OC employees enjoy their first virtual Connections

In its 15th year, Okanagan College’s annual employee conference headed online for a digital experience and a day of virtual connection.

Hundreds of employees from across OC tuned in for online presentations by their peers on Tuesday, August 25.

OC President Jim Hamilton’s welcoming address included highlights from the past year. The presentation marked the final Connections address Jim will deliver, as he will retire at the end of January. You can watch his recorded presentation in its entirety here. Over the virtual lunch-hour Dean Warner, chair of the 2020 Connections Committee, interviewed Hamilton in a live Q&A session, available to watch here.

The annual Connections video showcased students, staff and faculty reflecting on their summer, under the theme of “what I did in my summer isolation.” Watch the video here.

On going ahead with the conference despite the pandemic, Warner commented, "at first we thought that moving Connections to an online format wouldn’t work well because of how much people enjoyed seeing their colleagues face-to-face.  What we discovered, however, is that people still wanted to connect with their colleagues, even if had to be online.  

Given how much we’ve all been apart from each other, this year’s Connections gave people the opportunity to get together again for a very positive experience.”

Sessions throughout the day were made possible through the expertise of employees themselves, from learning how to survive the Canadian wilderness, Indigenous wood carving and community wellness to learning Spanish, learning how to navigate the financial market and yoga.