Janice Reid's Radio Weblog

Hello,

I've been a bit quiet recently while I've been attending seminars, creating mailshots and arranging a 'Tea for Diabetics' garden party - a DiabetesUK fund raising event. I need to develop a more interactive style for my Weblog!

Last Monday I attended a really interesting seminar run by William Hann of FreePint (www.freepint.com), which focused on Content Management Systems (CMSs). An excellent presentation was given by Martin Whilte of Intranet Focus Ltd (martin.white@intranetfocus.com), which described how CMSs function and how best to select one to meet your requirements - highlighting the different aspects to look out for depending on the origins of the vendor.

This was the second CMS seminar to be held, due to the high level of demand. There was acknowledgement within the group that there is a requirement for events such as these, with highly focused and informative content, interactive discussion and networking opportunities. Although this seminar was free, there will be a small fee for subsequent events.

This was an excellent start to FreePint's newly launched series of seminars for Information/Knowledge professionals (for more details contact Penny Tel: 01784 420044 ).

Speaking to a colleague yesterday, she highlighted that despite the downturn in the market with respect to recruitment, you would normally expect an upturn in the contract market as occurred follwing previous recessions. However, this doesn't appear to be the case. Despite a number contracts advertised and prospective candidates put forward, the clients are not coming to a decision to run with the project or postphoning the start dates.

With an air of uncertainty continuing, perhaps we're not out of the woods yet!!

Well to kick things off, I should introduce myself:

I'm a Knowledge Manager with 15 years of Big 5/blue chip company experience.

I've always been information oriented. I studied Information Science, after working as a Saturday Girl on the Chemist counter of a large high street 'Boots the Chemist'. I would have done that job for nothing, as I loved the fact that you never knew what you would be asked next and I really enjoyed the customer contact. I was lucky, that at that early age I discovered what made me tick, hence a switch of degree course from Geography to BSc Information Science (Hons).

Since then I've progressed through the ranks, learning and developing skills associated with this industry as well as building a good reputation for managing and developing my teams.

One thing that I've learnt recently is that there's a limit to what one's learning when working with a corporate. After a couple of years you start to capture more about the company, rather than building your own functional knowledge. You create a personal database of information which is very valuable to your work colleagues, but worthless to you once you move on. In hindsight I would recommend 'job hopping' in order to develop your personal knowledge of different environments, ways of doing things, attitudes etc, rather than a prolonged period at any one firm, even if you are frequently changing roles.

This premise has been one of the key influencing factors for me to decide to become a freelancer. I really want to experience a far wider range of workplaces, organisations etc, which will potentially benefit from the application of Knowledge Management solutions. I'm really excited about what I will encounter en route and am convinced that one day I will look back to these early days and thank my lucky stars that I made the right decision :-)

Gosh here I am - my very own weblog!

I'm not sure I know what this actually means, or will mean for me, but only one way to find out - to get on with some blogging! Here's to the future :-)