How do you spark your creativity? I like to do it by pulling myself out
of my usual routine and putting my brain – and usually body – into new
environments. I like to believe that this strips away the superficial and
routine thought processes that I thought were important and forces me to focus
more on the core matters at hand. Another one of my strategies is to jump into
groups of creative people. So, please allow me to tell you that people who work
in animal rescue and welfare organizations are amongst the most creative and
innovative people that I have ever met.

I can’t tell you why. Maybe it is because they are constantly in life
and death mode. Maybe it is because they are usually asked to perform miracles
on a shoestring budget. Or maybe it is because people who opt to spend their
energy defending creatures who cannot defend themselves are just a little
“outside of the box” by nature. Regardless of how the conditions were created,
I am always blown away by the result.

That is why I consider myself lucky to have been able to attend Humane
Canada’s Animal Welfare 2019 conference which was held right here in
Montreal last April.

https://conference.humanecanada.ca/2019

Normally this is just for people working in the Animal Welfare industry, but I was permitted access to all of the panels because I attended as a volunteer. It was worth the effort. There is also a little life lesson embedded there

The topics that were covered could have been straight from any industry
conference. They included an extremely practical session on navigating social media,
the critical topic of fundraising, and several sessions on managing teams. I
sat in on several of the sessions on teams and was astounded to learn how much
of the ground that they covered was universally applicable across all
industries. Two of the panels that I attended were titled “Building An
Effective Team: RIGHT People, RIGHT Role!” and “Building Effective Volunteer
Teams with Professionalism, Leadership & Culture”. I took notes the whole
time, eager to apply some of the lessons that they were sharing in my own
workplace.

One of the highlights for me was hearing the General Manager of Humane
Education for the BC SPCA, Craig Naherniak, speak about some his organization’s
current initiatives. They are using data science techniques to get views from
kids in their summer camp programs about animals and how the BC SPCA is making
an impact on awareness.

“ With nearly 1,200
data sets from 20 locations across BC, we have benchmarked some key indicators
of program effectiveness and how youth perceptions change when immersed in
humane education programming. We measured changes in attitudes and knowledge
retention over the course of the week, as well as a follow-up survey 2-3 months
after camp.”

Needless to say, I was not expecting to hear about any topics related to
analytics at a conference for people who have made careers out of caring for
creatures. Clearly, that was my mistake. These folks are sharp and use every
tool in their toolbox.

Besides the results of their surveys, I also learned about the monthly
magazine for children that the BC SPCA puts out to keep the information on
animal welfare flowing even when the kids are not at camp. In addition to
achieving the obvious goal of training up new generations of adults who
prioritized the well-being of domestic animals and wildlife, the magazine was
actually commended by local school boards as a well-crafted tool for promoting
early childhood literacy. The magazine is now being used within BC schools to
help teach kids how to read.

As if these accomplishments were not already enough, when I spoke to Craig
during a break between panels he told me about how the BC SPCA had partnered
with BMO to offer a special affinity credit card that helped raise funds for
the BC SPCA with each client purchase. These types of credit cards are not
common but ask a representative at your bank if they offer something like this.

It’s a rare thing to leave an industry conference both uplifted and
impressed but that is exactly how I felt. So, remember that when you give a
little bit of yourself to causes like these, you are not just helping out a
furry friend but are also opening yourself up to entirely new ways of thinking that
can help get your own creative juices flowing. Try it and see.