Day 6: Meghan

As the day started, Louie mentioned that his wings were tired and needed a day off, so we all decided to allow him the opportunity to catch some zzz’s and some refreshing Newcastle views – from the hotel window.

To make sure that we left an impact on the UFHRD conference in Newcastle this year, we made sure to leave the UofL logo on the collaborative wall they designated for attendees.

Our day started with a keynote speaker, Delroy Beverley. Delroy spoke about the Future of Work within Talent and Resources. As Delroy spoke, you could tell that he works in organizations and/or helps create organizational culture(s) where low-power distance exists between him and his employees. He states that it is our responsibility to ask why and to make it acceptable for people to talk about their fearwithin the organization and address them.

We broke out for your first two sessions of the day where we attended different topics based on: coaching and mentoring, diversity issues in HRD, employee engagement, leadership management and talent development, and critical approaches in HRD, etc. – to name a few.

After lunch, we attended the second keynote speaker for the day – David McGuire – and attended the last parallel sessions for the day as well.

During the David’s speech, he focused on how important collaborative work is within academia. He stated that individuals can accomplish a lot on their own, but as collaborators, we can accomplish more – which implies a more collectivistic approach in regards to the academia research culture.

For a “separate” cultural experience, while Bob was utilizing the bathroom facilities, he decided to get comfortable and take off his jacket to hang it up. Well, unbeknownst to him, it wasn’t a hook that he hung his jacket upon, rather an emergency lever and he set off the alarms and emergency lights in the bathroom. 

At the end of the night, Louie joined us at The Biscuit Factory, where during the cocktail hour we were invited to explore the art gallery. Louie took a liking to the pottery that was being showcased. After cocktail hour, we enjoyed a delicious meal with other attendees of the conference.