Time to Shine - Launch Conference
Written by Tir Coed / Wednesday 14 February 2018
The two day Rank Foundation Launch Conference was held in The Midland Hotel on 16th and 17th January 2018. It was a good opportunity for our director, Leila Sharland and myself to learn about the Rank Foundation, my internship and a chance for us to learn some hints and tips about developing a good quality working relationship.
The first day gave us the chance to meet the 15 other interns and managers attending the conference (from our pre-assigned group) and to get to know them for the first time. We will of course be getting know them even better over the course of the year as this was the first of four conferences.
After lunch we split off into two groups, the managers would enjoy the ‘Now That’s Different’ Workshop and the interns would take part in the VividEcho Film Training Workshop. After a quick tutorial we got split into smaller groups and we had to make a film on the topic of the ‘Time to Shine’ Internship.
The next day the interns took part in the ‘Now That’s Different’ Workshop with Steve O’Smotherly. Previously in December all those attending had to fill out a short survey with the purpose of it being used for this segment of the conference. We were told that from the results of the survey we were to be placed into four distinct working personality types. These were part of the ‘Four Seasons Model’ which is based on the principle that we all have a behavioural preference where we feel most comfortable i.e. as one of the ‘Seasons’.
After this we got the chance to meet up with our managers and discuss each other’s seasonal preference. The process taught us that if we understand our own preference and the preferences of the people who work with us it can help us to become more effective employees and / or leaders by enabling us to develop stronger and more efficient working relationships.
As the event concluded we were given information about RankNet, a social network set up by the Rank Foundation to allow interns and managers to communicate, share useful information about grants and opportunities and to learn from each other.
The main thing that struck me from the Launch Conference was the main aim of the Rank Foundation. Their approach is to not only invest in a charity / company but in the individual. They want to improve the interns life not only by providing them with funding for their job but by giving them additional skills and experience so that they can improve themselves and the charity / company they are part of.
