December 2011

CeDR Corporate Consulting new international partners in Malaysia!

We are proud to announce that MRWED has a new international partner based in Malaysia. CeDR Corporate Consulting have a long history of delivering trainer training and we are thrilled to have them on board to deliver our Certificate IV in Training and Assessment (TAE40110). They have spent four months participating in a rigorous development program in readiness to deliver their first courses in February 2012.

     

    Above: Kelvin Phuan from CeDR (Top right) with a recent group of graduates

Rock Star welcome for Marc Ratcliffe at Bangalore HR Summit!

MRWED CEO, Marc Ratcliffe officially opened the HR Summit held in Bangalore on the 16th and 17th of December 2011. The event was hosted at the Le Meridien hotel, Bangalore by the Institute of HRD and involved over 400 Human Resources professionals from India, Asia Pacific, Africa and Middle East. The theme of the summit was “Learning & Development Strategies for HR Effectiveness” and Marc’s opening keynote spoke to the number one global trend in HR effectiveness – looking after yourself, your people and their families. Marc was given a rousing welcome by delegates for his lively, thought-provoking and inspiring presentation. Mr Siraj, Director or IHRD called it “one of the most impressive openings to an event he has been involved with” and Dr S.K. Prasad from New Horizons Institute described it as “truly amazing”. Marc’s blog about the event can be found at:

http://mrwed.com.au/blog/2011/12/30/looking-after-yourselves-your-people-and-their-families/

                                               Above: Left – The stage for the event, Right – Marc in action

November 2011

MRWED End of Year Function for 2011

The MRWED Team gathered once again to honour the successes and look to the future with their annual End of Year Function and Awards event. Much fun has had by all at the function held at the Pacific Harbour Resort and Golf Club at Bribie Island. Congratulations go to the winners of the major awards: Jason Ash for Trainer of the Year and Zarina Fullerton for Admin of the Year.

MRWED CEO, Marc Ratcliffe introduced two new awards this year. These were the CEO Medal for Leadership Excellence, won by Financial Controller, Carol Hutchins and the Inaugural “Marc Ratcliffe Medal” for outstanding achievement. This was awarded to MRWED Head of Learning, Stephen Murphy.

Marc also revealed the theme for 2012, which was Game On! Below are some of the team in action with their MRWED jerseys to support the new theme.

MRWED team up with VELG Training to promote the Train-the-Trainer Boot Camp

MRWED are excited to be teaming up with Australia’s largest provider of VET professional development, VELG Training, to promote the new Train-the-Trainer Boot Camp. “We have tremendous respect for the work that VELG does in our sector and look forward to bringing the Boot Camp to their members in 2012”, MRWED CEO, Marc Ratcliffe said. Whilst MRWED will continue to promote this program via corporate offerings, VELG Training will be the event managers of the public courses in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne. For more information visit:

http://www.velgtraining.com/events-details?id=69

October  2011

Ghouling it up for Halloween!

The HQ team got into the spirit of Halloween this week. It is great to have fun amongst the chaos at times. Remember we do like to have fun both inside and outside of the classroom. Well done team!

OCTOBER NEWS

20th October 2011 – FIRST BOOT-CAMP IN BRISBANE

We just wrapped up our first Train-the-Trainer Boot Camp in Brisbane. It was well-received by participants and even given the official nod by founder of the program Bob Pike!

MRWED Trainers Jason Ash and Marc Ratcliffe are now officially the only trainers in Australia certified to deliver the Bob Pike Train-the-Trainer Boot Camp in this country. “It is great to be bringing the Instructor-Led/Participant Centred” model of training to Australia”, said Jason. “This is a wonderful addition to our trainer-training repertoire and is a fantastic professional development option for trainers, both experienced and new the profession”, he said.

MRWED has Boot Camp options in Sydney and Melbourne left for the remainder of the year. For more details check out: www.mrwed.edu.au/bootcamp.htm

Above: Jason and Marc

18th October 2011 –DELEGATES MARVEL AT THE MRWED LEARNING LEADERS SUMMIT EXPERIENCE

MRWED has concluded its long anticipated Learning Leaders Summit at Brisbane’s Royal on the Park Hotel. Delegates were treated to key-notes  from some of the industry’s best, including the Trainers’ Trainer, Bob Pike, Workplace Gardener, Karen Schmidt and Technology Innovator Adrian Greig. There was also an impressive selection of practitioner-focused break-out sessions which kept the audience engaged throughout. We even managed to balance the experience for mind and body by including net-walking in the Botanical gardens, Yoga, Tai Chi and Masterchef contestant Skye Craig showed us how to make the most out of brain food!
Thanks to all our supporters, presenters and most importantly delegates for making it an experience to remember. We look forward to taking the event to Sydney in 2012.

Below: Pictures from our Summit

15th SEPTEMBER 2011 – MRWED’S JASON ASH PICKS UP YOUNG TRAINER OF THE YEAR AT LEARNX

Congratulations to MRWED’s Jason Ash for collecting the Platinum Award for Young Learning Leader Award (Male) of the year at the recent LearnX Asia-Pacific Conference held in Brisbane. According to the LearnX Foundation, the presentation of these awards “completes an impressive and excellent line up of champions from the corporate and public sectors”. We are proud of Jason’s effort and look forward to seeing him in action again soon as part of the team for our new Train-the-Trainer Boot Camps.

Above: Jason Ash collecting his award for Young Learning Leader of the Year

8th SEPTEMBER 2011 – CELEBRATING BEING IN THE CERT IV FOR MRWED TEAM

As part of our commitment in up-skilling our staff and to enable everyone in the organisation to engage in the MRWED experience, two of our Head Office Team attended our Certificate IV in Training and Assessment in Brisbane this week. Financial Controller, Carol Hutchins and Client Relations Representative, Val Jones joined the group for the Enterprise Trainer and Delivery & Facilitation Clusters. Looks like they were having fun too!

SEPTEMBER NEWS

1st SEPTEMBER 2011 - FEEDBACK STILL REWARDING FOR MRWED PARTICIPANTS

Launched in 2008, MRWED’s voting portal is still a regular feedback winner as we are able to gain feedback and seek improvement ideas in both our Administration and Training divisions. Each month portal respondents go in the draw to win a $50 Coles/Myer Voucher. Recent winners include Delia Octoman, Ann Estella and Sara Enoka. Congratulations and thanks for your feedback. For more information or to contribute your own feedback on the MRWED experience visit: http://www.mrwed.edu.au/feedback.htm

AUGUST NEWS

24th August 2011 – SHARING THE VISION AT ACPET NATIONAL CONFERENCE

MRWED were thrilled to be involved with ACPET’S National Conference in 2011.  As a member organisation we are supportive of the conference mission, which was to offer a comprehensive program designed to challenge, inform and entertain. ACPET National Chair, Kay Ganley invited delegates to “hear from a distinguished line-up of experts, visionaries, provocateurs and industry thought leaders” and challenged participants to “engage with colleagues from around the world and to share first-hand insights and ideas in roundtable discussions”.

Above: Damian and Jason at the MRWED Booth

18th August 2011 - MRWED BAD HAIR DAY

At MRWED we do like to have fun and amongst the Madness of EKKA week in Queensland our head office team celebrated with a Bad Hair Day. Below are some of the crew that were comfortable with the happy snaps! 

5th August 2011 – MAINTAINING QUALITY AT VELG’S NATIONAL VET CONFERENCE

MRWED were proud to support VELG’s National VET Conference. This is one of the largest events on the VET calendar and it was great to catch up with so many delegates, vendors and providers committed to quality in the VET space. VELG Training is committed to delivering quality, flexible and innovative training services and products to the vocational education community and this is one of the key reasons MRWED has been involved with the event for the past three years.

Left: Michelle at our Learning Leaders Stand. Right: Marc talking about his Trainer’s First Aid Kit!

4th August 2011 - TRAIN-THE-TRAINER BOOTCAMPS SCHEDULED

MRWED are proud to announce the official commercial release of our Train-the-Trainer Boot Camp under licence from the Bob Pike Group in the United States. This intensive 2-day workshop, now completed by more than 100,000 participants around the world, is a great extension to our Training and Assessment qualifications. The Train-the-Trainer Boot Camp focuses on participant-centred approaches to training and models more than 102 alternatives to lecture! This is a real coup for MRWED and we have programmed 3 Boot Camp dates for the remainder of the year. (one each in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne) For more information on Boot Camp, including a public course schedule visit: www.mrwed.com.au/bootcamp

1st August 2011 – MRWED Number 4 Queensland Training Provider

August saw MRWED listed as a top 10 Training Provider in Queensland Business Review’s Annual “Book of Lists”. This is our fourth consecutive listing and this year MRWED was placed at its highest level yet – at number 4. Unique to Queensland, QBR's The Book of Lists is the State’s leading business-to-business directory. Based on an exhaustive six-month survey process, this special publication ranks the State’s leading businesses across more than 60 categories, from accountants to workplace health and safety consultants. Congratulations to all the team for an outstanding result

JULY NEWS

28th July 2011 – MRWED COMPLETES ITS FIRST TAE40110 PROGRAM IN MALAYSIA

 MRWED was thrilled to deliver its first training program in Malaysia this month. We worked with a small group from CeDR consulting, “but the enthusiasm and sense of fun experienced was like having a large group”, MRWED CEO Marc Ratcliffe said. “This is the sixth country from the Asia-Pacific region where were we now conducting training and the MRWED model of instruction has been translating well”, he said. MRWED will return in December to complete a second program for CeDR and look forward to forging a successful partnership in Malaysia over the next few years.

Below: The first graduating group from Malaysia 

JULY 22nd, 2011 – MRWED WINS AUSTRALIAN BUSINESS AWARD

MRWED has been recognised among Australia’s most progressive organisations, winning the Australian Business Award for Recommended Employer in the 2011 Awards.

The Australian Business Awards challenges the full spectrum of private, public and non-profit sector organisations in Australia through its comprehensive business and product award categories.

Now in its sixth year, the Australian Business Awards program recognises organisations that demonstrate the core values of business excellence, product excellence, corporate responsibility, sustainability and commercial success in their respective industries. A total of 103 recipients were honoured from the 928 organisations that participated in the 2011 Awards.

The Australian Business Award for Recommended Employer recognises organisations that provide a stimulating and supportive workplace.

Commenting on the win, CEO Marc Ratcliffe said: “this award reinforces our on-going commitment in creating something special for our staff, which in turn enables us to provide outstanding experiences for customers”.

“This award firmly asserts MRWED as a premium employer of choice in Australia and comes on the back of a top 10 listing on BRW’s Best Places to Work List in June”, Mr Ratcliffe said.

JULY 19th, 2011 - MRWED’S JASON ASH TAKES OUT YOUNG LEARNING LEADER HONOUR

We are proud to announce that Jason Ash, one of MRWED’s Learning Leaders has been announced as the winner of the Platinum Young Learning Leader (Male) at the LearnX Asia Pacific Awards for 2011.

“He was our Trainer of the Year in 2010 and it doesn’t surprise me that he has taken out this honour this year”, MRWED CEO, Marc Ratcliffe said. “He has been leading both in and out of the classroom and this allocade is thoroughly deserved”, he said.

For more information on the LearnX Awards and a list of other winners visit: http://learnx.net/2011/awards_nominate.html

JUNE NEWS

23rd June 2010 - IT’S A THREE-PEAT! MRWED named again as one of Australia’s best places to work!

For the third year in a row, MRWED has been named as one of the best places to work in the country by the Great Places to Work Institute and BRW Magazine. Beating large multinational brands, and an IT dominated list, MRWED took out 9th position!

MRWED was recognised for the introduction of an in-house social networking function to keeps staff abreast of daily operations more efficiently, a customised frequent-flyer style online rewards program where staff accrue points when they achieve set milestones and an impressive professional development program. 

MRWED Founder and CEO Marc Ratcliffe said the recognition proved that businesses of all sizes could embrace new initiatives to attract and retain staff.  “Importantly, rewarding and developing staff isn’t just about paying them more money.   A workplace needs to be an enjoyable, enriching and energetic environment in order to foster long-term employee loyalty and productivity,” he said.

June 8th, 2011 SHARING WITH COMMERCE CABOOLTURE

MRWED CEO, Marc Ratcliffe was a guest speaker at a Caboolture Commerce Function tonight. He spoke about the steps taken to develop MRWED into an international employer of choice, sharing his F.A.C.T.S. (Fun, Action, Communication, Transparency and Support). “It was a great evening and it was fantastic to see so many local businesses supporting each other and being interested in growing their businesses in the region”, Marc Said. “

MRWED LAUNCHES LEARNING LEADERS SUMMIT

On June 1st, MRWED launched the MRWED Learning Leaders Summit 2011, Imagine, Inspire, Ignite. This inaugural event will be held on Monday 17th and Tuesday 18th of October at the newly refurbished, Royal on the Park Hotel in Brisbane.

A collection of talented, international speakers and industry leaders from around Australia will participate in the Summit and there will be a range of unique conference experiences which will make this the must-attend event of the year.

The Summit is aimed at teachers, trainers and facilitators , and will provide two days of professional development where the focus will be on skills enhancement in a fun and innovative environment. Hear from industry experts including "The Trainers' Trainer, USA", Bob Pike, whose book "Creative Training Techniques" has sold more than 125,000 copies; Karen Schmidt, from Let's Grow! who is a workplace gardener, on a mission to grow managers into engaging leaders; and Adrian Grieg, a classroom technology innovator who will broaden delegates' views on best-practice methods of engaging learners via technology. There will also have a live cooking demonstration with Skye Craig, Masterchef contestant and owner of Wildsugar. Skye will explore the importance of cooking for the brain. She will demonstrate which foods help maintain the brain, build capacity and enhance retention.

“I am particularly excited about our MC, the amazing Nigel, who is a multi-talented entertainer who enthrals audiences with magic and comedy. Nigel has an incredible ability for recall and will demonstrate this during the 2 days, by recalling all delegates' names, which will be truly amazing to watch”, said MRWED CEO, Marc Ratcliffe. There are currently only a handful of people in Australia who can do this.

MRWED has always been committed to developing quality outcomes though fun experiences and this Summit is a natural extension of the work we have been doing for 11 years. “If there is one conference I encourage you to attend, it's the MRWED Learning Leaders Summit and I look forward to meeting you all in Brisbane in October”, Mr Ratcliffe said.

For more information on the MRWED Learning Leaders Summit visit: www.mrwed.com.au/learningleaderssummit

MAY NEWS

26th May 2011, MRWED SHINES AT HR SUMMIT IN SINGAPORE

It has been a busy month for MRWED CEO, Marc Ratcliffe as he travels the globe sharing tips and tricks on how our to engage staff at all levels of the business. He was a prominent speaker at Asia’s largest HR event, the HR Summit held on the 25th and 26th of May at the Marina Bay Sands Hotel and Convention Centre in Singapore. He spoke about how to keep the engagement models uncomplicated, yet holistic.

For more information on the event visit: http://www.hrsummit.com.sg/

22nd May 2011, SHARING TRICKS AT ASTD!

MRWED was represented at the ASTD international conference in Orlando, Florida this week by Marc Ratcliffe as he spoke about 26 proven tricks to enhance and engage learning, in front of a packed house. “The crowd was so responsive to content and the positive feedback to the activities after the session was really overwhelming”, Mr Ratcliffe said. “I am looking forward to the release of my book later in the year which highlights in greater depth many of the games and activities highlighted in the ASTD presentation”, he said.

Those who missed out on the event can still check out proceedings at:  http://www.astdconference.org/ice11/public/enter.aspx

MRWED WINS ACCLAIM AS EMPLOYER OF CHOICE IN ASIA

We are excited to announce that MRWED has been conferred as one of Asia’s Best Employer Brands for 2011. These awards recognise contributions to innovative workplace practices and we are thrilled to continue to win acclaim as an international employer of choice. This comes on the back of two consecutive Best Place to Work listings and an Australian Business Award for Recommended Employer in 2010. MRWED will collect its award and citation at a gala ceremony in Singapore in July 2011.

APRIL NEWS

BSZ FAST TRACK UPGRADE AVAILABLE!

We have great news for trainers and/or assessors who possess the Certificate IV in Assessment and Workplace Training (BSZ40198) and who have maintained their currency through recent training and assessment experience and professional development. You can now upgrade your BSZ40198 to the latest qualification, the Certificate IV in Training and Assessment (TAE40110) through MRWED's Fast Track BSZ Upgrade.

For more information check out:  http://www.mrwed.com.au/courses/certificate-iv-in-training-a-assessment/bsz-upgrade.htm

MRWED APPOINTS 2 NEW FULL-TIME LEARNING LEADERS

After a comprehensive national recruitment process for Learning Leaders to join the MRWED Group, we are pleased to announce that Vijay Naidoo has joined our Sydney-based team and Anthony Josephs has extended his involvement with the organisation in Brisbane. We would like to thank all the applicants for their support and the time taken in their submissions.

“There was a high calibre of candidates which ultimately made the selection difficult, but the whole team is looking forward to working with Vijay and Anthony”, MRWED CEO Marc Ratcliffe said.

MARCH NEWS

MRWED TO BRING TRAIN THE TRAINER BOOTCAMP TO AUSTRALIA!

MRWED is proud to announce the signing of an exclusive license to promote and deliver the Bob Pike Group’s Train-the-Trainer Book Camp in Australia. This is an action-packed two day workshop which focuses on building creative training techniques through instructor-led, but participant-focused training. “More than 100,000 trainers have attended this workshop worldwide and we are excited to be bringing the program to this country”, MRWED CEO, Marc Ratcliffe said. “We feel that it will be a great addendum to the Certificate IV in Training and Assessment and look forward to customising the program for the Australian context”. MRWED looks forward to joining an impressive international team which includes Bob Pike himself, who has earned the reputation as “the Trainer’s Trainer” and is a US National Speakers Association Hall of Fame inductee.

If you or your organisation would like to be added to the waiting list for further information and details of a public schedule, please register your interest with an email to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

FEBRUARY NEWS

MRWED INVOLVED IN TRAINING 2011

It was a world-wind trip recently for MRWED CEO Marc Ratcliffe and MRWED’s 2010 Trainer of the Year, Jason Ash who participated in Training Magazine’s Training Conference in San Diego. Training Magazine’s Training Conference is one of the premier events on the learning and development calendar and is always a great place to learn about the latest training techniques and technologies.

For those who you missed the event or just missed a keynote session, catch up and watch videos from the conference in San Diego. The videos, including keynote sessions, interviews, and more, are posted here: http://trainingtube.tv/account/sectionpage.php

TAE40110 UPGRADE OPTIONS NOW AVAILABLE WITH MRWED ONLINE

MRWED are excited to announce that all our TAE40110 Upgrade course options are now available via our MRWED Online E-Campus portal. “After successfully launching the new TAE qualification online in January, we are thrilled to be offering the upgrade options so quickly”, MRWED CEO Marc Ratcliffe said. “The user experience has been enhanced and the early feedback suggests that this new version is easier to use and easier to navigate”, he said. MRWED Training and Assessment's upgrade course provides Australia's trainers and assessors with an easy option for upgrading their Certificate IV in Assessment & Workplace Training (BSZ40198) to the new Certificate IV in Training and Assessment (TAE40110). For more information check out: http://www.mrwed.com.au/courses/certificate-iv-in-training-a-assessment/study-options.htm

25 JANUARY 2011, - MRWED’S FIRST TAE COURSES FOR 2011

We were thrilled to have full houses in our first public courses of the year in the new Certificate IV in Training and Assessment (TAE40110). We delivered courses in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne in the first week of January to great reviews. “We are all looking forward to an exciting year of rolling out our new TAE program, with a range of new resources and activities to model best practice trainer techniques”, MRWED CEO, Marc Ratcliffe said. “It was extra special to be delivering the program in our new look Melbourne centre which now boasts almost double the learning space”, he said.

Below are pictures of MRWED’s first Melbourne course in TAE40110 for 2011.

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MRWED WELCOMES MICHELLE GUDGEON, STEVE FOX AND SHAUN MORIARTY TO THE TEAM

In the last few months of 2010, MRWED appointed three new members to the Team. Firstly, we expanded our client relations division to include a new role in client engagement. We are pleased to announce that Michelle Gudgeon has accepted this role. Michelle will combine her background in Learning and Development and Employment Services to drive the customer experience at MRWED.

In the trainer ranks, Steve Fox and Shaun Moriarty have been added to the national line-up. Steve joins the organisation after many years coordinating outdoor education programs. He is based in NSW. Shaun is a former school teacher, and more recently a marketing and communications coordinator for the Western Australian Government. He will head up our TAA programs and business development in Western Australia and is based in Perth.

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