Steve Anderson, who works in Brock's mailroom, learns how to play the ukelele during the annual Employee Wellness Conference Tuesday.
Hundreds of Brock staff spent the day as students Tuesday, taking in seminars on everything from how to make a sock monkey to learning how to make the most of their iPhones during the employee wellness conference.
The annual event dedicated to employee well-being featured 86 different sessions in which staff could participate. But the event doesn’t just teach how-to’s. It’s a big boost to morale on campus, said Val Wolfe, conference director and Brock’s manager of environment, health and safety.
“You actually see how tangibly happier people are in the days following the conference,” Wolfe said. “They’re lifted, they feel connected.”
The conference, organized by Human Resources, Environment, Health and Safety, the wellness committee and a workshop subcommittee, focuses on eight aspects of health and well-being: physical, social, emotional, intellectual, spiritual, occupational, environmental and financial.
This year, about 700 staff took advantage of the conference offerings, a number that continues to grow after 13 years of hosting the event, Wolfe said.
“They’re doing it so they can step out of their work selves for a day and learn about what interests them,” she said.
But the day also gives a group of employees who may not always have opportunities for personal and professional development by attending conferences the chance to have such an experience.
“(I recognize) how good it is for me to go to a conference and come back refreshed,” Wolfe explained.
The members of the committees helping Wolfe pull off the day are: Lynn Hunter-Hope, Recreation Services, Brendan Barrett, Registrar’s Office, Alison Lahn, Child and Youth Studies, Amanda Smits, Recreation Services, Wendy Laslo, Community and Ancillary Services, Diana Panter, Registrar’s Office, Brent Schulz, Recreation Services, Jo-Anne Sinnige-Egger, Child and Youth Studies, Nancy Sutton, Community and Ancillary Services, Stuart Reid, Rodman Hall, Carrie Kelly, Research Services and Susan Mifsud, HR-EHS.
