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Back to NewsThree ‘Takeaways’ from the VET CEO Conference 2017
I attended the recent VET CEO Conference in Melbourne and was impressed by the large turnout. CEO’s from all over the country, recognising the need to access more tools and information on how to run their business better, were in the one place and keen to learn and network.
Full disclosure, we were the major sponsor of the conference yet I decided to let my staff look after the sponsorship side of things. I wanted to attend the conference from my perspective as the CEO of our business.
As with all these types of events, it is important to reflect on what stood out most. Here are my three ‘takeaways’ from this years CEO Conference.
1. Better Communication is Required
It appears that the current flow of information about regulation and policy changes and their impact has some flaws. I'm unsure whether this is because of the complexity of the information or because the volume is overwhelming. It seems that a lot of CEO’s were not aware of the industry ramifications of government policy and regulatory interpretations.
Maybe an industry body needs to take responsibility for summarising this information. Even if they could supply some supporting documentation to clarify what the policy or regulation means would be helpful. This needs to be done in a practical fashion so CEO’s don’t have to wade through reams of information to understand the changes for their industry.
2. There was an Impressive Willingness to Engage
It was obvious to all who attended that the CEO’s present were engaged in the content and in fact the whole premise of the conference. Participation was excellent and it was clear that a good portion of the delegates were taking plenty of notes to refer to later. This says to me that rather than attending for ‘professional development points’ it was more about wanting to do better in the day-to-day running of our business. This bodes well for the sector if our CEO’s are so engaged.
3. There is a Need for these Higher Level Conferences
While I was always confident that the conference would be well received, I was really impressed by the turnout. There were over 150 CEO’s in attendance and from the people I spoke to, most intended to sign up for next year. For so long the vast majority of conferences in the VET landscape were specifically for practitioners and RTO staff. It’s a nice change to have a focus on a more global, management based view of running Training Organisations.
Overall the conference was seen as a success and I have to commend the VELG Training staff for the way the conference ran and the selection of the venue. I’m looking forward to #VETCEO18
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Matt Peachey
Matt Peachey is the Managing Director at the Learning Resources Group. Over the past decade, he has grown the small resource development company into one of the largest training resource providers in the country and industry leaders in digital and LLN space of Vocational Education Support.
Matt has spent extensive time working directly with RTO’s all over the country to help them implement their training and assessment programs. He has also assisted a number of RTO’s with their marketing and business strategies.
Recently, Matt has orchestrated the transition from Safe Work Resources into The Learning Resources Group to ensure that the organisation is poised to support the VET industry through future changes.
Prior to his work in the VET sector Matt had 10 years working in the automotive industry firstly in sales management and eventually as a process and strategy consultant.
Outside of the TLRG office, Matt can be found volunteering for Lifeline as a counsellor, scouring the countryside for great wine or touring around on his motorcycle.
