I’d use this phrase for many people in many types of organisations. It wasn’t meant to be a critical view point, lots of people are perfectly happy, for lots of reasons, working at the level they can automatically reach. (e.g. I’d also use it for medical doctors, who despite their experience, decide to stay at staff grade, rather than become a Consultant). I’d also use it for myself to some extent.
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the point i was trying to make, not wanting to take anything away from the individual, is this is a middle ranking officer not someone who is 1 star/Air Officer rank.
yes they have achievements but of the pool of RAF officers are they remarkable by such standards?
I was not meaning to offend or disrespect the individual, simply indicate that of 40k personnel does she stand out as one of the top 10? or simply a good achiever in a tough industry who got half way up the ladder?
Absolutely, which is I think where it went wrong with Votders, she quickly became a sidekick to the Twitter Queen and was much more active within the organisation than without.
That’s not to take away from the time and effort that she put in, but she wasn’t really selling us to the outside world in the way that I would expect from an Ambassador.
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I have never understood the idea or point of ambassadors in manner we have them. I am convinced the first 2 were for Dawn to get a few selfies with, and not to promote the organisation to the world the broader sense. On that point both of them had effectively passed their prime so not really in public eye. If we’d had Hoy when he was at the top of his game and likewise CV when she was doing Countdown, we may have got more out of them.
Why we have got this new one baffles me. From what I can gather via the internet, she hasn’t done it yet which makes the appointment a previous. Newspaper articles with the tag line “hopes to be” is not the same “she has done …”. She will have some currency and might get a few mentions on the news and few column inches when she’s doing it and if she achieves her goal. If she doesn’t “plucky girl comes close” or similar in the media and then forgotten and not really someone who would be able to promote the organisation. The fact she was in the RAF and the CAC seemingly knows her, should have no bearing on it.
As for RAF Officers met a number and not really set my world on fire, they do a job that may generate a few stories for the hangers on. I doubt many if any Officers would make good ambassadors, unless they have working contacts in the outside world who would be useful to the organisation as a whole.
As said our ambassadors need to be people that have the ability to get out there and promote us in the media, industries and areas that will benefit us and the cadets. Not just because they might look good in a photo with senior officers and or someone senior officers want to be seen with for personal reasons. We should have a number of ambassadors from different areas, such as industry, academia, sport and arts, in which they known, have decent media profile and active. Do they really need a uniform or rank?
I disagree with the point about being seen around the organisation. I knew a couple of rugby players in the 90s who were around when RU went pro. They were sponsored by different companies, who as part of the deal expected them to attend events where they ‘pressed the flesh’ and hopefully generate some business, and visit different offices/sites to meet the workers, present awards and open facilities. Getting things presented by a celeb ambassador, would be better photo for the scrap book than one with an here today never to be remembered senior officer tor similar.
Is there a blurring of Ambassador and Influencer here?
I wish our new Ambassador well, both on her rowing endeavours and her career. But, after having first read of her appointment, I had quickly forgotten completely, only this thread reminded me.
However, I do remember well Hoy and Voderman. Ask yourself, what will a prospective or present Cadet, Parent, other organisation / business who may wish to support remember, and also have visibility of? Even my Parents who are now well past keen interest in RAFAC etc, enjoyed and took interest watching the TV bits Carol did with RAFAC a few years ago.
So, we now see more and more businesses using ‘Influencers’ (personally I despise the term and am quite the luddite when it comes to things like this) to do their advertising, but were Hoy and Voderman really more Influencers? Should we forget Ambassador and just have Influencers, only for limited periods for set campaigns? And who would the Cadets rather have turn up for a selfie or a grip and grin, someone who they may never have heard of or have good knowledge of as they were really active before their time, or some ‘appropriate’ Influencer? (I say appropriate as appreciate someone who posts virally on whatever social media but is otherwise unknown isn’t great, there are many well known Influencers out there.
Influencers are different beasts entirely, by my understanding. Businesses supply these with products (predominately food, clothes and electronic games) on the basis they use them and say how wonderful they are across SM and the like in the hope they reach and appeal to the gullible, who then buy it or get their parents to buy it. How would this model work for us? The majority of these influencers seem to be fairly short lived in terms of influence.
As I say we should have a number of ambassadors from across a spectrum of areas who have a media profile and fit around our needs and the interests of cadets.
Wouldn’t ex-cadets who have gone onto bigger things in life be a good source of these cross spectrum “influences”? I know personally of loads of ex-cadets from my old wing who are now doing all sorts which may appeal to this generation of Cadets. One is now a trainee RAF fast jet pilot, another a police officer, another a fashion designer. I am myself a Scientist, although I doubt I’d be that great an influencer (I despise the Instagram sort).
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I think a problem with ex-cadets, unless they have excelled in their field, it turns into a “what cadets did next”, rather than being really ambassadorial and promoting and raising awareness in the broader sense.
I’m always more interested in cadets who haven’t gone into the military as it’s a bit too much of a cliché.
Unfortunately it seems the challenge the Wg Cdr was undertaking has had to be abandoned - I’m sure that this was not an easy decision but by the sounds of things she is safe and well on board another vessel.
I wonder what the plan is now, given that the cross Atlantic challenge was meant to be her big arrival as an RAFAC Ambassador.
It was always a risk appointing her beforehand. But even taking on the challenge is a biggie. I’m sure it’s not there last we’ll hear of her
Award the bronze flying wings?
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You know what, one of our WSOs just text me the same quip…… 
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Now there isn’t a big activity for her it will be interesting to see how it looks going forward, given the excitement was being generated around the rowing.
Not that I see any particular worth in ambassadors unless they are out there pressing the flesh and getting us things from industry and the like. We don’t need photo bombers at dinners and award nights, which unless they have some level of celebrity, in years to come it would be who’s that. Our kids have photos with supposed nobody key note speakers from when they had to get the exam certs in Y11 and 13.
Having been across the North and South Atlantic a few times in properly bad weather on big Ships, given the weather in the North Atlantic right now, stopping the challenge seems eminently sensible.
Should the fact she didn’t complete the row have any bearing on her ambassador appointment? Absolutely not. The achievement thus far is excellent, regardless of the fact that unfortunately the challenge was not completed.
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She might be a pleasant, lovely and personable girl and whether she completed it or not is irrelevant, I don’t think she has enough ‘presence’, to be an ambassador (in my interpretation of the role) and raise the profile of the organisation among businesses and industries who we could benefit from nationally. That said CH and CV haven’t done this to any real extent. The other thing is being known about by the cadets and someone they can relate to. Let’s be honest how many staff got excited when CV was appointed, for no other reason than it was CV? I don’t many cadets who knew who she was.
VRT Memes summing up how most of us feel about it.
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It’s been three weeks today that HQRAFAC, and nearly two weeks since our Commandant posted about the Hon Wg Cdr - So, was the sentiment above prophetic ?
TBH CH and CV for all their higher profiles celebrity haven’t really been much use IMO.
CV did A LOT more than CH.
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