Sgt Doc Newman and I travelled to Brisbane this week-end to attend a two-day Neighbourhood Watch State Conference.
The event began on the Friday with over 100 delegates attending an afternoon workshop at Roma Street Police Head Quuarters. I was asked to address this group and give a half hour presentation to outline the implementation of ICT (Information and Communication Technology) and other changes I made to our group since I became Area Coordinator in August 2008. So I talked about the use of email, the creation of an email database, the building of our website, changes to the newsletter and the way we use the press to promote the NHW program and our group in particular to the community. Sgt Newman also spoke about the advantages of having these systems in place from his perspective as a P.L.O.
Both Doc and I received much positive feedback from our talk and we hope we inspired many to not be afraid to use technology to market the program, communicate with their residents etc.
In the near future I hope to upload a copy of the Power Point we made for the workshop along with step-by-step instructions on how to create a simple website at Blogger.com....
On the Saturday we registered early for a day's conference at the Novotel Brisbane. Of note was the presentation by Victorian Police Inspector Tess Walsh who received a standing ovation following her presentation about a typical day in her life at the time when she was posted to Kingslake during February's bushfires and the ensuing loss, grief and devastation.... not many dry eyes around ... but she spoke with joy about the many positive memories she will cherish and her admiration for the strength of character and mettle of the many groups she dealt with...from the local residents, her own police force members to the Army's fabulous 'can do' attitude...
Lara Wilde of Local Intelligence spoke brilliantly on how to engage with members of our community by finding 'common ground' and NHW's (Acting Sr) Sgt Steve Batterham announced and unveiled the new-look NHWQ which aims to be people-focussed and less complex in structure.
On the Saturday the regional awards were handed out and I received the Area Coordinator of the year award for the South Eastern region.
Memories I will take away....
- The joy of seeing some of last year's delegates and catching up with them.
- The fun of being the example of a 'goth'.
- Meeting new people and being asked questions (at my breakfast table, in the lifts and even in the ladies toilets cubicle-to-cubicle!) following my Friday afternoon talk...
The AWESOME people - many were fun, some were serious, but all were dedicated to the same NHW cause.
- The wonderful way in which everything was organised - the two great venues.
- The balloons that Lara Wilde spotted at the Friday dinner as reading 'Happy 21th' instead of 21st.
- The very odd blue light in the ladies toilets at Roma St HQ!! What was that about??
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Hi Dominique,
We have just read your writings on the Web site and congratulations on your Area Coordinator of the Year Award and, may we say, very well deserved. It sounded like a very interesting conference. Ron and Val
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Dominique,
The blue lights are supposed to stop IV drug users seeing where a vein is.Your blogger site is awesome. Are there templates in there that you used for your layout. From speaking with you in the mini bus on Friday night, I assume you are a very cluey lady. I opened up blogger.com and still freaked out. Congratulations on your win, you certainly deserved it. Beric
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Hi Dom,
I was reading the website just now with your thoughts from the NHW conference.
I can answer your question about the ladies toilet. If you used the toilet in the 'public' area they have blue fluorescent tubes in them, so drug addicts cannot use them for injecting. Veins will not show up under the blue light! If you go to Melbourne (and probably Sydney) virtually all toilets that 'public' have access to will have the blue lights.
I have a video of toilets & talking. As soon as I find it I will send it to you.
TTFN
Regards,
Andrew
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