For the last few weeks I have felt a bit of a fraud at work.  Because I donât come from an education sector background I have had difficulty keeping up with the conversations and discussions.  It has felt like a foreign language at times; Moodle, NLN, QiA, WebCT, COVE, Fenc, TASI, CETL, LLUK, SCORM, etc.  you get the idea. The thought that I will have know and understand this to the extent that I can go out and advise colleges, has been daunting to say the least.  Earlier this week I was in Worcester for a meeting of people around the country with the same job as me, these meetings happen 3 times a year and during the day there are various presentations.  However the most important part of the gathering for me was during the evening where we all had a meal and a few drinks.  I was really impressed with the sense of community and support.  The event doubled as a leaving do for one of the founding members of the group. During the various speeches and toasts someone spoke of how they felt when they started all those years ago, and how they put off going to college visits because they were so daunted at the thought.  But they got through it and so will I.

As I mentioned last week, I have found then gay scene a difficult place to fit in.  If there is a âcommunityâ then I havenât found it.  However I have made a few friends via websites such as gaydar and myspace.  Through these contacts I have discovered that there is a large number of gay people who avoid the scene.  I was thinking about this and what could be done to develop some kind of community spirit., when I had the idea of a Blackpool gay community internet forum.  A forum that catered for the gay community, and not just the gay scene.  There isnât anything like this at the moment, so why donât I start one? Actually I can think of loads of reasons why I shouldnât but I think I might do it any way.  I havenât had anyone give me any reason to think that it will be anything other than a huge waste of time, but if I donât try then I wonât know, and id rather try and fail than just sit around complaining about things.  Lets see what happens.