IOM government conference

[Non-Believer]

10 hours ago, cissolt said:

Sorry to resurrect an old thread, but did anyone attend or know anything about the 'Culture Conference'?

Maybe part of the CS "morale-boosting" initiative after the Ranson fallout? 🤔

[Dirty Buggane]

I for one would like to know how much he is costing/year and what value he is  actually contributing to the economy and well being of the island. Nothing in depth just a summary so as not to invoke any confidentiality clauses, as in any costings may give a pecuniary advantage to a rival. And other such bullshit. Took a brand new bullshit detector to the conference, never managed to get it out of the box as it just kept going off. Sent it back, must of been faulty. The manufacturer swears its working fine.  

[Declan]

He's only just been appointed so it is a little early to comment on whether he's brought value to the Island. 

https://www.gov.im/news/2023/oct/17/andy-ralphs-appointed-permanent-chief-executive-of-the-isle-of-man-government/

 

I think there was a thread where Roger discected his experience for the role. I guess though the role is necessary - however much you slim the CS someone needs to be the head of it. 

[Dirty Buggane]

So this is the guy with the big stick, the head honcho. The godfather of the Civil service. Let's see if he can actually sack somebody for incompetence instead of rewarding them as previous holders of this post seem to have been prone to.?

[Roger Mexico]

1 hour ago, Declan said:

I think there was a thread where Roger discected his experience for the role. I guess though the role is necessary - however much you slim the CS someone needs to be the head of it. 

Well I copied out his list of jobs on Linkedin, which was just as well as it's not now public.  That was fairly underpowered for such an important appointment and a classic "bullshit butterfly"  with 12 different jobs since 2005, none of them as CEOs or remotely equivalent (and unemployed since May).

But Ralphs has been surprisingly quiet since his appointment (I couldn't find anything in the last two months) and I suspect he was appointed on a promise to change the 'culture' of public service, which was presumably what this conference was about.  And of course conferences and reports about how you are vaguely going to change something while not actually doing anything to change anything are very much a speciality of Manx government.

[Two-lane]

3 hours ago, Roger Mexico said:

Well I copied out his list of jobs on Linkedin, which was just as well as it's not now public.

It should be on Wayback, but I could not find it.

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/andyralphs_very-difficult-to-achieve-be-wonderful-activity-7099661622150844416-iVHI?trk=public_profile_share_view

Whenever you look at any of the posts made by these kind of people, they are always saying how wonderful things are, how wonderful they are, how wonderful the world is, how life is so enjoyable.

Most of the times I have been to engineering project meetings, the merde has already hit the fan, people are a bit stressed, no one is saying how wonderful things are.

If only everyone could be a Civil Servant, working in a Civil Service environment.

[Non-Believer]

4 hours ago, Dirty Buggane said:

So this is the guy with the big stick, the head honcho. The godfather of the Civil service. Let's see if he can actually sack somebody for incompetence instead of rewarding them as previous holders of this post seem to have been prone to.?

Big sticks are not permissible within PS T&Cs these days, the too-easy response to them is accusations of bullying leading to all manner of shite and pay-offs ensuing. And we know nobody is ever "sacked" as such, in the meaning that most of us know. 

So as a result....there is little or no change. Any decent, experienced, knowledgeable Personnel bod will say that changing a culture can take years and it will take even longer in the IoM PS where the system holds all the cards and will fight change tooth and nail.

[Dirty Buggane]

So what is the point and cost of the other 24 freeloaders, you know the ones we elected to look after our interests. If they have no power to change the civil service we are doomed to be led by the faceless self interest of a bunch of people whom most of us have no knowledge or power over. So we might as well get shut of 24 MHKs who also have no control over the civil sevice and save us money

[Roger Mexico]

2 hours ago, Non-Believer said:

And [the Comis is] such a favourite venue that they'd prefer to use it rather than Govt's own venue apparently....

[Reviving the old Government Conference topic, because, as so often, it contains info from previous years to compare things with]

The use of the Comis seems to be mainly about the Cannan administration's main priority of giving money to the right people (as were the ridiculous quarantine decisions of course).  The accounts for 2022's shindig showed them 'paying' the Villa £6,880, but the vast majority of that was just transferring the money between pockets.  No doubt the Comis will be getting a similar amount plus they will presumably doing the catering, which was either sponsored as in 2022 or done by catering students last year, so that will be further expense.

I can't see any other events on at the Villa on 17-18 September, so it's difficult to see what would make them move the event other than the desire to hand money to chums and try to keep the plebs away.  The same applies to the themes of the Conference which are pure business babble, aimed at those who like that sort of thing:

• Economic and Financial Updates: Presentations on economic development, & an update from the Treasury.
• Connectivity and Service Strategic Updates: Presentations and discussions on future travel connectivity, national air and sea connectivity ambitions, and airport service updates.
• Skills and Workforce Development: A dedicated panel focusing on the Isle of Man Skills Board and Strategy and policy shaping discussions on incentives to shape inward migration to support skills demand.
• Innovation and Technology: A presentation on activating AI in the Isle of Man by Lyle Wraxall, CEO of Digital Isle of Man.
• Public Service Delivery: Updates on the future shape of public service delivery, keeping our island safe, and immigration process updates.

Very little about the services that Government are supposed to deliver, you'll notice.  Just a long train of abstract nouns (often implying more immigration this time).  No doubt designed to appeal to the sort of 'business people' who communicate in this manner - most of whom benefit, directly or indirectly, from the associated government largess.  Clearly at the Comis the government feel they will be able to babble away with like-minded types  without reality ever being allowed to break through.

And it's being promoted as "A key event for businesses", no doubt to further discourage the public.  Which means various finance sector types will feel obliged to sit around looking sceptical until they can escape back to the office to do some real work.  Just like the previous ones.

It's also interesting that it's only been announced today, not even seven weeks before taking place.  Last year's was promoted from May onwards, but again providing a nice familiar bubble to isolate the politicians and (especially) the top civil servants from the public is clearly the priority.

[cissolt]

Whats the connection to the commis owner(s)?  Have they fell out of love with the sefton?  Or have they had their fill of public money? 

On the subject of the conference, its quite shocking that for a so called digital isle none of it is live streamed.  Surely with a pr reach of 5.6 billion having these things streamed makes sense.

[Non-Believer]

It occurred to me that they might be using the Comis because it and its bar might be cheaper than the Villa.... 🤭

But it's probably more because Govt society is entitled to more luxurious surroundings for its junkets than those premises aimed at the mere hoi polloi.

[Roger Mexico]

1 hour ago, cissolt said:

Whats the connection to the commis owner(s)?  Have they fell out of love with the sefton?  Or have they had their fill of public money? 

On the subject of the conference, its quite shocking that for a so called digital isle none of it is live streamed.  Surely with a pr reach of 5.6 billion having these things streamed makes sense.

Sefton doesn't have conference facilities of the right size (or rather it does nearby and they're called the Villa Marina).

A look at the detailed Conference Agenda shows that they've reverted to two full days 8am to 5pm with presumably free breakfast, 'networking lunch' and teas and coffees included.   No mention of the sponsorship that occurred in previous years, so presumably coming out of government coffers at Comis rates.

The Comis's Niarbyl Suite, where all the sessions are held, has a maximum of 300, theatre style, which looks a bit tight, given that they claimed about 500 on the full day last year.  Especially as all the sessions are being held there (no splitting off for different options) and being more isolated will mean people may be less inclined to dip in and out of the venue.

The 2023 conference was fully recorded and videos of all sessions seem to be available via this page (plus some supporting documentation).  But they don't seem to have been loaded till about three weeks later, no doubt after careful editing.

[La_Dolce_Vita]

47 minutes ago, Non-Believer said:

It occurred to me that they might be using the Comis because it and its bar might be cheaper than the Villa.... 🤭

But it's probably more because Govt society is entitled to more luxurious surroundings for its junkets than those premises aimed at the mere hoi polloi.

I think they have done the right thing of making it clear now that it is only business people that they want to hear from.  At least it's purpose is now clear and it is not pretending to be about listening to what the public and community want or will get.

[The Phantom]

42 minutes ago, Non-Believer said:

It occurred to me that they might be using the Comis because it and its bar might be cheaper than the Villa.... 🤭

But it's probably more because Govt society is entitled to more luxurious surroundings for its junkets than those premises aimed at the mere hoi polloi.

The Comis is just a better venue for a conference to be honest. 

I've been to a lot of conferences there.  The only ones I've been to at the Villa were Govt ones and/or expected (hoped) to attract over 500 which would be a squeeze at Comis. 

[cissolt]

1 hour ago, The Phantom said:

The Comis is just a better venue for a conference to be honest. 

I've been to a lot of conferences there.  The only ones I've been to at the Villa were Govt ones and/or expected (hoped) to attract over 500 which would be a squeeze at Comis. 

It is a better venue, but when you're a government trying to find savings then hosting a conference, poorly attended last time, in a private venue is financially irresponsible.