aXcelerate are passionate about the training industry. We love talking to RTOs and determining what their concerns and priorities are, so that we can do our best to address them. Last Friday gave us the opportunity to do exactly that, when our two directors Reay and Julie attended a VET Industry Drinks Session which aXcelerate hosted in collaboration with the team at Circulus Education.
The purpose of the event was to encourage open and honest dialogue between RTO senior managers and industry professionals. This was an opportunity to share and discuss the biggest challenges in the business and what we see as the key opportunities for the future of the VET Industry. This event was different to previous industry drinks Circulus have hosted, as the session focused on multiple small discussion groups in order to encourage open conversation and knowledge sharing amongst participants. Furthermore, 10 highly experienced VET consultants attended the event as ‘group facilitators’ and spent their time rotating around and chatting to each group.
The result was a night filled with great food, drinks, conversation and knowledge sharing at its best. In fact, the biggest “complaint” from the evening was that many attendees wished the discussions could have gone for much longer!
The event kicked off at 4:00pm with delegates arriving and catching up over canapés and drinks. There was then a welcome speech given by our very own Managing Director Reay Mackay and Circulus’ Managing Director Caroline Brock.
We then heard from the Keynote Speaker of the evening, Nick McEwan-Hall. Nick is the founder of the professional coaching organisation ‘Latitude Coaching’ and has had extensive experience speaking at VELG and other industry conferences on leadership, strategy and improving RTO outcomes.
He spoke to the group about ‘lifting the game in VET” and emphasised the importance of focusing on being more solution driven and student-focused rather than simply identifying the negative aspects of the industry. This set the tone for the table discussions, in which attendees broke up into small groups and discussed a number of points including:
- RTO strategy and growth,
- blended learning design
- technology, compliance and business processes
During these discussions, many robust conversations took place and the group were able to make some key observations regarding the VET industry as it stands now, and outline their hopes for the future.
All in all, the night provided valuable information to everyone in attendance and was a great chance to connect and discuss key issues with other managers and leaders who are just as passionate about the VET sector.
aXcelerate would like to give a big thank-you to Circulus Education for their help in the planning and organising of the event and also a big thank-you to everybody who attended the session. It was because of your involvement that we had such thought-provoking discussions!
To find out more about Circulus Education and future VET Industry events they have planned, please visit their website: http://circulus.com.
You can also read and access the notes from Nick’s speech on the vet industry by visiting his blog: