As we move into August and the restrictions we have been living and working under for the past 18 months continue to slowly ease, our attention is turning from consultations to conferences. First up will be the LARAC Scotland Conference on 24 August in Glasgow. This is free to LARAC members.
It will be the first time I have left the “office” for a work-related activity since 10 March 2020. And it will be the first in person LARAC conference in almost two years. I am sure it will feel very strange, but the chance to talk to people in person and not having to put your hand up to speak or make sure you are not on mute will be worth the worry about the travel.
The Scotland event marks the start of quite a busy period of events, which will feel like a feast after the famine of the Zoom/Team calls.
After Scotland we come across to Llandrindod Wells just down the road from me for the Wales LARAC Conference on 8 September.
Again, this is free to LARAC members and is a chance to keep up to date with how the waste agenda in Wales is continuing to move forward.
After our two conferences we move into the exhibition season. LARAC will have a stand (Stand number AA3) at LetsRecycle Live in Stoneleigh on 15 and 16 September then onto to RWM where we will again have a stand (stand number 5-X84). If you are going to either of those please pop by and have a chat, it is always good to hear LARAC members views about what are doing and what works and doesn’t work for you. It is also a chance for us to find out what the issues are that are impacting you and affecting you and where our policy work may be able to help that through lobbying Defra, the devolved governments, and other parts of the industry.
Finally, we then have the LARAC UK Conference at the Metropole Hilton at the Birmingham NEC on 6-7 October. We may be biased, but it doesn’t make us wrong, it genuinely is the biggest local authority waste event of the year. Not only does it have the largest number of local authority attendees it also has a programme that is geared specifically to what local authorities do and what is impacting them.
The programme is all finalised and you can still book places via the conference website. The feature we believe helps make the event stand out is the workshop programme on the morning of day two. It gives you a chance to attend sessions that are really pertinent to your day job and get into the detail and of what is involved.
The programme still has that blend of strategic, operational and thought-provoking sessions and also there are the LARAC Awards at the end of the first day. The deadline for submission is 6 August so you still have a couple of days to get your applications in.
So, the next couple of months could see a lot of change, almost a change back to but hopefully one that is welcomed and is good. I am sure it will take some time to readjust to being out again and I know not everyone will be ready for it yet. But hopefully we can all ease back into it and rebuild the connections in person we have kept going on screen for the past 18 months. Just don’t be disappointed when you don’t see my wallpaper on the LARAC stands.
