About

My name is Donna Watt, and this is my personal blog.  I am a library manager, working at the senior management level in a public library in provincial New Zealand.  My specific areas of interest are ever-changing and therefore hard to pin down, but here’s a brief overview:

At present I’m obsessed with social media and its place in branding, communication and promotional areas – both for me personally, and for the library.  I am project-managing a library website build, but avoiding the perils of coding as much as I can, so matters related to website development and promotion are of real interest.  I’m also working with staff to develop our strategic plan, and in particular, my focus is on the digital strategy.  I work with staff from the perspective of dialogue mapping with a view to developing shared understanding and common goals.  This might sound like a mouthful, and it is, but it has huge implications for facilitation, consultation and communication – which are some of the other things I am passionately engaged in.

At home, when I’m not obsessing over social media, you might find me engaged in domestic drudgery, though as rarely as possible.  I’m more likely to be reading interior design magazines and plotting the next renovation, herding cats and dogs, children (grown up) or my husband of 30 years, listening to rock music, playing my guitar, singing, painting (badly), or reading thrillers, fantasy, suspense or young adult novels.  Weather permitting I might also be found in the garden, or on a nearby beach looking for ocean-washed treasures.  Regular exercise is something I attempt sporadically and with limited success, but drinking a good merlot is a habit I find easier to sustain.  Eating out with friends is a much fancied pastime, in which the merlot features again.  If this makes me sound like a soak, I have overstated the amount.  Honestly!  Good coffee and great chocolate are my two other favourite sins.  The first in moderation, the second not so much.

Although I will reflect on matters both personal and work-related here, those reflections will be of a general nature, and will not mention specific matters or people.  These are my own opinions, and not those of my employer.