Category Archives: Events

Join the debate: it’s too late to bury your head in the sand

Man burying his head in the sand

Speech and Language Therapy is a tricky place to be at the moment. We’re trying to provide a quality service that satisfies our clients and commissioners—with fewer resources. On a personal level, each day at work brings difficult decisions: as the number of referrals increases and the size of the staff team decreases, something’s got to give. How do we provide a service that’s ‘good enough’? How do we reduce risk, and raise staff morale?

Come and debate these issues

We’re debating these issues and more at the Therapy Ideas Live Debate on 26 June. To get the evening started there’ll be presentations from three featured speakers:

  • Kate Malcomess is an independent consultant best known for developing the Care Aims Model. She facilitates change management programmes – just what we need!
  • Sally Shaw is the manager of Children’s Therapy Services in Hackney, she’ll share how the team there is coping with all the changes.
  • Kim Lewis is an SLT representative for Unite, whose campaigning focuses on maintaining quality.

After these presentations we’ll divide into small groups, discuss what we’ve heard and share our own ideas and challenges. Everyone will have a chance to contribute and be actively involved in planning how to move our teams forward.

Join in the conversation

It’s too late to bury our heads in the sand and hope things will return to the way they were. The golden age of choosing between multiple job offers, endless supplies of money for CPD and resources, and therapy that could continue indefinitely, is in the past. We need to take responsibility and step up to the challenge. Come and listen to our speakers, share ideas with your colleagues & start problem solving: so let’s get this conversation started!

Read all the details and buy your ticket!

Photograph by tropical.pete

Redesigning Service Delivery for a Changing World: Therapy Ideas Live Debate

We’ve now had four sold-out Therapy Ideas Live lightning talk events since July 2011. It’s been great getting to meet and share ideas with such a range of therapists. We’re building a bank of 5 minute videos covering a huge range of topics. Need a quick dose of inspiration? Check them out!

We’re changing the format for the next event, so therapists can discuss their ideas and share their experiences. I’m excited to announce the next Therapy Ideas Live event will be a debate – Redesigning Service Delivery for a Changing World: Taking Responsibility for the Future of Speech & Language Therapy.

The debate will feature Kate Malcomess, Sally Shaw, and Kim Lewis, and is taking place as part of the RCSLT’s Giving Voice Campaign. It’s on 26 June 2012, at The Mermaid Conference Centre, London, 6.00 – 9.30 pm.

Changing Landscape

New commissioning regimes, reduced budgets, and growing caseloads: like it or not, Speech and Language Therapy is changing, and there’s no going back. Let’s tackle this challenge together, by learning from each other, listening to contrasting expert perspectives, and taking an active role in redesigning service delivery for the future of our profession.

We’ll hear from three featured speakers, debate what we’ve heard, and discuss experiences and challenges in small groups. Come along, and meet other therapists who are trying to make positive changes.

Get Your Ticket Now

Tickets are £10 and limited so get yours now. Check out all the details and buy your ticket!

Therapy Ideas Live 2011 Wrap Up

It’s been a big year here at Therapy Ideas Live HQ. We’ve held three free evening events in London, each of which sold out, featuring 30 amazing speakers in total. They used their five minute slots to talk about diverse topics ranging from therapy approaches and new resources to goal setting and counselling, and everything in between.

The events were featured in the RCSLT bulletin: I was interviewed for My Working Life (page 34) in September and Janice Tucker wrote a lovely letter about the events in the November issue (page 4).

We’ve drunk wine together, socialised with our SLT colleagues, and recorded all the talks on video! It’s completely exceeded my expectations.

What’s next for 2012?

The first Therapy Ideas Live of 2012 is on March 14th, when we’ll be returning to City University. We’re keen to mix things up, Therapy Ideas Live with a twist: added speed dating! Okay, not the dating part so much — watch this space.

We’re publishing all the videos from the last three events and integrating them with some new features on the website. And I’m starting a podcast, so get in touch if you fancy being interviewed. It’s exciting stuff!

Thanks for all your support this year, hope to share ideas with you in 2012!

Watch the first ever talk

Watch the talk that started it all: Gina Davies at the RCSLT in July, which has been viewed more than 870 times by therapists all over the world!

Next Therapy Ideas Live event: City University London, 20 Sept. 2011

The first Therapy Ideas Live event on 5 July 2011 at the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists in London was fantastic: the speakers were amazing, the format was engaging, and attendees left feeling inspired. The RCSLT bulletin is featuring the event in their September issue, so check it out!

Watch these videos of Gina Davies and Louise Coigley giving their stunning 5-minute lightning talks:

We’ll be publishing more videos of the presentations over the next few weeks, so stay tuned to the blog, or follow us on twitter.

Next Therapy Ideas Live: City University London, 20 Sept. 2011

The second Therapy Ideas Live event takes place on 20 September, hosted by City University, London. Sign up to our email list to be the first to know when we release the tickets. And if you fancy getting up on stage and sharing your experience, send us your talk idea by 23 August 2011. See you there!

Therapy Ideas Live: “Enlighten us, but make it quick!”

Although there’s plenty of formal education for Speech and Language Therapists (SLTs), we need more opportunities to share ideas, learn from each other, and develop our skills in an informal environment. I had a blast at Ignite London last year, and it inspired me to organise a similar event for SLTs. Meet Therapy Ideas Live.

With some friends and colleagues I’m trying something new: an evening of informal and informative lightning-style talks presented by ten SLTs from a range of backgrounds. Broaden your perspective, learn from others, share your own experiences, and socialise over a glass of wine—it’s a more inspiring version of CPD!

The first Therapy Ideas Live is happening on the evening of 5th July 2011, hosted at the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists in London. Ten amazing speakers–including Gina Davies, Marie Gascoigne, and Stephen Parsons–will each present for 5 minutes, with slides that advance automatically. Find out more on the event page.

Amazingly, all 50 free tickets for this event sold out within 24 hours, and we closed the waiting list when 50 more people had signed up. Thanks for your support! We plan to film the presentations and share them on this website.

We’re also planning another event at City University in the autumn. Register your interest and be the first to hear when tickets are released. And if you fancy sharing your experience, perspective, case study, or challenge, send us your talk idea using this form. You don’t need experience of public speaking: anyone can give a lightning talk (read this post for some handy tips), and we’ll give you plenty of help.

You can follow the event live on twitter, using the hashtag #therapyideas.

See you there!