It also makes me think about the report that Stonewall released today, Unseen On Screen. That came to the not very surprising (if methodologically flawed) conclusion that gay men and lesbians talking about gay and lesbian issues positively were under-represented on the TV programmes most watched by young people.

Hmmm, sure, but I wonder if that is the point. Just as the video above highlights the importance of women in films not only appearing, but being presented as whole people with whole lives, surely it’s not a question simply of the appearance or not of gay men and lesbians on TV. And certainly not that they appear to be talking about things which Stonewall thinks concern gay men and lesbians. Surely, a real test of whether gay men and lesbians are represented on TV appropriately, is that they can appear on all sorts of TV shows, and not talk about gay and lesbian issues. There are all sorts of examples of this every day, from the news to sports programmes, from drama to soaps, from reality shows to game shows.

I’m sure the teenagers interviewed were genuine in their belief that gay people on TV need to talk about gay things, but I wonder why Stonewall didn’t challenge this perception of what being gay means?

So, I’ve uncoupled Facebook and Twitter. Partly this is because my use of Facebook is changing, becoming less about broadcasting news and more about keeping in touch. Consequently, having Twitter post every update to my Facebook wall was annoying to me, and annoying to my friends, especially though who object to @twitter #punctuation.

I’ve also slimmed down and simplified the theme I was using for this blog. Having let my blog languish for a while, I’d given it a lick of paint with the quite beautiful The Morning After magazine-style theme, which I loved, and still love. The only problem is that it is difficult to keep updated, partly because of the hassle of featured posts, special icons and multiple categories. All a bit difficult to manage, especially if you want to blog on the fly, which I often do. I realised that overcomplicating the delivery mechanism had actually stopped me doing any writing, because it was all to complex.

This new BlogTheme, also via the fantastic Woo Themes, is easy to use and well designed. I’ll make a couple of tweaks when I get round to it – like the fact that the logo top right isn’t a clickable link back to the homepage – but it will do more than adequately for now.

The website was developed for the Nursing and Midwifery Council, and I took a lead role in the information architecture, concepts and overall look and feel, as well as ensuring that my team, who will be responsible for it in the long term, took a lead role in content migration. Given the significant changes in IA, migration wasn’t a straight transfer, but in many cases a total rewrite. And, now we’re live, the whole thing is my baby to look after. Or beast to tame, depending on your point of view.

Just a few days since go live may be too soon to reflect properly on the project, but, based on my experience, here are my top ten tips for anyone embarking on a web development project for a large organisation:

1. Be clear about what you want to achieve

For anyone familiar with Prince2 project management, I’m not talking about having a good project charter. It’s about having a coherent vision of where you’re going and what it will look like when you do. There are no right or wrong answers to how you achieve that, but basically everyone involved in the project needs to be able to tell the same story. Frankly, we wasted some time at the beginning because it took a while to come to that share view of the world.

2. Get, and maintain, buy-in

In a world of stakeholders, everyone has something to say. Those opinions are fairly easy to capture at the start of the project, but if you are doing anything that’s going to take any time at all, those people are going to change. For reasons that are too dull to go in to, this web development project lived through four chief executives. Maintaining buy-in was a significant challenge.

3. Put together the right team

Even a relatively simple website needs a range of specialist skills. Specialist skills come attached to people who might or might not get along, but the project won’t work unless people see eye to eye. We were fortunate in having a team of people working for the project who (most of the time) got on, respected each others’ opinions and worked well together.

4. Don’t be a slave to project methodology

Understanding how to fill in the paperwork that goes with Prince2 doesn’t make you a good project manager. It makes you good a filling in paperwork. Most importantly, you need to…

5. Get the right project manager

Ideally, this person will be obsessive in their devotion to getting the project delivered.  Again, as with the project team, we were very lucky to find someone who could deliver.

6. Learn to compromise

I didn’t get everything I wanted out of the website development. I still have a long list of things to do at some point. But by focusing on what we needed, rather than what I wanted, we got a new website. Compromise is a good thing.

7. Learn not to compromise

Compromise is also a bad thing. There’s a fine line between having a vision and being stubborn, and I hope I stayed on the right side of that line. Most of the time.

8. Don’t design by committee

In fact, don’t do anything by committee. Participation is a good thing, and it has its place when you are pulling together ideas. But if at any point you think you might need to do something quickly (and you will), work out in advance who gets to decide what. It will save you from a world of endless meetings.

9. Nurture your talent

A project is a good opportunity to do things for the first time. If I have one big regret about the way the project worked out, it’s that we didn’t capitalise more on those opportunities, by giving key team members more of a chance to try things out.

10. Expect it to go wrong

Goes without saying really. But most of all, expect it all to go spectacularly wrong at the last minute, and make sure you have a good back out plan if it does. We didn’t need ours in the end. But you never know.

And then I started to see what magazine publishers were thinking of doing with it. I love magazines, and the thought that I could not only browse, but interact, flick and share, made me think again. Being able to get more out of my favourite magazines (like the wonderful Wired) seemed irresistible. There’s something so intuitive about being able to manipulate data, images, sounds and text just through the interaction of your fingertips and a screen. Typing is a complex learnt behaviour, but simply touching is easy. Easy enough that a child can do it. Easy enough that you don’t need to think.

And maybe that’s the problem. I’ve got no particular problem with easy – and don’t get me wrong, I love touch screen technology – but I do have a problem with not needing to think. There’s something about the world of Apple that ties down creativity and thought at the same time that it proclaims that it enhances creativity and thought. You can be creative and thinking in the world of Apple, but really only within the bounds of the technology that you’re given. But enough of my rambling. Cory Doctorow puts it much better than me:

If you want to live in the creative universe where anyone with a cool idea can make it and give it to you to run on your hardware, the iPad isn’t for you.
via Why I won’t buy an iPad (and think you shouldn’t, either) – Boing Boing.

Still, seriously, it’s way too dark. One woman I was there with walked into the gents loo because she couldn’t see the sign on the door. That’s atmosphere for you.

The enormous Buddha in the middle of the restaurant is stunning. I’m sure it’s the lighting, but his eyes follow you round the room. I can’t help but wonder what he’d think about the conspicuous consumption going on under his nose. I hope he’d think that pannacotta and sorbet is part of the path to enlightenment. I certainly did!

The hustings were chaired by Ben Summerskill, who did an excellent job, happily bringing each of the elected politicians in to line with jokes about their expenses. I say each of the elected politicians, because there was a late addition from the Green Party, a local candidate from East London on his first foray into national politics. And given the circumstances, I think he did well.

Chris Bryant MP kicked off for the Labour Party. He avoided the usual litany of Labour achievements related to LGB rights, and instead focused on the challenges: tackling homophobic bullying in school, combating hate related violence and persuading EU states to recognise UK civil partnerships. Moving on to say that “the days when people voted according to their sexual preference are gone”, he stated that he thought the key issue in election, whether gay or straight, was the economy.

Lynne Featherstone MP came next for the Liberal Democrats. Having been chided by Ben Summerskill for the two pasta ready meals she claimed on expenses back in 2007 (she claims they were dinner for a researcher) she set out a strong case for her party, saying they were “liberal through and through, and not just at elections” and that at the heart of their policies was the idea that “no-one shall be enslaved by conformity”. As their lead for equalities issues, she clearly had a strong grasp on her portfolio, tackling a wide range of issues including transphobia, gender identity and the ban on gay men giving blood. She took a little while to get round to talking about the economy, but her description of Vince ‘Walk On Water’ Cable raised a laugh in the room.

Nick Herbert MP was up next for the Conservatives. His opening gambit was about his own civil partnership, which was held in the register office at Lambeth Town Hall in Brixton, as he said with “plastic flowers in the room and dog shit on the pavement.” And he went on to talk at length, and with some passion, about the changes in the Conservative Party. He had some interesting observations, saying that if the Tories win with a majority of just one, they would have more openly gay politicians in Parliament than any other party. He talked about an aspiration that all political parties should be a safe place for a gay vote, and hoped that there would be genuine bi-partisan consensus. And on the subject of homophobic bullying, he made a call for “leadership not law.”

And finally, our only unelected politician, Chris Smith who is standing for the Greens in Tower Hamlets. Surprisingly, he touched only briefly on the the Greens’ strong LGBT manifesto, and instead focused on broader green concerns, around the environment, consumerism, living standards and housing.

So that was the opening gambits over and done with. Questions at hustings are always more interesting though, as they get the politicians off the script and more off the cuff. The stand out exchange of the evening came between Chris Bryant and Ben Summerskill, in response to an audience question about the role of Rupert Murdoch.

Chris Bryant: Some time I ago, I met Rupert Murdoch, and I have to say he is the most casually violent person I’ve ever met.

Ben Summerskill: Even more than Gordon Brown?

[laughter from the audience]

Chris Bryant: If you think there’s anything casual about Gordon’s violence, you really know nothing.

So, what did I learn from the evening. I’d gone in to the event thinking seriously about voting Green, but Chris Smith’s comment about Peter Tatchell being on the right wing of the party has made me think twice about their economics. Chris Bryant seemed tetchy and humourless for much of the evening, and seemed genuinely disappointed that his attempts at Tory bashing were falling on largely deaf ears in the room. Lynne Featherstone seemed lovely, and someone you’d definitely want to share a bottle of wine with. But the real surprise of the evening was Nick Herbert. While by no means a heart on his sleeve gay activist, he was engaging, passionate and well informed. And yet, I’m left with a nagging fear that all the talk of the Conservatives having changed might come to nothing.

I’m entering this election as a floating but engaged voter. I want my vote to count for something, but this evening has left me no clearer about where my vote should go. Ben Summerskill closed the evening by saying that he was waiting for the manifestos, which he would read in private, and vote accordingly. I think that might just be a wise move.

I’m not an accurate cook (I actually don’t own kitchen scales) so everything is fairly approximate.

Mulled wine jelly
Mulled wine jelly started with good mulled wine. We had friends round the Sunday before Christmas and I think I made something approaching twelve litres of the stuff before we finished. My mulled wine started off with

• A box of red wine (one of the three litre boxes)
• A small bottle of brandy (it all went in – in retrospect that may have been a mistake – wow!)
• An orange studded with cloves
• Two more oranges and two lemons roughly sliced
• Some sugar
• Some allspice
• and some cinnamon

By the time we got to the end of the mulled wine it was a lot more red wine than brandy and the fruit had been simmering away for a good four or five hours. Anyhow, to make the mulled wine jelly I took just over a pint of the cooled mulled wine, mixed with about the same quantity of orange juice, added some sugar to taste – the wine had got very clovey by this stage and it needed counteracting – and then warmed it all gently in a pan. I added twelve sheets of already soaked gelatine, stirred until it was dissolved and then poured into a big glass dish. It took about four hours to set in the fridge.

Christmas pudding icecream
Even without an icecream maker, this was possibly the easiest and richest pudding I’ve ever made. It was actually far too rich the way I made it, so if I were making it again, it would contain

• A small tub of single cream
• A larger tub of ready made custard (about twice as big)
• A quarter of a large luxury Christmas pudding
• Some nutmeg, cinnamon and sugar
• A big glug of Baileys

I started by cooking the Christmas pudding. It was ready made and just popped in the microwave. When I made the icecream first time round, I used about half the pudding but really it was too much. A quarter would have been fine. Once it had cooled down, I crumbled it and set it to one side. The cream was whipped and folded into the custard and then the Christmas pudding, spices and sugar were mixed in. Finally I added big glug of Baileys and stirred.

It all went into the freezer, mixed up with a fork about four hours later than back in the freezer until completely solid. It needed to come out about 20 minutes before serving to be soft enough to serve.

Q I came out as a lesbian to myself and my friends last year and am just getting used to it. I’ve been dating a girl for a month and she’s dropping hints that we should spend more time together. It’s too soon for me to get serious – how do I let her down gently? Anon

My reader’s reply was the first published. Strangely like commenting on a blog but actually appearing in print, which is satisfying.

A One of the great things about coming out is the rush of emotions, like puberty all over again but without the spots! There’s no hurry to settle down. Be honest with yourself that you’re happier enjoying the “teenage” rollercoaster for now, and tell her how you feel. Andy

It’s not the best thing I’ve ever written. Wildly swinging metaphors, gratuitous punctuation and lack of pace. But published with my name at the end.

The first half of the morning’s plenary was comprehensive in its scene setting for the UK and international health context and the role that social marketing plays. After an introductory video from UK health minister Dawn Primarolo, Angela McNab (director of public health, performance and delivery at the Department of Health England) spoke about how social marketing helps people make the changes they want to make. She talked on the need for good social marketing to be based in good research, and pointed to the launch of a one stop research shop for social marketers next summer. She was followed by Philip Kotler (marketing god… not sure if there’s a more appropriate job title) who gave a presentation provocatively titled “Reducing poverty through social marketing”. If I was in any doubt that marketing was going to save the world, Philip Kotler was extremely persuasive. He set out a series of principles in social marketing, namely

• framing the problem
• segmenting the market
• targeting segments where the most good can be accomplished
• determining desired behaviours
• developing strategies using all four tools in the marketing toolbox
• and finally monitoring and evaluating results

As a sideline, the four Ps themselves have been under much discussion, particularly on the sidelines of the conference, with lots of talk on whether they provide a robust and comprehensive framework. Anyhow, as much as Kotler’s talk was an exposition of the great work done my many social marketers internationally to help people raise themselves out of poverty – the example of Mechai Viravaidya, Thailand’s “condom king”, sticks in my mind – it was also a clear call to action to us as marketers. As he said

Social marketers with compassion with ask “What do you need?” and “What will help?”

Broadening the context even further, Sameer Deshpande talked about the history and context of social marketing in Asia, particularly in south Asia, reminding us that marketing is not education, nor is social marketing social networking. Sudha Tewari ended the first half of the morning’s plenary with a reminder of the real life impact of social marketing in the Indian context. With 5.5 million unwanted children born every year and 6.7 million unsafe abortions, condom marketing has never been more important, and her organisation is leading the way.

The second half of the plenary (after a very well deserved coffee) saw Nancy Lee take the stage with four real life examples of the four Ps in practice, looking at tobacco cessation, littering, HIV testing and… using flags to cross the road. I can’t begin to imagine that British people would even begin to think about carrying a flag across the road, but the benefits in road safety were clear. What was most striking from Nancy’s presentation was the enormous cultural difference between the UK and US – and it certainly is a reminder to challenge my assumptions that I understand the context in which I’m working. Driven by real consumer understanding and deep research, Nancy’s examples showed how powerful the four Ps could be in shaping meaningful social marketing programmes.

The afternoon’s highlight for me was Katherine Lyon Daniel (from the US’s national centre for health marketing at CDC). I heard her speak twice, once on the context of health marketing in the US and the other on her centre’s work on autism. She was inspiring. In her first talk, she challenged us to take a long view, and talked about a native American saying that

In every deliberation we must consider the impact on the seventh generation.

She talked too about how consumers were overwhelmed with information, how we needed to ensure that health information, like Coca Cola, was “within an arms reach of desire” and she set out four principles for social marketing, drawn from her centre’s mission statement. She said that it should be

• Accessible – ensuring we address issues of the digital divide and health literacy
• Accurate – stressing the need for us to document research and outcomes and build our body of knowledge as a profession
• Relevant – needing to understand audiences and undertake appropriate research, and finally
• Timely – again, going back to the concept of information being within “arms reach of desire”

That’s it for now. About to start day two in earnest!