2017 – Millenials
With an impressive career in training and change, Michelle Duby shared with us the keys to better understanding and working with the emerging millenial workforce. What drives them, how their needs are shifting from traditional views, and how to best utilise their dynamic skillset.
To complement Michelle's talk we had an emerging millenial artist from UNSW Fine Arts School Daniel Emmerig display his artwork across our red wall.
> Michelle Duby now runs her own Organisational Development consultancy: Intensify!
2018 – Conversations: Art or Science?
Shoeleh gave an enlightening talk that showed us how the ways we engage with people trigger different pathways in the brain, and how a few simple actions can better help us connect as a team both personally and professionally.
2015 – Situations We Find Ourselves In
This function was a departure from our usual format, bringing in professional actors to set up unique and engaging scenarios for our guests who had to navigate a series of these "rooms" in groups through our offices in the old Rugby Club.
Once finished our guests got to move upstairs where they could then discuss their experiences while exploring the art of our usual function photographer Amy.
2016 – Digital Disruption
Founder of The Digital Institute and Trade Ledger Martin McCann gave an engrossing talk about the future of digitisation, and how it would disrupt every business, everywhere.
To support this exploration of how digitisation was going to disrupt the future of business we filled our office's basketball court with digital, interactive artworks from UNSW art students. These installations
2016 – Water
With over 10 years at Sydney Water, Kaia Hodge shared with us a vision for the future of our cities with a focus on water, how we use it, and how it affects our experience of the cities we live in.
Kaia's talk was supplemented by Australian photographer Frank Gazzola, whose artwork focuses around the ocean and adventure. His artowrk has featured in National Geographic, GEO, The Beast, Sunday/Daily Telegraph, and Kitemag.
2015 – A different way of thinking
Clinical Psychologist Steve Den-Kaat, Director of the Diverse Minds Psychology Clinic helped us all to embrace the different ways all of us think, and how to better understand those differences!
Our exhibiting artist Melanie Jai showed us a mother's journey through that world of 'different' thinking.
2014 – Out of the Blue
Superintendent Robert Redfern, at the time Commander of Workforce Safety, talked to us about wellbeing and resilience under pressure as it relates to those in uniform.
Our exhibiting artwork strongly resonated with the theme of the night, showing artists from the Shades of Blue exhibition. The exhibition honours the passion of former NSWPF officer Sabine Altmann who died in the course of her duties in 2011. Sabine strongly believed in turning creative pursuits into positive and rewarding ways of managing stress. It provides a unique opportunity for officers to have their artworks displayed in a professional setting.
The artists on the night were Julie Grey, Brad Scanlan, and Brendan Smith.
2013 – Aboriginal Australia
We were honoured to hear from the late Lloyd McDermott, the first Aboriginal to play for the Wallabies, who would go on to become the first Aboriginal barrister in Australia. He shared with us his passion for art, and how it could help to bring Aboriginal and white communities together.
We were lucky enough to have Natalie Bateman exhibit her Aboriginal art on the nigh, exemplifying Lloyd's message about the power of art to bring us together.
2013 – Sustainable Investing
Our speaker Bill Hartnett is at the forefront of "sustainable" investing, using the power of money to influence company behaviour in a positive direction.
Terri Maddock was our exhibiting artist, whose art perfectly complemented Bill's vision for a greener future through investing deliberately.
2012 – Women in Leadership
Noelene Dawes, who had recently published a new book titled "Your Emotional Edge" explained the role of resilience in leadership and in life, and how women do leadership differently!
A good friend of FBS, Patsy Chingwile, exhibited her art that beautifully complemented our theme for the night.
