We’re just back from running four 2-hour sense of place workshops in different venues across Aberdeenshire. We had around 100 participants and gathered masses of creative input that will mean we can produce a strong story for the destination that’s grounded in local people’s passion for the place (as well as being informed by our external perspective and research). Two of the workshops were in really special venues. The first was at the atmospheric Salmon Bothy at Portsoy – right on the beach overlooking the Moray Firth. We were upstairs in the netting loft with views – and soundtrack – of crashing waves. The second was in the Ballroom at gorgeous Glen Tanar, in the foothills of the Cairngorms. The space – with its stag head trophies and extraordinarily decorated eaves – is sumptuous.