" srcset=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/DraggedImage-6-scaled.jpeg 2560w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/DraggedImage-6-300x225.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/DraggedImage-6-1024x768.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/DraggedImage-6-768x576.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/DraggedImage-6-1536x1152.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/DraggedImage-6-2048x1536.jpeg 2048w, https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/DraggedImage-6-700x525.jpeg 700w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><figcaption>Ebenezer Driving School, Lekgalong, seen from the coach as we passed.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p>This was a week in which I:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\t<li>Met with the project manager for a security infrastructure change to review the issues and actions log for the work. We took advantage of having people in the office to pull in our CTO to answer some of the more technical questions. It was a great session, making extensive use of the whiteboard; it would have been much more difficult if everyone had been working from home.<\/li>\n\t<li>Had a separate meeting on the same topic with our Head of Infrastructure and Operations to discuss and agree next steps.<\/li>\n\t<li>Joined the quarterly governance review meeting for a key contract that we have with our sister company.<\/li>\n\t<li>Met with colleagues on the disability-focused stream from our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion forum to catch up with where we are and what our to-do list looks like for the remainder of the year.<\/li>\n\t<li>Received draft feedback from an internal audit.<\/li>\n\t<li>Met with another potential vendor for our team offsite next month to brief them on our requirements and understand more about what they offer.<\/li>\n\t<li>Had our monthly departmental operational risk review meeting.<\/li>\n\t<li>Made some configuration changes to <a href=\"https:\/\/tailscale.com\" title=\"Tailscale\">Tailscale<\/a> running on my NAS drive, <a href=\"https:\/\/mallibone.com\/post\/tailscale-qnap\" title=\"Mark Allibone: Setting up Tailscale on your QNAP NAS\">setting it up<\/a> so that I can use it as an exit node and configuring it to use my two <a href=\"https:\/\/pi-hole.net\" title=\"Pi-hole\">Pi-holes<\/a> as DNS servers. I can now VPN back to my house and benefit from ad blocking wherever I am in the world.<\/li>\n\t<li>Welcomed my wife back home after a long weekend away. It was a shame we would only be together for two evenings before it was my turn to head out of the country.<br><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Media<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Video<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\t<li>Watched Spike Lee\u2019s <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0097216\/\" title=\"IMDB: Do the Right Thing (1989)\">Do the Right Thing<\/a><\/em> (1989) for the first time. It is excellent; funny and profound. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=RzjrmRMsuhU\" title=\"YouTube: Critic Picks: Spike Lee's Iconic Opening Title Sequence | Do The Right Thing 4k\">opening credits<\/a>, where Rosie Perez dances to Public Enemy\u2019s <em><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Fight_the_Power_(Public_Enemy_song)\" title=\"Wikipedia: Fight the Power (Public Enemy song)\">Fight the Power<\/a><\/em>, are hypnotic. They seemed familiar; maybe MTV showed this sequence at the time as opposed to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=mmo3HFa2vjg\" title=\"YouTube: Channel ZERO: Public Enemy - Fight The Power (Official Music Video)\">official music video<\/a>. Checking out Letterboxd reviews is usually good fun after watching a movie, but this time they really made me think. If you\u2019ve seen the film, <a href=\"https:\/\/boxd.it\/1bTLjh\" title=\"Wesley Stenzel\u2019s review of Do The Right Thing (1989) on Letterboxd\">Wesley Stenzel<\/a>\u2019s and <a href=\"https:\/\/boxd.it\/17E6sV\" title=\"Penny\u2019s review of Do The Right Thing on Letterboxd\">Penny<\/a>\u2019s reviews are worth reading. Aside from the themes of the film, I couldn\u2019t help thinking how much the mass adoption of smartphones has taken away the everyday business of socialising with strangers. This point came up later in the week at our internal leadership conference too. I think I\u2019m going to try to make an effort to keep my phone in my pocket when I\u2019m out and about.<br><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Web<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\t<li><a href=\"https:\/\/profmusgrave.github.io\/anotherday\/\" title=\"Another day closer to the end.\">Another day closer to the end.<\/a> Put your birthday in and behold.<br><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Next week:<\/strong> Johannesburg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<a href=\"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/2026\/06\/14\/weeknotes-381-conferences\/\" rel=\"bookmark\" title=\"Permalink to Weeknotes #381 \u2014 Conferences\"><div class='e-content p-summary'>Two days in the office followed by two conferences, one in London and another in Sun City, South Africa. On Tuesday evening and all day Wednesday I attended the Gartner UK &amp; Ireland CIO Community Executive Summit for the first time. Compared to other Gartner conferences, this one is very intimate, with only CIOs from [&hellip;]<\/div>\n<\/a>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"webmentions_disabled_pings":false,"webmentions_disabled":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"activitypub_content_warning":"","activitypub_content_visibility":"","activitypub_max_image_attachments":3,"activitypub_interaction_policy_quote":"anyone","activitypub_status":"federated","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[35],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-13825","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-weeknotes","7":"h-entry","9":"hentry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":9173,"url":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/2022\/07\/04\/weeknotes-175-a-deep-breath-and-an-open-mind\/","url_meta":{"origin":13825,"position":0},"title":"Weeknotes #175 \u2014 A deep breath and an open mind","author":"Andrew Doran","date":"4 July 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"An amazing week, completely dominated by our annual Investors\u2019 Conference which we hosted in our London office. For the first time in over two years I didn\u2019t spend a single day working from home. For the three days of the conference I had to be at my desk by 7:30am.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Weeknotes&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Weeknotes","link":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/category\/weeknotes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/DraggedImage-1-scaled.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/DraggedImage-1-scaled.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/DraggedImage-1-scaled.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/DraggedImage-1-scaled.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/DraggedImage-1-scaled.jpeg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/DraggedImage-1-scaled.jpeg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6942,"url":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/2021\/02\/21\/weeknotes-104-anniversary-album\/","url_meta":{"origin":13825,"position":1},"title":"Weeknotes #104 \u2014 Anniversary album","author":"Andrew Doran","date":"21 February 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"A short week, as I took Friday as holiday to spend some time with the boys and my wife during their half term holiday. For the four days I was working I couldn\u2019t shake a general feeling of malaise, and that I and everyone around me is treading water as\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Weeknotes&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Weeknotes","link":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/category\/weeknotes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/DraggedImage-3-scaled.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/DraggedImage-3-scaled.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/DraggedImage-3-scaled.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/DraggedImage-3-scaled.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/DraggedImage-3-scaled.jpeg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/DraggedImage-3-scaled.jpeg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":10297,"url":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/2023\/08\/07\/weeknotes-232-70th\/","url_meta":{"origin":13825,"position":2},"title":"Weeknotes #232 \u2014 70th","author":"Andrew Doran","date":"7 August 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"My lovely dad (who I know reads these weeknotes \u2014 hello dad \ud83d\udc4b) turned 70 this week. On Saturday we headed to my aunt\u2019s house \u2014 she also hit 70 this year \u2014 for a double birthday celebration. The weather on our drive down was atrocious with torrential storms and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Weeknotes&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Weeknotes","link":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/category\/weeknotes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/20230806_220112.gif?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/20230806_220112.gif?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/20230806_220112.gif?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9164,"url":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/2022\/06\/26\/weeknotes-174-ready-made-dough\/","url_meta":{"origin":13825,"position":3},"title":"Weeknotes #174 \u2014 Ready-made dough","author":"Andrew Doran","date":"26 June 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Crazy busy. We entered our final few days ahead of our annual conference, to be held in our office next week. I have never been involved to this extent before. For this kind of event, I suspect that no matter how much run-up we have had there will always be\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Weeknotes&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Weeknotes","link":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/category\/weeknotes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/DraggedImage-3-2.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/DraggedImage-3-2.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/DraggedImage-3-2.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/DraggedImage-3-2.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9156,"url":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/2022\/06\/19\/weeknotes-173-table-top\/","url_meta":{"origin":13825,"position":4},"title":"Weeknotes #173 \u2014 Table top","author":"Andrew Doran","date":"19 June 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"As wonderful as it was to go away for the weekend, I felt a little devastated on Monday. The weekend of cycling didn\u2019t look that dramatic on paper but it took its toll, and I found it to be an effort to string coherent sentences together. I\u2019d felt ill on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Weeknotes&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Weeknotes","link":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/category\/weeknotes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"I go past this bus stop every day when I walk to my office. It looks like it is not long for this world, but somebody wants to keep it open.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/DraggedImage-9-scaled.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/DraggedImage-9-scaled.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/DraggedImage-9-scaled.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/DraggedImage-9-scaled.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/DraggedImage-9-scaled.jpeg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/DraggedImage-9-scaled.jpeg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7252,"url":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/2021\/04\/26\/weeknotes-113-st-georges\/","url_meta":{"origin":13825,"position":5},"title":"Weeknotes #113 \u2014 St George\u2019s","author":"Andrew Doran","date":"26 April 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"The weekend was so busy that I didn\u2019t get a chance to write up my weeknotes until Monday. Once again it felt like a heck of a lot of meetings, with any spare time focused on getting things over the line. I struggled to prioritise work for school and have\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Weeknotes&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Weeknotes","link":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/category\/weeknotes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/DraggedImage-1-3.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/DraggedImage-1-3.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/DraggedImage-1-3.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/DraggedImage-1-3.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/DraggedImage-1-3.jpeg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13825","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13825"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13825\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13826,"href":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13825\/revisions\/13826"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13825"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13825"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13825"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}