BPW NZ 43rd
National Conference
Invercargill – New Dimensions of Leadership
in the Workplace
BPW NZ
has always enjoyed a fine reputation of
arranging very well-organised conferences
and their 43rd National Conference was no
exception. The dedicated members of Southland
left no stone unturned and had organised
everything down to the finest detail.
International
Guests
BPW International President: Dr Chonchanok
Viravan
BPW International Secretary: Freda Miriklis
BPWA President: Kay Morrison
BPWA Members: Glenys Jones, Trish Clifford,
Barbara Hunter, Lyn Williams
Discovering
New Zealand
Pam Potter, member BPW Southland & Manager
of the National Bank (official sponsor of
conference) drove President Nok, Andrew
(my husband) and I on a most enjoyable journey
around the eastern coastal areas of Southland.
We travelled to the South Island’s
southern-most point – Bluff, home
of the delicious world famous Bluff Oysters.
After sampling the mouth-watering oysters,
our tour proceeded to the seaside town of
Riverton – a mecca for artists and
craftspeople and one of the first established
European settlements in New Zealand. We
had a delicious lunch followed by more sightseeing.
Within
a day’s travel, we experienced everything
from rolling fertile farmlands to golden
beaches stretching as far as the eye could
see. Later that night we enjoyed true Southland
hospitality at a home hosted dinner.
Registration
The weekend of 5 -6 May marks the official
start to the Invercargill duck shooting
weekend. This year’s theme for conference
was “The Duck”. This was managed
cleverly by the Southland members as we
were all given a duck at the registration
desk and were told to bring it with us during
all of the business sessions. This was a
ploy to encourage delegates back to the
conference floor as soon as possible as
there were lucrative prizes given out at
the beginning of each conference session.
On the bottom of the ducks were numbers
and if you’re lucky duck’s number
was called out: you were lucky enough to
qualify for a prize!
Opening
Night, Friday 4th May
Opening night was held at the Ascot Park
Hotel and we were all greeted by President
Faye and her executive. My husband (Andrew)
and i were chaperoned by Anne Todd Lambie
who made sure that we were introduced to
most BPW NZ members. Soon after all the
members were seated, the official party
including: Faye Gardiner (BPW NZ President),
Dr Chanchanok Viravan (BPWI President),
Freda Miriklis (BPWI Executive Secretary),
Kaye Morrison (BPWA President) Pam Potter
BPW Southland & Manager National Bank,
Tim Shadbolt Mayor of Invercargill, Frana
Cardno, Mayor of Southland District Council
and Christine Rankin (Keynote Speaker) were
walked in by the sound of the bagpipes making
us all feel most important.
Sue
Morrison-Bailey, President BPW Southland
officially welcomed all members to the Conference
Opening and the Mayor of Invercargill, Tim
Shadbolt gave a most energetic presentation
and welcomed us all to his town. Mayor of
Southland District, Frana Cardno also inspired
all of us about the many wonders of her
district and Fay Gardiner (BPW NZ President)
commented that as the opening reception
was so successful that this was the start
of more to come and what we could all expect
during the congress.
During
the evening, Frana Cardo explained that
over the past five or so years, the Invercargill
City Council had actively instituted a range
of innovations designed to bring businesses
and people to the city. One of these was
introducing ‘zero fees’ education
at the Southern Institute of Technology.
The
Southland community recognises the need
for a highly qualified and skilled workforce
for New Zealand's economic and social development.
We understand that the Zero Fees tertiary
programmes are available to New Zealanders
and offered to immigrants/permanent residents
also, to study approved programmes without
paying the tuition fees.
Christine
Rankin gave the keynote address, her topic:
“Nurturing Leadership”. Christine
was the former CEO of New Zealand’s
largest government agencies, where she led
over 5500 staff and administered $14 billion
of welfare and superannuation payments.
Christine had us all captivated by her flair
and presence, sharing with us, her own personal
story about making it against the odds.
Her background was very different to the
traditional CEO appointments in that she
came up from the bottom ranks of the Department
of Social Welfare, in fact, from the other
side of the counter as a recipient of welfare.
Her educational background was not punctuated
by a University Degree which made her message
all the more powerful.
Diana
O’Brien, Projects Convenor then took
to centre stage as the MC and coordinator
of the BPW NZ Awards.
Business
Sessions, Saturday 5th May
Faye Gardiner, opened the Business Session
of the 42nd Conference on Saturday, 5th
May. The business sessions and keynote speakers
were most professional and enjoyable.
Guest Speakers included:
an Award Winning Business Leader, Sue Lindsay
(www.takeactionnz.com)
who amongst other things shared with us
the 5 R’s of Business –
1 Retention:
keeping customers we want
2 Relationships: getting
closer to your customer
3 Relevance: make it
meaningful
4 Referrals: getting
them to tell others
5 Recovery: turning errors
into opportunities to impress
Dr
Jackie Blue Member of Parliament, National
Party, also addressed the conference. Dr
Blue spoke about her involvement in raising
the standard of how women with breast problems
and concerns are managed and treated in
New Zealand. As a doctor, she campaigned
tirelessly for breast cancer screening and
over time built up a solid reputation. Her
presentation was most insightful.
BPW
NZ’s focus is on improving the environment
for working women. They advocate and continue
to lobby on issues such as Matrimonial Property,
Student Loans, Employment Relations, Disability
Strategies and the Ministry of Women's Affairs
Action Plan for Women.
You really can’t help but feel that
BPW NZ members have a strong sense of achieving
anything that they believe in. This was
most evident during their business sessions
as the resolutions that were put before
congress were on issues important to the
members and which not only impacted on their
lives in the workplace as working women
but also in their lives as citizens of the
community.
There
were 9 Constitutional Amendments and 9 General
Resolutions that were prepared for Conference
2007. Of these general resolutions, I highlight
but a few, as the resolutions carried will
be available on the NZ website shortly..
Those that generated most discussion during
conference included the resolutions on:
Methamphetamine Education, Needs Assessment
for Disabled Women, Services for Disabled
People and an increase in Legal Aid.
Resolution
1: Methamphetamine education
New Zealand is experiencing an epidemic
in the drug abuse of Methamphetamine. Methamphetamines
are stimulants. Stimulants are a type of
drug that speed up your brain. They are
produced as pills, powders, or chunky crystals
called “ice”.
The
crystal form, nicknamed crystal meth, is
a popular drug, especially with young adults
and for those who frequently go out to dance
clubs and parties. The number of teenagers
who abuse crystal meth is on the rise.
People
who are abusing methamphetamines feel high
and full of energy. They think the drug
will allow their bodies to keep going and
going. But methamphetamines are very damaging
to the body and brain, especially with repeated
use. Long-term use of methamphetamines can
cause brain damage that causes problems
with memory and body movement. When used
in larger doses, methamphetamines can cause
dangerously high body temperature, confusion,
convulsions (uncontrollable jerking body
movements), and even death.
BPW
Kapiti worked extensively on a Methamphetamine/
“P” Education programs at their
club and proposed that the New Zealand Federation
also get involved by encouraging all BPW
clubs over the coming year to support and/or
initiate public education programmes about
the dangers of “P”. “P”
is a growing concern in the community but
its use stems from the use of marijuana
so education programmes also need to inform
people that there is a real danger in marijuana
use.
Resolution
3 & 4: Needs Assessment & Services
for Disabled People
BPW Franklin proposed that BPZ NZ urge the
Minister for Disability Issues and the Minister
of Health increase the resources to accelerate
the rate at which services are being redesigned
to provide improved services and support
for people with disabilities.
Further,
BPW Franklin proposed that BPZ NZ urge the
Minister for Disability Issues and the Minister
of Health to also increase the resources
to accelerate the rate at which services
are being redesigned to provide improved
well trained and resourced services and
support for people with disabilities and
those that have the need for personal and
home care and particularly for women who
are more vulnerable to abuse and domestic
violence.
The
resolutions were presented with great passion
and commitment. BPW NZ’s past presidents
are inspiring and with role models like
these I can understand why members are confident
believing that anything is possible.
But
could it also be in the fact that some of
the key decision makers and those in leadership
roles in NZ are in fact, women – Government
Ministers, Members of Parliament and community
leaders –even their Prime Minister
is a woman.
Saturday
Night: Gum Ball Rally
Early in the evening we were segregated
into groups of 10 with each group allocated
a driver and van. The Southland members
had organised everything from the groups,
the places we would visit. Dress Code was
to come in provincial colours – State
of Origin for Rugby basically. We were given
a series of clues to follow which involved
driving between locations where we had to
find the answers to a series of clues –
everything from the elements of the shield
of Otago Province – sheaves or wheat,
a sailing ship (frozen meat was being shipped
to England by the late 19th century, and
gold) to identifying the year the water
tower was built 1889-1890.
We
had a great time – This was a great
way to explore the city of Invercargill
and its many fine museums, art galleries
and parks while making new friendships amongst
BPW members.
Business
Session: Sunday 6th May
President Nok addressed the conference on
Sunday and her presentation was well received
by the New Zealand members. President Nok
was able to update members on some of the
BPWI initiatives and also gave an outline
summary of the current Organisational Review
and Reform process.
I also
presented on behalf of VP Membership, Liz
Benham. Liz wanted me to share with the
members of New Zealand, her Triple Crown
Membership Challenge and how she wanted
to create a special badge that recognises
those members that promote BPW, and by encouraging
others to join, make a significant contribution
to our organisation. The two powerful fundraiser
vehicles for our organization - the BPW
International Friends program which was
initiated in 1985 and the Fellowship program
which was ratified at the Venice Congress
in 1996, were also discussed. Further, it
was the perfect opportunity to encourage
the New Zealand members to sign up to our
BPWI Business Pages.
Kay
Morrison, President BPW Australia, spoke
of some of the recent BPW Australia initiatives
and extended an invitation to members to
attend her next national conference in Australia,
in November 2007.
| The new BPW
NZ Executive, 2007: |
| President: |
Faye Gardiner |
| VP Membership: |
Barbara Clarke |
| VP Issues: |
Angela McLeod |
| Treasurer: |
Adele Hardie |
| Secretary: |
Elizabeth Horrell |
| IPP: |
Anita Devcich |
Conference
brings us all together and can motivate
and inspire. The members of BPW Southland
did a splendid job of running a most professional
conference. I now look forward to attending
the BPW NZ conference next year. As a collective
we celebrated and recognized the outstanding
achievements of BPW members through their
Awards presentations and we were able to
network forming bonds of friendship.
I encourage
you all to endeavour to travel outside your
own club and to try to find the time to
attend the next national conference in your
county, or take the opportunity to travel
abroad - it adds a whole new dimension to
your understanding of BPW.
Freda Miriklis,
Executive Secretary BPW International
|
