2014 Asia-Pacific Conference Recap

Golden Key ran its Asia-Pacific Conference 2014: Think GLOBAL Act LOCAL from 13-15 February 2014 in Hobart at the University of Tasmania. Approximately 150 delegates from around the Asia-Pacific region participated in a range of high-profile speakers, panel discussions, professional development workshops and networking events.
The conference started off with a welcome BBQ.  Then Professor Peter Rathjen, the Vice Chancellor of the University of Tasmania, kicked off the Opening Session followed by a welcome from His Excellency The Honourable Peter Underwood AC, Governor of Tasmania. Our keynote speaker was Jodie Fox, co-founder of Shoes of Prey. The day closed with our Amazing Race networking activity where attendees were dispersed into groups of members from other chapters and set landmark tasks leading to a completion point.
Day 2 started off with a presentation from Dare Jennings, former founder of Mambo clothing and CEO of Deus ex Machina, followed by a Career Panel. Next, attendees were able to choose from a variety of professional development workshops on topics such as career planning for mature age students, networking, international careers in government and more. Later in the evening, Jeremy Picone of the Global Poverty Project was the Community Service Speaker. The day finished off with a leadership roundtable.
Sebastian Robertson, the founder and CEO of Batyr was the keynote speaker for Day 3.  A variety of workshops were again available to attendees—this time focusing on leadership. Next it was time for our Q&A Panel Discussion, which tackled the ethics of Euthanasia. The split of opinions dividing the panel provided for a truly engaging debate! Former Party Leader for the Greens, Dr. Bob Brown, was the keynote speaker. The other panelists were: Dr. Nick Cooling, Dr. Gerry McGushin and Dr. Philip Nitschke.
 
The conference ended with a great Closing Gala Dinner, which had a “Secret Garden” theme. Attendees and guests were treated to dinner and DJ, presentation of chapter standard awards by APAC staff, and special event awards followed by dancing. The conference was truly a great event and we cannot wait until the next one!
       
Louise Robinson, a nursing student at Central Queensland University, shared with us some of her feedback after attending the conference:
“I have come away from this event feeling incredibly inspired and motivated on many levels. The conference offered guest speakers and workshops targeting personal and career development. In addition it was an opportunity to meet like minded people from a great diversity of backgrounds and degrees. I feel for me personally I have gained knowledge, skills and insight as to how to best market myself when it comes time for graduate opportunities, being involved in initiatives to make a real difference and additional life skills in general. Since the conference I have been in contact with other delegates to devise an awareness campaign to increase literacy levels specifically for rural school students in Tasmania. It is an empowering feeling to be involved with such a worthy exercise.”
Don’t miss the Golden Key 2014 International Summit from 31 July – 3 August in Boston. For more information and to register, visit www.is.gd/summit14.