About Steve Dalton

Trainer, facilitator, and technology professional

Why Training and Facilitation

Steve focuses on training, facilitation, and practical learning because he's seen too many sessions that waste people's time. Good training should leave you with something you can use immediately, not a folder of slides you'll never open.

Background

His background as an engineer and founder means he understands both the technical side and the business reality. He's built products, run companies, and made the mistakes that come with that. When he teaches, he's teaching from experience, not from a textbook.

Community and Startup Ecosystems

His role in startup and community ecosystems includes co-founding Gold Coast Techspace, involvement with Gold Coast Innovation Hub, organising Barcamp Queensland, and early participation in the Silicon Beach community. He believes in building things and helping others build things.

Training Approach

His approach to teaching and facilitation is interactive and outcome-focused. He doesn't lecture. He creates situations where people learn by doing, then helps them connect what they've learned to their actual work. Sessions should feel productive, not performative.

Interests and Hobbies

4WD, outdoors, camping and caravaning for getting out of the city and into real places. Steve is a member of the Gold Coast 4WD Club. Off-grid tiny house living for practical, sustainable living that connects to the land. Aquaponics and off-grid sustainable farming for producing food while understanding natural systems. Maker projects and IoT hardware for building things that solve actual problems. Drones and photogrammetry for mapping and documentation. Black and white photography for capturing what matters in its essential form. Mentoring because passing knowledge forward matters. Community work because strong communities make everything else possible.

Steve is an active member of the Labrador Men's Shed. Men's health and wellbeing is a subject close to his heart, and he loves learning woodworking from the generation of his parents and grandparents. He is also a member of the Gold Coast Amateur Radio Society with callsign VK4DMZ, continuing his interest in understanding communication systems and connecting with the amateur radio community.

Personal Values

Accountability means doing what you say you'll do. Community means supporting the people around you. Craftsmanship means doing things properly, not just quickly. Maturity means handling complexity without drama. Safety means understanding risks and managing them appropriately.

Purposeful Conversations

Steve prefers conversations with clear purpose and outcomes over vague catch-ups. If you're going to spend time together, make it count. That might mean solving a specific problem, exploring an idea in depth, or making a decision. It doesn't mean networking for networking's sake.