Have a look at some photographs of this weekend.
“THE SQUEAKY WHEEL GETS THE GREASE”
(or... the advantages of attending leadership conferences)
To write a small story about such a big chain of events is something I’m not accustomed to, but the message was
so important that I felt compelled to tell the condensed version of the epic which began the Venturer Leaders
Conference at Seeonie Hills in May
As a country leader I thought it was about time for someone to go to a conference or 2, as it had been ages since
any Venturer Leaders from Whyalla had attended such an event, and as usual, the person who raises the issue is
normally the one who draws the short straw, and so it was up to me to attend, as none of our other leaders were
available on that particular weekend.
What a blast it turned out to be! Not only did I get to meet 18 other enthusiastic leaders who all had a great
time as well, but we also had the privilege of sitting down to dinner on the Saturday night with the Chief and
Assistant Chief Commissioners, who not only talked about the new leader program, but also listened and responded
to all the discussions and issues raised by anyone at the table.
The jewel in the crown for me though, was that I made a bit of noise and obviously raised enough concern about
the lack of training courses for youth and leaders in the country areas, that Kate Ryder (Branch Commissioner -
Venturers) threw me a challenge. If I could get enough Venturer Leaders together for a full weekend she would
organise a team to combine the Leadership and Unit Management Courses as a trial, AND bring the team to Whyalla
to present and run the course.
WHAT AN OFFER!! Needless to say, the challenge was met, the promise was kept, and the course happened in Whyalla
for 11 Venturers who normally might not have travelled the long distances required to attend them.
I’ve had so much good feedback from the Venturers who attended, and a lot of our programming has now been
initiated by them with the view of doing their Queen’s Scout Award. I can’t thank Kate Ryder and Sam Van der
Wijngaart enough for their time and dedication in making this inaugural course such a huge success.
At the end of it all, I suppose the very real moral of this story is that the squeaky wheel really did get the
grease on this occasion. If I hadn’t travelled the distance, or attended the conference, or voiced my concerns,
then these 11 Venturers would still be wondering how (or IF) they might ever get to attend the courses, and our
leaders would be whingeing about getting things to happen in the country.
For the leaders who might still be moaning about issues that concern training, then maybe the answer would be to
attend a few more conferences and rub shoulders with the people who might just lend an ear and who are in a
position to offer the same sort of challenge and opportunity that I was given I know I will be attending a few
more to simply catch up and thank the team who made it happen in our neck of the woods.
Shoot for the stars and you might just hit the moon or hitch an adventurous ride on a comet.
SEE YOU AT THE NEXT CONFERENCE. CHEERS!!
Ian Golding
Assistant Venturer Scout Leader
Whyalla Venturer Unit
