University of Salford had 5 (4 staff and one undergrad student) abstracts accepted for conference so myself, Sarah, Jackie, Heather, Viv and Gillian all attended to share our work, to engage in conference and to network. (Read Gillian's post about her experience here)
Sarah and I travelled together by car - Sarah driving (luggage therefore had no reason to go walkabout as per Chile 2010) and apart from a brief moment of concern when the oil light flashed on the dashboard and the need to accost an innocent male passerby to answer a few basic questions for us (apologies for maintaining a stereotype) we arrived in Glasgow in good time and headed straight for the hotel bar for refreshment and regroup with the other 3 who all arrived through the early evening. After a meal at the hotel - and a realisation that some restaurants have still not grasped the concept of vegetarianism (you had to be there!) we all went to our rooms to get ready for the onslaught of the next three days.
Tuesday 12th June
As registration wasn't until 11.30am we had ample time to get in a little sight seeing to at least get our bearings of Glasgow. Sarah and I met early for breakfast and then found our way by bus into the city and onto a City Tours open top bus. It was cold and windy, and I had loaned Sarah the "Belfast" coat of style over substance and so the cold finally won out and we left the tour at the SECC where conference was to be and went for a coffee awaiting registration.It was here that the whirlwind of Facebook and virtual friends began to arrive and 'real world' friendships were forged. How strange that these people could walk and talk - and had accents - we realised that their words had only ever been read before and therefore we had put our own voice to them - how weird!!!
Heather had kindly taken our poster : "The experiences of Learning in a 3D Immersive Environment" into the venue and so this was put up in its relevant place.
First session attended was a Round Table with Samantha Shann of WFOT (and Northumbria University) celebrating our profession locally and globally. Samantha gave information of how we could celebrate OT Day on October 27th and highlighted resources available for download from the WFOT website. Unexpectedly she invited me to take the microphone to talk about OT4OT and our 24hrVx. - so thanks for the opportunity Samantha - great to meet you.
Sarah and I then popped into the Social Media workshop run by Kirsty Stanley, Claire Jones and Helen Rushton. What had originally been planned as a drop in session had quickly evolved - due to a healthy number of participants, into three workshops - clinical centred, ethical and professional behaviour on line and "newbies" to digital social media. So, 'popping-in' was a little disruptive and our arrival caused a bit of a halt as we were introduced and invited to chat with one of the groups. Once again Kirtsy, Helen and Claire - our apologies for disrupting the session - but what a great group and clearly well received. These three were relentless all conference in offering help and advice to anyone who wanted to stop them - made much easier by their t-shirts advertising their support - fantastic!!
Heather's workshop: "Exploring a gendered approach to leadership" was well attended and well received and certainly gave some more food for thought to the leadership agenda - I'm sure Heather may want to offer her own account of this.
After the Plenary session - where Prof Phil Hanlon stole the show talking about OTs role within Public Health - very charismatic man I then attended a Fringe Meeting of Occupational Science in Europe where Prof Gaynor Sadlo and Prof Susan Corr led a discussion about how this new group may work and how we may begin to support each other - see the new website here. It was now 8pm and I was tired, hungry and all networked out for the day. The kaftan was calling........
Wednesday 13th June
Today saw Jackie and Viv's workshop: "The power of occupation in rebuilding the disrupted identity: a new approach". A popular choice as people were being turned away. They presented a prototype of a workbook that participants were extremely disappointed to give back at the end of the session - Jackie and Viv your work is cut out for you now in getting it ready for publication as soon as you can!
Sarah and I also had to stand by our poster in case anyone had any questions - seems no one did!
- breakfast at the Bistro at the SECC
- networking continued with some interesting chats and quick meets with a variety of OTs from many diverse areas.
- meeting Henry Clayton the inventor of the millie-mova - a fantastic, easy and cheap device for moving dining chairs. He had pitched to Dragon's Den but was unsuccessful - they made a mistake in my view - I can see it having mass appeal for many areas where carers are struggling.
- perusing the poster exhibition - again demonstrating the varied and diverse areas in which OT is represented
Thursday 14th June
First thing was mine and Jackie's paper: "Understanding service user stories about experiences of community health care". Jackie presented this on our behalf and I think I am right in saying that it was well received.
Whilst this was happening, the student papers were being delivered. The feedback from this session has been great. Jennifer Creek can be seen talking about the session in this video
Lunch time arrived all too soon and a decision made to leave before the end of the day - having completely exhausted all our reserves of energy.
So, homeward bound, again in Sarah's car, we used the time very productively in identifying three potential projects involving a website, a pilot experience in metal health and a fairy story - details not ready to be released just yet - but watch this space......
And so, conference over for another year.... great to meet you all..... here's to next year!!!
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