The Value of a Great Conference

Every so often employers give their employees the chance to attend conferences as professional development options.  Now, not all conferences are created equal.  Conferences are what you make of them.  Some are brilliant while others can be pretty poor.  It all comes down to you.

1. Keynote speakers.  These are the people that conference organisers invite along to fill the role of superstar.  Look for speakers that are proven and have a track record. 
2. Network, network, network.  Be bold and talk to people.  Approach them before they approach you.  Look for common ground and similar interests.  Ask their opinion on matters.  You never know who you might be sitting next to.
3. Plan ahead.  Think in advance about what you want to get out of the conference.  Write down some objectives and goals for learning.  Then structure your time so that you achieve those goals and can take home something useful.  Read the overviews and biographies of presenters, think of questions beforehand that you can ask.  Just plan.

Conferences can be fun and exciting.  Couple that with the chance to learn and implement new ideas - there you have the perfect professional development opportunity.

(Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/purrr/126597849/)

ATEM NZ Conference Day 2 - recap

So day one of the conference (Thursday July 8th was great).  So how did the second day stack up?

Session one was by given by Peter Mellow, AUT.  Peter is a legend when it comes to creating content and lessons for students using every known technology there is known to man.  Peter talked about using creative education spaces and how we can alter learning spaces to encourage students learning development.  There were heaps of live examples and photos and ideas from how educators in the US are doing things different now.

Session two was from the Learning State ladies.  Basically an education provider/ITO that is setup to deliver training to public service employees. 

Session three was delivered by Yvonne O'Brien.  Yvonne has a long history of working in the education sector through University's, Polytechs and now Te Wananga O Aotearoa.  Yvonne talked us through the dramatic and ongoing changes that occur at "the Wa".  The turn around story of the Wananga is quite surprising

A very interesting story that illustrates the need and demand of lower income people to have access to education.  I'm not sure we've heard the last of this story yet. What goes up usually comes down again.

Session four that I attended was entitled "Coach to Grow".  This session was presented by Toni Snelgrove and Therese Ovrevik Walkinshaw.  With Toni what you see is what you get.  She is very, very smart and knows how to cut to the heart of the matter.  Therese is also very smart and applies her skills in the University sector.  Therese is very warm and pleasant to speak to yet she is very sharp also and has the ability to quickly size up a situation and deal with the possibilities and problems with little fuss.

This was a great session that was unfortunately timed in the same period as another session that was looking at silo's and how to overcome them.  It would be great to have a session like this again next year but have it better attended.

This was followed by a keynote session from Rob Matthews, MBE.  Rob is a blind runner who has an incredible story and is hugely inspirational.  I was fortunate enough to spend some time lunching with Rob and he is very warm, genuine and an all round good guy.  Rob told us about his story and the hurdles he has had to overcome in life.  Rob was joined during his presentation by his wife, Sarah.  Nice.

After that I was physically stuffed so called it a day and missed the final session.  So in brief - Friday was another great day that seemed to have more flow and was more relaxed than the Thursday.

ATEM NZ Conference Day 1 - recap

The 2010 ATEM regional conference was hosted bu AUT, University of Auckland, Unitec and Manukau Institute of Technology.  That was a great move.  Having the conference co-hosted meant that there was a lot of input from different people and the organisation was great.

Here's how the speakers went down (in chronological order) as I attended the sessions -

Derek McCormack (AUT).  Derek spoke about the differences in philosophy between the NZ government and the Australian government.  In a nutshell - money for tertiary education in NZ is drying up, while in Australia they are increasing the investment they are making in tertiary education.

Thought - hasn't Australia showed in the past, through sports, that the more you spend and invest the better the results?

Jonathon Hagger.  Yes that's my session.  You can see the powerpoint of my session by clicking here.  I spoke about defining your management brand.  HR meets Marketing 101.  It was a good session with an excellent cross section of people from across the educational spectrum.

David Earle.  This session was very interesting.  (The actual presentation was a bit dry but the content was awesome).  The direct correlation between education graduates and downturns  in the economy made for an interesting point.  David has a very sharp mind and is excellent value.

Terry Fulljames and Jan Hausman.  The new SAEER regime that the Tertiary Education Commission has devised was discussed.  BOP Polytech have recently finished their initial SAEER and Terry and Jan shared their feelings, experiences and findings from what they have been through.

Julie Wood and Jo Shortland.  These two ladies spoke about their experiences about designing and creating innovative environments for students.  Julie spoke about what MIT are thinking of doing and some of the locations and experiences of institutions internationally.  While Jo spoke about what Wintec has done in regards to their Gallagher centre and new Avalon campus.

These are tiny recaps on the sessions.  I recommend if you think there is something of interest here - contact the presenters and request a copy of their work.  Thursday turned out to be - an excellent day!