Review by Sean McQuaid, ERC Equipoise

Well what a difference! The PESGB team thought to make it convenient to use a location close to PROSPEX and more in keeping with the straightened times. None of your fancy canapés on a London bus at the Transport Museum or the city landscapes of the Tate Modern, this had more the feel of the DIY type parties of the ‘80’s. It made me quite nostalgic; especially when old friends started turning up to swap war stories of a tough year and whether this has been the toughest year yet.

Islington Assembly Hall was once the home of tea parties and could be used for a posh set in Call the Midwife and so was perfect for this more home grown offering from the PESGB team. There was ‘Rob the Caricaturist’ for those brave enough to have their physiognomy stretched and squeezed to much amusement. There were candy canes from the YPs and beer tokens! No you didn’t have to drink a dry white or robust red, if you wanted a Hobgoblin, it’s yours for the token. There was even a version of pin the tail on the donkey. Teams had to put stickers on maps closest to UKCS fields. Naturally, I’m very proud that the Croydon Canaries* won.

Two other things were commendable, one long and one short. The trail of hot food mini meals was long, delicious and filling and the speeches short, pithy and appreciated.
I was pleased to meet so many old friends and acquaintances like so many others and please to be able to hear all the conversations and leave for home with that warm feeling that the start of Christmas often gives; or was that the beer?

Thank you to the PESGB team for all your efforts and imagination.

*Holly-Marie Owen (Geologist, ERC Equipoise), Ellen Mitchell (Geoscientist, ERC Equipoise), Harriet Christie (Graduate Geoscientist, ERC Equipoise) and Nicholas Holgate (Exploration Geoscientist, Shell)