robin-bell.com Animals, Travel

Costa Rica: Wild Monkey and Toucan Sightings

After visiting El Salvador, the next stop was Costa Rica, which was a completely different culture and environment, particularly given their relative proximity. The first thing, which stood out in Costa Rica, was the (very) lush vegetation, and the second thing was how slow the traffic moved up and down the hills and around the bends. After hiring a car at the airport, it took two and a half hours to drive the 75 miles to the Arenal Volcano National Park. The National Park contains two volcanoes, a lake and lush tropical rainforest at base of the volcanoes. Whilst staying in the national park we were able to see many wonderful sights, the highlight being wild monkeys and toucans.

Wild Monkey
Wild Toucan

In addition, the trip to the national park offered excellent cuisine and great activities. These activities included a ziplining canopy tour and a day relaxing at a spa with over 25 different thermo mineral hot water pools. Although, the top activity was a trip to a local rescued animal sanctuary, as this allowed the opportunity to feed monkeys and other exciting animals.

robin-bell.com Travel

El Salvador: Mayan Temples, Villages and Two Armed Guards

Whilst in El Salvador (which is a really interesting country to visit) there was the opportunity to visit Mayan ruins, which was something I have always really wanted to do. I left early as part of a tour, along with five other people to visit two different sets of Mayan temples (Tazumal and San Andres Ruins) and a Mayan village (Joya de Cerén).

Tazumal
Armed Guards
San Adres Ruins

Accompanying us on the trip to the Mayan ruins were two heavily armed police officers, in addition all the sites we visited were secured with army personnel, which was a reminder of the dangers that still exist in El Salvador. The Mayan village was very well preserved as it had been covered by a volcanic eruption similar to Pompeii and walking around the ruined temples was phenomenal. It was the highlight of the time spent in El Salvador.

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Manchester United in the District

Whilst in Washington DC, Manchester United were playing Inter Milan in a high-profile pre-season friendly at Fed Ex Field.

This offered the opportunity to see a ‘good’ pre-season friendly at a new venue close to home (having been a semi regular at RFK to see DC United over the last couple of seasons). The game was interesting as a draw led to a penalty shootout.

FedEx Field
FedEx Field

Manchester United won the penalty shootout (and went on to win the Champions Trophy in Miami against Liverpool). It was a great event to attend as the game brought a great atmosphere, which was similar to previous MLS games I have attended. There is no doubt the passion for soccer/football in the US is increasing, and there is no doubt they know how to run an event!

robin-bell.com Animals, Travel

Black Bears in Shenandoah

A weekend hiking trip to the Shenandoah National Park in Virginia, enabled the opportunity to not only see peaks and waterfalls, but also the opportunity to see some of the local wildlife.

A Deer in Bear Country
A Black Bear

Included in this wildlife were deers and birds but also the notoriously different to spot Black Bear. During the weekend whilst hiking and driving, we managed to see a black bear on three occasions, in three different locations. On one occasion, it appeared as though one was following us down a trail and wanted to have his photo taken.

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Sling Prints (OSYP) Shop Launch

Yesterday was an exciting day, as it brought the opening of Sling Prints. The retail business, which was funded, developed and supported through the Our Space Your Place (OSYP) project. Sling Prints is a bespoke artistic printing company, which offers custom designs and printing. They aim not to simply sell products, but let people experience the art.

Sling Prints Window
KODAK Digital Still Camera

As winners of the OSYP Competition, Sling Prints received a free six-week lease at Crown Gate Shopping Centre, the busiest shopping centre in Worcester and £2000 startup funding supported by Barclays. In addition, the students received business mentoring from myself, Barclays Business Advisers, and retail experts provided by the Crown Estate.

The launch event was attended by some of the OSYP judging panel, those our supported Sling Prints and friends. It offered an excellent opportunity to see what had been achieved using the funding and as part of the project. It was great to see an empty unit in vibrant use, plus speak to the students to hear of their experiences and learning. I look forward to catching up with the students during the project and at the end to hear how the experience went, plus how it has developed their enterprise skills.

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Bournemouth AoM Conference

This morning I headed to Bournemouth for the Academy of Marketing Conference. It offered a good opportunity to hear some contemporary research directions. I had a poster on display at the conference outlining the research I had undertaken, using my Teaching Research and Development Grant. However, the conference had come too soon to showcase my final research, as the paper submission date came before my final data collection phase. However, I was very grateful that my conference attendance was part funded by my Academy of Marketing grant. I was very interested in attending the Marketing Education stream and the Marketing of Higher Education stream, to see what other research and learning and teaching projects people were undertaking. Some of the research was very interesting, plus the gala dinner was in a wonderful venue. It was held in the Bournemouth Pavilion on the seafront.

Bournemouth Sea Front
Bournemouth Sea Front
robin-bell.com Teaching, Travel

Two New Firsts

Today I travelled to meet one of our external examiners at Teesside University, to discuss our MBA and MSc dissertation and research processes and procedures. This meant an early start this morning, as I had to fly from Bristol to Newcastle and then catch a train from Newcastle to Middleborough. However, I managed to achieve two firsts for myself. These were firstly, visiting two new cities (Newcastle and Middleborough) and secondly, travelling to an airport via bicycle.

This meant an even earlier morning, and unfortunately, Bristol Airport is at the top of a hill, which didn’t particularly make for a nice early morning sunrise ride. However, there was definitely a certain novelty about cycling to the airport and leaving the bike and heading through customs with very little except some papers and my laptop.

Cycling to the Airport
Newcastle Airport

Once arriving in Newcastle, unfortunately the weather was very different, and was not suitable for enjoying the scenery. However, the main purpose of the visit when very well and discussions with the external examiner were very productive and he was supportive of the proposed changes. Plus, we were able to discuss online learning developments and blended learning opportunities. This provided me an opportunity to run through, and gain some feedback on some of the teaching innovations I am planning for next academic year, from one of our external examiners.

robin-bell.com Travel

Learning & Teaching Fellowship

After completing a long and arduous 46-page application, highlighting the teaching innovations and practices, I had developed and introduced (and supporting publications) whilst at the University of Worcester, I was interviewed for a University Teaching Fellowship. The date of the interview unfortunately fell on a date when I was already booked on an advanced structural equation-modeling course in the Dept. of Physics at the University of Sheffield. Luckily, I was able to have the interview via Skype in the University of Sheffield Student Union, which was an interesting and new experience. I was delighted to find out today (two weeks later) I had been awarded a University Teaching Fellowship, which is held for five years. The Fellowship identifies and offers additional time and support for the role I play in enhancing and transforming the student learning experience and supporting colleagues in developing innovative teaching and learning practices.

robin-bell.com Teaching

OSYP Highlighted in 21st Century Leaders Report

In June the Chartered Management Institute (CMI), Association of Business Schools (ABS) and Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) published the 21st Century Leaders Report, which explored how business schools, professional bodies and employers can work together to develop leaders fit for the 21st century. Within, the report the Our Place Your Place (OSYP) initiative was included as a short case study of innovative practice in the SMEs and Entrepreneurship section. It was great to see the OSYP project disseminated through the report.

robin-bell.com Animals

New Member of the Team

At the start of June, I welcomed a new member of the team (family). An 8-week-old grey kitten, formerly a Virginia resident, he was rescued along with three siblings; sadly, it was not possible to adopt all 4 kittens.

Cat Litter
Smoggy Kitten

However, he has started to get on with his new big brother and is set to start a new life. He was originally named Smokey, but was renamed Smoggy as in a couple of months he will start the journey to Beijing, where he should grow up to be a big(ger) cat.