Short Bio of Hugh

I'm Hugh, the Secretary of the Community Council. Someone suggested the other day that it would be a great addition to the blog to have a short bio about the office bearers - maybe with a photo for each of us. So with that in mind I'm going to subject you to a brief intro to me - the more interesting ones will come later when the rest of the office bearers tell you about themselves.

Normally, I'm a student at the University of Edinburgh, doing a PhD Computer Science. I've been doing that for a year now and I must say I love being a student again. There's a fair amount of work involved but the truly fantastic thing is that I can pretty much dictate for myself where my research goes (I won't bore you to death with what I'm researching - and be careful asking nerds what they do, you run the risk they just might tell you). So by day, you'll either find me down at the King's Buildings slaving away in a gloomy office in the basement or, more likely, at home, hooked up virtually (don't tell my professor).

Before the PhD I was a research assistant down there for a while, spending some time deciding what the right thing to do my PhD in would be. Before that I worked a Software Architect in Texas and as a developer with Microsoft in Seattle.

I came to Edinburgh first in '92 to go to Uni and have stayed ever since. I fell in love with the city straight away. My wife and I still live in the same flat that we moved into - along with three tiny kittens, at the moment.

I've been part of the community council since February 2007. The city council had made some changes to the parking situation and overnight messed with my life. The community council offered a forum for those of us so afflicted to talk about it and plan to fix it. We got to meet city councillors who offered their assistance, advice and they directly supported us in our fight to get our problems solved. It was hard work but in the end the council sorted us out - local democracy in action!

Since then, well, it seemed natural to get involved and help out in the other issues of the area. There's so much going on I had never even known about and the Community Council is a hub for all that happens in Marchmont and Sciennes. It's been really fun working with in this team!

As secretary I maintain this website and set up the meetings every month. So if you've got any questions about what goes on with us, I'm probably a good place to start. My email is over on the side bar, along with the other members'.

Cheers, I hope that hasn't bored you all to death and I'll see you at the next meeting,

Hugh.


BTW, if any non-office bearing members would like to introduce themselves this way as well, please, just drop me an email.