A Message From Your President 

Kia ora tātou,

In light of the new and rapidly changing situation that we are all finding ourselves in I just wanted to email you all on behalf of the NZCCM executive team.

Firstly I hope that you and all your families and friends are well and taken care of. Conservation is a small and very friendly profession and I’m sure we all have friends and colleagues as well as families both inside and outside New Zealand who we are thinking about at the moment.

At present our annual conference committee are continuing to plan for this year’s conference in October, and details of the proposed dates and calls for papers will go out soon. We are aware that a number of conferences have already been postponed, however, the committee and exec will continue to review the situation and the options available to us and keep you informed. Not only is our conference an important time from an organisational perspective but it is also a really important networking and sharing opportunity for us all and we are keen to find a way for this is continue in one format or another.

In addition to this, the exec will continue to work on a number of projects that we believe will benefit all our members including improvements to our website, a workforce survey and advocacy. I am also working with the exec, a number of other NZCCM members and Tourism New Zealand to submit a bid at the start of May to host the 2022 IIC Congress in Wellington. More details around this will be in the forthcoming newsletter. That said if you feel there are things you would like us to be doing that we aren’t, myself and the regional reps are open to any ideas or suggestions you may have.  I can be contacted directly using the details at the end of this message.

I would also encourage you help us promote the work of conservators across our website and social media channels. At a time when an increasing number of institutions are either temporarily closing or planning for closure (https://www.ndf.org.nz/covid19-and-nz-glams) it is more important than ever to remind people what it is we do and why its important. I know this may not seem a high priority and in comparison to people’s health it isn’t. However, I believe that we need to continue to promote conservation and its place in New Zealand’s cultural landscape at a time when funds and funding are likely to grow increasingly stretched. For any of you who are well but bored in self-isolation or having to work from home we would love any blogs or other content you’re happy to share. We will also be making efforts to share content and helpful resources from our conservation and GLAM’s colleagues overseas with you.

Finally though this is a very uncertain time for many of us I am aware that those members that work as freelancers are likely to feel the affects of reduced spending and the postponement of projects most keenly. As I am sure those of you who are self employed are aware there is support available to you as part of the Governments economic package announced earlier this week, details of which can be found at on the Work and Income website. I am also aware that this might be a particularly difficult time for our self employed members from a stress and mental health point of view and I’d encourage you to reach out and talk to those around you or if needed to contact 1737 via phone or text if you need support.

I am very keen to hear from our freelance members with any suggestions about what NZCCM could be doing for you in particular at this time. I would also been keen to hear about the impacts that the current situation is having on your business if you are happy to share that information as it will help us consider how best to work with allied professional groups around advocacy.

Apologies for the long message at the start of the weekend but the exec and I did think it was important to let you know what the NZCCM is doing. I hope you all have a good weekend and stay well.

Ngā mihi nui

Nyssa