Golden Key Asia-Pacific Conference 2011

Last month I had the opportunity to attend the Golden Key Asia-Pacific Conference 2011. Golden Key is an international honour society that focuses on promoting literacy and developing leadership skills. This year the event took place at the University of Sunshine Coast in Queensland. The conference had various guest speakers and workshops to attend. There were also some fun activities such as a treasure hunt and eating dinner at the Ettamogah Pub.

Guest Speakers

A common thread between the guest speakers was to achieve your dreams.Ÿ

• Steven Bradbury: A former speed skater who is best know for winning a gold medal at the 2002 winter Olympics in Utah after his opponents fell over just before the finish line. Many people joke that he got the medal easily but this is not true. He explained that he had already won medals in 3 previous Olympics. Also, in order to win the gold medal, he had to come first in the 4 preceding rounds of the event. He nearly did not attend the 2002 winter Olympics because of serious accident during one of the competitions. He was thinking of retiring before the accident but then decided to continue in order to prove that he had overcome his injuries. After telling his story, he decided to lighten up the mood by getting some of the audience to participate in demonstration of some of his training exercises.
• Bronwyn Sheehan: She is the founder of the Pyjama Foundation, an organisation that aims to improve literacy of the disadvantaged by using volunteers to read stories to children. Apparently the more a parent reads to a child, the easier it will be for the child to learn to read. The younger the better. Unfortunately children from broken homes don’t get this opportunity, which is when the volunteers provide their service.
• Riaan Manser: He is known as a solo adventurer. He is the first person to travel around the coast of Africa riding a bike. The journey was very dangerous with many countries in Africa being in civil war. Once, he was captured a group of youths and beaten for hours. Just as he was about to be executed, one of the elders of the village came and said to let him go. Some parts of the journey got lonely for Riaan. He ended up keeping a pet rat to talk to, similar to the ball called Wilson in the movie Castaway. After talking about Africa, Riaan then showed parts of documentary that was about him travelling around the coast of Madagascar in a kayak. This journey was equally as dangerous because of the rough seas. He had to catch fish to eat and got the fishhooks stuck in his feet and hands while the fish kept tugging. Another problem was that many of the times he went ashore to rest; the police would arrest him and put him in jail for crimes such as terrorism. This made Riaan very frustrated.
• Tony Jones: He is a reporter who currently hosts the show Question and Answer on the ABC. Tony gave a talk about his childhood and how he came to be a reporter. He then had his own mini Q&A show at the conference.

Workshop: Find Hidden Jobs

• Ÿ There is a difference between qualities and skills. You should tell the interviewer measurable skills such as communication and time management. Give examples of times you used those skills.
• Ÿ In a resume, list key skills before you list work experience.
• Ÿ Write a script for each interview to suit the circumstances. Then practice it.

Workshop: Presenting with Impact

• Ÿ Methods of learning are “Imitation”, “Reflection” and “Experience”.
• Ÿ Learning Cycle: “Innovate”, “Experiment” and “Analyse”.
• Ÿ Don’t repeat the same action or tone over and over.
• Ÿ Use a rightly timed pause, watch your pace and control breathing.