Born in Sevenoaks, Bob Ogley is a former editor of The Sevenoaks Chronicle, and was a journalist for more than 30 years before he left his newspaper to concentrate on writing books and giving talks. He is a regular broadcaster on BBC Radio Kent.

His life changed with the publication of his first book, In The Wake of the Hurricane, which sold more than 250,000 copies and remained in the top ten bestseller list for eight months.  He has travelled extensively in pursuit of information and photographs and is in great demand from organisations across the south-east to tell his unique story.

Many of Bob’s 22 books have been county bestsellers, including Biggin on The Bump, the story of RAF Biggin Hill; Kent at War and The Kent Weather Book. 

His books and talks have raised more than £108,000 for local charities throughout the county.

During the Battle of Britain the pilots used Hawkinge as a forward base. The V1 flying bombs (doodlebugs) were launched from ramps in Pas de Calais  and thousands passed over East Kent (or were shot down) on their way to  London.  Those indiscriminate, short-lived but lethal weapons brought terror to Kent in 1944-5. It is a story, not only of devastation and drama, but of courage, resourcefulness, luck and even humour.

The Public Lecture is FREE to attend but advance booking is essential. 

Please contact jane.seaman@canterbury.ac.uk or ring 01303 760600.

Speaker: Zoë Meyer, Publishing Consultant

Zoë Meyer has 25 years of experience in all aspects of book and magazine publishing, working for art publisher Thames and Hudson and Search press in the UK followed by consultancy projects in Moscow and Madrid. In 2000 she launched her own successful publishing company 'Sage Press' producing a series of delightful pocket books on individual trees and topiary topics.

The clever design and feel of the little 'Sage Press' tree books brought Zoë an unexpected bonus: friends and colleagues asked her to help produce and publish their own books, relating to their work or profession with lots of colour images.

Today Zoë offers her publishing consultancy to a wide range of clients, including artists, poets, writers of memoirs and children’s stories, their ages ranging from 30 to an impressive 94 yrs. Her most recent enquiry was from a determined 97 year-old author. They all value the flexibility and potential of self-publishing and Zoe finds it

very satisfying to help them achieve their goals.  

For more information go to www.zoesbooks.co.uk

FREE event but advance booking essential contact jane.seaman@canterbury.ac.uk   or ring 01303 760600.

University Centre Folkestone is delighted to welcome celebrated journalist and writer Vitali Vitaliev as the first speaker in our 2012 Public Lecture programme.

The first investigative journalist in the old Soviet Union, Vitali was forced to defect from the USSR in January 1990 – the result of his ground-breaking and courageous investigations into Soviet organised crime and neo-fascism. For those pioneering exposures, he won several Journalist of the year awards as well as the Nieman Fellowship in Journalism from Harvard University (USA) – the most prestigious title in international investigative journalism. Vitali was a staff columnist with The Guardian, The European, The Daily Telegraph, The Australian and won a number of prestigious journalism awards. He wrote and presented TV and radio documentaries for BBC 1 TV, BBC Radio 4, Channel 4, ABC and ITV and is a regular and popular tongue-in-cheek media commentator on current political and social issues.

Having lived and worked in England, Scotland, Ireland, Australia and the USA, Vitali became widely known for regular appearances on TV and radio, including Saturday Night Clive, After Dark, Have I Got News For You, Desert Island Discs, QI, etc. For his intelligent and amusing Saturday Night Clive live appearances via satellite from Moscow, and then from Melbourne, he was dubbed by British media “the first smiling Russian on British TV” – a label that sticks until now, alongside the likes of “Russian Clive James” and “Russian Bill Bryson”.  He has published eleven books, written in English and translated into a number of languages, including German, French, Italian, Japanese and (rather ironically) Russian.

“Vitali Vitaliev is a star in the making” /Time magazine/

“Vitaliev has an irrepressible sense of humour” /The Guardian/

“With the charm of Michael Palin and the wit of Clive Anderson, this man is adorable” /Time Out/

FREE event but advance booking essential - contact jane.seaman@canterbury.ac.uk

or ring 01303 760600.

We are delighted to celebrate the launch of these awards at this prestigious networking lunch, included in the price is an aperitif upon arrival followed by a sumptuous 2-course meal with wine, followed by coffee.

These Awards are a celebration of excellence in business, by entering your company can benefit in many ways such as gaining valuable insight into the performance of your company, boosting staff morale and putting your business in the media spotlight. Entering is absolutely FREE and winners and finalists benefit from a high level of valuable media exposure. Register now online www.keiba.co.uk

This lavish and enjoyable lunch is not to be missed; it is a wonderful opportunity to network with other Business Leaders or to entertain clients/colleagues. So please book early to secure your place.

The BBC screening on 10^th February 2012 will be for invited guests as well as members of the public that will be able to obtain tickets for the event direct from the BBC. BBC South East will also be filming their news broadcasts for the day live from outside the cathedral with Polly Evans and Rob Smith.

We are delighted that we have been given the opportunity the screen the film again as a fund raiser on 11^th February. Our hosts for the evening will be Beverley Thompson of Southern Water and Geoff Clark of BBC Radio Kent. South East residents may remember them from their time on BBC South East. We are also pleased to premier a short film “Magwitch” produced by Viola Films on the life of Abel Magwitch before he met Pip.

Charles Dickens was writing at a time of great social upheaval.  Society was becoming industrialized, the scale of towns and cities was growing hugely and as a social commentator he saw how individuals often became lost in the new and expanding world of Victorian Britain.   His works reflect the development of the Medway Towns and capture a way of Kentish life which has long disappeared, but Rochester Cathedral and its unbroken history within the town remains unchanged - making it the perfect setting for this wonderful film.

We are very grateful to Southern Water and Visit Kent, our partners for the evening. We will also be pleased to welcome some of the Rochester Society members who will be attending in costume, along with The Worshipful Mayor of Medway, Cllr Ted Baker and his Mayoress.

The screening will commence at 6.30pm with a reception, followed by “Magwitch” and “Great Expectations”. Tickets are £15 and are available from the Development Office in Garth House on 01634 810074 or email development@rochestercathedral.org

Working with Julia Russell of Flecto, one of the country’s most respected executive and team coaches, IoD Kent’s bi-monthly P&D Forum enables local business leaders to share their experience and learn best practice from each other.  The Forum is a facilitated discussion-based session, focused around a series of specific topics on current activities and trends. Places are strictly limited to 20, so if you’d like to join us please book now by emailing iod.kent@iod.com 

Have you ever considered doing business overseas?

If you answered yes to any of the above then this working breakfast is the event for you.  Chaired by Olga D’Silva, director of Zen Languages, this forum is designed as an open discussion with expert guest speakers targeted at people who currently trade overseas and those looking to take their first steps or looking for new foreign markets. 

The objective is to facilitate introductions and bring like minded professionals together around a table to discuss various ‘hot’ topics.  By design places are strictly limited, so if you’d like to join us please book now by emailing Debbie Cameron IoD Kent Branch Manager iod.kent@iod.com 

Topic:   Cultural Communications.