The FINZ 2022 conference had an extra added spice this year. What was always set to be a great event, was made that little bit more special by a lot of familiar faces finally seeing each other in the flesh as opposed to a pixelated reconstruction. Nobody asking, “Can you hear me?”, over a crackly connection, nobody frozen on screen in an unflattering position - just good old fashioned face-to-face interactions.
COVID-19 has meant our industry, as many others, has fallen on hard times. The conference was a testament to all the hard work of each organisation that was present and also had a ‘business as usual’ feel. It also carried a sense of pride in the idea that, ‘We got through it together’. Not only that, it was a time for us to reflect on what has changed in our industry and has ultimately led us into being Changemakers!
It was a ‘new look’ Public Outreach which threw itself into proceedings last week. We co-hosted the Fundraising Follies party, which provided plenty of catch-ups and canapes And we have to give a huge shout-out to our good friends over at Change&Co. for joining us in throwing a wonderful party. We had the privilege of having Head of Client Services, Karina Salih, take to the stage with Fiona McFee to present on the ‘Art of Conversation’, her first time on stage. It also marked our first ever exhibit stall at a FINZ conference, which delighted our Marketing team.
After the dust has settled on a fantastically (very much overdue) conference, we wanted to share the reflections of our attendees which you may well have had a conversation with.
Nadia Steenkamp - Client Account Manager
FINZ conference should be a necessity in your yearly calendar! It’s a conference where like minded industry leaders hear & learn what’s hip and happening in the sector but also a time for several people to connect in person. Heart warming to be around so many passionate, knowledgeable & skilled people. Travel restrictions (local & international) have caused several constraints in actually seeing each other in person. That human connection & interaction is so vital in our industry - after all it's what we do, it’s our bread & butter, may it be F2F or TM fundraising. I was fortunate enough to attend a couple of speaker sessions & learnt something new from each of them.
Kate Graham - Managing Director
What I learnt - Kiwis are super fun! It was very authentic and casual. Michelle is a legend and the sector has so many passionate fundraisers, and it was a real pleasure to be surrounded by such amazing people. This year was the first time we had a booth, so chatting to people at the booth was like a day at a F2F stall in the mall - fun meeting all different people with different stories. I may be slightly biased here, but my favourite talk was Fi and Karina. It was fantastic seeing the response from attendees. Definitely looking forward to next year already.
Steph Collins - Call Centre Manager
I had the privilege of attending the FINZ conference (FINALLY! After COVID put a stop to the last couple years!) but it was certainly worth it! As someone managing a team of tele-fundraisers for regular giving campaigns, it was really cool to learn more about other areas of the sector, like major giving and donor stewardship, as well as meeting face-to-face with our fundraising partners on the charity side.
Karina Salih - Head of Client Services
I absolutely loved this year’s conference and it was especially exciting to just simply BE in Aotearoa! My first trip since the pandemic. My favourite part was seeing all of our lovely charity partners again after such a long period of time chatting virtually ‘over the pond’. I also absolutely loved Shelly Davies’ opening plenary, ‘Lessons in Badassery’. I found it super inspiring and it’s so wonderful to see women talking about how it’s ok to break the rules and give ourselves permission to go for what we want! I thoroughly enjoyed Wednesday night’s Gala Event. The ‘de-constructed kebabs’ have got to be one of my favourite ideas ever, and last but not least, thank you so much to Michelle and the whole FINZ team for providing little ‘lolly bags’ to all of us. I think Nadia and I ate half of your supply!
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If you met with our team last week and want to keep in touch, or didn’t manage to find us before the week was up - Feel free to drop Karina and Nadia an email: Nadia.Steenkamp@publicoutreach.co.nz Karina.Salih@publicoutreach.com.au
We always love a good chat!
Until next time folks!
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