On Monday and Tuesday Feb 9-10, the ARK Group are running their Knowledge for the Experienced Practitioner event. ARK do not normally organise dinner functions, so for the last few conferences some of the “regulars” (members of KMLF and associated bodies from other states) have been organising an informal evening gathering over a meal. There will almost certainly be an informal gathering on Monday evening.
Patrick Lambe and Arthur Shelley are delivering workshops on the Wednesday, so for Tuesday evening (Feb 10), I was thinking of arranging a social interactive activity in the form of “musical chairs”. This is where we book a venue to serve three courses of food to round tables of six to eight people and after each course. Between courses we all get up and move to another table to enage in conversations with another group. This format builds our networks more widely and provides the opportunity to get to know like-minded people better in a relaxed and social atmosphere. I believe I can encourage many of the speakers to attend and have the endorsement of ARK to proceed with this.
Please let me know if you are interested in attending so we can judge the feasibility of this format. I have done it before and it works very well with groups of 20 and up.
This will NOT replace the February 25th event for which we will soon announce a speaker.
The January KMLF meeting at RMIT University’s Graduate School of Business was enjoyed by around 30 people who were all actively engaged in a range of conversations. Despite the over 40 degree heat outside, the topics covered were hotter and well lubricated with wine, non alcoholic beverages and nibblies. Periodic interruptions were difficult to achieve as people were embedded in topics incuding the use of wikis in small to medium enterprises, behavioural aspects of knowledge strategies, applying storytelling to influence and a range of other things that simply popped up as the conversations ebbed and flowed across the evening. As people started to leave around eight o’clock they were enthusiastically asking about the next event. More on that very soon….. (It will be at the RMIT’s GSB on Feb 25 – see you all there!)
KM Leaders of Melbourne and interested parties,
We have a lot to discuss this year, so we are planning to set event dates for the whole year to assist members to plan their calendars in advance. The more we can maximise attendance, the more networking and interactions (and fun) we can generate. We will meet on the fourth Wednesday of every month from 6-9 PM (with the odd exception to fit visiting speakers etc). Events will take a variety of forms including open discussion, workshop games, technique sharing, proposal development (to influence industry and decision-makers about knowledge issues) and others in addition to the usual invited speakers.
2009 starts off with a new aproach in a new venue. RMIT University’s Graduate School of Business have generously agreed to provide facilities every month for us to have a place we can call KMLF Home. The first session will look at conversation as a tool for knowledge sharing. The format is a facilitated discussion in which everyone is invited to participate. Conversations that matter (also known as constructive dialogue or courageous conversations) have been getting more attention as a mechanism of knowledge exchange, influence and communication in recent times. So please join the conversation about conversations!
Conversations as Knowledge Tools
RMIT Graduate School of Business 300 Queen Street.
Melbourne City (between Little Lonsdale and La Trobe)
There is some free car parking on site and ample close on street parking (meters active until 7 PM). Location is only one block from both Flagstaff and Central Stations.
See you all there. Wine, Cheese, Tea, Coffee, chocolates and nibbles will be provided
