Summer Institute Days Drifting Away But Ah Oh Those Summer Institute Nights

I asked for a silly pose.  This was the last day
(yes, they are wearing CDSN SI t-shirts)
during the lunch break--they all went
together across the new bridge to the park
for a picnic rather than heading off in
different directions.

 Once again, I am energized by an amazing week of Summer Instituting.  This year is our third in-person SI, and it coincides with the start of efforts to re-apply for another seven years of CDSN.  Why do we put so much effort into this application?  In part because realizing this part of the grant, the Summer Institute, hits all the sweet spots--it helps engage our (my) curiosity as we learn all kinds of stuff, we meet people--participants and speakers--from all across the Canadian defence and security community, it is simply fun, and it feels good to foster the professional development of others and to break down the barriers between the different pieces of the community.

I write each year about the SI (see here for last year's post), and yes, each year is more effusive than the last.  Why? Simply because it keeps getting better.  We learn what panels work, and we learn how to tweak the simulation to make it work better.  Last year's participants finally hit what we had imagined this thing to be--one third emerging academics, one third policy folks from govt, one third military officers and senior enlisted types. This year, we had that and also one or two folks from the private sector who added an additional perspective.  The only thing missing in terms of participants is we would love to get some journalists involved.

Once again, our speakers nicely matched the participants as we had folks from academia (Canadian and American), from key partner organizations like Bridging the Gap and Out in National Security, from the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces, and the like.  We had a new panel on Whole of Government that brought in sharp folks from Privvy Council Office (nothing like it in the US) and Global Affairs Canada (State).  That panel worked great, even before I tossed in a grenade--why are the political advisors to missions these days mostly coming from inside DND rather than GAC?  Good times.  Our day at DND HQ was even better than last year's (with one caveat) as we extended from just three speakers in one morning to five over the course of the day.  We heard from Army, Navy, Cyber, military intel, and the Associate Deputy Minister.  The one caveat is that the prior two years, the Deputy Minister had a wide ranging Q&A with us, and that was pretty terrific.  We didn't have that this year, alas.

Above, I mentioned the we--it is very much a team sport.  Melissa, Sherry, and Racheal did most of the work, Morad kicked in some help as well.  All I did was smile and wave. Ok, I did more than that--I served as MC and I got to present some of my stuff in a couple of panels--one on civ-mil and one on public attitudes about the military (which is also civ-mil).  I am so very grateful to Team CDSN for pulling this off.  The SI is the hardest thing we do, and it is most important thing we do.  It helps foster generations of sharp defence folks who are better connected and better informed.  We once again had a very diverse crew along lots of dimensions--gender, region, occupation, ethnicity, etc, so this is very much a key part of one of the CDSN's key objectives--to foster a more diverse, inclusive, and equitable next generation of defence and security scholars, scientists, policy officers, and military officers.  

If you are interested in the Summer Institute, we will be putting out ads and accepting applications in early 2024, and you can check out more info at our website: https://www.cdsn-rcds.com/summerinstitute 

Below are a variety of pictures from the week that I took.  Racheal took better ones that will be on the CDSN website eventually.

I love a good meta picture as I caught them taking
pics after their picnic.

Last bits of simulation scheming

Phil had a wonderful procurement rant or two

Our reception brings together co-directors, participants, 

n

Stef vH and Anna repped WIIS-C which
co-organizes our midweek reception

We probably need a better backdrop for our
annual NDHQ picture.  But we had a great day

a theme across the week--the CAF is really challenged

Murray Brewster and Col Paul Doucette talk
defence and the media.

Al Okros, who is not very good at retiring, and 
Kristine Ennis-Heise of DND talk policy process

Thomas, Erik, and Luke talk bridging the gap

More simulation scheming

the view from the speakers' end of the table

We met at the hotel bar the night before the
event to break the ice. Bridgers Erik and Luke at
the kids' table (we had more folks show up than
could fit at the main table) hang with participant Husnain

The cool kids table at the closing reception

The folks who arrived early sat at this table. 
Hence not the cool kids

I was quoted in the simulation post-brief. I had no
idea... but then again, this happens in two years.

The sim took place in the future, so it has a
guess at who is in office down the road. 
I am guessing they will be half right.