A sign of life

Things have been quiet on this blog recently. Since I changed jobs six months ago I have had less time free for blogging, and my focus at work has been less on the external issues of finance, policy, regulation, new providers and the other stuff I blog about, more on the internal day-to-day management of an institution. Amongst other things I have missed were the anniversary of my first post, which should have been an opportunity for some self-indulgent reflection on my progress.

The joy of self-indulgence is that just because you miss an opportunity it doesn't mean you can't go ahead and do it anyway. So here goes.

Although no-one could call this blog 'prominent', I've achieved the objectives that I set for myself in beginning it.

• My most-viewed posts have been this one about KIS, this one about core/margin, and this one about HEFCE funding. Even put together they currently stand at just over 1,000 page views so they haven't set the world on fire, but they have provided a practitioner view on issues of regulation and funding, which is what I set out to do.
• The blog has always been a vanity project, and it pleased my vanity that this post got a mention in the FT, and this post got me into Private Eye. However my all-time favourite vanity boost was when Daniel Davies felt it was worth mentioning that I respected his opinion. For a blogger, this is something like having William Stubbs seeking out your views on medieval English history.
• And I have met a few people outside cyberspace who claimed to read my blog: three I think, but every little counts.

Having achieved my blogging ambitions, I would like to keep achieving them for a bit longer, so I will be trying to ensure that I continue to post a little more often than I have in the recent past, and trying to ensure that I make those substantive posts that are worth reading.