Dear All,
Now that I have returned to the real world after the very special place the
homebirth conference provided, I would like to offer some thoughts about the
conference.
I was a little disappointed that there was no opportunity for evaluation of
the conference at the time. Although analysis of the evaluations adds a
degree of work to the organisers after they thought everything was over and
they could relax, they are in fact a useful tool. Not just for the
organisers themselves, but if the information is passed on to the next
conference organisers then it continues to be useful into the future. Some
groups I have been involved with create something they call a 'Grandmother's
Book' in which the information is kept from one gathering to the next and
helps each new group to a) avoid making the same mistakes and b) find out
what has worked for others and build on that.
Having said all that, let me give some feedback about this most recent
conference.
1) Venue - excellent!
2) Food - absoulutley wonderful, plenty of it, good and wholesome and tasty,
and catered to peoples' needs.
3) Organisation - very well done.
4) Scheduling - not enough free time. When people travel so far to a
beautiful part of the country, and get to see friends they have made at
previous conferences only once every year or less, then 15 minutes for
morning and afternoon breaks and very short lunch breaks are not such a good
idea. Perhaps if the optional sessions had been offered 3 at a time, instead
of 2, then this would have allowed more time for either
socialising/networking or for a bit of sightseeing. (In my own case, having
no car I travelled all the way from Melbourne only to see the lighthouse for
5 mins, and walk around the town for 10 mins because a friend was able to
drive me in when she was going on an errand. This was a bit disappointing.)
5) No message board - these are always really useful at conferences for
people to comminucate with one another in a busy and hectic environment.
I hope that by offering these comments that I have not offended anyone, but
I really did miss the opportunity of doing so at the conclusion of the
conference itself.
With love and blessings
Elisabeth Speller
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