On Deck.

The light shines brightly.

Hanoi, Vietnam – In many ways, I’m well suited for my position in Canada because I’d prefer to make others, and the university, look good.

It can be easy to hide behind the ever-shifting ink that flows from my pen: the spotlight and I aren’t really on speaking terms.

So, it was a bit of a stretch to my comfort level to be facilitating a 2.5-hour workshop at BTL this afternoon, where 23 pairs of eyes pointed toward me as the observer who has spent the past three weeks at the college.

Facing discomfort and expanding your horizons are, of course, key reasons for participating in an experience like Leave for Change. How else to grow?

I had, ironically, drawn up a deck short on words and high on imagery to get back to basics of branding, marketing and communications, and to have staff begin planning practical activities that address their flagging recruitment efforts. I used images I had taken of Hanoi to help identify audiences, and we began the process of defining who ‘BTL’ is.

From there, we pulled threads together by developing communications plans that address areas of strategic importance to the college. I wasn't there to provide answers, but to offer suggestions of things to think about, and different approaches. Share the spotlight.

Showing a picture of the college’s front entrance – and the impact it can have on both first impressions and BTL’s brand – drew immediate acknowledgements of improvements that should be made. Tasks were assigned before we left: ownership was in the right place.

Today was one of those rare instances in front of a room my nervous legs did not chatter at a greater pace than my speech. Instead, calm: it was a successful session.

And, somehow, we ran only 15 minutes long.