The end of an era!

Today marks the day that I pass the Baton of AAPO to a new President. I have served on the committee of AAPO since it was just a concept. It was a privilege to work with Lisa Baldwin, Lisa Rowley, Lissanne Oliver and Amanda Sarden on the Founding Committee of the Australasian Association of Professional organisers. Since we took on members in February 2006 I have served as Executive Secretary and then 2 terms as President. It has been an exciting time of growth and learning for me. Now I take on the role of Immediate Past President, and hope to develop a Professional Develpment program that will benefit all AAPO members.

So today is really a day I can relax, maybe, as the role has been ably accepted by Angela Esnouf, who has been my fabulous VP for the past 2 terms. Good luck Angela with everything that you experience in the next 12 months. I know you will rock.

As they say, when one door closes another door opens. So I have as of today stepped into the shoes of "President" National Speakers Association NZ Christchurch Chapter. Some may say out of the frying pan into the fire, LOL. Not me I am excited by the challenge.

One of my passions is to see people develop, learn, grown and succeed in their own passions. So having been AAPO President and becoming NSANZ Christchurch President puts me in the place that makes me feel like I am giving a little back.

I want to take this opportunity to say Thank you to all the friends and colleagues I have the honor of knowing from these experience. I am looking forward to continuing to work along side you all in making a difference, one day at a time.

Reporting from Sydney

I am writing this blog post from my hotel room in Sydney. I am here for the NSAA 09 Convention. That is the National Speakers Association Australia annual convention at the Sheraton on the Park in Sydney, Australia.

I have had some interesting events that have challenged this organiser. like arriving at the airport at 5 am on Wednesday to be advised my plane had been cancelled and I was the only passenger that did not know. What a weird thing to happen. So Air NZ kindly made sure I got to Sydney via Melbourne and all was well. Then on Check in I waiting 2 hours and 3 phonecalls for my luggage to be delivered to my room. They then bought the wrong bags. I eventually went and got them myself. Not a wonderful start to a 5 Star hotel experience. But after a swim in the pool and some retail therapy I was fine.

This is going to be a great 3 days of learning, sharing, networking and generally mixing it with some of the best International Speakers on the planet. It is a pleasure and a privilege to be amongst such esteemed company.

A Special Announcement - Yippee to me!

Last night was our monthly Chapter meeting for NSANZ - Christchurch (National Speakers Association of NZ). I almost did not go as was feeling a touch under the weather, and still have preparations for my trip to Ireland tomorrow.
Well I am glad I did, as we had some fantastic speakers; Anne Howie and Jennifer Manson from our membership ranks and then the special guest for the evening Dr Irena Yashin-Shaw
Also as part of the night our President, David Clarkson, presented me with my ASM (Accredited Speaking Member), this is the first award on my way to the CSP (Certified Speaking Professional) designation. I also received my completed Professional Development Certificate as well, along with Roydon Gibbs & Jocelyn Scott.
I am so excited as I have achieved this in 18 months as a member of NSANZ - Christchurch Chapter. I love my speaking career, it is something that really lights my fire and I am truly passionate about. So this recognition makes it all worth while. I encourage all my fellow NSANZ members who have not applied for Accreditation to get on the path, it is really a great way to set you up for speaking success.
I apologies for the very "me centric" post today, but I wanted to celebrate and share my success.
Cheers
Wendy Davie A.S.M