Anna Heim - Thoughts, Projects, Ideas, Opinions and General Life Comments

New Year Update

2012-02-12T11:44:00.000Z

2012 has got off to a flying start especially when it comes to my project development...
Confirmed events which I will be hosting as part of 3 Way Split Project developments include:
- the 2nd Annual Southend Street Painting & Festival of the Arts which will be held at Royal Square and
Pier Hill, Southend-on-Sea on Saturday 14th July.
- The Southend Component of 100 Thousand Poets for Change, event, Saturday 29th September
- Purple Parade - International Women's Day Event - Saturday 10 March.

With colleagues from the Palm Beach County area in Florida, we are also exploring the development on a new Touring Environmentally focused Festival (EKOFest).

All in all 2012 is shaping up and in spite of the ongoing recessionary influences in the economy, I am hopeful that this year will be a good year for those of us who are involved in the Creative Industries.

Happy New Year

2012-01-04T15:06:00.001Z

As I look forward to the year ahead and in spite of the seeming "Doom & Gloom" I am looking forward with hope and renewed energy, and would like to take this belated opportunity to wish those of you who visit my blog from time to time a very Happy, Healthy and Prosperous 2012.

A Sequence of Thank-You's - Part Two

2011-12-17T07:04:00.001Z

I First published "A Sequence of Thanks You's" in July 2008, and with sleep once again failing me in the small hours of this morning, I thought now would be as good a time to take some time our review and reflect on the events of the past 2+ years and update the original stream of consciousness and write what I am calling a Sequence of Thank-You's" Part Two [The original Sequence is below as a reference)

Once again I start with the biggest thank-you to God, who has given me this life, who during this phase challenges, stretches and tests me, and my levels of endurance, with an ongoing stream of ups and downs both personally and professionally, which ensures my on-going growth, and turning my mundane into an adventure... I thank You God!

My Husband & Children: who believe in me and are always there for me. Who keep me grounded, by bringing me joy and pain in equal measure, as a necessary part of our ongoing growth of a family -apart and yet together... We're getting there... I thank you!

Katherine: my longest standing client, and friend; for your ongoing trust and faith in me.

Sharon, Fiona, Diana & the two Jill's: for being there for me during the dark and difficult days over the past few years, your trust in me, our quick catch-p's which are never really quick, sharing time and experiences... it's meant a lot to me. I thank you!

Suzanne, Laurie, Maryanne, Joyce, Cora, Jane, the two Chris's and the many other totally phenomenal women both here in the Borough of Southend and its borders and in Lake Worth and the wider Palm Beach County area, who I have met through my professional life and who I am proud to call colleagues and friend, for believing in the shared vision... we are really onto something here... I thank you!

I also thank the full range of business people, creative professionals, students, the generally everyday people, including city officers and officials both locally and in Lake Worth, for their varying degrees of buy-in to an innovative idea, and those that are supporting the off-shoot projects and initiatives.

Finally a thank you to my clients who continue to renew their service contracts - and all the smaller players in the events which are making up this part of my life adventure. I thank you all.

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A Sequence of Thank-You's
July 12, 2008 07:41:16
Posted By AnnaHeim

So it's Friday evening, I've come home from lectures this afternoon and in reviewing the homework for one of my lecturers, and having had the great fortune to have studied Emotional Endurance, I felt I couldn't do my homework until I said Thank You to God and a few people who have helped me to "step-up", and receive new light on my vision.

The experience of undertaking the Post Graduate MA Certificate in Creative Industries Management has been a most awesome experience, in a long line of awesome experiences, quirks of fate and chance meetings, which when you trace the line back, clearly reveals the pattern of destiny and a calling. Maybe I'l get all spiritual on you another time, for now I want to acknowledge the Supreme Being ~ God for giving me my life, with all the ups and downs of my roller-coaster ride, which has led me to this point, so at the top of my list I thank God.

All the following People deserve a special THANK YOU, as I wouldn't have got this far without you.

My Husband: he is my rock that keeps me anchored and balanced and who from the day we met has treated me like a princess and with respect. Who has loved all of me unconditionally and who has reminded me of the power in keeping the dream alive. It is my husband who has three times so far in our union provided me with the catalysis required to making the "empty handed leaps" which have brought me to this point, and who has always believed in me.

My Children: who have been with me and made this journey with me, in spite of the bumps they trust and believe in me, they are my pride and joy, they are my best friends, critics and sounding-boards.

Katherine: my longest standing client, and friend; for your trust and faith in me.

To Sean for introducing me to Paul, and to both of them for providing me with the opportunity to engage with them to deliver their project (Pi Project)

To Rosemary Pennington and her team for making introductions and networking me across diverse interest groups within Southend.

Without the networked profile I would not have been invited to events organised by Essex University, School of Entrepreneurship & Business, I would not have heard about the PG MA Certificate in Creative Industries Management, I would not have had the opportunity to enroll, and I would not be sitting here inspired by my course work to write.

To the University of Essex for opening the School of Entrepreneurship & Business in Southend and for launching this pilot program which has been an inspiriation and acted as a catalysis to my aspirations.

To Prof. J Mitra and Dr Nocker for developing this pilot program in the first place, and to the outstanding team of lecturers.

To Suzanna Mulvehill, the training in Emotional Endurance has been valuable beyond words. Your course has empowered me to put all my years of self-development, experience and insight into a new context and has helped me to bridge a gap in my practice.

To my MICA students, Neha & Shehzad, the cultural exchange has been a bodacious experience, from which I hope that you have gained as much from me, as I from you.

To the CrEsCo-East ladies for your support, friendship and trust. You're all brilliant.

To Jane for introducing me to Angela Day who now works with me as my Events Manager, and to Angela for introducing me to Sassy.

To all my clients and the people who have had smaller roles to play in my journey I thank you all.

Thatcher's Legacy ~ A Sign of the Times

2011-12-17T05:42:00.000Z

Thatcher’s Legacy ~ a Sign of the Times
First Published: October 22, 2011 12:29:57
Posted By AnnaHeim

Over the past 30 years as I have quietly got on with my life, raising my family while looking after my long-term ill husband (without any support) while at the same time developing my business. I have concluded that much of that which troubles us today from the economic disaster of the global banking systems failure to the current recession, the general mood of lawless behaviour by the minority in our society and pretty much the bulk of social decay in between from my perspective can be laid fairly and squarely at the doorstep of Margret Thatcher and the corrosive internal policies devised by the Conservative Government under Margaret Thatcher, which has been supported and bolstered by subsequent UK governments including Tony Blair & Gordon Brown’s Labour government and the current coalition.

Yes - her rise to power was a great boon for women, as she upped the game and showed us that we as a gender could aspire to do more and be more, but I ask, at what cost?

Yes – Maggie’s Foreign Policy in so far as clawing back what was ours from the EU, and dealing with Argentina during the Falkland War was admirable, however on the home front she was a disaster.

She closed mental health institutions with NO framework for Care in the Community. She destroyed our manufacturing base, closed our mines, and dismantled our steel and ship building industry, took milk away from the poorest of children in a cost-cutting exercise within our schools and sold off the nations “silver” in the privatisation program which has been extended and expanded by subsequent governments including the present one.

The financial stresses and strains tore families and communities apart as a new mantra was chanted from the echelons of power - greed is good, selfishness is good, and in one pivotal speech, Margaret Thatcher declared society and community as irrelevant, dead and buried.

30 years later,the gap between the 2% and the 98% is wider than it has been at any time in our history, and now the coalition government bleat on that we are all in this together. Who are our politicians trying to fool? Do they really think that the British electorate are stupid? I’d like to know when a single one of them has had to make the stark choices that the rest of us are forced to make? For example: When was the last time any of them had to choose between eating and heating?

Perhaps most devastating of all was the way in which fundamental ‘conservative policy’ ripped the heart out of what made Britain Great and tore the country apart.
The taint of selfishness on our society is self-evident and starts with the political class in the UK, by virtue of the power we the electorate give them via the ballot, they should stand as a positive example, yet not a week, month, year or government goes by without some scandal or another to shown then up to be spineless, feckless, corrupt, hypocrites, devoid of original thought.

Whether they acknowledge the responsibilities that comes with the privilege of their positions or not – people do look to them as examples, consciously or otherwise and in this manner they have spread their malaise throughout our society over time.

Yes, I am angered by the injustice and inequality of our current situation on the one hand, however as a woman of faith; I console myself in the fact that these events are “signs of the times” which are well described in the Bible and find myself happy to be alive in during the “Days of Daniel”.

We all need to brace ourselves for the worst which is yet to come. The worm is turning, and lines are being drawn in the sand. I believe that: now is the time for those of us who have been robbed, abused, marginalized and disenfranchised by the system to stand together in the light, and make our actions count by doing good and above all doing the right-thing!

Fraud by any other name

2011-12-17T05:38:00.000Z

Fraud by any other name
First Published: May 24, 2009 05:37:10
Posted By Anna Heim

It's been an interesting 10 + days or so as the Telegraph reveals the details of MP Allowances. While the story and revelations are ongoing it is stiil unclear exactly how many of the 630 MP’s, which represent us have proven themselves to be morally and ethically bankrupt.

It's a joke... They (our MP's) are the people whom set up a system which is rotten to the core and open to abuse.

Like many I have been following this story quite closely as it unfolds and am at times filled anger and disgust (more often both) as it becomes apparent that there is one rule for our MP's and another for us.

They want to know every last little detail of our lives yet many whom have been caught with their "fingers in the till" feel we have no right to know anything about them, or how they are ripping our nation off. Shame on them!!!

Recent events only reinforce my general opinion that politicians are NOT to be trusted!

I don't expect our politicians to be perfect - they are ONLY human and they will make mistakes, however what they need to understand is that many people (misguidedly) look-up to them (consciously or not) as an example; and it's a pretty poor example that they are setting. We need our politician to be honest, moral and ethical, however I think we may have to wait until "Hell freezes over" before that happens.

As to whether this fiasco undermines our democracy is yet to be determine.

Finally I think that:
1) The hypocrites’, bigots’, liars and cheats whom currently hold office should be removed from power and be barred from holding Public Office ever again.
2) They should repay every last penny which they have in effect stolen from the public purse.
3) They should be investigated by the Fraud Squad.

Once a Banker

2009-08-23T19:00:00.000+01:00

Why do Investment Bankers need to be paid such outrageous bonuses? What is so special about what they do that entitles them to these bonuses, when it is their ineptitude which has brought our nation to the brink of bankrupcy?

The Credit Crunch and recession we are living through is a crisis of their making! Surely they have a responsibility to clean-up their act and pay for their failings - especially those who thought it would be a good idea to gamble in the sub-prime markets. I am still vexed beyond words at the attitudes of the former chairman of the Royal Bank of Scotland and others like him, though he was the worst offender in this crisis.

With the UK tax payer now owning major percentages of a number of banks - once again we have been let down by a spineless govenerment who did't build safe guards into the rescue packages and which has resulted in bankers continuing to pay themselves outlandish bonuses while the rest of us struggle to make ends meet in a difficult climate.

Shame on the investment branches of our banks and the government for their fear and unwillingness to instigate changes which will safeguard our economic future!