[LINK] Smart enough for the 2020 forum?

[Ivan Trundle]

On 04/02/2008, at 5:09 PM, Jan Whitaker wrote:

> Has anyone seen an application form to indicate interest? They have  
> said the participants must pay their own way. That will limit some  
> people's ability to attend without sponsorship.

Not so - read the transcript of Rudd's interview on Sunday - hardship  
cases will be considered.

> I've been working with an ad hoc group on a strategic planning model  
> for just these types of future planning initiatives and it takes  
> much longer than a weekend to get anything of worth, no matter how  
> expert the participants are.

I disagree: I work for a business that achieves this regularly (almost  
weekly) with large and small groups - it depends on the amount of  
preparation, and the overall planning of the event.

The aim is NOT to have a policy document at the end of the weekend,  
but rather to gather views. There is a further 8 months of work AFTER  
the event to draft documents and bring together ideas: no mention of  
policy here.

> It will be interesting who is selected and how it turns out. I  
> wouldn't mind raising my hand for either the first one which  
> addresses education or the eighth which deals with the future of the  
> arts. But I probably have no chance of even being considered since  
> I'm not aligned with any of the four main groups listed.

Alignment to groups is not important - the focus is on 'best and  
brightest' here - so it'll be a case of having something intelligent  
to say, or contribute.

> In addition to those participating in the Summit, all Australians  
> will be invited to make submissions on each of the 10 future  
> challenges. These will be submitted to the Department of Prime  
> Minister and Cabinet which will act as the secretariat for the  
> Summit. An Australia 2020 website will provide a digital forum for  
> this purpose.

Only because it wasn't specifically asked about in the press  
conference, and because the press conference moved on smartly to  
discussing apologies and other things, such as Paul Keating's views on  
historical events...

--
Ivan Trundle
http://itrundle.com ivan at itrundle.com
ph: +61 (0)418 244 259 fx: +61 (0)2 6286 8742
skype: callto://ivanovitchk