Speak Out August 2017 low res

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18 Speak Out August 2017
Special thanks also goes to our Conference sponsors: Guild
Insurance (conference dinner and photo booth), and Nestlé Health
Science (lanyards).
The exhibition hall for this year’s Conference was again filled with a
range of novel, intriguing and high-quality products and services.
Thank you to the many exhibitors for their ongoing support of
our National Conference – and for the wonderful prizes donated
that were drawn at the Conference Dinner. Congratulations to
the lucky winners. We would like to also congratulate Precise for
winning The Best Exhibition Stand prize, which is a complimentary
exhibition stand at the 2018 National Conference in Adelaide.
This year’s Conference culminated in the VIVID themed Gala
dinner at ICC Sydney. Thank you to everyone for embracing the
theme and turning out in their colourful and imaginative attire.
Many of those at the dinner took the opportunity to capture their
style (with a few embellishments) in the very popular photo booth
which was kept very busy for the entire night. The dance floor
didn’t take long to get started thanks to the wonderful music by
Twology, and it was a fantastic celebratory atmosphere.
To the talented Andy Smidt who was chair at the Scientific
Program (and ensured such a high quality program) and the other
fabulous members of the Conference Planning Committee, Amy
Freeman-Sanderson, Cathie Matthews, Celine Pascual and Kate
Smith, thank you for your enthusiasm, commitment, work-ethic
and humour, we made an awesome team.
I would like to extend a very big thank-you to the Board of Speech
Pathology Australia and National Office staff for their ongoing
support and advice during the conference planning period.
Also a special thanks to Pamela Richards, National Conference
Manager. The Conference Planning Committee really appreciated
Pam’s support every step of the way, and thoroughly enjoyed
her involvement with the team. The CPC would also like to thank
Colleen Moloney, an event management student from Victoria
University, who worked with Pam leading up to and during the
conference; she was a great asset and did a fantastic job.
In addition a big thank you must go to the student volunteers;
Rhiannon Bettie, Olivia Clark, Vanessa Chan, Marina Ghabriel,
Elizabeth Grose, Isabella Johnston, Alison Kershaw, Bianca
Lyons, Claire Offord, and Madeleine Wykes who worked alongside
Pam at the conference registration desk, assisted the session
chairs and ensured that delegates found their intended sessions.
Without you the conference would not run as smoothly, so we
really appreciate all your time and effort. A special thanks also to
Maxine Feldman and Queenie Hung for assisting us on the Friday
prior to the conference accepting the deliveries.
Delegate feedback survey
Thank you to the 214 members who took the time to complete
and submit their survey. Congratulations to Annette Gallagher
from Queensland, who was the lucky winner of the complimentary
Conference registration to the 2018 National Conference in
Adelaide.
All feedback has been carefully collated and will form the basis
of a detailed report to the Board in August. There will also be
direct feedback to the 2018 Adelaide CPC to assist them in their
planning processes.
Finally, on behalf of the Conference Planning Committee we would
like to thank all delegates for attending WiFI in Sydney. Delegates
produced a vibrant, positive, and engaging atmosphere that made
for an enjoyable and memorable event.
Harmony Turnbull
2017 Conference Convenor
Pamela Richards
Conference Manager