Member diaries:
My Diary from the North Conference Elaine Rank. Tenant Inspector, Wakefield & District Housing. Day One - 24 September 9:30am: I’m looking forward to this event and meeting and sharing ideas with other people. My first impression was that the registration process was well organised with friendly helpful staff, and the main hall looked very impressive. 10:30am: I’m feeling a bit nervous as I’m on the platform with Kevin Dodd our Chief Exec for the opening session. Been ‘miked up’ and know which chair I’m sitting in. Also got my crib cards ready!
12:00noon: Just out of the opening session and listened to lots of different and challenging questions from other delegates in the room. I’ve got a busy next few hours as I hope to now go to two workshops and get round all the stands in the exhibition – with lunch too of course! 4:45pm: I’ve been to a workshop on Welfare Reform and one on the scrutiny process, both of which were very interesting and informative. I’ve also managed to visit all the stands. I’m now going to the ‘Refresh Hour’ as I want to reflect on some of the tips and discussions I’ve heard from today.
“...our table for the ‘Asking the right questions’ was labelled the naughty table! Well we did laugh a lot.” 11
Day Two – 25 September 10:15am: Today I’m planning on learning about ‘Challenging Effectively’ and my second workshop is on ‘Asking the right questions’. 12:00noon: Another lovely lunch and chats to interesting people. 4:00pm: Just out of two more excellent workshops but our table for the ‘Asking the right questions’ was labelled the naughty table!!!! Well we did laugh a lot. This has been my first conference experience and has taught me the importance of sharing and learning from other people’s experiences. It’s been a very interesting, informative and thoroughly enjoyable two days.
Find out more at: www.tpasconference.org.uk