Congratulations Wedge and Brian for successfully giving birth to Intranet Now yesterday. It was a privilege to be there yesterday. I have never experienced such an atmosphere of goodwill and wish for everything to go well from everyone – delegates, speakers, and sponsors.
It is hard to appreciate the amount of hard work over a long period of time with many decisions needed for any event to take place. You succeeded: well done!
For me it was the first event in a long time that I could attend as a delegate without the distraction of a presentation to deliver. I was able to catch up with many old intranet friends, make new friends, be surprised at how many people had different intranet roles (some even now digital workplace ones!) from when I first knew them – myself included.
There are too many highlights for me to pick one and others will comment upon particular presentations or discussions. The informal sessions in the afternoon worked very well for me as people contributed theri views with passion and considered thought.
Intranet Now like Interaction 2014 (in October) are the only opportunities for intranet professionals to meet in one place instead of virtually. The problem for people further afield is they are both in London. Can successful intranet events be run in other parts of the UK? What about Birmingham, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds or Manchester? Maybe on a smaller scale and with a different business model could something be possible that everyone could travel easily to?
One final thought for you to respond to:
Martin White (Intranet Focus) said people in the UK have more opportunities to graduate with a degree in knitting than information management. It’s both funny and very disappointing. I would love to change that. I don’t know how but I am willing to try after previous IBF24 (now DWG24) conversations over career progression. If we want intranet managers to transform to digital workplace leaders it will be easier and taken more seriously if there is a professional qualification available. Who can help me please?
Mark,
I would be very keen to support and encourage a professional qualification or endorsement to help our profession become more accepted.
Here in New Zealand I’m running “Intranet Lunch” events to hep foster a community of practice for digital workplace and intranet professionals. To me this base provides the foundation to support the development of a community lead profession.
I agree with you (sorry you didn’t give your name). It is heartening to see these little green shoots growing across the world. I will post an update on progress I am making with the UK professional bodies. Maybe at that stage we can share any common areas to help each other?
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