June 2007 Issue
pd SPOTLIGHT
Conference Debrief II:
A Review of Our Pre-2007 Offerings
BY Nancy Toth, MA, CHRP
Manager, Professional Development & Human Resources
Last month in this space, I reviewed the professional development seminars held at this year’s APEGGA Annual Conference in late April. Now I’m going to recap topics covered over the past four years, a span that begins when I first came to APEGGA and was offered the privilege of becoming involved in the Annual Conference.
Once in a while I get a phone call saying, “I’m a structural engineer,” or, “I am a geophysicist.” Both comments are followed by the question, “Why is all your PD just for oil and gas engineers?”
I appreciate the input and provide answers to all questions of this type. However, it often becomes clear that the member I’m speaking with hasn’t closely followed the PD schedule. Let me explain.
The Technical Tally
Over the past few years at our conference, we’ve been offering a broad
spectrum of topics on the technical side of members’ professional lives.
We’ve done this by working with our designate management person on the
Environmental Committee and with the Manager, Geoscience Affairs. We’ve
consulted with other professionals and we’ve reviewed both our needs assessment
for training and all of our PD evaluations.
Technical sessions usually address a broad conceptual area — sustainable development is a good example — with content for a wide spectrum of professionals. With such a breadth of specializations and industries of practice among our 49,000 members, it is not appropriate to address narrow and specific technical topics, although we do ensure there are components for practical application within all technical sessions.
In 2004 and 2005, these technical topics included
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exploration and development of bitumen
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geomatics in Alberta: present and future
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nanotechnology
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computing applications
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telecommunications and oil and gas processing
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coalbed methane and water resources
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climate change: policy overview, vulnerabilities and adaptations, and greenhouse gas opportunities with small and large technologies
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Sustainability of the environment with a focus on engineering northern pipelines, and water management and sustainability
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permafrost geophysics
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exploration and engineering challenges, including a range of topics from various types of seismic imaging to environmental regulatory considerations in the North.
In a review of 2006, we find presentations on
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software development
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project management
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professionalism and ethics
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Sustainable urban development, including sessions on potable water, stormwater and wastewater; sedimentation and erosion control; roads, sidewalks and bike paths, environmental protocols, sustainable buildings, risk management, infrastructure management, sustainable planning and municipal sustainability.
The Soft Side
On the soft skills side, we’ve also put a broad variety of topics before
members since 2004. In regard to project management, APEGGA has brought you presentations
on advanced project management, contractual tort and considerations, health and
safety and the environment, cost overruns, and fast-tracking.
Under the banner of leadership, we have offered strategic planning and decision-making, plus high performance leadership focused on the principles of leadership, leadership self-assessment, and building trust.
Creative thinking presentations covered Mind Mapping, lateral thinking, whole-brain thinking, six thinking hats, da Vincian thinking, and creative problem-solving.
Also in the soft skills category there have been seminars on the National Quality Council, creating a healthy work environment, cultural diversity, managing stress, work-family balance, taking charge of your career, multi-disciplinary teamwork, the expert witness, intellectual property, enhancing quality of work life, and the sustainable workplace.
A Track for Execs
In 2006 we began to offer a pre-conference Executive Track Seminar to respond
to the special needs of executive members. Michael Canic spoke on Ruthless
Consistency: Aligning Your Company to Win or Else. He drew a large number
of participants and was so well-evaluated we offered an Executive Track again
in 2007, which again included his session. We plan to continue the Executive
Track.
In addition, the professional development section of the conferences since 2004 has highlighted luncheon speakers who’ve spoke about subjects including
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the Centre for Affordable Water and Sanitation Technology
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the arts in Alberta, featuring Jean Grand-Maitre, Alberta Ballet’s artistic director
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what it was like for a Canadian war correspondent held hostage in Iraq
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safety and injury reduction, featuring renowned safety advocate Dr. Louis Francescutti.
Your Ideas, Our Ideas
Based on evaluations, we have found members prefer lunch speakers with a subject
different from, and perhaps in some ways lighter than, those covered by their
full-day seminars. Nonetheless, members prefer a subject with meaning and substance — comedic
or motivational speeches are not as well appreciated.
In 2005 we conducted a needs assessment for training and found that some old standbys such as communication and teamwork are still required. We have offered those either at fall PD Days or at the conference PD sessions.
Participants fill out evaluations at every PD event, and each time we ask about other topics members want us to offer. These are helpful to a point.
One of the top topics in needs assessment results is human resources management. However, when we offered a session on the topic, it had to be cancelled because no one enrolled.
Another example of the occasional bubble in evaluation data is the suggestion of a presentation on being an expert witness. The idea was mentioned several times on evaluations, yet when a session was held only a handful of people turned out.
Nonetheless, we continue to monitor members’ preferences for PD. Seminars on topics such as Mind Mapping and lateral thinking are never named on evaluations, likely because they are part of learning theory and not within the usual studies of members. But they’ve gone over extremely well with sellouts and requests for more information.
Seminar choices are usually a blend of expressed preferences and areas we believe members would like to stretch their thinking into. Naturally, preferences on evaluations need to recur several times before we can assume we have a large enough interest group to respond.
Some subjects bear repetition for many reasons, including the pace at which information grows in subject areas. On the other hand, we do receive requests for something on the environment or on nanotechnology — right after these subjects have just been offered.
I am hoping that this recap of the last four years of our offerings will help put conference PD into perspective. We want to meet the expressed needs of large interest groups as well as we can, and we want to continue to expand members’ minds by offering topics that are of growing interest among other professional groups.
With the exception of this year being somewhat down from last year’s attendance — which is likely due to the very busy workplace in boom times — registrations have been up each year since 2004. In fact we have tripled attendance since 2002.
Our goal is to engage as many members as possible in the professional development opportunities we offer at the conference. We’re not alone in holding this philosophy, of course.
At the luncheon on one of this year’s PD Days, Dr. Elizabeth Cannon, P.Eng., said the Schulich School of Engineering aims to develop well-rounded professionals. These grads will have not only technical expertise but will also be grounded in leadership. They’ll have an understanding of the arts and of people, to help them become well-balanced professionals.
Those are goals we understand. APEGGA strives to offer sessions with the potential to transform your thinking — and, therefore, transform the way you do your job, technically or in the “soft” areas of leadership, management and personal performance.