18th March 2011, 02:42 PM
In a way, the voice will be the leader, the mouthpiece is the campaign, - can you name the leader of the forestry campaign? To me it was just a campaign worth supporting. Box though does make the point... Clear Direction, and All behind it. The need for unity is paramount, which is becoming clearer and clearer ( no sh#t sherlock I hear you cry.) as is the need for existing organisations to lose some of the "I am the only one" attitude. Like Box, I would hate to see a committee... a collective conciousness ... but no more committees and sub working party groups.! The IfA and CBA as well as REscue do seem to be agreeing in principal... the secret is to get them to cope with not being the leader. This needs a groundswell of public support - and not to be too cruel, I still remember with horror the Mike Pitts of a Plinth video, when - late at night ( after all archaeology is that important!) he was shouted at with abuse and catcalls. WE need Guardians and Daily Mail, BBC and Channel 4 we need local papers and nationals to go... eay up... this looks interesting - this is something to hang a story on, to support, to publisise, to get people going. NO NO NO!
BEtween us we have contacts (from Tony Robinsons phone number to Julian Richards email, from BBC reporters to Guardian journalists... One simple message... one simple explanation of what happens if archaeology (in ALL its varied and amazing forms) is broken over the chopping board of cuts. What will the public lose, what does out culture lose. It was the public that ensured the rise of developer funded excavation and in reality we have failed the trust they put in us... now it is possible to win it back... with humility and with a strong united voice. With allies that can help and a mission.
ahem...
And this happens NOW!
BEtween us we have contacts (from Tony Robinsons phone number to Julian Richards email, from BBC reporters to Guardian journalists... One simple message... one simple explanation of what happens if archaeology (in ALL its varied and amazing forms) is broken over the chopping board of cuts. What will the public lose, what does out culture lose. It was the public that ensured the rise of developer funded excavation and in reality we have failed the trust they put in us... now it is possible to win it back... with humility and with a strong united voice. With allies that can help and a mission.
ahem...
And this happens NOW!