After a long but rewarding day of listening to plenaries, it was time for the Australian Not-for-Profit Technology Awards, which provided a great opportunity to network with peers, and to see how other Not-for-Profit organisations were utilising technology to progress their cause. Day 3 kicked off at 8:45am with the Community Council Australia (CCA) Pre-Election Forum, which entailed the ALP's Shadow Minister for charities and not-for-profits, Dr Andrew Leigh and Greens spokesperson Senator Racheal Siewert take questions from the audience relating to the future of the sector. Following this was a Panel session entitled 'Technology for good, bad (and ugly)', which tackled the question "Can technology really tackle some of Australia's biggest social challenges?". Those on the panel discussed in depth how they utilised technology to progress their respective causes. As the day continued, topics around 'Artificial Intelligence' and 'Machine Learning' were discussed foreshadowing what experts from IBM believed to be the future of the industry.
The afternoon was spent in a grant writing workshop, run by Jo Garner from Strategic Grants who over the course of the workshop shared helpful insights in respect to what goes into a successful grant application. The conference ended with a keynote emphasising the importance of IT security before Mel Kettle delivered a strong closing keynote, which served as a gentle reminder that despite advances in technology, authenticity and maintaining personal relationships are still very much at the heart of the community and for-purpose sector. On reflection, I found Connecting Up's 'Transform' conference for 2019 an incredibly enjoyable and rewarding three days. I am grateful for the opportunity to attend on behalf of Rural Lifestyle Options Australia, and am thankful to the people who I met along the way, who made the experience, all the more worthwhile.
Author: Mr Nicholas Power, National Marketing Manager
22 Rural Lifestyle Options Australia Magazine
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