Professional Life

Blogs, Vlogs, & Wikis

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During the presentation in PNG – a nation not blessed with the infrastructure for vlogs, but it should be – vlogs, blogs and wikis were discussed.

A future post is required on these, but two vlogs I sometimes watch are (note – since these vlogs are not mine, and they capture a bit of life as it is rather than airbrushed away, there can be ‘rude bits’ from time to time – just so you know, I am not responsible for the content!):

Karma Girl
Rocketboom

They’re not usually too rude but that probably depends on your perception of rude.

Presentation for CPA PNG

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My presentation slides from the CPA PNG conference, as promised in my previous post, have now been loaded up here on my blog (they’re available in PDF). Also the text of the speech is available here as a PDF as well (although it does lack my impromptu embellishments).

I very much enjoyed the opportunity to see an emerging profession in PNG, and it gives a bit of encouragement sitting back here in Brisbane where security guards are few and far between and it’s reasonably likely that water and power supplies will be kept going indefinitely. The members of the profession there have a big challenge but with people like Chris, Lucy, Lia and Leeanne (? unfortunately they’re the only names I recall, the Pondo Tavern was very dark and smoky and a few non-accounting sherbets may have been involved ?) the profession does have a bright beacon there.

And a big thank-you to CPA Australia & CPA PNG for the opportunity to present, and maybe one day I’ll get the opportunity again.

Welcome from Sunny PNG

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It has been a long time between posts – this seems to be the downfall of most bloggers.

Some time ago I was asked by CPA Australia to present on the topic ‘Management Information Reporting, including the IT Aspects’ at the annual CPA Australia/CPA PNG joint conference in Port Moresby. I accepted despite the trepidation one gets when you know you’ll have a 10-week-old baby, as well as a fractious two-year old, to look after (or rather, that you will have to leave with your loving wife when you go overseas!).

This blog post is coming from PNG (Crowne Plaza Hotel). I am here with Jim Dickson (International Director CPA Australia), Professor Colin Clarke (Vice President CPA Australia), and Patrick Hoiberg (former ‘king poobah’ of the ICAA),

The conference started yesterday with an opening by Jim Dickson and a keynote address by Colin Clarke, and then my presentation (after morning tea, of course).

The reaction seems to have been very positive (the audience was very kind, all 600 of them!), and I enjoyed giving the speech although we ran out of time for questions at the end (I had planned on an hour and a quarter but I had not reckoned on the logistics of the situation – getting 600 people to their seats is no easy task so every session tends to start late). If I can coax Jim Dickson to give me some photos, I will post them online here (tends to brighten up a blog!).

The IT Governance guide has rated a mention or two along the way, and everyone who has seen it has been very impressed. Jan Barned tells me sales have probably gone into the 200s already, which is very impressive for a newly launched guide. I understand I have a launch luncheon to attend on 1st December in Melbourne – so that should be good.

When I have access to my web storage (when I get back to Brisbane on Sunday) I will post the presentation slides and the text of my speech as near as I can get it, and we’ll have that sorted then.

It’s been very energising in PNG, and it seems to have been worth it.

Out Now in Your Online Bookstore

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CPA Australia has just released for purchase the IT & Management CoE’s publication, IT Governance: A Practical Guide for Company Directors and Corporate Executives. The co-authors were Chris Gillies and Marianne Broadbent of Gartner. I was a member of the steering committee for this publication, and it is in the end a document that we are all proud of.

In particular, Jan Barned – an unheralded contributor but the policy advisor for the IT & M Centre of Excellence – did a good job of keeping us all on track and making sure that it hit the deadlines on time. A mammoth effort to get it there and some very good lessons learned by Jan and for CPA Australia.

The publication is an excellent result, and of course you can buy it here for $A55 (and I know how much effort and time went into it, and it’s cheap at twice the price).

Business Blogging Redux

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As an aside, I was today interviewed for an article in InTheBlack about business blogging – not because anyone is necessarily reading my blog, but at least partly because the ITM COE suggested it to InTheBlack as a topic for the October edition.

I know that Shauna Kelly of the COE is also writing an in-depth article for the CPA website to be published soon.

It will be interesting – I note that Ed Charles (the journalist) is working on podcasting the interviews he does. An interesting idea – we could go from business blogging to business podcasting…