OGE in Town

A delegation from OGE (French surveyors) visited RICS Tues/Wed and I went up to London to meet them. We had a pleasant meal out and the following day continued our discussions on all things surveying and European (with a particular emphasis on FR/UK). CLGE Comite de Liason des Geometres Europeens, the Council of European Geodetic Surveyors, and GE Geometer Europas are merging and much of our talk centred around the politics of how the institutions were going to merge. I think I understood most of what was going on - language wasn't a problem as we had a translator and arm waving pigeon-French got us through - but it was more understanding the nature of the legal systems under which land surveyors work in France and the rest of Europe where surveying is licensed. Perhaps it's the UK which is weird - anybody in the UK can call themselves a geodetic surveyor (although not chartered of course) and gain work.

It was the first time I'd stepped inside RICS Great George Street since it had been refurbished. I'm not overly excited about the reception area. They've boxed it all in with what looks like white partitioning. I asked my colleague when it was going to be completed. "It is," he responded with a weary look. It has a Star Trek feel about which and it's lost its open/buzzy feeling which is a shame. Upstairs was 100x better with mosaic flooring and the coffee shop where it was all happening. It's a shame they've moved the coffee shop off the ground floor. Anyway, my one major shock was the meeting rooms which have all been redone. The wallpaper....absolutely gorgeous! I shocked my host who said I was the first to like it; perhaps I'm a blue stripey woman deep down inside...

PS. This is a bit sad.