1620 Electrical Workers held its second education conference from Friday, October 4 – Sunday, October 6 at the Holiday Inn Hotel & Convention Centre in St. John’s. Approximately 90 delegates attended with a total attendance, including speakers & guests, reaching over 160 people.
Holiday Inn Hotel & Convention Centre
180 Portugal Cove Rd, St. John’s, NL A1B 2N2
Our opening ceremonies included greetings from myself, Don Murphy, Business Manager/ Financial Secretary, Executive Board Member, Byron Lundrigan and President, Robert Dillon.
Jenelle Duval, St. John’s Native Friendship Centre, joined us and performed a beautiful conference blessing.
Some of our speakers included:
These powerful speakers brought their perspectives on issues that are affecting members in the workplace, in their communities and in the political arena.
Gary Murray
Vice President, Engineering and Operations, Newfoundland Power.
Gary’s speech provided an industry outlook and what it means to employees and customers.
Jim Watson, IBEW International Representative, Education, facilitated a team-building session related to the importance of organizing, while Matt Wayland, IBEW International Representative, Government Relations, spoke about political action for Local Unions.
Gary Summers
Professional Motivational Speaker and Author ~ Mental, Physical and Spiritual Wellness
Gary ended Saturday’s sessions with a powerful, thought-provoking, motivational presentation that provided delegates with strategies that make life better both personally and professionally.
Sunday, we were graced with the presence of a very special little boy named Liam, and his family. Liam is our Wish Child; last year, Local 1620 donated $15,000 to the Children’s Wish Foundation and just a little over a month ago, we were paired with a child. Liam, at just 2 years of age, underwent a double lung transplant.
Liam and his family wanted to come to thank you in person for your generosity! We are happy to hear that Liam is doing great today and although he is still somewhat undecided on the particulars of his wish, he does know that his big brother and best friend, Luke, his mom and his dad must be by his side.
Don Murphy
Business Manager/ Financial Secretary
1620 Electrical Workers
Sunday’s sessions focused on this year’s conference theme of ‘Building Our Future Together.’
Don Murphy spoke about a number of big successes for Local 1620 over the past couple of years, including the results to date in relation to our strategic plan, which was developed at last year’s conference. Don will be on the road in November attending your Unit meetings providing these results and presenting our path forward.
Don Murphy, with assistance from Erin Curran Simms, Director of M5 Public Affairs, then facilitated a live audience poll where delegates could answer questions and provide feedback via their cellular devices. The answers were instantly populated on the screen for everyone to see.
These results will help us continue to build on the future successes of our Local Union – where we need to go from here; what does the membership want to see us focus on going forward. These insights and participation from 1620 members is vital to ensure we are focused on the right goals.
A lot was was shared over this 3-day event and there was much value created in the passing of information from all of our speakers to our delegates, and also between our delegates and our special guests.
Evaluations were completed by all delegates at the end of each day and the results proved the conference to be yet another great success, one thoroughly enjoyed by all.
