Insider Day 2010
54 representatives from regional, College and Shared Interest Groups gathered in the sunshine in the splendid buildings of Homerton College on Saturday 10 July 2010, for what was CARO’s third Insider Day. Originally designed to allow CARO to update Groups on changes in the office, the day has now developed into a wonderful opportunity for Group representatives to gather together to share best practice with each other, and inform CARO about issues and concerns which they might have.
19 overseas Group representatives attended the day, including Contacts from Kuwait, Europe and the USA, as well as 35 UK Group leaders from all around the country. All attendees were also given a copy of the Volunteer Handbook, which is packed with information and tips on running an Alumni Goup.
For the first time ever, CARO offered ‘Facebook surgeries; for Group contacts, which were not as painful as they sounded, and were instead a hands on chance to learn more about Facebook. Feel free to download a copy of the handouts used from our resources page.
The morning session included a talk from the Communications Office about the brand of the University and how important it is to protect its integrity. Groups were also offered the possibility of obtaining official headers to use on their stationary/websites and more details of this will follow in due course.
Three simultaneous Breakout sessions took place after lunch, with attendees discussing the needs of international and UK Groups, which are often very different from each other, as well as a session on Social Media and Groups.
The Vice- Chancellor thanked the Group representatives in a heartfelt address to the conference, which was followed David Spiegelhalter’s (Winton Professor of the Public Understanding of Risk) entertaining and thought-provoking lecture on understanding uncertainty.
To round the day off there was a Garden Party in the beautiful Gardens at Homerton (although most people preferred to flop into the sumptuous sofas in the cooler Combination Room!) and for those with real stamina, there was an optional dinner in the evening!
CARO is delighted that so many Group representatives were able to attend and greatly enjoyed meeting and chatting to everyone. If you are involved with the running of a Group, and have never been before, then we do recommend you come along next year!
Notes from the sessions will be circulated to attendees shortly, however if anyone else wishes to receive a copy, pleases email volunteers@alumni.cam.ac.uk
