Hood 2.0

I spent most of last week in Nottingham University at the ALT-C 2007 conference - see my previous posts for the lowdown. I told my kids today that there is an airport just outside Nottingham called Robin Hood Airport. So followed a conversation about the naming of airports. We have a John Lennon airport in Liverpool, and there are several airports named after other famous people from history, including Leonardo Da Vinci (check out the eyes on that website!), Charles De Gaulle, John F Kennedy, and Ronald Reagan. All well and good. But an airport named after Robin Hood .... a fictitious character?? Nottingham is Robin Hood crazy you know. There are statues of him, and there are roads named after him and his merry men. Even in my hotel room the effects of the Prince of Thieves was felt - although my bed was a double, the en suite toilet was very very small - a little john....

Why did they call their airport after Robin Hood? Who thought that one up? How much did they pay him? Can they get their money back? And what if we named all our airports after fictitious characters? Where would it all end...?

Cinderella Airport: Check in late and you turn into a pumpkin
Peter Pan Airport: No aircraft required
Count Dracula Airport: Night flights only
Invisible Man Airport: The metal detector goes off, but no-one knows why
James T Kirk Airport: You meet yourself coming back through Arrivals before you have left
Paddington Bear Airport: The baggage carousel is always sticky with marmalade
Lieutenant Columbo Airport: Standing in line is always murder
Bilbo Baggins Airport: Where dragons get refuelled

Got any more?

One of the legacies of the ALT-C 'Robin Hood' conference on learning technologies was the formation of a group on FaceBook called Hood 2.0 which is a slightly unhinged group of individuals who are interested in keeping in touch to discuss Web 2.0 technologies and their use in education and training. You can join it too. It's infinitely better fun than sitting around in trees all day, playing a lute and trying to rob people.