I remember a few years ago Joe Omeno gave a presentation and he played some inspirational theme music or played a joke about accounting to show that accountants are human after all.

I can better than that I thought and started thinking about architecture jokes.
There aren't any-there's nothing funny about architecture!

But an anecdote did spring to mind that I think sets the scene for today's discussions.

An architect and an engineer go on a bush walk and they enter the forest.

After a day's hike they find a clearing and set up camp for the night.
The tent is pitches, fire lit and a meal cooked.

After dinner they retire to their sleeping bags...

After a few minutes the engineer asks the architect "what can you see?"

The architect replies " I can see all the majesty of the universe laid out before us, solar systems, meteors, galaxies and planets stretching back to the beginning of time. I see a clear sky that means our day's hike tomorrow will be under a bright sun and I can feel the gentle breeze on my face. Isn't it great to be alive!'

After a pause the architect then says to the engineer "what do you see?" expecting a similar response.

The engineer simply replies "I think someone's stolen out tent!"

So here you have two people with a shared experience with two completely different perceptions of the same event.

And the amazing thing is that they are both right!

So bringing this back to our context, the student who says they can't get online is correct. The teacher who says the we have too many procedures is correct. The manager who says we need staff to follow the correct procedures is also correct.

It just depends on your point of view.

So Darren has mentioned to some of us in different forums that going forward into 2017 and beyond will be give us new opportunities but also some challenges.

And this gives us a uniques opportunity to design the sort of Gordon we want to work in and that students what to train in.

Embrace the differences
Embrace the challenges
Remember everyone is here is for the same reason-the student

And when we're looking for solutions all stakeholders have a valid view of the problem, just like the architect and the engineer.

The administrators...

The artists...

The technical wizz kids behind the scenes have so much to offer

Not forgetting probably the most important group of people in the institute- the students.

And to give some direction or a compass bearing to all these discussions, ideas and opportunities are our values

And this morning you'll hear from a range of speakers discussing values and what they mean to their context.

So without any further ado..