Conference 2022 update
At this time in a normal year (does anyone even remember what a normal year is anymore..? 😅) we would be in the thick of SADD/Kaitiaki o Ara Conference promotion, planning, developing resources and designing sessions, registering delegates and getting SUPER excited for the events to come. However, 2022 (as we all know) is different. We’re two years into the Covid-19 pandemic now and many of us are really feeling the effects of this. Unfortunately Conference 2022 is one of the casualties of early 2022 and the wave of Omicron affecting many communities.
Canceling our annual conference is not something that we ever want to do and not a decision that is made lightly. Back in 2020 was the first time we had to make this call, and we ended up being in a nationwide level 4 lock-down right when conference was due to take place, so it was 100% out of our hands anyway. In 2021 we got lucky and managed to pull off two awesome events in that short time while NZ was Covid-19 free. And now here we are in 2022, things are once again a bit complicated. We have weighed up the options and made the decision that going ahead with conference this year is just not a responsible thing to do. It shouldn’t surprise anyone that at SADD/Kaitiaki o Ara we care a lot for the safety and well-being of young people, so hosting a large residential event with students traveling from multiple regions just isn’t something we feel comfortable facilitating. We are gutted to have to change plans again and express our apologies to those who were just as excited as us to experience one of our renowned conferences.
However! It’s not all bad news! At SADD/Kaitiaki o Ara we pride ourselves on our ability to roll with the changes, adapt and be flexible with whatever comes our way. We’re not simply going to cancel the conference and say “try again next year”. Instead we are revved up and excited to try something new.
Exactly what this will look like is yet to be confirmed. What we do know is this:
We are passionate about providing leadership and growth opportunities for young kiwis and are keen to bring you something that might fill a gap left by the pandemic
We are interested in trialing a regional approach - really honing in on what is happening for a region and working on some tailored collaborative projects to make a real difference
We believe in connection. One of the major objectives of the traditional conference model is bringing young people together who care about road safety and their peers. We are still keen to foster this connection and comradery between young kiwis
We want it to be student-led and fit for purpose
We’re working away in the background to bring you a series of events that fit the above points at some stage this year. While we explore our options, we want to hear from you! Do you have ideas about what SADD/Kaitiaki o Ara could do to fill the gap left by conference in 2022? What do you want to achieve? What do you want to learn and experience this year? If you have thoughts or ideas that you would like to share with us please contact victoria@sadd.org.nz, we are interested to hear from you!
In the meantime - stay safe, look out for your peers and keep an eye on the SADD social media pages for updates!