Here’s a reflection on the week by first time Interski attendee Ben Darlow….
Wow, that’s it, Interski 2015 in Argentina is done! Today started with an interesting bus ride to the airport, detouring well away from our destination; then an obvious oversight on behalf of the airport which was well under staffed to handle 2 full plane loads leaving at the same time. This resulted in both planes being delayed by about an hour! But that’s the way Argentina rolls and we kiwis were good at going with the flow.
Networking!
Now that we’re in the air on our way back to Buenos Aires I have some time to reflect on the whole experience.
The entire week has been very intense. As my first interski it was in many ways what I expected, but also in many ways different.
The Austrians skied hard and executed their syncro runs well, the Swiss performed and entertained us all week, and the north American’s presented us with exceptionally well developed teaching concepts.
What I wasn’t expecting as much, was the resistance from some nations to absorb information and try to understand why someone had a different way of thinking about something.
Also, the presentations I attended, both indoors and on snow were interesting, but I found I learnt the most when I was able use the topics as starting points for discussions with people on chair rides, in the base building waiting for the bus, or socialising afterwards.
more networking
Thinking forward from here, there are a few small things I would like to implement back home as soon as possible. However, given the positive feedback we received from other nations on our ideas and concepts, a big focus should be on developing and maturing these.
If I am fortunate to be selected for the next interski in Bulgaria I will be taking these experiences and trying to create as much time as possible to informally talk to people in what ever busy schedule is prepared for us!
Finally, I would like to thank all of our team, and in particular our manager Mark, who put in all the effort to get us to where we did. Cheers, and look forward to catching up with everyone back at home soon.
words and photos – Ben Darlow