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CMC Members Mediation Q&A on 12 June

CMC Members Mediation Q&A on 12 June

On 12 June, around 100 CMC members joined an online event to discuss various aspects of mediation with an expert panel consisting of senior CMC members. The session covered topics such as the progress of CMC working groups and Government liaison committee, chartered status efforts, and advice for new mediators, while attendees discussed mediation challenges.

  REPORT BY VICTORIA HARRIS

On the 12 June around 100 CMC members joined a lunchtime event online to discuss all things mediation with our expert panel.

CMC CEO Paul Adams, Programme Manager Victoria Harris, Workplace Working Group Chair Dionne Dury, Board Member Roger Levitt and Government Liaison lead Hetti Jackson-Stops answered questions from members on a wide variety of topics on the minds of mediators, with the session facilitated by Mia Forbes Pirie.

Hetti spoke about the work of the CMC Government liaison committee over the past 18 months which has marked a time of significant progress for mediation, while Paul addressed the work that the CMC is doing for the wider mediation sector to include the work of the CMC to seek chartered status.

Victoria and Dionne detailed the current activities of the Community, Peer and Workplace Working Groups and the initiatives of the Academic Forum. Members were advised that they could join the CMC Academic Forum or the Peer or Community Working Groups by contacting Victoria via email.  For information about the workplace or commercial working group members can e mail workplace@civilmediation.org and commercialwg@civilmediation.org respectively. New membership options for the peer, community and academic sector were highlighted and all CMC membership options can be explored on the CMC website.  Any queries about membership and benefits can be directed to Angela and Jo from the CMC Secretariat.

Roger Levitt was asked for his top tips for starting out as a mediator and reflected upon the importance of connecting with others in the profession and being active on platforms such as LinkedIn to build your mediation brand. Members were advised that a session on this topic is planned for the CMC annual conference in November, and that Members could benefit from an early bird price for a limited time if they wished to book now to secure their annual CPD. Tickets for the CMC conference can be purchased via Eventbrite.

Questions continued to cascade to the panel on a variety of topics to include, the impact of a potential change in Government on mediation, the mechanics of integrated mediation in small claims and reflections on Baroness Carr’s keynote speech at LIDW about forms of dispute resolution working more closely.

The difficulty in gaining observations was raised by some delegates and it was advised that the requirements for observations will be studied as part of a strategic review that the CMC will be undertaking later this year.  The prospect of observing mediation simulations as learning experiences was also explored. Observation offers and suggestions for who to contact for observations flooded in to the ‘chat’ and it was good to see the support offered by more experienced mediators to those starting out.

During the meeting, all attendees were encouraged to nominate their mediation hero for a National Mediation Award which is taking place in December. Nominations can be made on the NMA website.

Thank you to all who joined us for this event and for contributing to the conversation!

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