COT Annual Conference ---- and Occubuzz

Today sees me trying to return to "normality" following 3 days in Glasgow for the COT annual conference. Sarah and I were in attendance having had a number of abstracts accepted for poster facilitations, a seminar and an innovative technology stand. At the time of submitting abstracts (usually September time) it feels such a long way away to the following June - however it crept up on us and with the usual last minute flurry of activity ensuring posters were designed and printed, presentations were ready and we had material to make our stand "stand out".

Highlights of the 3 days:

a) Meeting so many people in "real world" that we had met and connected with through our social media networking - in particular a number of our Post graduate students on our online MSc programme that we have never actually "met" before. Watching people move and hearing them speak is a fascination that never wanes - so now, when we return to virtual space we can have a more rounded picture of our connections. So if you came and found us to say hello - thanks - we loved meeting you.

b) Of course catching up with everyone was great.

c) Introducing Michael Iwama to Occubuzz and almost having a preview of his dance moves perfected for the evening's gala - Michael -we may not have been there to see them - but we now have eye witness accounts and photos - so we know it happened - and good reports have been filed :-)

d) Coming away with potential collaborations to explore further including being approached both by a publishing company to consider writing a book and a USA recruitment agency interested in our online training capacity and capability.

e)

OCCUBUZZ - the interest generated out-performed our expectations. We were swamped everytime we were on the stand by people wanting to talk about the app and it's potential. Our "sticky bee" stickers became cult with people coming to ask for one - however they had to listen to our spiel before we would give one out.
You can find out more about this on the Occubuzz tab at the top of the page. Please download the app and play with it - it is a prototype and there are some gremlins but your feedback is vital to our development of version 3 which we are then hoping to use in some research with practitioners and the general public. We hope to have a blog and a facebook page just for Occubuzz coming very soon......



f) Attending the Student presentations where 2 of our students were presenting their experiences of a volunteer project using occupation as the focus for a Carer Support group we have worked on with a local Trust. Sam Tozer and Louise Hesketh - you were great, professional, clear and extremely interesting in your reflections and what you shared -great experience for the CV. (Of course not forgetting Helen Hampson and Maria Lynch who were part of the project too). More information about this project can be found on our poster (Evaluating an Occupation Focused Group for carers of people with mental health conditions). Click here

g) Dare I mention the free food and drink copiously provided on the first evening back at the hotel by the recruitment agency that over-predicted numbers of delegates. Our gain I believe :-).

h) Making some headway in the development of social media guidelines for health and social care professionals. Our seminar on Professionalism in the Digital Age was well attended (even at 9am!) and we received some useful comments on the risks and challenges ahead that need to be addressed. Watch this space as we work with our national and international colleagues on this project.

At the moment this is about all I can remember. I return to be swamped in emails, admissions queries, marking and other bits that don't seem to care that I have been away - I will attempt to follow up with more info very soon - and yet again I make a resolution to be a better blogger.
Any hints and tips on how to be a more regular blogger would be well received. Thanks for your continued support.

Day Two of COT conference....

 Awoke after 3and a half hours sleep to a bright sunny morning again - and the news that the northwest was worried about drought (3 days sun in a row after months of wet weather and even floods not that long ago in Cumbria!).

It was an early morning start as Sarah and I were presenting our seminar at 8.30am (online identity, reputation and professional practice). What we anticipated being a poorly attended session, competing with sun, the beach and the Unison Party of the night before turned out to be a well attended session that created discussion with plenty of question and what appeared to be a positive shift in some towards creating their own online identities. Many left with the promise (or threat?!) of googling both Sarah and myself to consider our online presence and reputation (let's hope we practice what we preach!!).

After we finished we wandered down to the beach for a well deserved ice cream and met with Hassan and Zoe from COT and spent a really pleasant half hour or so sitting in the sun and chatting about a variety of issues around professional and educational issues. Then back inside for a look at the poster exhibitions etc.
Now. it is a known rule that you can't go to the seaside and not eat fish and chips, so at lunch we abandoned the queues for sandwiches and went to a little fish and chip shop at the sea front and indulged ourselves before heading back to the Plenary session where merit awards, Fellowship awards and Honorary Fellowship awards were given to deserving recipients - including a merit award for Jane Clewes from the North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare Trust who has had involvement with our team at the university for a number of years as a placement educator and visiting practitioner/lecturer on many occasions - Congratulations Jane!
The Elizabeth Casson Memorial Lecture was delivered this year by Dr Avril Drummond from the University of Nottingham whose message can be summarised as " todays treatment is yesterday's research" urging all occuaptional therapists to become more research active to enhance and increase the evidence -base of the profession.

Sarah and Jackie then went to deliver their poster discussion session so I took the opportunity to visit the Brighton Pavilion and have a short walk through the Lanes and the North Laine. Brighton is certainly a very cosmopolitan and relaxed place with a great diversity of people - I could people watch there for days and not get bored! Unfortunately an hour or so was all I could spare. Eventually we managed to get everyone from the team together for a jug of Pimms on the beach once the conference had finished for the day. In discussing our experiences so far of the conference it is worth noting that:
a) if the future of the profession is in the hands of the students that delivered the College-led session of student papers (including our 2nd year student Jason Vickers) then the future looks very rosy indeed. Their breadth of thinking and use of theory was outstanding
b) that the world of OT is a very small one indeed!
c) networking opportunities are the backbone of the conference experience - but beware - your past can catch up with you (see (b) above)!

I decided that I was too tired to go out for a meal with the rest of the team so stayed behind and sat watching the sea for an hour or so - then bumped into a colleague who had also stayed behind so we decided to find somewhere to eat together. On the way to a chosen destination, esteemed colleague and friend was "pooped" on from a great height by a seagull. Funniest thing ever!!!! Was laughing so hard that was unable to help with the explosion that had hit practically every surface on said colleague. Colleague not impressed!! So, after returning to the hotel and changing we started again - ever watchful of the skies above but managed to return with no further incident.

After a lovely meal, and a very pleasant evening I finally made it back to the hotel and packed in readiness for check out tomorrow and the final day of conference.

First Day of COT Conference..........

What a day! I hope to do it justice here - but it is 11pm and I am pretty brain dead by now having spent the day networking and sharing innovative and radical views and ideas.

So, first day of COT conference here in Brighton, awoke to beautiful sunshine so off across the road to the sea front for a morning stroll and a few photos before breakfast. Bumped into Jackie Taylor and some of the other team members who were seriously exercising in the proper clothes and everything!

Three confereences were running in tandem (COT, Older People and HIV/Aids and Palliative Care) in addition to the only exhibition in the country dedicated to our profession.

So highlights of the day:
a) hot topics clearly the new coalition government and their expected plans for their Health Bill - trying to second guess the impact on the profession and occupational therapists nationally
b) social media and online networking is also clearly a growing area for discussion with many sessions covering issues around this
c) standing in a queue for lunch for AGES! Usually delegates are given bags with various lunch items inside - but organisers this year are competing with the beach, Wimbledon and England playing a vital match in the World Cup so needed a captive audience to keep people in conference to the afterrnoon - so plates and buffet food provided - which slowed everything up.
This led to Sarah having only 20 mins to eat and rush to her presentation. In the end a surreal experience where one of the exhibitors (Harrison Associates) were running around after us both with chairs, freebies and jelly babies to make us comfortable.  Ever seen 3 sandwiches, quiche and a fruit kebab eaten in 2 minutes? I have !!
d) freebies - status: 5 pens, 6 jelly babies, post it notes, 2 badges, 3 hessian bags, and a trolley token
e) Catching up with (2 of our MSc Advanced OT students
f) meeting with Hassan and Stephen from COT to discuss the COT strategy for social media and offer collaboration with our WFOT project with OT4OT in developing best practice guidance and advice for members in using social media for professional networking and development
g) spotting some unusual pottery mugs on the Remap stall and witnessing an entrepreneur moment when the Cosy Feet exhibitor came across and asked after the mugs (very stylish but with 2 "handles" for people with no grip) and wanted to stock them in her catalogue. Left them swapping details of the designer who was looking for a stockist. It's amazing the different levels and opportunity for networking one finds at conferences!
h) chatting with the new Head of Education and Development at COT (Anna Clampin) and catching up on the projects etc currently on the go.
i) session by Council on their role and how to "think nationally, act locally"

We left for the day to meet with a facebook friend and supporter of our work with online learning who gave a key note speech at the launch of our MSc and is now at University of Brighton. During our meal we caught up on both work and personal issues and had a great time - mainly at Sarah's expense - and although she may not thank me I feel it is my duty to share here.
Last year Sarah - believing she was texting her husband - texted - "please bring loo roll home". Now, our colleague has the same name as he husband - and it was to him she had sent it. He politely replied that he thought she had got the wrong person and suitably embarrased she apologised (all by text). Now, that was funny enough at the time! It turns out that her name had not come up on the text so he didn't know who it was from - but remembers a random text asking for loo roll. So.... whilst we digested the impact of this - what caused great hilarity was:
a) him realising that the text was from Sarah
b) he was in Australia when he recieved it
c) that he felt compelled to reply to a random text from a perceived stranger from the other side of the world because they might desperately need the loo roll!!!

So on that note I end with  two questions raised from the day:

a) should occupational therapy exist as a unique profession (a chance conversation, together with previous discussions at WFOT in Chile led to this discussion). We are looking forward to attending the debate on friday that will consider similar issues

b) what are the impacts of a misplaced text message?

I'm sure I have missed things out - but I really do have to finish as I have an early start and a presentation to give at 8.30am tomorrow with Sarah.
Here's to another day of networking and challenging thinking

We're here.......................................

OK,  we made it - intact and with the relevant number of suitcases, posters and handouts for our presentations - and those of some of the team once they realised we were travelling by car  as they were going by train. As some of you may recall Sarah's recent suitcase fiasco has definitely put her off all forms of public transport at the moment.
Journey down mostly uneventful -  started out later than intended due to mild family crisis - but soon got on the road, satnav loaded, ipods at the ready!



Phone call from O2 at some point rather amusing - called to sell their broadband package - but Sarah did a nifty little move - a verbal version of the Bodell stare and even the guy had to admit that she had managed to turn the focus on to her way of thinking rather than his own! She had used the opportunity to ask why she couldn't connect to bt cloud wifi on her iphone. After listening to her story and examples the guy gave a sound as though he were considering an answer and then said " well I was going to help you - but that's too hard - I'm only broadband" = bless!!

After a quick stop off at motorway services for replenishment we started the ipod competition. Best driving song (Beat IT (MJ) or Paradise by the Dashboard light (meatloaf)); best cheese (Tie me kangaroo down Rolf Harris or some song from High School Musical 2); best reminder of school (Boogey Nights - heatwave or Stop by Spice Girls) etc etc. Then we had a "maudlin" fest with Barry Manilow, Janis Ian and Abba. Will start competition again on the way home. Any ideas for categories gratefully received - I did a list and then left it behind!!

Finally arrived in Brighton 6 and half hours later and got to the hotel just as the rest of the team (who arrived earlier) were about to go out for a meal. We had intended to meet up later but unfortunately this didn't happen so hopefully we can catch up with them a breakfast.
Already seen a few familiar faces walking along the seafront - some from our facebook contacts and some from the "real" world so looking forward to the start of conference tomorrow.
In summary:
a) Angela gets to wear the whole range of clothes brought along with her this time
b) Sarah gets to wear her own clothes and present the image she planned
c) So far everything has gone to plan (famous last words??)
d) car parked on street in a zone that is free til 9am tomorrow morning - must remember to buy ticket tomorrow else car could be towed away!!

So, tomorrow conference starts in earnest - we hope to share some of the thoughts, discussions and maybe some of the lighter moments too. Night night.

It's off to conference we go.......................

Just a quick note to let you know that we are off to conference again this week. This time to the College of Occupational Therapists (COT) conference in Brighton. As a team we have been very busy indeed and have had many abstracts accepted which give you a flavour of some of our interests and expertise:



Posters:
Sarah and Jackie: on-line social networking as a tool for professional development; boosts and barriers
Angela and Sarah: Using Negotiated Assessment in Higher Education
Kirsty and Heather: Occupational Therapy in Romania
Rachel and Ellen: Self-Directed Care - is there a role for occupational therapists?

Papers:
Heather: Placing Leadership in the curriculum

Seminar/workshop/roundtable:
Angela and Sarah: Online identity, reputation and professional practice
Sarah and Jackie: Facilitating teamwork in the NHS via an online social networking platform
Jackie: Rebuilding damaged identities through occupation
Heather and Chris: The creative application of leadership to your practice
Ellen and Deborah: Occupational therapy and older people: assessment and evaluation of health and wellbeing

Those of you who followed mine and Sarah's experiences at the recent WFOT conference in Chile may be amused to know that Sarah is not prepared to let her suitcase out of her sight for a minute and so we will be driving down - and not trusting to public transport!! We intend to blog daily from conference to give you flavours of what is being discussed - and of course what scrapes we may get ourselves into this time. Fingers crossed for a good conference. People to meet, things to see, busy, busy, busy..................

COT annual Student Conference - online identity

Hello to all the OT students who attended the COT annual student conference on Saturday. It was great to see so many giving up their work/life balance to travel to Sheffield and spend the day networking, developing and generally having a good time.

During Sarah, Martin and Ryan's workshop on "online identity" ( presentation below) we spoke briefly about the issue of "netiquette". For those who would like to know more click on this link to take you to one of our previous posts that may help guide and advise on how to maintain a professional identity online.

We have tentatively offered the University of Salford as a future conference venue - so we may get the chance to see you again.

Online Identity

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COT Conference 2008

Image: Will, Sarah and Angela

I've just returned from my day at the COT conference at Harrogate, having left a number of the OT team there for the remainder of the week. Between us we had a number of posters, papers and seminar sessions accepted so we have all been busy both in the preparation and the delivery (especially slap bang in the middle of marking for the conferment board next week!). It was good to see so many of our students there too, maybe a blog post on your experiences would be of interest?

An unusual presentation perhaps was the seminar that Will, Sarah and I delivered on "Is social networking bringing occupational therapists togther?" using our experiences of meeting colleagues via blogging from all over the world. The planning and development of the seminar was conducted between Sarah and I here at Salford, Will Wade at Oxford Brookes, Merrolee Penman in NZ and Natan Berry in USA using many of the web 2.0 applications (e.g wikis, blogs) and a virtual meeting space (elluminate). Sarah, I and Will then delivered the seminar at conference on behalf of us all - and we only met Will in person the day before the seminar was due to run - so living proof that networking is indeed bringing OTs together!

The session was well attended and seemed well received and many questions were fielded afterwards - so as promised here are

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our slides which will give you all the links to the blogs we used to illustrate our points - particularly for the discussions about using blogs to demonstrate and evidence CPD activity for the HPC re-registration requirements.
Part of the session explained how to set up a blog and how to comment on others' blogs. So if you are visiting this post having attended the session - I challenge you to make a comment on this post - just let us know that you visited. Click on "comment" at the end of the post and type your comment into the pop-up box, if you have a google account already you can sign in and your user name will appear on your comment, if you don't have an account and don't want to set one up just yet you can tick anonymous.
By all means, please feel free to comment even if you didn't attend - we'd love to hear from you.