Speak Out December 2018

...added audio tapes of every face to face workshop and made them available to members anywhere in Qld. Gradually these were replaced by video recordings of the many events where speakers had given us permission to record on videocassette, then DVD. The TCVs were added to the Library. Other states added some items. Now, the CPD Events Library is housed in Qld and national office; the National Tour is filmed and added each year but otherwise the contents have dwindled with the three to five year recency policy and CPDLive and other online resources are more user-friendly in this increasingly electronic age. A further Qld PD initiative, with our rural and remote members at the fore front of the Committee’s planning, was the development of Self Study packages – the equivalent of a short course. These involved a tremendous amount of work made possible by the mostly volunteer efforts of the appointed task groups. I recall we had three different topics available over about 10 years. And yet again Qld PD is to be thanked for the introduction of the Travellers rate category of registration; this was taken up nationally some time later and now is appreciated by hundreds of members nationally every year. Advances in technology: This has had an enormous impact on the sheer volume of work my role involves. Then, working set hours so members knew when they could contact by phone or fax, with a typewriter and snail mail to now – flexible work hours, computer, email, and electronic templates – a very different space. A couple of examples are indelibly impressed on my mind: then, somewhere in the 1990s, doing the annual budget with my PD Leader at the time, Jill Cross; the budget papers were about an hectare square and every adjustment in one column meant every other column AND every row needed to change; now the electronic budget template does it for me! Now, National Tours still involve a vast amount of organisation, superbly carried out by Sharon Crane, Senior Advisor Professional Education and Certification. Group email communication greatly assists coordination. Then, in 1996 the Qld PD Committee coordinated a National Tour by Dr Marion Blank, from New York USA. A total of 16 workshops (two in each state and territory), 919 registrants in 30 days, managing the time difference between Australia and east coast of America, all by phone/fax and snail mail – not an undertaking I would take on today! And incidentally we would not ask such an undertaking of a speaker either; Dr Blank was a real trooper! Why am I still here? There are many reasons. I enjoy the contact with and camaraderie of my fellow PD coordinators; the face to face annual Coordinators planning meeting at national office is a real highlight of the year. I enjoy contact with Qld members. Generally I attend the registration desk for each event, catching up with ‘golden oldie’ colleagues, sometimes surreptitiously glancing at the name tag as I am greeted by other registrants – I know the face, what is the name? I am well aware that the support of our Qld members contributes to the continued success of the Qld PD programme.

(Left to right) Laurelie Wishart, Mary-Louise Shearer, Tricia Chardon, Anne-Louise Spurgin, Vanessa Miller, Tanya Rose, Samantha White, Anita Keightley, Stella Martin, Jill Cross

Most of all I enjoy the commitment and friendship of the Qld PD Committee. This group of 12 from a diversity of work places is the ‘think tank’ of Qld PD. Among them they have an enormous store of experience in insuring we offer the quality and variety of topics in the areas our members indicate in the Survey of Interest. The nine regional PD reps are the communication channel between the Brisbane committee and regional SP groups and on occasion link up with the monthly meeting, most recently on Zoom. Thank you Committee! Among us we have a tally of 350 events to our credit and we are not finished yet. Now, 30 years on, I often place my mat alongside the mat of Janet Sheehy (now McKee) in the Body Balance class at our local gym. I have thanked her for her role in my story and just sometimes, we even chat about PD! Tricia Chardon Queensland Professional Development Coordinator

Congratulations and appreciation goes out to Tricia on behalf of SPA members, the Queensland Branch, the CPD team, SPA staff, and the Board of the Association.

And farewell and thank you from Sharon Crane, Senior Advisor Professional Education & Certification This will be the last Speak Out before I finish up at Speech Pathology Australia after twenty years of employment. I want to express my appreciation to all of you who have made my time with SPA so special and such a joy – a sincere and heartfelt thank you.

Sharon Crane Senior Advisor Professional Education & Certification

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December 2018 www.speechpathologyaustralia.org.au

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