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Caroline Jones (Campaign Manager) Blog - 25 May 2009
- adminWhat a fantastic week we had last week with our National Career Development Week (NCDW) celebrations taking place from 18 to 24 May. I want to start by thanking all who participated. Don't forget the year-long campaign continues, with registered career development activities all year and new dynamic content continuously being developed on the website. My week turned out to be an eclectic mix of activities fairly typical of the National Career Development Week campaign. So what did I learn? ...
On Monday, I was invited to have breakfast with the athletes at the NSW Institute of Sport at Sydney Olympic Park by one of our lead event organisers Sam Wloszczowski, Career Education and Professional Development Consultant for the Institute. Swimmer Jonathon Newton, who combines his sporting career with a full-time role in the financial markets, educated his fellow athletes (and me!) on the GFC and the skills that athletes can offer to employers both during and after a career in sport. I also learned that an athlete will always be an athlete and, even if it's not your full-time job, you can always find a way to continue to follow your passion!
On Tuesday, I made a brief visit to my local public library to see how the NCDW display was looking and was delighted to witness some locals engaging with the career resources.
On Wednesday, I was an event organiser myself and learnt that persistence certainly pays off. If you've got an idea for an event that you believe in, you can make it happen. This time the venue was a Wiggles concert at Hornsby RSL with an audience of 1200 mums, dads and their little Wiggles fans! The NCDW event was a fantastic interview by Channel Ten News Reporter Angela Bishop on Anthony Field's career and commitment to lifelong learning, the result of my lobbying over the past year to encourage Angela and Channel Ten News to cover the story.
The magical call I had worked so hard for finally came only three days before NCDW celebration week - and for a brief while it all seemed too late as I discovered our NCDW Ambassador Blue Wiggle Anthony Field was already fully committed for the week. The Wiggles team, with a special mention to the Blue Wiggle, Wiggles Production Manager Kate, and Wiggles Live Events Admin Manager Sue, rallied to the cause and were amazing to fit this into their hectic tour schedule with three shows a day plus other commitments.
Having worked with the Wiggles for more than a year now, since I first approached the Blue Wiggle to be our Ambassador, I also learned some new things about the Wiggles myself last week. Blue Wiggle Anthony Field has always impressed me with his energy for lifelong learning. I saw for myself last week just how much The Wiggles are inspiring career development from within their performance family, mentoring dancers like young Megan or former Architect Mario, and inspiring career development across demographics. Watch the story on our website and/or the Wiggles website and see some of this for yourself!
On Friday, I was co-event organiser with CICA Project Director Karen Penrose as we facilitated a webinar on the topic of the Australian Blueprint for Career Development presented by CEAV Director Bernadette Gigliotti. With Bernadette in Victoria, Karen in Queensland, myself in New South Wales, and 17 participants online across Australia and New Zealand, I learned that webinars are a great way of sharing information, making it both accessible and convenient for your audience. I learned a lot too in the space of that one short hour about the wonderful resource that the Australian Blueprint offers - thanks Bernadette! We will be running more webinars throughout the year.
That was my week. Send us a blog of your week to contact_team@ncdw.com.au. We'd love to hear from you!
National Career Development Week forms part of a larger year-long campaign and is an initiative of the Career Industry Council of Australia with funding from the Federal Government Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations.
Watch this space, for more campaign news as it happens.
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