Seminars & Conferences Attended
Conflict Resolution: Mastering the Art of Successful Communication in Contentious Situations - January 25 & 26, 2005
This workshop was presented by Avista Consulting Group.
This was a very intensive 2 day workshop which worked on teaching, or more accurately opened my mind to a new way of thinking and of handling different people and situations. Martha Borst is an exceptional woman with remarkable patience and insight who was sincerely able to break through to individuals and reach that part of them that did want to improve and make changes. I learned new ways to communicate and to understand, to listen and to interpret, and most importantly how to see things from a different perspective; that our view, is simply our view, not necessarily the truth, it is only our truth.
I also learned how to approach conflict from a positive stand, to come to grips with the fact that there necessarily isn't a right or a wrong side, just a difference of opinion. That can be a very difficult concept to grasp, mainly because one has to come to realize that everything is not about me, nor does it necessarily always involve me, I just happen to be there, perhaps at the wrong time. I learned to understand that sometimes I need to be the one to take the high road, to accept my mistakes and learn from them rather than to try to excuse or deny them.
Giving and Receiving Effective Feedback: How to Have Empowering Communications - January 27 & 29, 2005
This workshop was also presented by Avista Consulting Group.
Wow. Well, if the conflict resolution workshop was intensive after two days, after four days and at the end of the giving and receiving feedback workshop, I was effectively emotionally, mentally, and physically exhausted. It is hard work to learn about yourself and to change your basic views and perceptions of things and people!
Martha Borst warned us that these courses could effect life-long changes, and while at first I was skeptical, I ended up believing that, and accepting that if I made these changes, there would be a major impact on my life and my relationships....for the better! I understand that it will not be easy, nor will it happen over night, but that being the type of person I want to be requires constant vigilance and awareness of how I am reacting, feeling and responding.
Learning how to communicate effectively is a very powerful tool. It is the same concept as the proverb that states: "A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver." What a wonderful way to look at it. To know that in the way I speak, I can control how receptive my listener is. I have the power to determine the impact my words have on another. This perhaps has always been one of my greatest faults. I am so open and direct, honest to a fault. It never occurred to me that people don't always respond to that. Total lack of diplomacy, of tact. I now see that these things are important, as they affect another persons feelings, and thereby my relationship with them.
Mid-Michigan BFMA
Business Forms Management Association has worked to advance form, e-document, systems and workflow professionals for more than 40 years through our comprehensive education, training and peer networking services.
November 17-18, 2004
Our chapter of BFMA was very honored to host a 2 day training seminar on Forms Analysis and Design as well as Developing Electronic Forms and Internet Forms. The entire seminar was arranged and taught by a consulting and training firm called Essociates Group, Inc., who did a fantastic job.
I have to admit that I was half expecting a rather dull seminar focusing on paper forms design and some on the movement to Adobe Acrobat fill-and-print forms, which is for a large part the corporate standard for 'Electronic Forms'. I was however, pleasantly surprised to find that this was not at all the sole focus of the seminar. The teacher, Ray Killam, was incredibly knowledgeable about print, electronic, and internet forms analysis and design, and in fact was very much involved with detailed process, work-flow and application analysis.
As one professional designer to another, though often in different media, formats and with differing variables, I take my hat off to Ray and his company for their knowledge, dedication, and absolute attention to detail. If you ever find yourself in need of a training opportunity, be sure to look him up at www.essociatesgroup.com.
West Michigan ARMA
The Association of Records Managers and Administrators is a not-for-profit professional association of over 12,000 records and information management professionals in the United States, Canada, and around the world.