Rodney Dykes samples what the conference has to offer - good, bad and in-between.
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As a fellow of the CIH, I am pleased to see that its Harrogate conference is so influential. It's such a key event that invitations to speak at conference are rarely refused. Retiring president Paul Diggory has gone the extra mile and done extra time in the role both domestically and internationally. His warm affable and knowledgeable style has been good to see.
In chief executive Sarah Webb we have someone who has been there, done that, and at the front line. I am an observer of the public and third sector at work and I see in Sarah someone who embodies what I think is special. A keen brain, a wide understanding of health, education, the environment, financial affairs and, as she showed in her interview, a commitment born out of her experience with the tenants and residents with whom we work. Her life and career has been shaped by a concern for others and to do something that she cares about, and that includes the membership. So it is not just a safe pair of hands, it is a creative pair and positive leadership from the top.
If you missed it, ask someone who was there about her imaginary friend Mrs McGinty. Then think on.
And let's reflect back on the Portillo/Abbott hugathon! Michael Portillo with a worried look and furrowed brow, someone who just might have been. No notes, and wandering through what seemed to be a series of random thoughts. Diane Abbott was carefully structured in her presentation and clearly experienced in the results of what she saw as social inequality. Both reflected on social values of the past. The BBC's Mark Easton could have been more penetrating as could the questions from the audience. Next time, let him come off stage, get into the audience and push the microphone in front of people - then demand a pithy response.
Then to the introduction of Sir Bob Kerslake, a first-timer at Harrogate. Someone close to me said: 'So here we go, from men in suits to knights in suits.' Well it is the way of things.
Two knights - Sir Bob and Sir Simon Milton" steeped in the ways of local government. So no surprise that they in their different roles see the emergence of the place shaping strategic job from locally elected politicians. Sir Bob has a big job on. The HCA needs a vision and he has one. To create an opportunity for people to afford to live where they want, but to respect different issues in different places. Achieving national targets by local programmes of delivery. Not just homes, but the environment in which they sit and the economic values both will bring. With £5 billion a year, 850 staff, four main objectives - growth, affordability, renewal and sustain-ability.
There is something about Sir Bob that gives you the confidence he knows what he wants and how he will get it. His voice, his calm confidence - it is there and we wish him well. I think he will be capable of a bit of Kevin Pietersen-style switch hitting too - watch out at long off!
I know that the CIH is pushing for more from the younger membership. A special session yesterday on the next generation put the emphasis on exploring the potential for younger people.
Then power to the people! This session on the work of the newly titled Tenant Services Authority could not have been more topical. It's not that I have seen more people at our local recycling centre on a Sunday morning, but I was surprised there were not more in the conference centre. Four excellent speakers, each in turn from a different perspective. Phil Morgan describing himself as a one-time 'bit of a lefty' must know his time has come. Tenant tests, triggers and training a comprehensive agenda based on years of waiting for the full recognition they will now get. A new pace and range of ambition he sees with local and national bench- marking.
Peter Marsh from the Housing Corporation - responsible for much of the new thinking - packed into his speech enough new business for a whole day and councillor Terry Stacy added a bit of realism, adding a I warning note both on the realistic level of tenant involvement and what local government sees as the distant relationship that some housing associations have with both their residents and locally elected councillors. Do we listen? Well Mr Stacy claims that he could have foreseen the demise of Ujima two years ago. I suspect he was not the only one!
I think we should have a 'Britain's got talent' type session. Three tenants with buzzers and big red buttons. Put up a speaker and as soon as they become boring - well you can guess the rest. Would it work? Simon Cowell, please come on down!
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