Part Two of this week’s Devon adventure was spent with 300 or so other people at the well publicised (it was trending on Twitter yesterday), thought provoking, inspirational and most definitely well received Like Minds conference in Exeter.  That’s @davebriggs and me pictured above – photo taken by the great Paul Clarke (do note that Paul will be photographing the Learning Pool conference this year on 12 May – it’s worth the ticket price alone just to have a beautiful art photo of yourself that he’s taken!).  A great day was had by all & the conference ran like clockwork thanks to the organisational skills of Scott Gould, his team & his charming wife.  There were a few big names from the social media space speaking (including American Chris Brogan, author of Trust Agents – a most entertaining presentation although I have no idea what it had to do with social media) and extremely polished & enjoyable presentations from Jonathan Akwue (Director at Digital Public, he made great links between social media & hip hop) and Joanne Jacobs (social media expert).

You can consume the official coverage of the entire event at this link here http://www.twitterface.com/likeminds2010 which includes video of the sessions & panel discussions and you can follow the Twitter chat at #likeminds.

From a public sector perspective, some of the topics discussed were largely irrelevant (branding) or just plain baffling (the Orange presentation about websites for example).  However, what I took away from the day was a deeper insight into how problematic it can be for large organisations such as government departments & local authorities to really try to embrace new technology or even new ways of doing things on any significant scale.  It’s ok if you’re part of the early adopter gang or if you operate in a small, flexible organisation like Learning Pool – this stuff is just common sense & even instinctive for everyone that’s part of the group.  Not so easy if you’re part of a small group of change agents in a large public sector body trying to influence and change the culture & mindset of your colleagues or senior managers.  That must be frustrating for many of the people that I come into contact with in my working life.

Still laughing at some of the weird & wonderful “Americanisms” – for example the use of the phrase C-Suite to refer to layers of senior management (CEO, CFO, CTO, etc) and utterly haunted by the question one delegate asked re how she can prevent her scientist colleagues discussing company secrets in open forums such as Twitter & Facebook...what’s the matter with those guys? – have they had their common sense chips deactivated?  Surely even the most junior members of any team knows what it’s ok to discuss with people online and what they should remain tight lipped about – online or over the garden fence or chit chatting in the pub.

Also – a last word of advice – don’t ever under any circumstances accept fashion tips from Americans – no matter how famous they are.  If you don’t believe me – check out the photos of Olivier Blanchard on the Like Minds coverage & compare his top & bottom halves.  Strange or what?

It’s been a great roadtrip to Devon.  Dave & I thoroughly enjoyed seeing friends & colleagues & meeting some new faces this week – thanks to everyone that’s made our few days away so pleasant and enjoyable.

Today @davebriggs and I were back on the road, making our way gently towards the Likeminds conference in Exeter tomorrow.  After a 5.30am start from Briggs Towers in Cambridge, and on the long drive, we reminded ourselves why people don’t usually leave the two of us to organise anything (no delegate list, no badges, no giveaways, no presentations prepared, sparse publicity material – a veritable catalogue of disasters).  However, no-one died and our lunchtime social media event was pronounced by all present to be informative & fun.

Amongst those attending today was long standing Learning Pool customer and friend, Bill Heasman (photo above).  Bill works in Leadership & Management Development for Devon County Council and is most definitely an all round good egg; he’s one of the good guys and that’s for sure.  Today we reminisced about the trauma of the first ever Learning Pool event which took place back in 2006 in the downstairs accommodation of some distressed gentlefolk in nearby Ottery St Mary.  Bill was our keynote speaker on the day, something that Paul, Ben & I will be eternally grateful to him for.  On that day, he valiantly pushed himself through the herds of wandering cats, addressed the crowd of South West councils and persuaded many of them to give a raggle taggle bunch of slightly confused Irish people a break – and amazingly here we are, almost four years later celebrating the success of Learning Pool – one of the most vibrant local government communities around.  Who’d have thought it!

So this blog is to say a great big thanks to Bill for his continuing support over the years.  Paul, Ben & I still appreciate you and so do all the other Poolies that have come along since and joined our merry band.

Follow any or all of us on Twitter @mmarymckenna @davebriggs @billheasman