This year’s theme for Fusion’s NSW and ACT state conference was “Crafting the Future”.
Held at Fusion Western Sydney’s St Marys youth and community centre hub, it was a fantastic time of sharing, encouraging, networking and equipping.
90 people in total gathered together from across NSW and ACT – from the Riverina, Canberra, Orange, Portland, Dubbo, Western Sydney, South Sydney and North Sydney as well as the Blue Mountains.
Sue Kaldor and Naomi Nash from New River Leadership (www.newriver.org.au) let the study times on Saturday and Sunday mornings.
Sue (Saturday morning) looked at Leadership and challenged a lot of the myths around about it. Her core message she wanted to get across was that leadership is an activity that everyone can contribute to, not a character trait for special people.
Naomi (Sunday morning) grappled with the question “How can we exercise leadership sustainably?”. She wanted us to remember that what we do in leadership is just the tip of the iceberg, who we are really matters.
Hearing from the different centres was inspiring and challenging. The themes of strength in the midst of weakness, and working on our story and key message that we want to get out to others came through the various reports.
Workshops on Volunteer Systems, Working with Children legislation changes, “Best by Choice” video seminar by Jim Collins and facilitated discussion, as well as working on a systematic approach to youth work were all well received and engaged with.
A tour of the Fusion Western Sydney facilities at St Marys was a good change of pace and then Saturday dinner facilitated by Dave Herdon and a team using a Curry Club format was heaps of fun but also informative.
Overall an encouraging time and those who attended can’t wait till next year!