Blog
2019 Reflections
I’ve previously written about my method of logging tasks, and notwithstanding the limitations of just focusing on tasks, I’ve found it enlightening to reflect back on what the data is telling me about what I’ve been spending my time on in 2019. I’m sure reflection is good for you, but like dieting and focus, I struggle to do it. I’ve enjoyed others’ weeknotes, but have dropped out of the habit - perhaps a more chart based approach might give me a good base to build some narrative on. So here goes.
UCISA Event - Preparing for the new digital accessibility requirements
Sketches of first talk
IWMW19 Plenary Talks 11 to 14
The closing session of the conference.
IWMW19 Plenary Talk 4 and Short Talks
No, You Don’t Need a Website!
IWMW19 Plenary Talks 9 and 10
How to train your content- so it doesn’t slow you down…
IWMW19 Plenary Talks 5 and 6
What we Learnt from Rebuilding the University of Derby Website in 10 Months
IWMW19 Plenary Talks 7 and 8
Grassroots & Guerrillas: The Beginnings of a UX Revolution
IWMW19 Plenary Talks 1,2 & 3
The opening session of the conference.
Digifest19 Sketchnotes
I attended day two of JISC’s DigiFest having heard lots of good things about the range of sessions on offer, covering lots of the pressing issues around Teaching and Learning tech. @JoysyJohn from Nesta gave a keynote that raised the issue of skills gaps across lots of economies, even accounting for the massive predicted changes in economies across the world. All very optimistic for learning organisations if they (we) can grasp how to deliver these things, and figure out how to get the ‘non AI’ skills we need. Joysy’s slides were all very interesting and I think the video could easily have been longer and delivered at a more leisurely pace and been great. The slides are available on the DigiFest programme and well worth a look.
ITIL Service Design Training
ITIL Service design training - Lot of notes for 3 days worth of ITIL training.
2018 Reflections
So common as to be a cliché, here are some of my reflections from the last year that I hope will help me process what has been a particularly interesting year professionally.
Power BI Dashboard Design Training
Training in Power BI. Some people seemed fascinated by my notes so here they are.
ITIL Training
Training in ITIL. Lot of notes for 3 days worth of ITIL training.
IWMW18-megan-mcfarlane-mike-mcconnell
One for the people in the audience hungry for detail about good tools to do something that will be increasingly important for Universities as they up their competitive games. It was nice to have a meaty talk with plenty of detail about tools alongside how they are important.
IWMW18-keith-macdonald
Another case study about content. There was a consistent theme emerging of content out of control, lack of expertise across the org added to the very unique needs of such a federated University. Got a big thumbs up from me for the
IWMW18-jenni-taylor
Big finish for the conference with a cracking talk, ending the conference on a nicely evangelistic note. Also loved the way that it wasn’t just an exhortation, but there were examples of Jenni and her team putting their own advice into practice.
IWMW18-ayala-gordon-padma-gillen
Another good exposition of real world work, and the challenges along the way. Even though there are teams doing lots of similar transformation exercises, there’s always unique little things that come out of these. I particularly liked
IWMW18-Panel
Interesting perpectives on this panel. This conference has always been great for having sponsors that are a million miles away from a hard sell, and a few came and gave their advice on how to work with external people. Treating suppliers like people and making some effort to include them in a meaningful way means you actually get more out of the whole relationship. Who knew?
IWMW18-gareth-edwards
I was looking forward to Gareth’s talk based on the topic and the knowledge that he is one of those strange people that don’t seem to get nervous and actively enjoys public speaking. He didn’t disappoint.
IWMW18-dave-musson
This tour around some great content really got me scribbling down things to go and catch up on, steall and try. Dave even managed to make me reconsider my boredom with Campus shots of Buildings. And the advice about Press Releases was very pertinent.