Conference Testimonials - Better Boards Australasia

What have past attendees said about the Better Boards Conference?

2015:

Enlightened and engaged! The conference format provided opportunities for a wide range of interesting/challenging or informative sessions from which I can distil and apply key learnings. It was also fun – so thank you!
Boab Health Service

I found most sessions and workshops to be fresh with few repeat presenters and hence new topics and experiences were shared.
Quantum Support Services Inc

As a new board member it’s great to see the huge variety of organisations represented here. Although each board (mine’s a school board) has a unique challenges, their is a great deal of commonality.
The Council of Immanuel Luthern College

Very interesting, inspiring and rewarding. My first Better Boards Conference and it was much better than expected.
NoosaCare Inc

Refreshing. Chance to talk to other people with the same general purpose.
Southern Cross Care (Broken Hill) Ltd

Engaging and educational packed 2 days full of information and learning.
Future Employment Opportunities

Since we are a NFP at its starting stages, the conference was very informative and educational on so many levels of the NFP sector. But most importantly, it was a great source of inspiration. The conversations I had with some of the most amazing people, inspired me and enhanced my purpose.
Steer North Australia Limited

The highlight of the conference was the spirit and the people taking part in. I am leaving today with a bigger drive and motivation to make a change and with better skills and baggage to do it.
Steer North Australia Limited

Very informative – thought provoking – excellent and timely information and discussions. Good speakers ‘on song’ and met the 2015 BBC objective.
Richmond Wellbeing

Very impressed. Excellently organised and run. High quality presentations. Great opportunity to meet board members from organisations around the country. Relevant and thought-provoking material.
Mpower

Amazing opportunity as a fledging board member to gain better knowledge and understanding.
Bridges Aligned Services

Expertise, couple by practicality of speakers made it a very enjoyable 2 days.
Council of Catholic School Parents

Very glad I came. I have be challenged to take a fresh look at my ‘modus operandi’ as a Board Chair. I’m taking away many useful learnings.
Uniting AgeWell

Opportunity to choose from a diverse range of speakers and topics. Opportunity to build current knowledge and understanding and particularly important tools and processes for building a better and more effective Board.
Future Employment

Awakening of different approaches to decision making and purpose. Excellent thought provoking discussion across a myriad of issues.
Lutheran Community Care

As a first time director on an NFP board I have found the conference invaluable to assisting my knowledge and growth as a valued board member.
Quantum Support Services Inc

2014:

Excellent and unique conference. A lot of presentations of outstanding quality, great breadth of subjects. The originality of concepts of many presentations was particularly excellent.
Jewish Care Victoria

Fabulous. Great info, great presenters, great networking.
Gosnells Community Support Service Inc

Having attended Board/Governance Conferences there is a feeling deja-vu when anticipating content. This conference has broken the chain. It has been stimulating, thought provoking across a range of complex challenges and has offered a good variety of speakers and presenters. Loved the fresh and sometimes out there perspectives. Can’t wait to use the new knowledge and to make more use of social media. You know a conference is successful when there is a buzz of relevant conversations in breaks.
Network SA

It set a benchmark in organisational excellence and the use of IT.
New Zealand Association Resource Centre Trust

Leading edge innovation.
Ballarat District Nursing & Healthcare Inc

Excellent – informative – motivating – inspiring – relavent.
Gosnells Community Support Service Inc

Thank you. I have really enjoyed this experience, from the variety of speakers to the wonderful delegates who have given me so much to come away with and to report back to my organisation.
Blackmans Bay Childrens Services

Essential professional development opportunity for new and experienced board members.
Family Planning NSW

A great opportunity to hear new perspectives on some old and wicked problems as well as emerging issues. Excellent presentations – great range of opportunities to listen, learn & share.
Family Services Illawarra

Awesome, absolutely loved it. Gained a lot of information and insight to take back to form a better board.
Sutherland Shire Community Transport

Would certainly recommend this to anyone in this sector. Very relevant to the current quickly changing environment and left lots of thinking and work to be done at the board and organisational level.
Ballarat District Nursing & Healthcare

Outstanding. This is the first conference I have attended that has not been industry specific. I have found it enlightening to me amongst so many people with similar issues.
Barunga Village Inc

2013:

Always a well put together event with relevant content [and] with real content matter experts. The structured opportunities for Boards and CEOs to share experience and problem solve is particularly well done and extremely useful. Highly recommended.
Make-A-Wish Foundation Australia

Great variety of presentations – lucky we had CEO and 3 board members to report back on different lectures.
Local Drug Action Group

Loved the wonderful sessions full of great info.
Foster Care Association of Victoria

…I was not disappointed at all. All sessions were long enough to maintain interest. Venue and food were great too!!
Peninsula Community Legal Centre

It is very difficult to choose only one highlight, the conference was full of highlights. Definitely a worthwhile conference.
Beehive Industries WA Inc

I first attended the conference last year and the CEO Day was full. The program was great again this year and I managed to get a place. Program looked and is impressive.
NUAA

Wide range of topics, knowledge and experienced speakers.
Beehive Industries of WA

Amazing and inspirational presentations.
EastCoast Housing Association

Attended CEO’s Day last year and got a lot out of it. Wanted to learn with two of the board members – relationship building.
BDCSM

Taking the Chair position for our board later this year and the opportunity to learn a lot prior to taking this on was seen as too good to miss.
Age Concern Countries Manukau

I attended last year and brought 4 other board members with me this year.
Beehive Industries of WA

Excellent coverage of contemporary issues in NFP sector, with a fantastic opportunity to participate and share.
Therapy Focus

It has been totally totally fantastic.
Chrysalis Support

If you’re interested in checking out the Better Boards Conference as a professional development opportunity for your board, I highly recommend it. There is something for everyone, no matter how “new” or “experienced” your board directors are, whether your NGO is service-provision focused, or an advocacy organisation, or how big your budget is.
YWCA Canberra

Workshops were all very good quality. It was great that the conference literature contained essays from speakers I may have missed.
Peninsula Community Legal Centre

I am new to the Board and it is my first time involved in such. This opportunity to learn and gain much needed information to assist me in my role.
Local Drug Action Groups Inc

The speakers are of great inspiration. Some workshops are excellent!
MDSI

The CEO’s Day was terrific.
FRANS Inc

…I was not disappointed at all. All sessions were long enough to maintain interest. Venue and food were great too!!
Peninsula Community Legal Centre

There are some conferences you go to in order to learn about the sector.
There are some conferences you go to in order to meet people and network.
There are some conferences you go to where you want to be motivated to return to work.

Then there is the Better Boards Conference which achieves everything.
I attended the 2013 conference as a speaker and participant. It was my first time but the welcome was if I was an old friend.
It was easy to meet other participants and have meaningful conversations: the networking opportunities were well spaced and the venue conducive to meeting people.
The range of speakers was excellent and the topics were relevant for organisations ranging from the smallest and most remote groups to large, high powered professionalised organisations.
And then there was the motivation. Saying our goodbyes I heard again and again comments about wanting to get back to “put in place…”
If you have an interest in continuing improvement of governance in the NFP sector across Australasia the Better Boards Conference is an investment that cannot be missed.
Ron Scott | Director, Stellaris Ltd | Tauranga, New Zealand

Better Boards facilitate a top conference measured against any single metric. A ‘T’ event – it has awesome breadth and depth! My presentations went like clockwork. Raph and team leave no stone unturned in their mission to build capacity across the NFP landscape. They are both board and nation builders. Board Accord will return to present year after year!
Robert Gordon, Director of Programs, Board Accord | Fremantle, Australia

For NFP’S, the Better Boards Conference is a great combination of the practical and the cutting edge and a ‘glad I was there’ experience.
Brian Herd, Partner, Carne Reidy Herd Lawyers | Brisbane, Australia

The Better Boards Conference is with doubt, ‘the’ best place to network among like minded senior not-for-profit people. It brings together an impressive array of accessible speakers that share very practical experiences. It’s really more like a 2 and a bit day ‘centre of excellence’ for the nfp governance community in Australia.
Clive Blunt, Principal, GreenStream Pty Ltd | Sustainability Advisors | Sydney, Australia

The Better Boards Conference provides a forum at which you can improve your knowledge of governance in the not for profit sector and meet other like minded people.
David Hey-Cunningham, Author | NSW, Australia

Better Boards was a great opportunity to learn and network with the best and the brightest in the sector. The conference was run excellently, and provided a lot of very useful information to take away. I look forward to going back.
Chris O’Neill, Board Member, Arts Wellington | Wellington & Wairarapa, New Zealand

“Quite simply Better Boards runs one of the very best conferences in the NFP sector in Australasia. The quality of the speakers, the delegates and the organisation are very high indeed. Plan to attend this year…and every year.”
Randall Pearce, Managing Director, THINK: Insight & Advice | Sydney, Australia

2012:

Excellent program – rejuvenating and inspiring.
Australian Nursing and Midwifery Accreditation Council

Some great speakers – especially CEO’s Day… very dynamic and helpful. Met a lot of other CEOs who helped me to define, develop and create solutions to the many challenges our organisation faces.
Careways Community

I now realize the importance of organisations like Better Boards in their mandate to ensure that the NFP sector is effective, transparent and contemporary in its function to ensure alliance with reform. Great work!
Carers Queensland Inc.

Great governance experience.
Rural Financial Counselling Service NSW – Northern Region

Thanks Better Boards team, excellent conference/ good learning and plenty to follow up on.
integratedliving Australia Ltd

Excellent forum for up to date information and meeting experienced NFP knowledge holders.
Anonymous Delegate

It has been excellent. Couldn’t fault any of the speakers and some truly outstanding! Eye-opening! Just wish the whole board had come.
Pole Depot Community Centre

Glad I didn’t miss it!.
Capabilities Employment Service Inc.

Strong, effective conference, could have improved on some details but overall, a jolly good show.
Adelaide University Union

Thanks Michael and your team. Fantastic event, great support, friendly team who always wore a smile and offered great advice.
Anonymous Delegate

Very good, professional, excellent topics.
Metropolitan Migrant Resource Centre

Englightening, reinforcing, reinvigorating.
Noah’s Ark Resource Centre

Came away with a clear idea of where the sector is heading and some ideas to apply to our organisation.
GCASA

My first one but not my last. Well run and very relevant.
Australian Nursing Home Foundation

Excellent networking. Relevant and informative and enjoyable presentations. Excellent MC.
FEAT Inc

Educative, inspiring, resource identification, practical and theoretical.
Gungahlin Regional Community Service

Very nourishing and uplifting experience.
A Supported Life

Great opportunity to meet committed people, listen to new ideas and get inspired for the future.
University of Waikato

Fantastic conference, lots of new learning. Good sharing of resources.
National Collective Independent Women’s Refuge

Challenging. Inspirational. Transformational.
Rural Workforce Agency of Victoria

Comrades! Nice to know others are living in the same experience.
Mallee Accommodation and Support Program

The conference experience and learning opportunities have been fabulous. The diverse range of speakers exceptional and very very helpful.
Gippsland Women’s Health Service

Provoking, inspiring. Got my mojo back.
integratedliving Australia Ltd

Very well organised with a high calibre of presenters. For someone new to the role of board member, the conference provided a great source of information. Well done and thanks.
Future Employment Opportunities (Bendigo)

Very enlightening and inspirational. Thought provoking.
United Way, Ballarat

I would definitely attend again based on this experience.
Australian Nursing and Midwifery Accreditation Council

Worthy governance training.
Anonymous Delegate

Excellent. “Made me think” particularly on due diligence matters.
Community Services Tablelands Inc

Great conference, very informative, good speakers.
Madec Limited

Very positive thoroughly enjoyable. Learnt a lot.
Lake Joondalup Baptist College

Very well organised. Terrific venue and MC.
CareWays Community

Great learning experience. Great networking and I met lots of interesting people.
Blacktown Community Transport Inc

My first NFP Board conference. Wonderful – excellent presentations.
Ourcare Services

It was thrilling. It revitalised me to continue work on my board.
Capabilities Employment Services Inc

2010:

Attending the Better Boards Conference is the best investment Desert Channels Queensland has made.
Desert Channels Queensland

Topics were relevant and current – each session I learnt /relearnt new ideas to be utilised at my board.
2010 Conference Delegate

I have found what I needed: information, reassurance, direction, people to mentor us, friendliness, and generosity. Thank you.
Eden in Oz & NZ Ltd

I am on my first board and have been for 18 months. I found the conference great, very informative and I have learnt a lot.
2010 Conference Delegate

Hard to pin point a highlight when everything was superbly run.
2010 Conference Delegate

The Better Boards Conference was so well organised and packed so much in – well worth giving up the whole weekend for.
2010 Conference Delegate