Hub Workshop: Details & Invitation

[Sally Blackwell]

Further to my forum post the other day I’m pleased to confirm that we will be running a Workshop in Wellington on 27th June to work out the next steps for the Hub.

As you know we’ve been running a pilot (based around the website) to test the concept of a Hub for advice practitioners since Christmas. The concept for the Hub grew out of a workshop I ran (while at CEN) which asked the question: how do we develop more effective advisors?

The site has been up and running for about 6 months and we’ve learned a lot along the way. Now its time to hear from all of you and to figure out what the future of this initiative is, or should be.

The purpose of the workshop is to:

• Re-engage with each other about what we set out to do (thinking back to the Feb 2012 meeting). We will ask where we all are now, what’s working, what could be improved and what lessons have been learned.
• Explore the Hub’s on-going potential and purpose.  Agree shared objectives and how these fit with each organisations directions and levels of commitment .
• Agree the mechanics to make it work: e.g. business model, resources, membership, management and governance.

The workshop will run from 9:30am – 4:30pm at EECA’s offices at Level 8, 44 The Terrace, and it will be facilitated by Trish Hall from Thought Partners

My intention is that this workshop should be very outcomes -focussed, with us agreeing the shape of the Hub and how we move forward on the day.

In order to make the day as productive as possible, there are a couple of things we’d like you to do. We would like each organisation involved to think about the questions below and for one representative from the organisation to come prepared to speak to those questions (for no more than 5 minutes) on the day.

• What are the major changes or achievements for your organisation (relating to developing effective advisors) in the last 16 months.
• What is your/your organisations ongoing commitment to developing effective advisors?
• Where does this commitment fit with the outcomes you and your organisation have in the next 3 years?
• What are the three big outcomes your organisation wants to achieve, and how much of this will you achieve on your own?
• If the Hub continues to work towards “developing effective advisors” how could this help you achieve your outcomes?

I see this as a real opportunity to reconnect with one another and with the energy of the workshop last Feb. It will give us all an opportunity to think about our shared objectives for the future and how we can set about achieving those.

Please RSVP to practitioners.hub@gmail.com by June 17th so we can confirm rooms and catering etc.

I hope you can make it, and I look forward to catching up with you all again.

Sally

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[Sally Blackwell]

Hi guys

Looking forward to catching up with people at the workshop in wellington this Thursday. We’ve got around 15 people coming, so it will be great to reconnect with you all on what we originally set out to do (and remember why!), where we’ve got it and what we should be doing next.

If you can’t attend but would like to contribute to the workshop by proxy, send your responses to the questions below through to me and I’ll share them at the workshop on your behalf.

1. What are the major changes or achievements for your organisation (relating to ‘developing effective advisors’) in the last 16 months.
2. What is your/your organisations ongoing commitment to ‘developing effective advisors’?
3. Where does this commitment fit with the outcomes you and your organisation have in the next 3 years?
4. What are the three big outcomes your organisation wants to achieve, and how much of this will you achieve on your own?
5. If the Hub continues to work towards “developing effective advisors” how could this help you achieve your outcomes?

 

 

I’ll be sending an email out to those attending very soon with more details, but any questions let me know.

Sally

 

 

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[Norman Smith]

I’m sorry I missed the workshop; belatedly the following may assist “going forward”

I think we agree we are all working on initiatives which have the objective of increasing the uptake of best energy and sustainability solutions for NZ households.The Hub can be an important source of information in the challenging task of helping transform homes and improve lives. In that I see The Hub joined at the hip with the other current  CEN-lead proposal — training and accreditation of Home Performance Advisers.
Together they are most important players. This is not because they represent the major source of advice but for the opposite reason – they will only ever make up one percent of the total information provided about home energy use and resource efficiency.
Yes, one percent, but note I said ‘information provided about’ not independent information about….
This ‘information about home energy use industry’ are of course the marketing and communications arms-tentacles of the building products and services industry and its growing sub-set the energy services industry. Toegther these operate with a combined budget of many, many, tens of many millions of dollars. Compared to these resources we are but a barnacle on the keel of the SS Free Enterprise.
I see the role of the Hub as a highly leveraged means of enabling a small number of independent advisers to work together; to keep up to speed with the new products and services as they and launched onto the market beamed into our homes as the means of providing perspective and context in the face of hype, selective half truths and sometimes downright lies disguised as statistics as the like..
Here’s an example – As a homeowner I am considering a more efficient hot water system. I need a household and house-specific solution which is both supplier independent and technology agnostic. By the latter I mean, for example, advice without bias any one over the others –  solar panel compared with heat pump compared with photovoltaics. Who is going to guide me through this labyrinth?
The collaborative approach which we have been trialling over the last few months may – or may not – result in consensus but at least individual advisors will have access a substantial body of perspectives and experiences from people who they trust rather than operating in isolation
Even with the involvement of fellow travellers such as Beacon, BRANZ, Eco-Design Advisers and EECA, Consumer and others, it’s always going to be an unequal engagement – but I can’t think of a better strategy to create a counter point.
Since it has been operating I have sought to be an involved as possible and tried to encourage discussion by seeking to comment on every topic raised; hopefully adding value – but I would say that wouldn’t I! While I haven’t done a breakdown – Sally I’m sure has – it is my observation that only a modest number of enquiries have come from CEN members.
I find this unsurprising, in these complex and challenging times the priority of CEN members and the main call on their time is to keep their retrofit businesses in business – and we know it’s not going to get any easier in the next 12 months.

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