The best seat in the house

Posted on 29 April 2022

Some personal insights into a treasure trove of knowledge.

My walk this morning (Friday 29 April 2022) afforded me the opportunity to reflect over my past two days at the 2^nd NES virtual conference. Similar to my experience at last year’s event, there were plenty of multi-professional sessions to choose from – and I happened to discover my way into about eight sessions.

Here are some of my distilled insights from this year’s event:

A “test of leadership is how well you function in a crisis” Brian Tracy.
The need to respond to certain situations in an agile, nimble and quick manner.
The importance of understanding the assignment!
The changing scientific evidence base and how to adapt and communicate that.
The use of authoritative and repetitive communication at a national scale.
The rapid deployment of novel technologies.
The potential of new clinical roles in maximising the health and social care workforce.
How challenges and disruptors are opportunities for development and improvement.
Various learning theories and the roles of the working memory and long term memory in learning, etc., (that sent me down memory lane!).
How change can be fostered by creating a sense of urgency.
How civility, compassionate leadership and good team work are associated with better (patient) outcomes.
Science, craft and performance, and the path to mastery/expertise.
The importance of working across sectors in responding to a crisis, e.g., through policy coherence.
The importance of communicating the evidence base and tailoring it to different groups/demographics.
The use of ‘Agile’ (instead of the traditional ‘waterfall’ approach) in transitioning in-person training to an online solution.

In closing the lid of my laptop, the metaphorical and literal screen reminded me that such events are simply not the same as in-person experiences. On the plus side, I was in the comfort of my own place of choosing and I had (and still have) access to a wealth of knowledge and learning opportunities. With the mix of posters, exhibitors, and cyber-meeting spaces available, the virtual sphere more or less emulated the usual physical settings. It could perhaps be argued that there were more opportunities to learn (and interact with fellow delegates and presenters) through all the social media activity and the real-time chat and Q&A functions. (Yes, one poster grabbed my attention via #NESAnnualConf22!)

I appreciate the huge gains in accessibility, inclusion, participation and learning that online conferences offer. The lack of geographical barriers also lends itself to multiple advantages. I thought it was a good online learning experience, albeit a very different one from the usual conference approach. I guess it depends on what I want to gain from each experience. Looking forward, I see the hybrid model as potentially offering the best of both worlds!

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