Where am I working and what do I do there?

• Edinburgh Napier University.

• I am an Associate Professor, teaching modules in festival and event management.

• I also lead the BA (Hons) International Festival & Event Management programme suite.
  

Where do I live and what’s it like there?

• I live in Edinburgh, Scotland. This has been my home since 27 September 1997, when I moved here to start university.

• (I was awarded an MA (Hons) Politics and Economic & Social History from the University of Edinburgh in 2001. I went back and did a MSc in Economic & Social History in 2004-2005.)

• Edinburgh is an excellent city, with many qualities that I cherish and value.

• It has history and character. It is walkable. The festivals attracted me to the city, and they continue to enthral me. Having built my career around festivals and academia, I feel at home here.

• Contemporary Edinburgh is very interesting, with cultural spaces, a rich social mix, and a healthy, creative interest in new technologies.
  

How do I spend my time (that isn’t work)?

• My time is generally spent between work and family these days.

• When I have discretionary time, I tend to fall back on familiar interests: watching cycling on the TV; watching Nick Cave documentaries; listening to podcasts (when away from my desk); listening to music (when at my desk).

• Many of my podcast listens are from Relay. You can see what music I’ve been listening to on my Last.fm page.

• What would I like to be doing? Reading more for pleasure. Walking more for pleasure. Seeing more of Scotland. Working on my blog and website.
  

What technology do I use?

• I am an Apple user.

• In no particular order, this includes: an M1 Pro MacBook Pro; a Studio Display; an 11” M2 iPad Air; iPhone 16 Pro (in white, with an almost Yves Klein Blue silicone case from Apple); AirPods Pro 2; a Series 10 Apple Watch; a Series 6 Apple Watch (that sits on my desk as a little clock, encapsulated in a little rubber fake iPod case); two HomePod Minis in the kitchen.

• I like the way the devices complement each other. I like the aesthetics of it all. It works for me.

• I have a UGREEN 208 dock to help join some other bits and pieces to this setup. This includes a couple of Samsung SSDs for Time Machine backups. Also part of the mix is a 15 button Stream Deck from Elgato; it’s fun to have.

• My music reaches me via Apple Music. When at my desk this is run from my Mac, then through the dock, and one of these, before heading to a 2009 Denon 1910 AVR. The AVR sends the audio out to three Bowers & Wilkins speakers of the same vintage. I think it all sounds pretty good.

• I use a work-issued Windows laptop for a lot of my university stuff these days. I have found an effective way to switch between laptops, using the Studio Display with whatever is front and centre at that time. With my Apple keyboard, and a Logitech MX Master 3S mouse switching between them at the same time. It’s fine.

• Since summer 2025 I have been paying for web searches and AI models via Kagi. It’s working well for me so far.