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NZATD 2018: a truly Kiwi L&D conference

It’s easy to feel isolated as an L&D professional. Many of us work on our own or as part of a small team, and can find ourselves swimming against the tide as we try to bring about change. That can be intimidating as well as lonely.

That’s why we all need a bit of moral and professional support from time to time.  As I reflect on this year’s NZATD conference, I realise that the event was a wonderful demonstration of the supportive community of L&D professionals we have here in New Zealand.

Feeling at home

With our theme of ‘Maximising business impact’, we needed to bring in the experts to help us explore such a critical topic, so we called on some well-known names from around the world, as well as from around New Zealand, to help.

It was wonderful to see the warm welcome so many of our delegates offered our speakers, many of whom hadn’t visited our corner of the world before. Despite the wild Kiwi weather, we made our speakers feel thoroughly welcome and at home.

The support extended beyond our speakers. As I looked around many of the sessions, I saw delegates getting to know one another, helping each other with new tools, sharing ideas and swapping email addresses. In one session, delegates created their own Slack channel to share ideas, and in the Friday post-conference workshops, attendees shared their challenges and supported each other in role plays.

Staying supportive

However digitally savvy we may be, it’s easy to feel isolated from the world down here in NZ. However, our remoteness also unites us: as the conference showed, we’re great at supporting one another and looking out for our own.

That may explain why there are so many support networks, both online and face to face, for L&D folks here. I’m keen to make sure lonely L&D folks feel connected to the wider community, so I’ve put together a list of the local networks I know of where you can get support.

Do share the list, use it, and add to it so we can keep our wonderful and creative community strong.

Face to face Support

Articulate New Zealand user group

Blended Learning and Technologies

NZATD through its local branch events. Currently, NZATD branches are located in Auckland, Bay of Plenty/Waikato, Canterbury and Wellington.

Online Support

NZATD’s LinkedIn, Twitter & Facebook

Lrnchat