We’ve been looking at conferences happening in the first half of 2020 following on from reviews of personal development plans. There are some great opportunities nearby and further afield that we want to take advantage of, and hope to see colleagues across the University joining us. Here are details of conferences that caught our eye…

As a new team, we have much to learn about each other, about each others’ specialist disciplines, and about the higher education sector.

My learning and development goals for the Prospective Student Web Content Team are:

• Establish ourselves as a centre of expertise and best practice in user-centred content design and content strategy
• Develop in everyone – regardless of specialist discipline – the confidence and competence to undertake a basic level of user research
• Ensure everyone has the skills and opportunities to facilitate engagement within our communities and lead collaborative, respectful, inclusive co-design
• Provide a platform for everyone to share our learning and achievements, within and beyond the University.

These are the conferences we’re committing to this year. We know they’re great and worthwhile events from previous experience.

But we also are interested in what others value. If you know of something good that I’ve missed here, let me know in the comments.

Service Design in Government

What is it? It’s a three-day conference that brings together service managers, designers and user researchers from a range of areas of the public sector across the world. Sessions are a mix of case studies, workshops and presentations. (I can get University of Edinburgh staff a 20% discount, get in touch if you’re interested.)

When: 4-6 March 2020

Where: Edinburgh; The John McIntyre Conference Centre on Dalkeith Road. (Part of the University’s halls of residence compex).

Check the programme on the SDinGOV website

Previous blog posts about this event (from the Website and Communications blog)

IWMW (Institutional Web Managers Workshop)

What is it? It’s a three-day conference organised by people in higher education for people in higher education. The mix of presentations, workshops and discussions cover a range of web-based disciplines: developers, marketers, content editors, designers, managers and strategists.

When: 30 June – 2 July 2020

Where: Dundee University

Check the programme on the IWMW website

Previous blog posts about this event (from the Website and Communications blog)

UX Scotland

What is it? It’s a three-day conference that brings together user researchers, designers and developers from across the world. Keynotes are often delivered by world-leading thinkers and practitioners in the field. Sessions are a mix of case studies, workshops and presentations. (There’s a 10% discount available to University of Edinburgh staff thanks to Duncan Stephen presenting this year. Drop me a line to find out more).

When: 10-12 June 2020

Where: Edinburgh; The Dynamic Earth Centre, Holyrood Road.

Check the programme on the UX Scotland website

Previous blog posts about this event (from the Website and Communications blog)

ContentEd

What is it? It’s a two-day conference dedicated to content strategy in higher education. It’s Europe’s only content strategy conference focused on the sector and brings together delegates from around the world who are interested in all things content related.

When: 11-12 June 2020

Where: Bristol

Check the programme on the ContentEd website

Previous blog posts about this event (from the Website and Communications blog)

What are you thinking of attending?

Leave a comment if there are conferences, training or events that you’d recommend.

Let us know if you’re going to any of the conferences above as it’d be great to hook up.

Conferences, collaboration and upcoming learning opportunities / Future student online experiences by blogadmin is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution CC BY 3.0