Leadership presentation

Today I presented on leadership with several other participants. We only had 10 minutes each, so they were a bit speed-dial presentations, but fun to do. I tried to give the audience some "food for thought" on the topic of management & leadership in professional technical education & training.

One of our Seneca students who participated in the "youth Camp" of the conference did send out a tweet about my presentation....

Later in the day my good friend Gutenberg was the MC for the closing ceremony. Gutenberg and I have worked together now for more than 10 years in a couple of projects and student exchanges. The next WFCP (World Federation of Colleges & Polytechnics) will be hosted in Melbourne, Australia.

Brazilians dance...

...even at a conference during the day.

The inspiration came from a samba group which gave some good "stretching of the legs" during a long conference day (on a Saturday). The band was of course colorful and fun.

After the conference I had a "caiparinha" and local fish dish with Kate and Jamie, the two Seneca students who participated in the "Youth Camp" during the week before the conference.

Conference impressions

A bunch of photos to give you a bit of an idea of the atmosphere: a rocking choir doing some opening and welcoming songs, youth having fun at the conference and several speakers.

The Board of the WFCP is composed of educational leaders in the TVET sector from Canada, the USA, Australia, Eastern Africa, South America, Asia and Europe. Seneca is an institutional member so on behalf of Seneca I attended the Annual General Meeting. Colorful group of passionate folks.

World Federation of Colleges and Polytechnics

Another room with a view: 18th floor of a hotel in the city of Vitoria, State of Esperitu Santo in Brazil. Arrived here on Wednesday evening to represent Seneca at the 7th bi-annual meeting of the WFCP = World Federation of Colleges & Polytechnics. Vitoria is another one of those beautiful cities located along the long coast of the Atlantic Ocean and bit north-east of Rio.

At the conference I will be presenting on "Management & Leadership in Technical & Vocational Education & Training", but we also were able to send two of our students to participate in the Youth Camp which took place during the week before the conference. Jamie (Canadian graduating soon from a post-graduate specialization program in Corporate Communications) + Kate (Ukranian graduating soon from a post-graduate program in Marketing) were two of 40 students from around the world getting a taste of the TVET in Brazil and sharing thoughts on what their generations will be doing about topics such as sustainable energy and social inclusion. Above is the group being presented to the about 1,000 conference participants.

Celebrating 60 in style

 All my friends from our time at the University of Technology Delft in Holland are turning 60 and one of them, Gert-Jan, decided to throw a good party to celebrate. Gert-Jan and I lived 6 years in the same student house in Delft + also a year afterwards in Den Haag. Throughout the years - even though our careers moved in very different directions - we managed to stay in good contact.

 

Mary and Hilary were able to join me in Holland for this party, as well as two friends of Hilary (Taurie and Jordan). The party was hosted in a beach restaurant in front of the nice hotel we stayed.

 They kept the speeches to a minimum, but of course Gert-Jan had to hear a few. And he shared some of his wisdom about age with all of us...

 It was very nice to be able to join Gert-Jan at his celebration. A great friendship started in 1974.

Another room with a view

Mary, Hilary (+ two of her friends) and I met up this morning at Schiphol airport. Mary flew in from Toronto today and Hilary arrived from Berlin (after traveling in Europe the past 6 weeks). One of my university friends celebrates his 60th today in a hotel in Noordwijk aan Zee on the ocean. We booked two rooms and they have a wonderful view....

The hotel "Huis ter Duin" has been here 125 years. This is the view from the beach (the place where the party will be tonight). While Mary, Hilary and friends all caught up a bit on sleep, I took in a bit of the good Dutch treats.....

That is the beach restaurant where we will be partying tonight. Cheers to ya'll.

Room with a view in Cairo

 Two days of project meetings in Cairo on the way back from project work in Maputo. My room has a beautiful room over this bustling city which never sleeps. Crazy traffic though.....