Friday, August 27, 2010

What spoils the conference for you?

Preparations for the launch of the conference programme are on the way and soon you are able to see what has been planned for participants and get registered before all the places are booked.
Meanwhile we have thought of possible things that can ruin the conference spirit, so that we could avoid them. Here is the start of the list, hope you can add more to it:
  • damaged heating conditions on the place
  • too tight schedule
  • bad interpreter - reading directly from the documents
  • presentations do not have any red line, only formalities
  • speaker is too fast or too loud
  • speaker not answering to the questions from the audience
  • during the conference, you do not see anything of the host city
  • participant list not up to date
  • no professional use of computers
  • photographer blocking the view
  • ...
  • Friday, August 20, 2010

    Turn damages into benefits

    Lucas owns some hectares of forest. Lucas went to check if his forest had suffered any damages of a recent storm. It was obvious from the very first moment he reached his part of the forest, that this was the case. He was faced with hundreds of broken birch trees on the ground. After clarifying the situation, it was clear that the amount was too little to get anyone to buy it (app. 50 trees) or it would only be bought sometime next year. Lucas therefore considered what he could do with it. Surely he did not want it to rotten in the forest - it rather be used as soon as possible for something good.

    He found out that several school yards looked very dull and needed some benches for kids. He contacted the rectors and made a deal with them, that they could get the junks for free from his forest, if only they would use it for the yards and some for handcrafting during the school year. This way 10 junks were used. He also offered the trees for nearby cottage owners, who willingly made some logs of it. It this was worth of 5 trees. 15 or so junks, went to the theater for decorations and benches and a good number of them were used by a cottage builder close to his forest. After all this effort, Lucas was left with 5 trees and with those he decided to do some wood crafting for his garden.

    All the setbacks of the storm were turned into a goodwill after active offering of the junks. This resulted in nice thank you letters, great fun while cutting the junks and in a big smile every time he passed the school yard with great new wooden benches.

    Monday, August 16, 2010

    What to get from a conference

    From time to time, it is good to stop and reflect when it is worth while to take part in a conference. One can question what can events in their best give to the participants. Here are some of the things listed:
    • new solutions and ideas
    • contacts - new and old
    • innovative discussions during and between sessions
    • motivation and inspiration, especially if more than one from the same organization is attending
    • ideas on how to become more efficient and sustainable
    • ideas on how to involve more stakeholders in your work
    • great food and company
    • getting to know something about the city where the conference is held (other than just the venue and hotel)
    • good atmosphere
    • fun!
    This is what we are aiming to deliver - soon you are able to judge if our plans are able to meet your own expectations or not. The conference programme is launched on 1st of September and after that you are welcome to register with early bird prizes.

    Friday, August 6, 2010

    Climate change accompanied by extreme weather phenomena

    We have experienced various extreme weather phenomena during the last weeks. During the last few years, heat waves and heavy rain have become more frequent worldwide, with less snow, more fires, more heavy rainfall and more intense storms.

    In Northern regions, such as Scandinavia, changes in climate are approximately twice as strong as elsewhere in the world because of the contraction of the polar snow and ice cover, and the after effects of this in heating created by radiation.

    July was exceptionally warm in Scandinavia and various temperature records were broken on several occasions. The hot weather have given rise to violent thunder squalls and thunderstorms that have caused extensive damage in different areas. According to the weather forecast we might still experience some of these phenomena during the following weeks.

    The occasionally intense heat wave that affects large areas of Scandinavia and the other extreme weather phenomena happening all over the world, are a reminder of the accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. The demand for solutions that help reduce emissions, and thus reduce the extreme weather phenomena, is increasing.