June 2013
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| Greetings! | |
"A perfect June day is when the sun is shining, the breeze is blowing, the birds are singing, and the lawn mower is broken."
James Dent
 This past month, Insights Vancouver team members have been running 'flat-out' on a number of fronts. President Joyce Gwilliam has been leading the pace, recently delivering work in Victoria, Nanaimo, Montreal, Courtney, Vancouver and Austin, Texas. She even managed to work in a short family visit to Saskatchewan!
Anne Bishop 'knows the way to San Jose' having been back and forth a few times over the past weeks. Kim White and Shauna Grinke have both been on the circuit around the Lower Mainland, and Jayne, Stella and Barry have kept pace with the others. And our own Sharyn Skalnik got into the 'race' mood, recently completing the grueling Spartan Challenge held on Grouse Mountain in the mud and the snow.
June will see the official 'start' of summer, and it's safe to say the Insights team will be using those extra hours of daylight to get things done. But for now, join us as we take five, grab a cup of tea, and catch up on some of the goings-on over the past several weeks.
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PMI Professional Development Credits
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 Insights Vancouver is proud to be a Registered Education Provider (REP) for the Project Management Institute (PMI). Professional Development Credits are now available for those completing the following Insights Vancouver workshops:
- Herding Cats: Insights for Project Effectiveness
- Insights into Personal Effectiveness
- Insights into Making Change Work
To learn more about the courses offered, or how people within your organization can apply for Professional Development credits after attending, please contact our office.
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Insights Discovery Accreditation Opportunity
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 The next Insights Discovery Accreditation scheduled for Vancouver will be held October 22nd to 25th. Registration deadline is September 24th.
Insights Discovery Accreditations are held in Vancouver twice each year, and are open to candidates who want to use the Insights Discovery system internally as part of their organizational learning and development strategy. We also provide internal Accreditations for organizations that have 8 or more candidates. If you or someone in your organization is considering Accreditation, please contact your Client Manager or the Insights office to discuss the accreditation process.
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The Wheels on the Bus.... will now go 'Round.
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 | | Kim and Jitihada E.D. Michael in 2012. Michael's son will be driving the new bus |
You may remember our own Kim White traveled to the Jitihada Orphanage in Arusha, Tanzania last year to personally deliver funds she and others raised to support the organization. There, she met Pip Harvey-Ross, a young Australian woman who has since created her own not-for-profit agency called Monochrome, with a mandate to build housing for street youth in the region.
This month, Pip is returning to Tanzania to deliver $4000.00 raised by Kim and her community this past year to purchase a bus which will be used to transport children to and from the orphanage, where some walk for up to three-hours a day to visit the school in order to receive a proper meal.
 | | Children in the classroom at Jitihada Orphanage |
Kim says her fund-raising efforts will be on-going, because buying the bus is only the beginning. The vehicle will require gasoline and on-going maintenance to be truly useful.
Congratulations Kim, on your commitment and continued championing of this program. Your Insights family is proud of your efforts on behalf of these children.
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A Molokai Moment - Taking Time to be Grateful
| Since late April, Senior Learning Consultant Cheney Creamer has been working on a Horticultural rehabilitation project on the island of Molokai, Hawaii.
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Terracing and Recovery Work
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Last week, she updated the Insights Vancouver office with a short note about her adventures and her learning. Here's a brief excerpt from her letter:
Aside from developing curriculum and studying native Hawaiian plants and medicines, my work here includes clearing land, pulling roots, building log terraces to keep soil in place for planting and preventing water erosion, assembling irrigation systems, collecting and propagating seeds, transplanting in a nursery, and then out-planting those new little plants out onto the terraces that we build. Then mulching and the weeding begins - and then I move onto another area and do it all again! I am truly getting a full dose of my own Horticultural Therapy each and every day!  | |
We think her tractor's sexy
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I am grateful every day for my learning from Insights which is making this unique journey even better! Gratitude is also something that is a part of everyday life here in so many ways. Not only am I constantly grateful for the opportunity to live and work outside in such a beautiful place, but gratitude is a part of our regular work routine. Several times a day, out of the blue (particularly if we've been working really hard, and are perhaps a bit over focused on the tasks at hand), someone will yell out "Ocean!" or "Sky!", and that is our cue to stop working and enjoy the view and beauty around us. I think this is such an amazing practice - I think we should all try to find ways to incorporate this into our office routines! Wherever we find ourselves working, whether it's in an office or outside on a Hawaiian hillside, I think it is rather a nice idea to simply stop for just a moment several times a day and shout out what we are grateful for and have everyone around us automatically stop and enjoy a moment of shared appreciation! I look forward to finding out how you might incorporate this into the Insights office! How can you introduce a 'Molokai Moment' into your workday routine? |
Not one - but TWO Grandfathers
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May marked a rather significant milestone for two members of the Insights Vancouver Core team as both Barry Christiansen and Dale Nelson became Grandfathers for the first time. Barry's Grand-son Tanner was born May 7th and Dale's Grand-daughter Mabel was born May 12th. Both babies and both sets of new parents are all doing great!
If you have about eleven hours to spare, just ask either new Grandfather if they have any pictures of their new grandchild.
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If you have comments, or suggestions for articles in upcoming newsletters, please
contact our office.
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Dale Nelson,
Insights Vancouver
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