“For a few minutes, it’s almost literally like being in the shoes of someone who uses a wheelchair”…

 

A 3D printed hand, washing machine that also irons your clothes, personalised digital care devices and entering the virtual world of a wheelchair user via a headset; this was the Blackwood Staff Conference.

 

Over the course of two days, over 100 members of Blackwood’s Scotland wide staff gathered in the serene surroundings of Stirling University for an experience few anticipated. In true Blackwood style, this was never going to be your average conference with a series of speeches, facts, figures followed by tea.

 

This was a conference where the delegates very much played the lead role and, for many, got to experience the organisation in an innovative, virtually-real and slightly surreal way. Their task was to define, and later present, “The Blackwood Offer” according to how they perceived it. This would eventually culminate with a YouTube-esque unboxing from each team. With a few fun and exciting exhibits and interactive tools for inspiration, they set about their task.

 

The big surprise of the day was to be found in the aptly named “Virtual Box”, a star lit atmospheric room with Virtual Reality headsets available for people to view a short film where they are immersed in the film with 360° view from the perspective of someone who uses a wheelchair.

 

“I genuinely think it would be good for inductions”, said Amber, a Relief Support Assistant in Ayr. “You could give new staff an insight into what daily life is like from the perspective of our customers who are wheelchair users.” This kind of 3-Dimensional thinking was echoed around the venue with staff suggesting all sorts of innovative uses for the different devices and gadgets on display. CleverCogs, of course, being Blackwood’s personalised digital care package, was on display and being demonstrated to the crowds of people, many of whom had little knowledge of it as yet.

 

The whole event served as a catalyst to encourage staff to think differently about how Blackwood helps people live independently and live life to the full. Business Solutions Officer, Alex Cheek put it particularly nicely saying, “we don’t just provide housing to people, we try and build them a home…”

 

The final presentations were all fantastic and generated a few smiles, some laughter, a good deal of thought, applause, and even some emotion.

 

And the impact of everyone’s hard work doesn’t stop with the conference. All the discussion, debate, inspiration and innovation that poured out of everyone will go further than perhaps even they realise, but that’s a story for a later date…

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