2002 ACIPFAL Annual Conference - NSF Review by Jayne Stephenson

It wasn't what I expected ….. Although I'm not sure what I did expect.

The first day I arrived it took some working out what the presentations were trying to achieve, I had assumed they would be linked to our studies and have a more technical approach to them. I realised that the presentations were aimed at giving a general overview of devolution, what impact it had had on their country and what lessons had been learnt. With this view in mind I found the presentations particularly informative, interesting and I came away with a much more rounded view. One area of particular interest was Dermot Byrne's presentation regarding European funding - an area particularly close to my working heart as my team are now responsible for programme managing an ERDF programme (including claims). I even asked questions and at one point was mistaken for a lecturer (good or bad who knows - only joking!).

The students' meeting at the end of first day was very interesting to say the least. It was a good time for us to get to know each other and it provided a safe environment where students could share their experiences, share best practice and explore solutions to any problems which were identified. We were asked to consider a variety of issues surrounding:

• Training materials
• Support from training colleges
• Support from Regions
• Image of CIPFA
• Drop out rates
• Support from employers

We eventually (after many hours hard work, running into 11 o'clock - we were worth our sponsorship!) managed to put together a presentation with the help of Dave & Julia. I also plucked up the courage (not sure if I was harangued into it) to agree to present part of the presentation. The presentation covered three broad topics:

• Recruitment & Retention
• Marketing
• Regions

Although I have to contradict Jane (sorry) and confess to having experience of strategic development in my present role - it didn't help with the presentation though, I was petrified.

To summarise we were all happy to be CIPFA but were aware that it was not highly thought of across the professional board and in some cases people were just not aware of CIPFA. We thought a better marketing campaign (and better targeted) with analysis of the drop out rates was a good way forward. The marketing, we thought, should push the benefits of CIPFA i.e. Proud to be Public, Ethics (privilege of not having to compromise on your professional principles i.e. Enron ) on the training side we thought that CIPFA should celebrate their pass rates, the added benefit to employers and students of the project (although this did attract groans from the P3 students), the learning support and the 'family' feel of CIPFA - (we all felt very welcome at the conference, at one point,I was chatting away happily to Steve Freer).

We also thought that the Regions could play a huge role in all our suggestions. I for one have to confess that I knew little about the regions until this conference. Other issues arose around the programming of events, variation in levels of engagement and support and looking at Regions who are very active and sharing their best practice.

The response to the presentation from the other seminar members was astonishing, we all felt as though we had been listened to and it was good to hear links back to the presentation during the open forum. In addition the comments we had informally and the feedback Dave Sexton has had since the conference have been/were very encouraging.

The outcome being the very real possibility of a National Students Forum with a direct line to Robert Street. Plus an invitation to the Regions Conference in September.

On the whole I enjoyed this conference immensely, I learnt a lot, made a presentation in front of a respected audience (with the wonderful support from the other students), made some excellent friends and contacts and most importantly I really feel that we as students were listened to and our ideas respected.