As part of the Society’s commitment to developing the leadership potential of members, we are pleased to announce there is a new resource available that has been specially designed to prepare new Conference Presidents for their roles. 

It’s called the Conference President’s Induction and Mentoring kit and it was developed in response to requests from member leaders who felt there was a need for mentoring when people stepped into the Conference President’s role. 

The resource kit was based on suggestions given by senior members from different regions. It covers:  

• The state-wide organisational structure of the Society,  
• The local organisational context of their role and their primary internal local contacts, and 
• Strategic priorities of the Society approved by their State Council. 

It consists of a Powerpoint presentation and learner workbook that contains discussion questions and follow-up exercises for new Conference Presidents to complete. Exercises in the workbook have been designed so that members can choose the ones that most resonate with them and which are most relevant to their local context. In this way, they can craft an individualised learning experience.  

A key feature of the Resource Kit is the mentoring aspect. Mentors are critical to the learning experience, as they offer local knowledge, experience and suggestions on how to set goals for the Conference and bring the team together in order to achieve them. For this reason, Regional Presidents or experienced Conference Presidents are the best ones to deliver the training. 

The end result will be an action plan that the new Conference President will create for themselves to be supported by their mentor. 

Linda Paull, Member Training Coordinator, will be hosting a session for Regional Presidents who are interested in becoming mentors in the new year. Please contact her at Linda.Paull@vinnies.org.au if you would like to participate.