Dan Pontefract

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Over the Christmas break (I'm Christian, so it's still ok to say Christmas in my books) I did some thinking in and amongst my usual stream of food, alcohol and late night debaucheries. What am I going to be when I grow up? In 2011, I turned 40 (documented here somewhat if you like) and perhaps it's a mid-life blogging / career crisis, but I just didn't think the title 'trainingwreck' was doing me any favours on this blog site. Clever, maybe, but the term 'trainingwreck' pigeonholes me in terms of what I write about, and what I believe in. It might even prevent future opportunities.

Maybe it was way too many "The Gold, The Bad and The Ugly" martinis, but I digress. So, if you can believe it, whilst thinking about what to do next during the break amidst my holiday fog ... one night, I had a dream. Seriously. Not the MLK type, but a dream nonetheless. The dream was to rename 'trainingwreck' to 'brave new org'. It was a faceless, nameless female that was yapping to me about this change during what seemed to be quiet time at some library, and when I awoke, it was as if I actually had the conversations for real. This dream occurred on Jan 1st, 2012 and ever since, I've been reskinning this site to reflect 'brave new org' including what I think is a more vibrant look and feel. Of course, this could be an insane waste of time if you stop visiting, reading, reacting, and contributing. So there you have it. 'trainingwreck' is now defunct in favour of 'brave new org'. I hope you like it. On Monday, January 9th, I'll release my Word for 2012. Hint ... it starts with an "I".

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Testimonials

Dan Pontefract’s keynote on the importance of workplace culture in employee engagement was excellent. Dan used his vast leadership experience to provide our conference attendees with practical strategies to build teams that are engaged and committed. His relatable, real-life examples were thought provoking, memorable and very personal, creating a connection to the audience. I would highly recommend Dan as an entertaining keynote speaker who delivers content that is relevant and actionable.

Michelle Hillyard, Director SCU
We are so proud to have had you at our event. Your talk was a big hit. It moved us. We can’t thank you enough.

Malin Björnell, Salesforce
Dan challenged us to have clarity of purpose, both as individuals and as an organization. He related inspiring stories drawing on his experience in business, technology and academia. As he said, ‘There is no ownership without belonging.’

Christian Pantel, D2L
Fantastic engaging talk for our global partner summit. Thank you so much, Dan!

Barb Kinnard, CEO Response Biomedical Corp
Dan not only brought his presentation to life with his charisma, but also content, style and presentation finesse. Our members were especially interested in his thought provoking and top of mind topic on the future of work and how we’re going to be leading the next generation of leaders.

Cheryl Goodwin, CPA
Dan is a conference organizer’s ideal speaker. Not only did he inspire and energize our group, but he also masterfully adapted his content so it resonated with the audience and our conference theme. As a bonus, Dan is able to nimbly navigate to adjust to a reduced time slot when other speakers went over time without sacrificing the impact of his session.

Director and General Counsel
Dan accomplished what we set out to do, which was not only to be inspirational, but also to leave everyone with tools and food for thought / self-reflection to improve their personal and professional lives.

Hermann Handa, FCT

Media Appearances