"No-one can become rich without first enriching others."
- after Andrew Carnegie, Industrialist and Philanthropist
The winners of the 2011 In The Black Essay Competition in association with Boehringer Ingelheim were announced at the AVBA Veterinary Business Conference dinner in Melbourne last month. Susan Halloran, Editor of In The Black said, “This annual competition is open to anyone who works in a veterinary business and is a way for all of us to become a little richer. Entrants have the chance to win one of three great prizes and our readers are enriched by the shared knowledge, experience, observations and opinions of those who make a submission.”
The essay ‘Team Building with a Difference’, submitted by Diane Whatling, Practice Manager of the Companion Animal Health Centre at the University of Adelaide’s Roseworthy Campus was judged the best, by a panel comprising John Heath, National Sales & Marketing Manager, Boehringer Ingelheim; Mark Amott, Business Manager, Southern Animal Referral Centre and AVBA Director and; Susan Halloran, Editor, In The Black. Diane’s prize was a cheque for $1,000.00.
Mark Amott commented, “Diane’s essay provides a practical and real-life account of how she made, executed and reviewed a plan for team building with a difference. She discusses the actual plan along with some of the challenges and trade-offs of organising such an event.”
Second prize of $500 went to Joan Gibbons from Murwillumbah Veterinary Clinic and Eric Allan from Charles Sturt University took the $300 third prize. Eric and Diane accepted their prizes from Richard Howie of Boehringer Ingelheim. Joan sent her apologies as she was celebrating her mother’s 80th birthday.
Editor of In The Black, Susan Halloran said, “The winning entries will be published in the next three issues of In The Black.” She added, “All entries were of a very high standard and many contained material of value to AVBA members. I’ll certainly be publishing relevant excerpts.” She concluded by offering her congratulations to the winners and thanking Boehringer Ingelheim for supporting the competition.