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How do you spark your creativity? I like to do it by pulling myself out of my usual routine and putting my brain – and usually body – into new environments. I like to believe that this strips away the superficial and routine thought processes that I thought were important and forces me to focus more on the core matters at hand. Another one of my strategies is to jump into groups of creative people. So, please allow me to tell you that people who work in animal rescue and welfare organizations are amongst the most creative and innovative people that I have ever met.
I can’t tell you why. Maybe it is because they are constantly in life and death mode. Maybe it is because they are usually asked to perform miracles on a shoestring budget. Or maybe it is because people who opt to spend their energy defending creatures who cannot defend themselves are just a little “outside of the box” by nature. Regardless of how the conditions were created, I am always blown away by the result.
That is why I consider myself lucky to have been able to attend Humane Canada’s Animal Welfare 2019 conference which was held right here in Montreal last April.
https://conference.humanecanada.ca/2019
Normally this is just for people working in the Animal Welfare industry, but I was permitted access to all of the panels because I attended as a volunteer. It was worth the effort. There is also a little life lesson embedded there 😉
The topics that were covered could have been straight from any industry conference. They included an extremely practical session on navigating social media, the critical topic of fundraising, and several sessions on managing teams. I sat in on several of the sessions on teams and was astounded to learn how much of the ground that they covered was universally applicable across all industries. Two of the panels that I attended were titled “Building An Effective Team: RIGHT People, RIGHT Role!” and “Building Effective Volunteer Teams with Professionalism, Leadership & Culture”. I took notes the whole time, eager to apply some of the lessons that they were sharing in my own workplace.
One of the highlights for me was hearing the General Manager of Humane Education for the BC SPCA, Craig Naherniak, speak about some his organization’s current initiatives. They are using data science techniques to get views from kids in their summer camp programs about animals and how the BC SPCA is making an impact on awareness.
“ With nearly 1,200 data sets from 20 locations across BC, we have benchmarked some key indicators of program effectiveness and how youth perceptions change when immersed in humane education programming. We measured changes in attitudes and knowledge retention over the course of the week, as well as a follow-up survey 2-3 months after camp.”
Needless to say, I was not expecting to hear about any topics related to analytics at a conference for people who have made careers out of caring for creatures. Clearly, that was my mistake. These folks are sharp and use every tool in their toolbox.
Besides the results of their surveys, I also learned about the monthly magazine for children that the BC SPCA puts out to keep the information on animal welfare flowing even when the kids are not at camp. In addition to achieving the obvious goal of training up new generations of adults who prioritized the well-being of domestic animals and wildlife, the magazine was actually commended by local school boards as a well-crafted tool for promoting early childhood literacy. The magazine is now being used within BC schools to help teach kids how to read.
As if these accomplishments were not already enough, when I spoke to Craig during a break between panels he told me about how the BC SPCA had partnered with BMO to offer a special affinity credit card that helped raise funds for the BC SPCA with each client purchase. These types of credit cards are not common but ask a representative at your bank if they offer something like this.
It’s a rare thing to leave an industry conference both uplifted and impressed but that is exactly how I felt. So, remember that when you give a little bit of yourself to causes like these, you are not just helping out a furry friend but are also opening yourself up to entirely new ways of thinking that can help get your own creative juices flowing. Try it and see.
