“Excellent fact-finding and networking opportunity. I worked for IBM for six years and haven’t been to a better event!” E Pickering, Missing People Described as having “come of age”, our second annual Charity IT Conference 2007 took place at the QEII Conference Centre on 7 November 2007 and was a resounding success! Over 250 delegates attended the event benefiting from a jam-packed agenda and extensive exhibition. Among the many conference highlights: Jacquie Wakeford of Action for Blind People delivered an impressive case study on how to run a successful IT function on a day-to-day basis, providing a number of inspiring examples on how she has developed the departments interaction with the rest of the charity Cancer Research UK provided a fascinating account of how the UK’s largest fundraising charity is getting on with the latest online media. Kate Sayer of Sayer Vincent delivered a powerful presentation on leading and managing change. Of the many areas to emerge from the panel session at the end of the day were concise points on ways to keep abreast of the latest IT developments, open source software and whether vendors are offering as good a service as they claim. Ajay Burlingham-Böhr of Anglia Ruskin University delighted the crowds with her take on how you can achieve a successful information and knowledge-sharing infrastructure for your charity. Matthew Pollitt of Friends of the Earth successfully demonstrated how the charity has linked their IT strategy to aims and outcomes and how this has impacted positively on their campaigning. Here are just a few of the comments made by happy delegates: “The knowledge management session was excellent.” J Harrington, Institute of Cancer Research “A very useful and packed day!” J Rai, BVSC
“Well structured, well organised event. A must for anyone with an interest in charity IT developments.” J Burns, The Blue Cross “Very busy day – good value for money.” S Glover, Saint Francis Hospice “I really enjoyed the format of the event. The speakers were knowledgeable and made what can be a dry subject entertaining.” G Muthiah, Breakthrough Breast Cancer “This event provided a wide variety of perspectives from people and organisations that could demonstrate genuine understanding of the voluntary sector, and a great opportunity to network!” P Lodge, Essex Wildlife Trust “A great cross section of themes.” J Sayer, Zeraxis “The ‘personal experiences’ focus brings the practical application to life.” J Gomer, The Rose Road Association “It was very interesting to hear the experiences of such well known charities.” C Jones, Save the Children “A great place to make contacts and do serious networking. Really aligned my thinking regarding our IT strategy.” S Tilley, The Rose Road Association “Good opportunity to hear about a wide range of IT “hot topics” – worth coming from Scotland for.” J Stoner, Scottish Association for Mental Health “A good opportunity to talk and share common problems and successes.” S Carter, Making Space “One of the few occasions where IT professionals working in the charity sector can meet together and share information.” M Croft, The Salvation Army Large numbers of delegates meant that many new contacts were made and new relationships forged. Feedback has been excellent and we are now looking at ways that we can make the conference even better in 2008!