Innovation and inspiration: Recap of meetings, events and opportunities

Working as a workplace learning and performance development consultant in the healthcare/pharmaceutical sectors requires a constant flow of ideas and an almost daily refresher on the evolution of 21st century job skills.

I am often asked how I keep the fires of inspiration burning despite working in the highly conservative medical sector.

Going back to grad school has certainly helped me to be agile and to grow my consulting practice in interesting ways. And although all course work for a Master's is complete, I still devote quite a bit of time to academic reading and to business research. It helps to have meetings on campus and to maintain close contact with innovators in the higher education sector.

As important as those tactics can be for my professional work, networking with fellow thought-leaders has also proven indispensable. I make a point to attend carefully-chosen, unusual conferences that fall outside my immediate business sector.

This week, I was surprised to squeeze in two very different conferences on the same day. As I was heading home from one event, a close friend called to invite me to another. She described it as a late day workshop on science... a "close encounter with an astronaut".

It was a creative (and accurate) description and I found it impossible to resist.

For a quick recap of all events I attended, this Fall, click on each photo. Every one of these events brought elements of inspiration for current client projects.

Ellicom's ReBoot 2018 (Digital transformation and learning; Tony Bates as keynote speaker)

QPAT conference (workshop and keynote by astronaut Col Chris Hadfield)

RemixEd 2018 (un-conference for educators)

Institute for Performance and Learning (Le chapitre I4PL de Montréal with Dr. Claude Martel)

PMCQ (A reflection on digital pharma practices)

"Skills Fair" (simulation day for McGill University affiliated nurses)

Six conference in six weeks is a bit unusual for me but I couldn't pass up on some of these stimulating opportunities.

But as Montreal weather and traffic woes deepen with the coming winter, I'll likely spend time in my office - leveraging all my new ideas and researching new angles for implementation in the pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors.

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