What did #acdc2020 participants have to say?

What a fabulous few days at Australasian Change Days. I was curious beforehand about how spending an entire weekend on Zoom was going to work but the organising team did an amazing job of living up to the theme of #buildingconnectedness.
Great effort Sarah and Myah and team! Engaging and inspiring speakers, innovative use of technology and a great bunch of people. I laughed and cried my way through many of the sessions (and even cried with laughter – thanks Tanya and David!) and felt truly connected. Also love that the team have planned to continue the connection long term. Thank you for proving that virtual events can be all that and more!
I came away with many new ideas to experiment with and the feeling of a weekend very well spent.
– Lauren Pant
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What an amazing weekend! From the awesome kick off event on Friday evening through to the close on Sunday, the first ever Australasian Change Days event was everything I had hoped for! An array of informative, engaging and humble presenters and stimulating, honest and open attendees, made the event a game changer!
– Anna Skelton
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This weekend was Australasian Change Days Conference #australasianchangedays. The conference was intended to be a physical event in Perth, Western Australia, but due to COVID it went virtual.
I had assumed a virtual conference was not going to be a better experience than a physical conference. I don’t know why. I had never attended a virtual conference of this length before.
My assumption was wrong. This was one of the best experiences.
An interactive PDF had links to a preview of each session (1-minute video overview from the facilitator) and a Zoom link to attend the workshop. No conference brochure, pull-out timetable and room location map to navigate and work out where you needed to be.
If anyone did get lost they just clicked the Zoom link for Plenary where they could get help to where they wanted to be or just hang out around the virtual campfire with others.
Each workshop had breakout rooms. By the end of the conference I was going into a breakout room with friends as opposed to attendees.
The physical events I have attended have not had as much attendee interaction as this one.
No travel. No spartan hotel room.
Bravo to Sarah Glenister and her team. Can we do it again?
– Karen Ferris
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#australasianchangedays was a great event, thanks to your artistry and craftmanship
– Eugenio Molini
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I have just spent the last 4 days attending both the Launch and the virtual 3-day conference for the 1st Australasian Change Days… and boy, I can tell you it was an amazing experience. 1st and foremost Sarah Glenister and the team did an incredible job hosting their 1st conference.
What was intended to be an in-person event, emerged into an international #virtual #event with 24, 90-minute workshops (breakout rooms, jam boards included) and 7 additional all attendee Plenary sessions, campfires and competitions – all centred around the event’s theme “#Building #Connectedness”.
It was incredible and amazing to actually feel that this was what they accomplished.
I love conferences, you walk away with a lot of new information that challenges your current thought process, stretches your thinking and introduces you to so many new people.
– Jennifer Holder
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How change days changed me
Change Days gave me two beautiful gifts! First, a narrative that starts like this— • I am a change maker!•
I have been doing groundwork to change how education and volunteering system works in developing countries for four years now. But never did I actually label myself as a change maker. Something about the industry seemed distant….but when the BEST CHANGE PRACTITIONERS tell you that you are a change practitioner, you take it!
Second, a deep insight on how I can take Project LEAP forward. This will require a lot of hard work, team formation and the capability to ask the right questions but I am determined!
Thank you my beautiful community of change-whatever’s! We got this, together.
– Sakshi Bansal
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An exemplar of what an online event can be! I was shamefully unable to make much of the conference other than my slot (to be fair, much was in the wee small hours in the UK), yet still because of the nature of the group and the event, and the social media engagement, I really felt – and still feel – part of a community, not just something that happened in passing.
– Benjamin Taylor
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Hi Sarah, the conference is amazing and such a richness of insight and generosity. Thanks so much to you and the team for everything you have put into making it an amazing event. One thing I have had chance to reflect upon over the last two days is the importance of grounding my sense of purpose and keeping a level of resilience if I’m to make the best of it. I just wanted you to know how impactful the conference has been for me. 🙏
-Jayne Dunne
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Thanks Sarah, you all did a fabulous job. It was fun, informative and a great learning experience. Thank you and I’ll be there next year! 😁 Enjoy the down time today.
– Fiona Djapouras
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What an extraordinary journey you’ve been on, and I expect you’re just exhausted, you knocked it out of the park (is that an Aussie term – a baseball reference – home run knocked out of the park).
Kinda feel like you showed how it’s done.
Excellent design, excellent communication, great team – and that all resulted in a really great event. I feel like you took it all to another level.
The connection with local artisans, and also extending so deeply into Marissa’s story of Indigenous history, which went so far beyond the typical “We’re on Indigenous land” intro. The event brought participants into the regional challenges and opportunities, which stretched out globally.
My last full time gig was with an Human Rights and Ecological Justice org in Toronto which had a primary focus on Indigenous Rights globally. I heard and felt some powerful and painful and courageous stories. I’m very grateful to have been returned there.
It was a heck of an event, during extremely trying circumstances. Congratulations. You’re a maestro at making this kind of event happen.
Big hugs and gratitude!!
– Nik Beeson
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Sarah, Myah and team – AMAZING! You did it…now you can sleep! This was an incredible event to present at and to participate in too. I took away some important personal reflections on my own change path thanks to the diversity of thought provoking, playful and interactive sessions by so many speakers.
– Cherelle Witney
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Congratulations on a great virtual conference where innovation, sharing, and community were demonstrated, and a sense that we have made a valuable contribution together. Looking forward to hearing about the changes that have been inspired by the experience.
– Steven McInnes
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Congratulations! Thank you for creating this space to #engage virtually in well facilitated sessions by thought provoking speakers. What made this event special is the #insights and #connections with fellow participants. To being courageous!
– Anja Hennig
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My heart is filled with much love and respect and joy for the great team in putting this virtual conference together. I learnt so much, I’ve made new friends and I’ll be certainly thinking about ways forward with some handy tips and tricks from you all.
– Marissa Verma
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Amazing hard work and innovation in organising this virtual event. I really admire the organising team for bring this together. You were the embodiment of agility, having to pivot many a times. I learnt so much from the organising team and all the speakers. Thank you!!
– Premila Jina
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It was a terrific event Sarah, deeply reflective and inspiring. Looking forward to more! Well done.
– Margo Fox
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It was a beautiful immersive experience. Congratulations and much gratitude to you all!
– Simon Oats
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Wow! What a fabulous weekend! I wasn’t sure what to expect. Or why Sarah raved about Berlin and Toronto. But now I get it.
Thank you all (and anyone else I’ve forgotten) for conceiving, organising and hosting such a generous, uplifting, inspiring event. You wanted to build a sense of community and from my point of view you accomplished your mission.
– Clare Mullen
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ACDC has been amazing – every session has been different, profound and thought provoking.”
– Bec Spyker
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Being among change-makers inspires me to re-think myself, my practice and the way I facilitate the way forward.
– Jeffer London

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