Vision-21–A Personal View Text and Photos by Paul Whitham LPSNZ
After being convention chair for the 2019 National Convention in Lower Hutt, I looked forward to Vision 2020. At the 2017 and 2018 events, I had been more focused on planning for 2019. And then, in 2019, I was too busy running the event to truly enjoy what we had on offer.
COVID was still the deciding factor, and so there was a mild panic two weeks before the start when a notification came up on my newsfeed that an unexpected news conference had been called for 1.00 pm on a Saturday. Oh no, I thought here we go again.
2020 was going to be a year when I could essentially rock up and enjoy myself. I had even managed to secure spots in all of the workshops that I wanted to get into. It was, therefore, a bitter blow when the convention was cancelled.
Fortunately, it was not an announcement of another lockdown, so we flew to Christchurch.
After all the disruption brought about by COVID-19 in 2020, there was a lot of uncertainty when approaching Vision-21. 1. Would people want to gather in large numbers? 2. Would there be a reluctance to register early? 3. Would COVID rear its head again? When Council met with Convention Director Ian Walls FPSNZ in September 2020, the country was just coming out of the August lockdown. I had never seen the airports, or Christchurch city, so deserted. Between Council and the COC, a plan was hatched should COVID reappear, and planning continued. Obviously, with borders closed, there was no way that international speakers could attend, but there was a cunning plan to get around that issue as well. As it turned out, when registrations opened in January 2021, there was no hesitancy by members, and the registrations poured in. Maybe I have the luck of the Irish or quick on the trigger, but I again managed to get the workshop options I wanted and, while I was not standing for President, I was determined to enjoy myself thoroughly.
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For members of the PSNZ Council, the year’s final meeting is held just before the convention starts. Council members were staying at the Pavilions Hotel on Papanui Road, really handy to the convention venue. It was so close that the walk from the school gate to the hall was longer than the walk to the school. Council started on Thursday morning with the final Council meeting of the year. This meeting is always a bittersweet event as we say farewell to any Council members that have decided not to carry on. However, this year, it was even more sad than usual as a councillor for events, Colin Kropach, lost his battle with cancer and died earlier in the week. Colin had been the primary liaison between Council and the convention committee and had been really looking forward to attending. Convention started with the usual pomp and ceremony in the main auditorium. Following the earthquakes, this part of the school had been extensively rebuilt, and it was an excellent venue. One of the things you learn when organising conventions is that you have to roll with the punches when things go wrong, and the opening night was definitely an example of that. Shortly before the convention, their opening night speaker pulled out. He was replaced by Loren Heaphy from the Christchurch City Council.
