Conferences

2018 Alumni Conference, Australia

25 graduates assembled at the Hyatt Hotel at Sydney’s energetic Darling Harbour for the 2018 Godolphin Flying Start alumni conference. Following feedback from the growing number of Flying Start graduates, this year’s theme for discussion was based around finding and connecting with new customers in an ever changing and competitive marketplace.

The day was introduced by Flying Start course manager Clodagh Kavanagh who encouraged the delegates to share ideas and experiences and gain inspiration from the day’s speakers.

Breakfast with a CEO

The first talk came from Katie Page Harvey, CEO of multi-national retailer Harvey Norman and part owner of sales company Magic Millions. Katie talked of the struggles and triumphs she has had in managing Australia’s largest retail business with her husband Gerry.

The company now has around 300 stores and employs 20,000 people worldwide, however she attributed the success of the business to the development and investment into her team and the evolution of their product and its services in order to deliver to the customer.

When matters moved onto the thoroughbred business Katie talked at length about the importance of getting more women involved and the significance they can have in racing and breeding as well as the need for people to vary their approach in attracting women as well as men as customers.

She encouraged industry leaders to use other sports to promote our own especially through events which encourage engagement with people.

This has already been seen to great effect through occasions such as the Magic Millions barrier draw on the beach at the beautiful Gold Coast. She stressed that ‘it doesn’t have to be in racing, but events need to be authentic to attract people’.

Vin Cox, MD of Godolphin Australia, with Katie Page Harvey

From retail to social

Following an interactive and entertaining teamwork event around the streets of Sydney, delegates settled back into their seats for the morning’s second speaker, international social media and marketing guru Adam Franklin.

Adam revealed some insightful facts and experiences around the effectiveness of social media as a marketing tool relating especially to the thoroughbred industry. He stressed how the population, especially under 30s are becoming heavily reliant on social media. Staggeringly, 50% of young people would rather lose their sense of smell than their technologies.

Adam stressed the idea of being able to develop trust in potential customers before they even think about purchasing a product of a service or meeting a salesman. He also spoke of how social media and online sources answer the questions people are generally not prepared to ask whilst ‘sales pressure’ is present from businesses.

In an industry where trust and integrity are the ultimate necessities in conducting successful and sustainable business, thoroughbred industry participants should make full use of their online resources to not only build trust but widen their customer base.

Considering the positive interaction shown in the first half of this year’s conference, the afternoon’s discussions promise to be both insightful and entertaining.

On to Barangaroo

Following the morning session delegates, management and current Flying Start trainees assembled for lunch at Shirt Bar, a trendy restaurant in the bustling streets of Darling Harbour which doubles up as a shop for designer shirts before converting into a bar in the evening time. Owner Justin Marmot briefly talked about the successes and challenges he has faced with the business.

Delegates then visited Lendlease Tower and had a tour and lecture from Lendlease’s Daniel Abbot and Sam Orton. The company is a leading property and infrastructure group which employs 16,000 people worldwide and has been involved in projects such as the September 11th Memorial and Museum in New York and the Sydney Opera House.

Dissection by the panel

Delegates returned to the Hyatt Hotel where a diverse panel discussed various topics. This was made up of Michael Di Natale, director of business development for Isobar and also managing director of ‘Plunge’, a gaming app focussed around horse racing, Trish Egan, CEO of Diabetes NSW and Vice Chair of ATC and Tom Ferrier, founder of ‘Purposed’, a company which helps businesses generate social and organisational value.

The panel firstly discussed what works in marketing in the wider world. They all agreed that it is paramount to make a connection between potential customers and the brand of a business.

Panel discussion by Tom Ferrier (from left), Trish Eagan & Michael Di Natale

Trish Egan expanded further by stating that with online resources speeding up feedback for a product nowadays, there is a real need for businesses to be as agile as their customers in responding to both negative and positive reviews and altering their services accordingly. She talked of her experiences of ‘positioning’ a brand and considering the customer’s point of view through the ‘value equation’. This weighs up how much someone will pay for something versus how much they enjoy using it.

Embellishing on the morning session, the panel talked over the power of social media in marketing and how it can be a double-edged sword for your personal brand if used inappropriately. There is also a strong need to be consistent in your beliefs and values across all social media outlets in order to build trust.

Conversation moved on to the subject of negative public perception for a business, especially relevant to the thoroughbred industry as one of its biggest challenges. Tom Ferrier highlighted that 90% of consumers will switch brands for a similar product which is more ethical even if more expensive.

Trish Egan commented that with negative public perception, people lack trust in the product. What is needed is to acknowledge the faults in the business and tell the customers what you are doing to fix them. This creates ‘mutual perception’, something which all thoroughbred industry participants need to help create.

The Award winners

The final chapter of this year’s alumni conference involved the presentation of the Business Excellence and Leadership Excellence awards. These were won by Henry Field and Vicky Leonard respectively who continue to have international influence through their breeding and marketing enterprises. Both took home a bronze horse sculpted by John Coll who is celebrated worldwide through his exhibitions and statues.

Australian alumni award winners Vicky Leonard (Leadership Excellence) & Henry Field (Business Excellence)

Godolphin Flying Start graduates continue to have a major impact on the thoroughbred industry internationally and considering the positive energy and quality of discussion at this year’s alumni conference, it can only be judged as a success.

Thanks goes to Clodagh Kavanagh, Martin Larkin and Sophie Swain for organising the event as well as the 2017-2019 class of trainees for their supporting roles.

2017 Alumni Conference, USA

One of the core principals of Godolphin Flying Start is the spirit of excellence. So, keeping this in mind the alumni conferences aim to provide continuing professional development opportunities to the graduates as well as strengthening their network. To date there are almost 150 who are working in 5 continents in all aspects of the industry.

This is the second alumni conference, following on from the inaugural conference held in Cambridge University in 2015. Back then the theme was ‘Masterclass: Branding and Reputation’, so as it moves Stateside this time round, the theme was ‘Masterclass: People and Power’. The idea was built off feedback from several the 51 USA based alumni.

From nine o’clock delegates started arriving at the 21C Museum Hotel venue here in the heart of downtown Lexington. It didn’t take long before the room was filled with the buzz of excitement as old friends reconnected and new friends were introduced. Many of today’s delegates have travelled from a variety of locations here in the USA and some even travelling from Europe (Ireland, England and France) to be here with us.

Just after nine thirty, Clodagh Kavanagh got the proceedings underway, welcoming and thanking everyone for coming. She highlighted the theme of today, ‘people’, and the relevance of understanding your team, having a positive mindset and knowing how to influence as necessary for progress in any role in any aspect of the industry. Most importantly, she thanked his highness Sheikh Mohammed for providing the amazing opportunity that is Flying Start before handing over to our MC for the day, Jocelyn Targett.

Session 1 (Be Your Own Boss) got underway with a discussion with our first speaker Susan Kellogg. She began describing an attribute of success that crosses all industries and none more so than the equine industry. Having a strong and deep passion for the industry is immensely important as she related how it helps us to persist through the long hours and helps us is becoming resilient to failures and/or the bumps along the road. Some of the points raised included engaging with everything, reinventing oneself and taking the risk in challenging oneself. One point that personally resonated with me was her point of slowing down. Sometimes we get caught up in the task at hand, failing to understand how we appear outwardly. She drew comparison between herself and one of the current trainees, having advised him to slow down, relax and enjoy the road, helping towards a more successful process.

Susan broached the topic of leadership, with the team that surrounds you having a significant impact of the success or failure of your ventures, she cited the age old saying of being “only as important as your team”. This built on what she mentioned earlier whereby she hires into her weaknesses and requires a level of self-awareness that allows you to acknowledge those weaknesses. She explained the value of having someone to bounce ideas off.

When opened to the floor, Darren Fox posed the question of keeping a career fresh by either changing jobs or roles within those positions to which Susan stressed the importance of not ending up with a CV that reflects a career that hopped between companies, but rather challenging oneself within roles.

Delegate Jenny Barnett really challenged Susan, when trying to identify what Susan considers to be some of the key points to growth. Once again, the response reverted to the people of the business, “having a team that is open to change” being given the pole position of growth. Interestingly she separated listening to employees from employees being heard.

Unsurprisingly, it was an Irish man, Gerry Duffy, who went off schedule when joining Susan to delve a little deeper as well as getting a giggle out of delegates from his anecdote of his debut in skinny jeans. But on a serious note he reverted to one of Susan’s initial points on passion. Susan explained that her passion comes from an inner drive to win and the passion doesn’t always necessarily have to come from work but can sometimes come from passions outside a career.

After a session that generated plenty of interest and though provoking questions, the session concluded with Jocelyn regaining his mic from Gerry.

Session 2 (Be Your Own Team Coach) began after a brief break. Samantha Couch was our speaker for the session and she holds the position of ‘Director of People and Culture’ at Big Ass Solutions here in Lexington. Immediately, I think that is was the job title that most generated interest amongst delegates. She began with explaining the value of millennials in the workforce. Hearing some of Samantha’s theories coming from a HR position added some ideas for bridging the gap.

We saw some common threads between both Samantha and Susan when she reverted to the topic of passion. She explained how it’s the company’s philosophy to understand what makes the employees tick. By exploiting this and taking into the work place provides the opportunity to improve morale and consequentially productivity. She added that it is essential to allow staff to know the end goal and effectively define what “winning” is from the businesses perspective as well as making the path to it both enjoyable and challenging.

When opened to the floor delegate Kate Grimwade, following by the example set by Gerry Duffy, joined Samantha on stage. Kate was joined by Conor Foley when diving straight in with the most prominent issue in our industry, working hours. In an industry that is so labour intensive, she questioned keeping employees interested and engaged through the long hours and potentially mundane roles. Samantha recounted her moto and that of the company of “if not for them, none of us”. Ensuring that employees feel valued and instrumental in the success of the organisation is of the utmost importance. Apart from the obvious extrinsic motivation of pay related bonuses, it is equally important to attain employee buy-in to the business.

Kate reverted to the issues that she has experienced in manging millennials and the opposing views and ideologies the either sides hold, to which Samantha encouraged her to work with the millennials rather than questioning and fighting it. While this poses a challenge for employers and managers, it certainly is worth placing trust in them.

Natalie Heitz addressed the issue of dealing with problems in millennials, something that can sometimes be ignored. Samantha explained how the traditional annual review is no longer suitable and managers need to go further by having more regular meetings, dealing with issues as they arise and preventing from them festering or escalating.

As the session came to an end I thought back on one point Samantha made, the lack of fear that millennials have. It’s something that managers need to get their head around.

Session 3 was interestingly titled Energizer Session. With no one, including Clodagh and Joe knowing what Kate Hardy had planned for us, I think that they were pleasantly surprised. I’m sure the people of Lexington were unsure what conference was in town when they saw many Flying Start alumni and trainees taking to the streets of Lexington for the Kate’s scavenger hunt. I’m sure that this will prove to be one of the highlights of the day and luckily the weather proved perfect and she didn’t have to revert to ‘plan B’.

Session 4 (Creating a Culture of Innovation) got under way after 2pm and this time Aidan Connolly, Chief Innovation Officer at Alltech, took to the floor. He outlined some of the perceptions from outside the industry which were of and traditional one that is slow to change. He identified that with a principal funding source of betting from individuals who are not necessarily in the industry we need to be aware of the perceptions that the industry has in the public’s mind including the complicated issue of ‘drugs’. But this raises the bigger question as Aidan did, “are you producing the best horses or are you in the entertainment industry?”. This is one that certainly require more thought from all of us.

He posed us another question when asking “do you still want to work on a horse farm?” and Jenny Barnett gave a very honest answer when acknowledging that the expected answer nowadays may very well be a ‘no’, explaining that it is difficult as a business in the industry to do everything to retain people. She added that it may not be possible to create the career paths that employees are looking for. There is no easy answer to this question and it is in line with the points that Kate Grimwade made in one of the earlier sessions and something that alumni associations need to be constantly discussing.

“If we don’t adapt, we die”, these were the words that Aidan spoke when encouraging us to think and innovate in our activities. He introduced several innovative ideas that are coming to the market and while some might not appeal to all of us, they do highlight that there are breaks away from tradition and these are progressions in technology, some of which we may be adapted to integrate into our programs. This topic was revisited when opened to the floor when delegate Dean Roethemeier questioned if some of the technology was too advanced for the demands of its users, and this migrated to Aidan suggesting that we interact with the technology companies to help them to tailor these products to meet our requirements.

Aidan continued by talking about the process involved in business development. He turned the typical method around, encouraging us to start with identifying where we are now and finishing with the path that we need to be on to get where we want to go, knowing exactly where you want to go in-between.

He provided a method of problem solving when telling us that the key is to slow our brain speed down and this can be achieved by doing relaxing tasks even as simple as mowing the lawn.

Once again Gerry Duffy was prominent in questioning our speaker and he debated that some of task in equine industry don’t lend themselves to automation to which Tom Morley responded by reminding us the importance of tread mills in training now, reducing the pressure on having as many work riders.

Session 5 (Power and Influence) got under way just before 3pm and Jim Prescott from Prescott Group LLC joined us to discuss public affairs and their potential impact on your business. For this session we had a panel consisting of Lisa Jane Graffard and Bill Lear, Chairman Emeritus of Stoll Keenon Ogden PLLC, One of the main points that he raised is that we are in a climate of opposition whereby we can face opposition to our activities from a variety of angles and this le don to the question, “What opposition do you face?”, to which both Kate Hardy and Darren Fox responded simultaneously with “PETA”, reminding us of the challenges that our industry faces from such organisations that could possibly destroy it.

Jim continued by discussing public consent. With our industry and the racing side being one that is to the fore regarding having some public consent that allows it to continue, it is in a venerable state whereby it’s future has the potential to be determined by people who are involved in it. Consequentially, it is up to us to be proactive in changing the public perception that has come out of controversy on our racetracks. Jim added that no one is going to stand up on our behalf and defend us.

Discussion with our panel begun with the issue of lobbyists and Jim stressed the value of hiring professionals to help and strengthen the cause. Bill expressed the value of building relationships with the representative bodies.

Conor Foley questioned who is responsible for impacts here when industries like Illinois are torn apart to which he responded that we the active participants are. He recounted as so many of us have that horses are in our DNA, but it’s declining in almost every jurisdiction other than Hong Kong. He added that it is the same sport as it was 40 years ago, and there are challenges that we haven’t overcome and one of which is the failure to make advances in the gaming that we provide to the public. Lisa ended that part of the discussion, stating racing is an expensive type of gaming to put on.

This afternoons session really came alive when it came to the issue of medications. The panel was led to this issue by delegate, Natalie Heitz who expressed frustration with the time associated with trying to achieve any sort of legislative change. As we all know, medication has been a long-time issue. Bill added that medication is not only an issue for integrity of competition, but also gambling. Tom Morley joined in with his feeling as an Englishman training here, adding that he feels that it is ingrained in American’s that medication isn’t an issue. This stirred a response from Bo Rainbow, who expressed the view that the USA consistently gets blamed over the medication issue when other nations use it equally if not more. Either way, this is an issue that needs to be tackled in both areas. When tackling the issue of medications, we typically revert to the issues regarding variations across states.

Gerry Duffy has been a great contributor throughout todays proceedings and he suggested in this the final session on dealing with the disconnect between industry professionals and the policy makers. This is the formation of an association whose sole purpose is explaining our purpose to theses bodies. Scott Calder added that attempts have been made before but did not seem to be executed very well.

Lisa Jane Graffard brought the session to a close on the key point that one of the most influential activities that we could do is making valuable contributions to the community that surrounds us. This will hopefully gain some much-needed supporters to our industry.

2015 Alumni Conference, UK

There are 130 Godolphin Flying Start graduates working in 5 continents in almost all aspects of bloodstock, racing, breeding, media and administration. Many of them are successful in their own right, others are climbing the corporate and political ladders and some are emerging entrepreneurs. They have a shared loyalty to Godolphin Flying Start and they form a new wave of industry players with an international knowledge and network unequalled. However, they still face challenges to keep up with technology, social media and industry trends as well as making informed career and business decisions. The Inaugural Alumni Conference held at Cambridge University, UK, on December 10^th and 11^th 2015 aimed to provide continuing professional education and to harness the power of the Godolphin Flying Start alumni network. The conference, themed “Branding and Reputation”, created an environment in which the energy, experience and expertise of alumni created an electric atmosphere. It brought opportunities for business, learning, sharing knowledge and experience, developing connections, friends and mentors.

Delegates who registered for the Alumni conference were asked to vote for a Godolphin Flying Start colleague whom they felt had excelled in business and in leadership. These are the  first ever Alumni Awards and they were presented at a reception on the evening of Day One of the conference. The awards were based on votes from alumni and there was one for “Business Excellence” and one for “Leadership Excellence” which makes them all the more meaningful and coveted. The recipients were racehorse trainer, Francis Graffard and Darley Ireland Manager, Gerry Duffy, respectively.

The two day conference was a resounding success with the majority of European based graduates attending. Several flew in from France and Ireland to join their UK based colleagues. We aim to continue with a similar conference in Lexington in January 2017.

Day 1

Day 1 marked another turning point in the evolution of Godolphin Flying Start with the inception of its Inaugural Alumni Conference at the Moller Centre in Cambridge, UK. With 130 graduates spread across the world to date, Godolphin Flying Start is again investing in the future leaders of tomorrow by bringing its network of graduates together and giving them a two-day continuing education opportunity. Over 40 graduates from Europe and America are attending this conference, titled Masterclass: Reputation and Brand, which is taking a progressive approach by looking outside the Thoroughbred industry box to other world class organizations in order to enhance the personal development of its graduates and, through them the fortunes of the greater racing industry. While education has always been one of the defining hallmarks of Godolphin Flying Start, a portion of the conference will also be dedicated to its other defining legacies, promoting and facilitating leadership, via harnessing the collective brainpower of the alumni to discuss and address the global horse racing brand.

In the first section of day one, some of the best and brightest of Godolphin Flying Start look to entrepreneur Philip Turner of the Chestnut Group, Barbara Clancy legal counsel of World Rugby and Chairman of Irish Sports Council Kieran Mulvey on how to build their own brands and manage crises in today’s dynamic and fast changing world. One of the topics covered in depth by the speakers was the challenges relating to brand that today’s up and coming generation are going to face as they move through their careers in an increasingly connected and shrinking world. To paraphrase the MC of the day Jocelyn Targett, you can spend a lifetime building a reputation and brand but in today’s world, all of that can be lost in 140 characters. As such, one of the key aspects that Phillip Turner highlighted was understanding the currency of individual or company brand. Essentially, what is it that customers or clients truly find valuable when a service or product fails to meet expectations? Another challenge our panel discussed bringing in Kieran Mulvey and Barbara Clancy’s experience of working in the professional sports industry was the importance of reputation on an industry wide scale and how other international sports and their governing bodies are facing tremendous scrutiny and investigation worldwide because of their tarnished reputations. It is clear from the response in the room from the alumni that it is this generation’s responsibility to maintain and collectively lift even higher the Thoroughbred industry brand and reputation through both their business and personal interactions.

Following the lively panel discussion, the conference moved into its second phase where Godolphin Flying Start Manager, Clodagh Kavanagh, presented the alumni with a case study titled Global Horseracing: What’s Our Brand? and opened up the floor to discussion before breaking up into small groups to brainstorm the topic before reconvening and presenting their collective findings to the group. Listening into some of the group discussions it is clear that the answer is complex and that the racing industry needs to look inwards with an eye on the horizon in searching for the best way to brand and market itself. One of the comments that was consistent in the various group discussions was that ethos of racing, regardless of how it should be branded on a global or national level, moving into the future is one that needs to be steeped in a reputation of integrity in both business practices and horse care.

With day one wrapping up, it is certain that based off of the positive reception and active engagement from the Godolphin Flying Start alumni that there will be even more to come tomorrow as the conference moves into day two.

Day 2

With the first day of the Inaugural Godolphin Flying Start Conference coming to an end, the alumni headed to The Glonville Hotel for a reception and the presentation of awards for Business Excellence and Leadership Excellence. These awards were voted on by all Godolphin Flying Start European Alumni with French training sensation, Francis Graffard, taking home a beautiful bronze for Business Excellence and Darley Ireland General Manager, Gerry Duffy, winning the award for Leadership Excellence.

Beginning at 9:30 am this Friday morning, the conference pushes forward again picking up on yesterday’s panel discussion with a presentation focusing on navigating the information age by Page Group Regional Talent Director, Beverley Nicholas, titled Your Digital Brand and Business Network. With both personal and professional social media networks becoming more integrated part of our lives the alumni were extremely interested in how to manage these channels leading to a very interactive presentation. One of the ideas that was focused on was that word of mouth can quickly become world of mouth, meaning that information travels and becomes viral like at no other time in history, making it imperative to be cognisant not only of what is posted on social media but of what happens in public settings. An interesting observation that Beverley made based on her 20 years in talent acquisition is that a danger of the social media age we live in and a problem that the Page Group are seeing is that many candidates from the newest generation entering the job market are very skilled with online communication but have a serious skill deficit when it comes to in-person relations and interpersonal relations. In addition to interpersonal relations she also highlighted personal authenticity and the ability to strategically network as two key traits that the most successful individuals have.

Following a short coffee break the conference moved into its final phase by welcoming Ronny Helvey, the Marketing Director at Joules Clothing, to the stage for an intimate sit down chat show style interview led by MC Jocelyn Targett. One of the ideas highlighted by Ronny was the importance of brand authenticity and that reputation is won or lost on the ability to deliver your vision. The theme surrounding the importance of authenticity was a common thread woven throughout the day and seemed to strike a chord with the attending alumni. As many of them own their own small businesses or are in positions to make hiring decisions at the companies they work for, how to portray the values of their brand and how to determine the real values and character of potential hires was of particular interest.

Day two wrapped up by revisiting the question posed on the previous day, Global Horseracing; What’s Our Brand? The alumni again broke down into small groups to pick up where they left off the day before to try and get concrete ideas down which could then be discussed among the larger group. The ideas and potential answers discussed in this session will be collated and presented to the International Federation of Horse Racing Authorities as a proactive impetus towards continuing to unite and lift the thoroughbred industry to even greater heights.

Based on the quality of speakers, engagement, and atmosphere, the Inaugural Darley Flying Start Alumni Conference was a resounding success. The conception and fruition of the event was spear headed by Clodagh Kavanagh and Joe Osborne with support throughout from Martin Larkin. The event was also supported on the two days by Godolphin Flying Start’s First Year Trainees in the following roles: Delegate/Guest Liaison- Lauren De Arias Huep, Carrie Hu, William Freedman, and Hannah Marks; Video- Jackson Buchanon and Conrad Bandoroff; Interviews- Alayna Cullen and Brittney Dixon; Social Media- Patricia Bowman and Cherry He; Photographer- Mary Ellet; Reporter- Michael Smith.