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44 | EVENT PREVIEW: UCISA SUPPORT SERVICES |


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UCISA Support Services Conference 2014 preview


by Sally Bogg, Service Desk Manager at the University of Leeds T


ABOVE: Sally Bogg


his year’s UCISA Support Services Conference is back at the beautiful Crewe Hall which provides excellent, high-quality accommodation and


facilities in one of Cheshire’s most magnificent stately mansions. The Hall is located in extensive grounds and a beautiful Grade I listed building giving us an amazing backdrop for our Conference. The venue gives us really flexible conference space allowing us to keep the cabaret-style table layout as well as breakout rooms for group activities (you have been warned! This is a very interactive conference). The hotel provides free open access Wi-Fi throughout and Eduroam will be available in the Conference areas enabling delegates to stay connected throughout the three days. Building on the theme of last year’s Conference,


we are aiming to bring together different views and opinions on how we can all work more closely within our organisations to add value and ensure that we are aligning our services to the needs of the business. We have used feedback from the 2012 and 2013 Conferences to shape the content and format and, as always, we aim to give you as much time as possible to network with peers, discuss ideas and make contributions to the Conference. There will be presentations on relationship


management, gamification and engaging with our customers. All delegates are invited to participate in the popular Pecha Kucha sessions; these are presentations with 20 slides, each slide taking exactly 20 seconds. Last year several delegates used these sessions to let us know about some of the things they have been up to in their own institutions. All were brilliantly delivered and really entertaining so if you are interested in a Pecha Kucha slot please let us know. This year we are introducing a panel session where


delegates will have the opportunity to ask our team of experts their opinions and ideas − we will be sending


out an email asking for questions nearer the time. Carolyn Blunt from Real Results will be talking about her passion for customer service and what we can do to ensure our users receive a fantastic user experience and Sandra Whitleston from the University of Northampton will be delivering an interactive session that explores the key concepts of IT best practice techniques using inquiry, investigation and innovation. We will be repeating the lightning strikes after each plenary session ensuring that delegates are given the opportunity to discuss each presentation with colleagues and peers and to consider how to apply what has been presented in their own institution. We will also be having a prize for the best Conference Takeaway and Top Tweeter and, of course, Unemo will be popping by for a visit. Throughout the event, we will be inviting delegates


to contribute. At our last Conference we used the Poll Everywhere system for immediate feedback from delegates and we also had an extremely active Twiter hashtag. This helps us ensure that the Conference is as interactive as possible. This year’s hashtag will be #USSC14. Relevant suppliers will be involved in the


Conference. Two companies, Bomgar and TOPdesk, have confirmed they will be showcasing how their products are used in UCISA member institutions by giving joint case studies with a university and we will have Cherwell, Sonic Foundry and a number of other suppliers with exhibition stands. The financing of the event is helped enormously by our sponsors and we are very grateful to all of them. We currently have sponsorship from Sonic Foundry and CampusM. Bookings have started to arrive already and due to the


resounding success of last year’s Conference we expect it to fill up quickly so please book soon to ensure you are a part of another great UCISA Conference. ET


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