by Alan Nelson
I visited the IRRV Conference last week and was pleased to find it as lively as ever. It’s good to see first hand the positive reactions of real users of our courses, especially now that the range is so extensive.
The Euclidian range of products we have created with them is now the market leader for training and maintaining the currency of revenues and benefits officers and the new distance learning materials that support students enrolled on the Level 3 Certificate in Local Taxation and Benefits have been enthusiastically received. Indeed this year will see the expansion of their distance learning provision to support the new Diploma level qualification.
Bringing us right up to date, Institute Chief Executive, David Magor took to the main stage to announce the imminent launch of the new range of online induction and continuing education resources we are currently developing for enforcements officers (bailiffs to you and me).
Helping on the exhibition stand got me thinking about how all this started. Like so many of our clients and partners, IRRV started with something modest and expanded their offering slowly, learning as they went.
The first project was a short induction programme for benefits officers. To help us put this together, the Institute put us in touch with an author they had worked with on printed materials. Colin Holden (for it was he) and his wife Julie, are benefits royalty. At the time we first met, Colin was already well known in the profession. Julie, who was at the time a rising star, is now just coming to the end of her year as President of the Institute.
At our first meeting, we started explaining to Colin how the development process might work. In order to explain to him the sort of thing we had in mind, I showed him a course we had put together for the Pensions Management Institute. Colin seemed impressed with the approach, but less so by the subject matter. “This is pretty dry stuff” he said.
“Some people might say that about benefits administration” I replied.
Colin looked surprised. “Why would they say that?” he said.
At the time his response surprised me but now I know Colin much better and I was wrong to be surprised. Colin, along with many of his fellow IRRV members, is so knowledgeable about the world of benefits, that he does make benefits interesting. And why shouldn’t it be: it’s important, it’s complicated and it’s constantly changing.
Bringing things right up to date we are currently blessed with another enthusiastic and knowledgeable IRRV author. Bill Lovell, who is providing the content for our new enforcement officers’ course, is just as much of an enthusiast as Colin. He can describe 400 year old case law in a way that makes it fun and interesting.
In the years between meeting Colin and Bill I have come to realise how much we rely on authors who are passionate about their subject. So thank you Colin and Bill for your enthusiasm. Our job is to capture the essence of that in the finished course.
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