We recently refreshed one of our core product websites, Equip Schools. It hits a fairly complex mix of schools, parents/carers and individual students and we spent a lot of time trying to best articulate how the programme speaks to the varied concerns of each of these groups.

The product has three curriculum-driven strands in the form of workshops, publications and software.

The software strand is certainly the most distinct of the three in terms of conventional expectations of life-skills / personal management programmes that schools already run — and we’re still coming to terms with the best way to articulate that within the website. We’ve developed a brief (16 minute) training DVD that accompanies the product — however, this is obviously too long for initial contact and, while being highly explanatory, doesn’t really articulate the thousands of hours of educational psychology research and student mentoring that inform the product as it stands today.

Distilling that down to a 10 minute package is a tall ask, but it’s also something near on the horizon as we seek to make this available to individuals beyond the school context.

Here’s something that probably falls outside the bounds of what you’d think to run due diligence on: checking the venue an event is being hosted in has completed construction and is actually operational! Thankfully, the Darwin Convention Centre does, and Google is just a few months behind on the imaging.

It opened on July 1st and is part of a broader reinvigoration master plan for Darwin’s waterfront precinct. If you’ll be in Darwin between September 26–28 this year, check out the ACEL conference “Tipping Points” or get in touch.

Friday was a pretty insane day, but I snapped this photo (cameraphone, dunno what happened top right!) arriving at our office in the morning before getting into it. We’ve got a pretty incredible view over Coogee, which is fantastic… except for when the sea and sky are such amazing colours and you know there’s not a chance of actually getting outside to it!

There were some sheets of light rain and these incredible clouds that cleared off to perfect skies and an ocean that even I, someone who doesn’t particularly rate swimming and has never learnt to surf despite living within 5km of the coast his whole life, wished I was free to head over to.

It is good to give thanks to the Lord,
to sing praises to your name, O Most High;
to declare your steadfast love in the morning,
and your faithfulness by night,
to the music of the lute and the harp,
to the melody of the lyre.
For you, O Lord, have made me glad by your work;
at the works of your hands I sing for joy.

– Psalm 92

We were made to work even before sin entered the world, but I reckon work/time-outside-on-a-beautiful-day balance would’ve been better then! For those trust Jesus, a future is coming where every day all are freed to give thanks to Him forever…  even those stuck in beige office towers!