N is for New York.

Well, it had to be really. The Big Apple (no idea why). The City So Nice They Named It Twice. The Center (I know) of the Universe. The City That Never Sleeps.

Work has taken me to or through New York a number of times, and for a variety of reasons. Chief among these is the fact that NYC is home to The Salvation Army International Social Justice Commission (ISJC) which is part of International Headquarters but located close to the United Nations Headquarters. (Lunch in the Delegates Dining Room with its great views and global cuisine comes highly recommended.)

First impressions of New Yoik are disorientating. It’s every bit as big, brash and bustling as the stereotypes would have it. And yet it’s also strangely navigable (no thanks to the Subway, which is inexplicably and insanely complicated). Because its landmarks are indelibly burned in to one’s consciousness through film and television, it quickly takes on a mysterious homely quality, from which one can even find surprising patches of peace, tranquility and beauty!

But this walk through history is largely supposed to be about my dalliance with The Salvation Army, so let me refocus.

Highlights:

• Participating in a mind-blowingly good international media symposium, organised by the awesome Joe Pritchard and featuring a creative writing seminar with award-winning screenwriter Todd Komarnicki (Elf, Sully) and the opportunity to watch the latter film in his company at a private screening
• Presenting my Faith and Social Media research to the same enthusiastic audience (!)
• Meeting and training ISJC staff and interns (under the leadership of Dean Pallant and others), to ensure social justice issues have always been prominent, accurately portrayed and accompanied by practical action points so that people around the works
• Worshipping with other Christians at the dedicated UN prayer space adjacent to the general assembly building
• Attending a moving 9/11 memorial on the fifteenth anniversary, to mark The Salvation Army’s role as the first relief agency to be authorised to assist at Ground Zero

New York is also the place where I (eventually) met Joseph Halliday, who was at the time one of the ISJC interns, but whom I managed to lure to International Headquarters. He’s proved to be an exceptional creative force, colleague and friend, working across the whole digital portfolio with incredible skill and dedication. It seems like I’ve known him forever, and we have that rare connection where we often seem to know what’s in the other’s brain before it needs to be fully expressed. I have thrown countless mad ideas at Joe, which he has always turned into something far better than I could have done myself. So for that, and your constant support and for being a first-rate companion on international visits, thank you Joe. I will miss you enormously.