Chris Kane's first post - 31/3/09

However, as many people in the team know, I'm very open to having a go so I have taken the first step - let's see how things pan out.Firstly let me sketch out the context for getting into blogging: initially it was in response to a suggestion from a team session following our review of 2008 staff survey results.

A key theme running through the findings was a hunger for greater engagement.Over the last few years at the BBC I have tried to reach out to the team and it's not always easy.For me the best way to communicate is to have a chat.However chatting with team members is a logistical difficulty especially now that the team is truly a pan-UK one.

Not one to give up easily, my mind turned to this new phenomenon - Blogging.Now that I have enough knowledge to be dangerous on this subject it struck me that blogging could have significant potential.

A secondary driver for my interest is I'm quite fortunate to have opportunities to do things and see places which I would like to share with the team. A few years ago I had the privilege of being introduced to the Queen and earlier  this year I toured a nuclear power facility.I learned many years ago the power of reflecting on personal experiences and I jot down my musings in a journal so maybe it's time to move from paper to the electronic format and share my thoughts with a wider audience on the web?

Having taken the decision to jump in, I have spent the last few months thinking about how I would approach the task and, with the help of Hellen Martin,Nisha Jani and others, this blog is the first step on a journey that I hope will prove fruitful.

Another challenge was the selecting the blog-name and, in typical BBC fashion, we asked for suggestions.Thanks to all who responded. We trawled through the candidate names and whilst many had a certain appeal, some quirky and a few amusing, none quite hit the mark - not even the musings of Citizen Kane. I spent a week mulling over what to do and then it hit me.

My world and our world is complex, uncertain, full of change, both demanding and routine and I'm sure there are many other adjectives which describe how we operate and change the BBC estate.When you boil it all down we're essentially handling space and doing things in a wide number of places across the UK.Hence the title of this blog Spaces & Places

In a follow-up note I plan to expand what I see Spaces & Places covering over the months ahead.In doing so I will put forward some thoughts about the link between spaces and places along with setting out some views on how BBC Workplace plays into these themes.

I'm sitting writing this secure in the knowledge that once you start something new or unfamiliar you overcome the most difficult aspect.I believe Lao Tzu, the Chinese philosopher (a mate of Confucius), expresses this quite nicely: the journey of 1000 miles begins with one step.So I hope that over time I will build an audience and also kick off a dialogue which will help us all come to a better understanding of what we do, how it's impacted by the BBC and the wider world and how we contribute to helping the BBC become the most creative organisation in the world.

Chris Kane

Head of Corporate Real Estate, BBC Workplace