Thanks everyone for joining me at the August Take on Board breakfast, and thanks in particular to our fabulous speaker Linda White, Assistant National Secretary of the Australian Services Union for her insightful and interesting stories and tips.
Linda led the union response during one of the largest corporate collapses in Australian history, with the voluntary administration of Ansett in 2001. More recently, she has also led the response with the voluntary administration of Virgin Airlines.
There was a lot shared, and so many fabulous questions asked of Linda – thank you for being active participants in this event. In fact, if you tune in to the pod next week you will (very likely!) get to hear a recap of the event, and your own special guest appearances as we have turned the event into a podcast episode (albeit with some parts edited – as directed by Linda – for those parts that were Chatham House).
Some of the feedback
The feedback centred on how great it was to be able to participate from anywhere, the format and, of course, the one speaker. Some of the comments are included below – clearly the quality of speaker and breakout rooms are a winner.
- Having the second breakout just before Linda finished to allow time to think about questions was great!
- The different sessions and use of break out rooms were great. Using a small group to discuss questions before a Q&A is a great idea (one I might steal!). It also felt very friendly and intimate.
Loved the early introduction breakout rooms opportunity and guest speaker Q&A - I actually enjoyed having one speaker and thought it gave more time for networking and in-depth discussion!
- Format was excellent – breakouts were particularly good.
- The keynote speaker is a respected and influential board member. The audience provided a great cross section of skills, interests and perspectives. The facilitator was (as usual) excellent… and technology was our friend.
- Single speaker with more time.
- I loved the content, and hearing from such a range of women in different areas. All new to me, but really interesting. Linda’s input was fascinating.
- Loved the breakout sessions firstly to intro with targeted Q’s and then the second one with the opportunity to discuss Linda’s story.
- The topic, the breakout rooms and the facilitating – subject matter was interesting and topical.
- Group breakout sessions. Really liked that you got to chat to people that you might not otherwise if in person.
- Really enjoyed this morning hearing about the lead up to both the demise of Ansett and Virgin.
- Linda’s two-part presentation.
The breakout sessions as well as the time with Linda. - Nice shift between full group and breakout rooms: good timing too.
- The format was great – good amount of time for breakout rooms, and guest chat, slido – all awesome.
- Format was great.
- Loved it all.
Things to change next time
Comments on what to do differently focussed on more time for everything! You can see the challenge I have! Note that this event had a tweaked format – one speaker, rather than two, to allow more time for breakout rooms, presentations and Q&A. At this stage, from the feedback above, I think the balance is about right so the next event will have the same format and I’ll tweak again in the future if needs be.
- More time for Q&A
- More breakout time
- To hear more from Linda
Announcements
Kerryn Garner who attended this event is sharing the Tri-Peaks mentoring program for board members of health and community services.
The program is a structured, mentee-driven program where mentors and mentees agree to meet monthly for 60-90 minute mentoring meetings. The program is supported by an evidence-based web platform that provides tools and resources to ensure a high quality and outcomes-driven mentoring experience for mentors and mentees.
Board marketplace
Leonore Ryan shared that her organisation, Western BACE, will shortly be looking for board members and to get in touch with her if you would like to have a chat about it, and get the information when it is available.
Contact Leonore
