President's Column - March 2020
Kia ora koutou
Well what a few weeks it has been. Are you all getting into a new rhythm of working from home? The juggle is real and for many of you there will be children to look after, elderly parents to help and ongoing work commitments to meet. I truly hope there are some small spaces in your day to take a walk outside in your local area to clear you head and keep healthy.
So what news from ILANZ?
Earlier in the month prior to lockdown, we had some great catch ups to boost collegiality. Yes they’re on hold right now but it’s worth reminding ourselves how valuable these are by looking back on our wins this month.
Christchurch had a busy month!
- A croquet event was hosted by Simpson Grierson on 18 Feb – a good outdoor activity that those who attended really enjoyed.
- LOD hosted a networking event on 26 Feb that I attended to check on with our colleagues down in Christchurch and to drum up some interest in getting some nominations for our committee (thanks to those candidates that followed up on my call to action and nominated!!)
- We had our first sole counsel coffee morning on 11 March in Christchurch too!
- The local government lawyers day was organised by Christchurch City Council’s legal team on 6 March. It had a fantastic turn out and ILANZ is so grateful to that team for organising it. Our own Donna Llewell attended, handed out a complimentary conference pass (still valid for next year, all good) and had penned a fantastic blog piece on the day for those of you who missed it.
The feedback from these events was that our colleagues in Christchurch and the south island at large are definitely keen to harness some ongoing CPD opportunities and more collegiality events. We are actively exploring more options to meet this demand and once Covid-19 restrictions have passed, we can roll these out face to face. In the meantime, we’ll keep you posted on virtual options.
Auckland
- Another sole counsel coffee morning went ahead just before the restrictions on 19 March. Lightly attended the feedback again is that these are really essential, safe harbours for our sole counsel colleagues to meet and share ideas with others who ‘get it’. So we’ll press on with some options virtually for these. A cuppa over zoom is just as valuable to check in!!
ELECTIONS
You’ll see the shout out below for you to vote by the end of this week. Go on! It only takes 10 mins!
Our candidates have put their bios out there which can be a little bit nerve-wracking for some so we’re thrilled with the votes coming in that show our peers are spending some time to vote and show support.
Click here to view a video message from Sian Wingate
CONFERENCE AND AGM You’ll have seen our notice that we’ve had to postpone until next year. We promise to make it just as amazing as planned for this May! We’ll deliver our annual report at our AGM virtually with a replay option of the video available afterwards. Look out for info on this later in April.
ILANZ AWARDS The committee met virtually and we played around with ideas on how to achieve these in lieu of a face to face gala dinner. We realise that the value of the awards is that peer to peer recognition and the ability to share the moment with your work colleagues, peers and family if they’re with you at the dinner. So although it’s another disappointment, we decided not to run the ILANZ awards for 2020. We have our thinking caps on for an alternative way to celebrate our in-house achievements this year. Leave it with us and we’ll get back to you.
COVID-19 INFO This column wouldn’t be complete without some info for you. The Law Society has been publishing some resources, the links are below.
If there’s some in-house info you feel is missing, do get in touch and we’ll sort that out for you.
WHAT CAN WE DO TO HELP YOU? Right now, we’re exploring some ideas around delivery of some content online or via zoom for you. It would be great to hear from YOU about what would really help you right now. Drop us an email at [email protected] so we can target our contactless services in the right way over the next few months.
Stay home, stay safe and stay healthy
Wishing you all the very best during these times.