Meet Kate Atkin - most outstanding senator in JCI UK 2010
Meet Kate Atkin - most outstanding senator in JCI UK 2010
You were awarded the most outstanding senator in JCI UK 2010. That's a great honour!
How have you been active in JCI Cambridge this year?
I started meeting up with Jen Little, Cambridge Local President and potential council members. I facilitated an induction session to what JCI is, areas of opportunities, how you can get involved and what JCI means to me. Over the last ten months I've been supporting Jen Little in her role as president whenever she has had any questions.
Later in the year I spoke at a workshop about "Dealing with Difficult People" as part of JCI Cambridge training programme. And to help the Cambridge council I connected them with several potential trainers.
When I meet new people I always mention JCI, this has resulted in new members.
What do you think lies behind the success in JCI Cambridge? What's the secret making them so successful?
To start with getting a group of six young, enthusiastic people in a room, with food (!) to discuss JCI released a lot of energy!
The council (or committee as they call themselves in Cambridge) learned what the organisation has to offer; they learned that JCI is not just another networking club, not just a way of self-development, but a way of making lasting friendships while having FUN. That got the team off to a great start.
JCI Cambridge has done an amazing job with their marketing and PR. The members involved have continued to be enthusiastic, enjoy each other's company and have fun - with strong leadership from Jen.
Can you tell us about one of you best JCI experiences?
There are many... to pick one is sooo hard.
- Presenting at my first national council in Kirklees and promoting the Find A Donor project to raise awareness and number of donors on the Anthony Nolan Bone Marrow Register... and subsequently hearing of other chambers who took up the project.
- Attending my first World Congress in Nov 1995 in Glasgow. An amazing cultural experience. Listening to Jack Black, one of the keynote speakers, and deciding to do his "Mindstore for Life" programme the following year. I also received a complimentary copy of Dale Carnegie's How to Win Friends and influence People, a book I still have on my shelves and have enjoyed reading many times.
- Receiving my senatorship from my dad at the Regional Conference in Ipswich, when I was outgoing RGC. A complete surprise and very well staged (a memory which still fills me with great emotion).
- Winning the World Debating championship in Barcelona in 2001.
- The trials, tribulations and ultimately success of organising the training programme for European Conference in Birmingham in 2003 with Helen Giblin.
- And many more...!
If you could invite any trainer or speaker in the world to speak at the next JCI conference, who would that be?
I would love to hear the Dali Lama speak.
Is there anything that JCI can help you with? Contacts? Ideas? Connections?
Over the years I have received great support from JCI members. I learnt my training skills, honed them with Barclays and then took them freelance in September 2000. Since then many JCI members have asked me to talk at their chambers and also to their companies, which I have enjoyed greatly. I'm keen to take my messages on management and confidence to a wider audience so wrote The Confident Manager two years ago. Any ideas on how to take that publication to JCI, or other young managers worldwide gratefully received.