OPINION
As I shake the sand out of the keyboard and shake my head at the surfboard, (as it is again consigned to its rightful resting place next to the folded-up Christmas tree), it occurs to me that this Summer I took a break long enough to learn something.
For those with time to kill on the tram, the zoom, or the tea room, here's the insights.
Firstly, people get bored easily. I already knew that but some long weeks in close quarters with my favourite people made me reflect that a lot of stories go on too long, and others with really important points don’t have enough glitter along the way to keep audience attention. Keeping story length under control in the newsletter will be a renewed focus this year.
Secondly, is it that people get bored, or is it possible that I am occasionally boring? I discounted this immediately, (I didn’t discover humility on the beach at the same time as exploring audience disinterest, I am a one-job-at-a-time type of person) but it did make me reflect on how others could be boring, and the perennial challenge of finding interesting thickets among great swathes of the mundane. Also, yes, of course I was told frequently by my nearest and dearest that many of the facts that I find interesting A. are not and B. should be explained with the barest context to minimise their attention investment because of point A.
Thirdly, people still love knowing about research, but its provenance and veracity is sometimes questionable. Yes lovers of data all, there is still a gargantuan appetite for winning an argument about sleep / sunscreen / surf deaths (all the s’s) by quoting recent research. However, many of the quotations I was presented with came from social media and the context / name of researcher / University / nation of researcher is never recalled. Dagger in the heart of former newshounds, the number quoting something read in a newspaper or from TV news appears to be zero. And the number reading original research in journals? Ha Ha, like, it’s not like 1970 any more bro. What’s a journal anyway? (apologies, small lapse into holiday house speak). It's a reminder of the need to shift communication foci to the channels that suit the people, rather than trying to shift the people to our preferred communication domains.
Fourth; people looove sea creatures. Even ones that could give their limbs a good chomping. One of the highlights of my holiday was a seal darting about a foot from the front of my stand up paddle board, which, despite being the size of a small oil tanker, I still find it almost impossible to stay standing on. People will stand and gaze and/or actually volunteer to walk an extra 50 metres if they get the chance to spot a seal, dolphin or rock that looks like it could be a whale. Vanessa Pirotta is onto something, speaking whale and academicese all in one quick update, and managing to build a massive public profile along the way. If people pay to see penguins and walk to see seals or go nuts when a dolphin drops in on their wave, then why doesn’t the research about them get people equally excited? Knowledge translation is undoubtedly going to be critical in 2026.
Fifth; slip slop slap is dead. Especially in Sydney where massive expanses of beach, grass or footpath are almost matched by massive expanses of sizzling flesh hauled out for searing by a massive cult of sunworshippers. So is it nobody cares about the research, the communication or is early death from skin cancer just becoming more trendy? I was slopping on 50+ like only a person who spends 11 months tethered to a keyboard can, but by the end of the hols have ended up more well done than medium rare – and I was even trying not to sizzle up. We clearly have an ongoing need for dermatologists, skin specialists and burn soothing sales professionals, as well as fashion designers trained in Summer wear that looks good on tomato red sun cultists, at least for the few days before they revert to pallid or progress to trendier tanned tones. Trends change like it or not. We might not like them, but understanding them is vital to remain relevant.
Finally, holidays can often be really good for you, but also a challenge for many. I read two crime thrillers, extended my vocabulary with Bananagrams, pondered the vast use of AI by persons of a more youthful persuasion. Like many, I also was shocked by the tragedies within the sector – particularly the passing of Professor Emma Johnston – and the world in the past month. Holding feelings of shock and grief alongside the long-awaited relief of the Summer break was no doubt challenging for many. With the break now firmly in the rear mirror, I nonetheless find myself re-enthused about diving into the world of HE. Hoping you have had a chance for the same.