A woman called Susan has been put in charge of "Change Management" in DTI and she convened a lunch yesterday of people who had within the last few months been through a process called The Development Centre.

I can't remember if I wrote about this process or not - its a two day course with about six people and two tutors held at Sunningdale Park - the place I worked in the early 1990s. In fact the course was designed by Julian who used to work for me. Both the tutors were occupational psychologists and one of them used to work with Keith who plays melodion and who Peter and I did a barn dance with not so long ago. So given I have worked in this field I really rather enjoyed the process - rather more than I anticipated. So at the lunch I had quite a lot to say.

It was a really interesting insight into the current self-understanding of the Department. Crudely speaking it knows it has bitten off an enormous management of change problem - it still hasn't cracked a great raft of leadership issues especially how to stop people right at the top saying one thing and doing another with predictable results on the cynicism of lower levels. (I suppose I could add that it also has exit policies that target people like myself who have actually studied these issues in some depth - hey ho - but that might sound a bit bitter).

Anyway the interesting wheeze was with John and Quadrangle. His pitch for the change management seminar brief I wrote is good but way too pricey - mainly I think because he takes the aim of making a difference fairly seriously. He and I were discussing it on the phone and he wryly pointed out that one section is a verbatim quote from Thre Great Gatsby - I enjoyed that joke too. Anyway I was able to repitch the document at Susan across the table at the lunch for what is potentially a much bigger contract for the whole Department. Now its down to John to get into her office and start doing his stuff. I think this gives me a licence to insist he buys Plundafonix when he buys me several Japanese lagers on Tuesday night. I discussed most of this with Tracy. Of course an outside reader may wonder at the strange mix of interpersonal politics, commerce and art which these machinations reveal - what can I say? Its a life, its an antedote to boredom, its a way of mixing authenticity and irony. Of course none of this is exactly within the mainstream of Governemnt procurement but that process for all its rules is notoriously unreliable. One of John's maxims is "never underestimate the importance of the personal agenda".

I also started working on my next ploy to enrich my departure - there is an obscure provision of the Data Protection Act which gives certain workplace rights that I mean to (at the very least) allude to in my next round of negotiations with Howard - who works for Susan and was also at the lunch.

Mark has got me thinking about Cubasis in much more depth - also about Soundblaster Live 1024 which is the card in the box. I spent part of yesterday trying to work out if there is a digital out somewhere at the back of the PC - I am not sure I can find it. There is a four point mini-dinn which I suspect has something to do with surround sound. I tried by SONY condenser mike into the card and Cubase and I thought the flute sound was OK.

There is a new MIDIMAN 24 note keyboard which has loads of control and a USB link direct to the PC. This sounds a really attractive option at under �100. I have been looking for a good cheap MIDI controller for ages - in fact it was that search that led me to tackle the nature of XG control.

Bought the latest copy of the Wire. There's a quite a negative review of some Fred Frith reissues - and a good review of the latest Sonic Youth record. Apparently the masters were nearly hit by one of aircraft engines on 11-9. I wondered if anyone apart from the editorial team actually knows all the music covered in each issue.