by Stephen Gray
Well that’s a wrap on this year’s workshop.
Planning for Centre workshops commences many months in advance of the actual day that 150 or so scientists and others show up to collect lanyards and mingle on the opening night. There are extensive contract negotiations with the venue, several iterations of the agenda in an attempt to get the balance just right, numerous committee meetings, travel and accommodation planning and much more. So, I reiterate the gratitude and appreciation I expressed at the workshop to this year’s committee: Michael Reeder, Andy Hogg, Amelie Meyer and Jenny Rislund. Everyone brought ideas, creativity and enthusiasm and a willingness to give up their time to ensure the workshop was a success.
According to the results of the workshop feedback survey, it appears the efforts largely paid off with the majority of feedback being very positive. As always, there are some helpful and insightful suggestions amongst the survey responses, which next year’s committee will take into consideration when planning. For now, make sure you pencil in the week of November 18, 2019, to your diaries for next year’s workshop, which will be held in Hobart.
Those who have been around the Centre for a while will know that it has been long promised that we’ll roll out an update to Clever to try and improve the workflow when reporting all your Clex-related activities and publications. It turns out it’s not entirely straightforward to turn a bespoke database solution into a web tool. However, after some trial and error over recent months I pleased to say that there is light at the end of the tunnel. I may be seeking volunteers in the near future to be guinea pigs to test the new Clever.
In the meantime, please ensure you’ve updated all the travel, outreach, media and professional development you’ve done during 2018. If you’re a CLEx student or researcher and you have no idea what I’m talking about, please have a chat to your node admin person or get in touch with me directly.
Finally, on behalf of the Diversity and Culture committee I’d like to say thank you for the feedback and suggestions we’ve had in response to the 28 (and counting) hump day tips that have been circulated this year. We felt it was a slightly daring move to send a weekly email on wide ranging topics to do with wellbeing, work-life balance, equity and diversity. By most accounts it seems that the hump day tips have been resonating with many of you, so they’ll continue in 2019. If you have any ideas for topics or ever come across an article you think might benefit others, please forward them to me for distribution.
Please have a restful and safe break over Christmas and New Year and enjoy the celebrations.