Hi Members,
As I write this, I have just returned home from another successful conference. To say I am feeling invigorated and inspired would be an understatement. The 2 days were full of presenters sharing their knowledge, passion and program ideas. A huge thank you goes to our keynote speakers – Brian Lipmann and Helena Popovic for starting the days sharing their incredible journeys. This was my first conference as president, and standing up on stage looking out at all the conference delegates was an amazing sight. I saw a room full of people passionate and committed to diversional therapy, and also committed to education and increasing their knowledge, not just for their own professional development, but to enrich the lives of the people they work with.
We were honoured to have Robin Gallen, OAM attend the cocktail party and present the awards. Congratulations to Lesley Fox, Winner of the DRTA Award for Excellence for her “Themed Years” program. And a congratulation also goes out to the members who received their professional development awards. Well Done!
The day before conference, while others were at the workshop, the board held their only face to face meeting of the year. It is a time to review the strategic plan and business plan for the coming year and set goals for the association to achieve. This coming year we will be focusing on marketing and more efficient and effective ways to communicate with you – our members. And another goal is to bring you better training modules accessible through the website.
As you may have noticed live Facebook feeds were done during the conference to connect with those unable to attend. We also filmed the conference and in the coming weeks will have some of the presentations available to view (for a fee) through the website. This was asked for by members and we will do our best to deliver. While we are unable to have the whole conference available, we will provide as many as possible. A USB with the presentation will also be available for purchase.
With the AGM coming up quickly, we are asking members to consider nominating for positions on the board. You will receive notice of the AGM and nominations soon. I ask you to consider what you are able to bring to the association and help continue to grow the DRTA.
Kind regards,
Kylie Rice
President