Day one 6 October 2010
The first day of board meeting was yesterday, mostly finance and strategy which is generally OK and is needed as we are running a business here. Its a long day after the travelling and the rather poor sleep. We did get served a three course lunch that did prevent the working part of the lunch.
The day ended well and off to the gym I went to get the old body moving. I chose a snazzy bike that simulated a mountain climb. That was a bit of a mistake as after ten minutes i was panting away at a slow pace climbing a virtual hill. Afterwards i went outside for a lovely waterside run. Joining the throngs of keen joggers enjoying 28 degree sunshine, leaving trails of sweat behind them.
Day 2
We met the full time staff this morning, and this is always nice. There is a real sense of commitment from the staff. Its odd being a board director and responsible for the staff when you are an elected part time director. Im used to this from other directorships i hold. We had a surreal moment when we sang happy birthday to one of our number. After talking about directorial responsibility we moved on to a pleasant luncheon with some awards. Its kind of fun, but im desperate to get outside for a while, and make my excuses to escape into the Florida sun.
Day 3
Conference opened full time today with a 7 am breakfast for delegates who are non US, its great to see so many nations doing counselling and EAP work. I have to do a welcome speech as too does the President and CEO. We move on to the grand ballroom and are entertained by two gauchos, drumming, dancing and spinning balls on rope. That was great fun. The opening keynote was Dr David Ballard of APA who talked about psychologically healthy workplaces and how EAP can fit in. I liked it, although the wellbeing model and positioning is really not new to me. He presented some interesting ideas on culture that i will take away. David is a tweeter and Ive tweeted him already. Next was a World Update from latin America and Portugal. My good fried Eduardo spoke, he addressed me by name a couple of times in the presentation. Lunch was a boxed sandwich with a dash to get ready for my regional meeting. We discussed the relevance of EAPA and in particular the CEAP exam. This was very lively and I'm torn about the relevance of the exam at all. We need something new that will work outside of the US.
The afternoon session was Dr Tom Amaral who discussed research and ROI for EAP's. This is a really important subject and deserves its place at the conference. Tom is just excellent and has a great command of his subject. His data showed the impact of issues upon performance and absence is profound. The greatest impact upon issues comes from formal referrals according to data. He also identified that the average number of Counselling session is 4.3 including assessment.
Day 4
Todays Key note was Dr Carol North, she presented some excellent insight into 9-11 PTSD. She started by stating that many PTSD screening tools dont even assess for the diagnostic criteria, I guess thats a bit scary since they are supposed to screen! She presented some excellent data from several major trauma incidents.
There seems to be a persistency of PTSD in many cases, however these cases have an association with psychological illness, this seems to be a predisposition.
9-11 data examined symptoms and proximity, this showed that distant proximity and long distance viewing on TV did not lead to PTSD. A very interesting finding.
When looking at support, the number one identified support mentioned by employees was counselling. This is useful for any employers who are wondering if trauma support counselling will be useful.
Today we had an awards luncheon, which went well. My good Friend Lucy got an award, and I was sworn in to the board again.
My next session was to look at an outcome measure. I have to say without naming names that I really was not that impressed by the tool, and in particular the sheer size of it. The research had an N of 51, somewhat thin to present a paper I thought.
I finished the day with the EAPA business meeting, this is usually a dry affair and a time for the directors to talk about the associations's performance. It ran over by quite a bit and meant I was rather late for the international dinner I was hosting. We had some 50 people come to dinner, from 20 countries. What an excellent time we had chatting, and the entertainment was Salsa dancing lessons.
Day 5
Today we have discussion sessions, this is good as it switches out the format somewhat.
The first presentation today was EAPA's own Marina London, who showed us all how to use blogging better. Well done Marina a learned a lot from this.
John Burke presented a discussion about the so called "free" EAP's. This has become a major industry issue, and is seen by many as destroying the market. Interestingly they had calculated from research that the cost of such a provision was 10 cents to $1.20 per employee per month. So free is not free!
An important point is that many of these free EAP's do provide a good service, and buyers need to check what they are getting with the program. In addition EAP providers need to show the value of what they are providing as its not clear. the commoditisation is in danger of dumbing down the service. I have to say I am most concerned about this, how much can the industry cut back without quality being compromised.
The final session covered E counselling, and Dee Anna Nagel spoke about the future of electronic based counselling. Dee Anna looks nothing like her Avatar, and I didn't recognize her to introduce myself.
Dee Anna is in my opinion one of the world experts in this field and has contributed so very much to developing this area, and creating standards and safeguards.
I do feel this will be one of the major interactions of the future in counselling, something to embrace.
Needing to do some work I went to the hotel lobby, here I caught up with Dee Anna again, she is most amusing, and we tweeted each other whilst sat across a table. The source of much amusement to others!
The conference ended with a Busch Gardens visit. I have to say I really disliked that as it was too busy, full of teenagers out for a halloween special.
Wednesday, 6 October 2010
Tuesday, 5 October 2010
EAPA conference Tampa 2010- setting out
Its that time of year again, EAPA conference time. This year it's in Tampa Florida, which does sound excellent. As a EAPA director i am expected to attend the event, and the various functions attached to it. For board members there is two days of face to face board meetings. Normally we have monthly board calls, and monthly directors calls.
The only decent flight i could get was BA from Gatwick, so the day starte early with 150 mile drive in lousy traffic. Not the greatest start to a long day. The whole process and experience of travelling is not my favourite way to spend time. Its all become a bit of a chore now, airports have such tiresome queues for everything, and the baggage weight has become a strict issue. Fortunately as im only out for a week the baggage is not so weighty, but business clothes are heavier than shorts and tee shirts that id normally need in florida.
The airlines try their best to keep the passengers entertained and quiet, theres music and video on demand se we can please ourselves. Boarding wasn't enjoyable, with a 20 minute queue to get to the seat, then nowhere to stow my bag in the overhead because the crew are taking up the space above me. Hang on, I'm the customer!
When were all strapped in a chap gets up and chances his arm for an upgrade having devised a story about how he needs more room, and he's a silver card holder. Why not just buy a seat in the next section? The crew are nice about it, but he gets nowhere.
I moved my bag from the overhead on the opposite side so that i didn't have to keep going all the way around. It was agreed to stow under a seat opposite, and then almost immediately another crew tells me it cant stay there. Im trying not to get upset about it, its all part of the experience of travelling. I fear someone is going to get told off for allowing a bag to be unrestrained under a seat.
Im waiting now for the drinks trolley, surrounded by a rather garlic odour of lunch, this is because I'm seated right at the back by the galley. Its nice here because you can pass time by chatting with the crew. I like it, I'm not so sure if they do! I'm closer to the snacks and drinks too.
The only decent flight i could get was BA from Gatwick, so the day starte early with 150 mile drive in lousy traffic. Not the greatest start to a long day. The whole process and experience of travelling is not my favourite way to spend time. Its all become a bit of a chore now, airports have such tiresome queues for everything, and the baggage weight has become a strict issue. Fortunately as im only out for a week the baggage is not so weighty, but business clothes are heavier than shorts and tee shirts that id normally need in florida.
The airlines try their best to keep the passengers entertained and quiet, theres music and video on demand se we can please ourselves. Boarding wasn't enjoyable, with a 20 minute queue to get to the seat, then nowhere to stow my bag in the overhead because the crew are taking up the space above me. Hang on, I'm the customer!
When were all strapped in a chap gets up and chances his arm for an upgrade having devised a story about how he needs more room, and he's a silver card holder. Why not just buy a seat in the next section? The crew are nice about it, but he gets nowhere.
I moved my bag from the overhead on the opposite side so that i didn't have to keep going all the way around. It was agreed to stow under a seat opposite, and then almost immediately another crew tells me it cant stay there. Im trying not to get upset about it, its all part of the experience of travelling. I fear someone is going to get told off for allowing a bag to be unrestrained under a seat.
Im waiting now for the drinks trolley, surrounded by a rather garlic odour of lunch, this is because I'm seated right at the back by the galley. Its nice here because you can pass time by chatting with the crew. I like it, I'm not so sure if they do! I'm closer to the snacks and drinks too.
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