From the President
A single hand can easily break a lone stick, but if the same hand, or even both hands, gather many sticks into a bunch and then attempts to break them, the task becomes more difficult. Similarly, when we stand together, we become ever stronger, collectively smarter and better equipped to navigate life’s challenges. One thing I know with certainty is that we never need to navigate life’s challenges alone.
Weekly Webinars by the Chapter
Consistent with the above idea, our Board has convened to devise a strategy to help Members navigate the next 90 days together. As part of this, today we announce a 12-week series of online learning events focused on not just navigating the current crisis but also preparing ourselves for navigating what happens post-crisis. I am particularly interested in how we rise again post-crisis because COVID-19 will pass, but its impact on our businesses and lives will linger for a lot longer, and it is important that we are prepared.
These learning events are Member-to-Member only so Members will see familiar faces they know and trust. These are learning events with granular stories, and its goals are to share relevant experiences, wisdom and insight so that Members walk away with 3 things: (1) information with examples of how they are applied; (2) a sense of community and connection; and (3) perspective; something so important when one is drowning.
Resident psychologist
A mentor of mine recently said to me, "Kym, you must ensure you effectively lead yourself first, before you can lead others." As we navigate the impact of COVID-19 on our businesses, one thing we must also navigate is its impact on ourselves and make sure that we are in the right frame of mind to make good decisions.
In my many one-on-one conversations with Members, what I have seen is how much our Members are in pain, yet they put that aside so that they can focus on the task at hand.
Today, we are enormously proud to announce the launch of our Resident Psychologist; someone our Members can call and talk to, anytime. This is a resource that is provided and completely funded by our Chapter exclusively for our Members. Any day. Any time.
At a time when so many of our people are hurting, I, and our Board, believe that this is the least we can do. And if this resource can make the difference for 1 person, then for us, it has been worth it.
EO Melbourne Members can access our Resident Psychologist, Katerina Papamarkou, MAPS, CEO of Ariston Consulting Solutions at 0438 117 137 or email her at katerina@ariston.net.au. You can view her services at https://ariston.net.au/about/.
Virtual Forum Training
With our Forum meetings moving online, it is important that our Forums are equipped with the right tools, agendas, processes and procedures so that Members stay connected, and derive as much value from Forum as possible.
Past President Carlo Santoro will facilitate a Virtual Forum Training this Thursday. His training will uncover the following questions:
What changes can we expect from a physical face-to-face Forum meeting vs virtual Forum meeting?
What does a sample agenda look like?
What if we want to run weekly check-ins?
Tips and tricks for running effective virtual Forum meetings
I like to plan for the worst and hope for the best, and if our upcoming Forum meetings are to be run virtually, it is important to make sure that we do them efficiently so that we can navigate the upcoming months together.
Don't miss our Virtual Forum Meeting Training on 2 April 2020, Thursday, 12:00 PM-1:00 PM at https://zoom.us/j/545443443. Register through this link.
Past webinars
A big thank-you to Past President Carlo Santoro who has facilitated our first 2 online learning events with Members David Kelly presenting on HR, and Ken Matthews presenting on getting the financial house in order, our Chapter Manager Kirsten Yokoyama, and our Events Manager Olivia Poynton who have together worked tirelessly to bring this to life. You can review the recording of our learning events at these links: Webinar 1 and Webinar 2.
Over the next few days, we will be sending out further announcements, and as always I will make myself available to any Member who wishes to get in contact. Reach out to me anytime.
With Warmth and Gratitude,
Kym Huynh
President 2019/2020
Webinar topics for the EO Melbourne series: Navigating Now and Preparing Post Crisis
Because we are all in this together, the chapter has come up with a 12-week plan on how we can navigate through this crisis and better prepare for post-crisis hurdles. We are setting up weekly webinars for our EO Melbourne family conducted via Zoom. It will have member-to-member sharings and expert topics covered.
Below is the schedule of the online learning event series. Note that starting Webinar #4, we will be shifting our schedule to Wednesdays, 12:00 PM-1:00 PM. We have also provided the topics that will be discussed in every session. Please be advised that these are subject to change depending on the environment.
Please keep an eye on your inbox as we will be sending individual announcements per webinar where we will specify registration details as well as a brief overview of the topic and background of the resource speakers. We will also be posting them on our WhatsApp and Facebook groups so you won't miss them.