One of the reasons for choosing to launch our blog this week was so it would coincide with the national children's and adults services conference in Brighton. This is basically an opportunity for directors and lead members from across the country to get together to share stories and woes, and to hear politicians' latest ideas.
I was therefore hoping to use this entry to summarise yesterday's keynote address by education secretary Alan Johnson. Unfortunately, though, I have been forced to reach the conclusion that he actually said very little that was either 'key' or 'of note'. As he himself admitted, he had allowed the department's writing team to get at his speech - and it showed!
Caught off guard by a question from the floor, he did however let slip that he shared delegates' concerns about the restrictive nature of the current funding system for schools and hinted at the possibility of greater flexibility in how the money could be spent in the future. So watch this space.
Time to go and hear from a former education secretary now, as Estelle Morris joins the conference donning her Children's Workforce Development Council hat. Log-on again later to see if she had more to say than her successor.