By Amy Thiessen (BA Hons candidate, UBCO SpokenWeb Project Manager)
On May 28th and 29th on SFU’s Burnaby campus I joined a room full of fellow SpokenWeb team members in reflecting on our past year, learning from each other, planning and dreaming of the years ahead for the SpokenWeb project. As an undergraduate at this event I was able to share the work I have been doing over the past year, meet fellow students from across Canada and the US and learn about the work they all have been doing at their home institutions, as well as meet and connect with faculty members on the project. On the first day of the event fellow SpokenWeb team member Megan Butchart and I gave a 10-minute “lightning talk” sharing with the SpokenWeb network our role on the project as undergraduate team members. We were able to share why we think our role on the SpokenWeb project is valuable; in preparing for this talk I was able to personally remember that even as an undergraduate student I have particular skills and expertise that bring unique perspectives and assets to the team.
For me, the highlight of the Sound Institute was meeting SpokenWeb partnership Project Manager Yuliya Kondratenko (Concordia University MA, PMP), learning from her, talking to her about project management, and planning future collaborations. I loved meeting Yuliya because she was incredibly knowledgeable and so willing to share her project management wisdom, yet she also sought feedback and input from others. I look forward to a continued relationship with Yuliya as I work on my role as the project manager of our UBCO SpokenWeb team.
