Institutional Web Management Workshop 2008:
Organisers, Speakers and Workshop Facilitators

Brian Kelly is UK Web Focus - a post funded by the JISC and MLA which provides advice and support to the UK Higher and Further Education communities and the museums, libraries and archives sector on Web issues. Brian is based at UKOLN.

Brian's interests include Web standards, Web accessibility, quality assurance for Web services and innovative Web developments, including collaborative Web tools.

Brian is a member of the IWMW 2008 organising committee and co-facilitated a workshop on "Approaches To Web Resource Preservation" with Marieke Guy and supported Paul Walk in the third morning session on Thursday 24^th July on "Supporting Community Needs".

Brian can be contacted at <b.kelly@ukoln.ac.uk>.

Mike McConnell is the manager of the University of Aberdeen's Web Team. The team comprises seven developers who are responsible for the majority of the University's web sites and web applications. The team also works for a range of commercial clients.

Mike formerly worked at the Robert Gordon University as an Educational Development Officer, and as a researcher in Information Management. As a callow youth he worked at the sharp end of IT user support in the oil services industry.

Mike has published on technology issues in education, Web usability and Web management.

Mike gave the Opening Welcome to Aberdeen with Derrick McClure and chaired the second morning session on Wednesday 23^rd July on "Let's Get Real".

Mike can be contacted at <m.mcconnell@abdn.ac.uk>.

Marieke Guy is currently a member of the Interoperability Focus team at UKOLN. Interoperability Focus is a national activity, jointly funded by JISC of the Further and Higher Education Funding Councils and the MLA. Marieke is based at UKOLN.

Marieke's previous roles at UKOLN have included Project Manager for the Subject Portals Project and ePrints UK Projects, NOF-digitise Advisor and editor of Cultivate Interactive, Exploit Interactive and Ariadne Web Magazines.

Marieke has attended and presented at a number of the Institutional Web Management Workshops and was chair of the 2006 workshop, organised the IWMW 2007 workshop and then went off on maternity leave! She has recently become a remote worker and is enjoying tackling the challenges it presents!

Marieke is a member of the IWMW 2008 organising commitee and co-facilitated a workshop on "Embracing Web 2.0 Technologies to Grease the Wheels of Team Cohesion" with Andy Ramsden and a workshop on "Approaches To Web Resource Preservation" with Brian Kelly. She also chaired the first afternoon session on Thursday 22^nd July on "A Vision For The Future".

Marieke can be contacted at <m.guy@ukoln.ac.uk>.

Helen Aspell has worked at the University of Southampton for just over three years. Prior to working at the University, she worked at a national charity and before that for the National Union of Students. As a digital marketing specialist, Helen has a strong track record of championing and delivering innovative, reliable and flexible digital solutions. She works across a number of areas including: brand communications; digital strategy; Web site architecture; user experience and journeys; digital PR; personalised digital CRM; and the use of social networking. As a leading exponent of digital marketing, she was interviewed by the Guardian on the future direction of social networking and Web 2.0 in HE. She is one of the founding members of measurementcamp; an open source movement of social media industry leaders and exponents, who are collaborating to agree upon a set of standards to enable the calculation of ROI of social media channels. Previously, Helen was a member of the Voluntary and Community Sector ICT best practice group.

Helen was due to give a plenary talk on "Web 2.0 and Brand: Theory and Practice" and facilitate a workshop on "Using Web 2.0 Technologies to Support a Brand Focused Marketing Strategy" both with James Souttar. However due to illness, Helen was unable to attend the IWMW 2008 event.

Helen can be contacted at <H.Aspell@soton.ac.uk>.

Rob Bristow is a Programme Manager at the Joint Information Services Committee (JISC) where he has responsibility for e-Administration as part of the Organisational Support and User Technology team. Prior to moving to JISC last year he was Information Services Manager at the Graduate School of Education at Bristol University and before that he as Web Manager at Cass Business School.

Rob gave a plenary talk on "Institutional Responses to Emergent Technologies - What JISC is Doing".

Rob can be contacted at <r.bristow@jisc.ac.uk>.

James Currall has been employed in the University of Glasgow for almost 20 years. His main job currently is as Head of Learning Technology where he has overall responsibility for the University VLE. Previously he was the Director of Strategy and Planning in IT Services, where he interacted with archivists, librarians, information technologists, academics and university managers. James is also a Senior Research Fellow in the Humanities Advanced Technology and Information Institute (HATII), where he is developing applied research into information issues drawing on his service and strategic experience and also more theoretical work on the nature of digital objects and the problems associated with their management, security and retention. James has been involved with the highly successful Glasgow MPhil (now MSc) course in Information Management and Preservation since it inception, in which he teaches about the transition from storage of information on physical to digital media, information security, the role of numbers as information and a variety of other topics including risk and information management as an investment. In this latter context he was the Project Director of the espida project which developed a sustainable business-focussed model for digital preservation.

James hasn't spoken at the Web Managers Workshop for a number of years, so some of the newer participants may not know what to expect ☺.

James gave a plenary talk on "The Tangled Web is but a Fleeting Dream ...but then again...".

James can be contacted at <J.Currall@compserv.gla.ac.uk>.

David Hyett is Head of Information & Records Management at the British Antarctic Survey. When he's not pushing back the frontiers of science and exploring new lands in the Antarctic, he manages information projects both across BAS and its parent organisation NERC. He has direct responsibility in BAS for web, archives, data management and library services.

David gave a plenary talk on "Web 2.0 - Whatever Happened to Web 1.0?".

David can be contacted at <djhy@bas.ac.uk>.

Derrick McClure is a Senior Lecturer in the English School of Language & Literature at the University of Aberdeen.

David gaveg the Opening Welcome to Aberdeen with Mike McConnell.

Derrick can be contacted at <j.d.mcclure@abdn.ac.uk>.

Ewan McIntosh is a teacher and social media specialist based in the Edinburgh area. He advises on how social media can be harnessed for public service and education management and used to improve learning. His edu.blog shows how social software is not just a gimmick and can provide exciting opportunities for learning.

Ewan gave a plenary talk on "Unleashing the Tribe".

Ewan can be contacted at <e.mcintosh@ltscotland.org.uk>.

Cameron Neylon (STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory) is a biophysicist who has always worked in interdisciplinary areas. After undergraduate studies in metabolic biochemistry at the University of Western Australia he moved to the Australian National University, Canberra to purse a PhD in protein chemistry. In 1999 he tool up a Wellcome Trust International Fellowship at the University of Bath, working on the screening of peptide libraries for activators of membrane receptors and in 2001 moved to the University of Southampton as Lecturer in Combinatorial Chemistry.

In 2005 he commenced a joint appointment as Senior Scientist in Biomolecular Sciences at the ISIS Pulsed Neutron and Muon Facility, STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory. Since 2005, in collaboration with Jeremy Frey (University of Southampton) he has been involved in the development and optimisation of blog based electronic notebook systems for the biochemistry laboratories and the development of systems for monitoring and capturing data from the laboratory, the so-called 'Blogging Lab'. Through this work he has become a prominent member of the international community advocating the adoption of a more open approach to research practice. His group is currently moving to a fully Open Notebook approach where the research worker's laboratory notebook is made public as it being recorded. This process is being recorded and analysed in his Blog, Science in the Open.

Cameron gave a plenary talk on "Science in the You Tube Age: How Web Based Tools are Enabling Open Research Practice".

Cameron can be contacted at <C.Neylon@rl.ac.uk>.

James Souttar has been part of the Precedent team since its inception in 1989. Prior to working at Precedent, he worked for the corporate identity specialists Wolff Olins. His area of expertise is branding and communications within the education sector specialising in working for universities: Cambridge University, Universities of Sheffield, Southampton and Reading, Oxford Brookes, Middlesex and Hertfordshire. James extensive experience has led him to be invited to write and lecture extensively on both sides of the Atlantic. For two years he was consultant lecturer at Central Saint Martins (now part of the University of the Arts). He also taught at the Lincoln College of Art (now part of the University of Lincoln) and Epsom School of Art. In addition, both he and a colleague were invited to give a week long charrette to the School of Communication at Virginia Commonwealth University.

James gave a plenary talk on "Web 2.0 and Brand: Theory and Practice" and facilitated a workshop on "Using Web 2.0 Technologies to Support a Brand Focused Marketing Strategy"

James can be contacted at <James.souttar@precedent.co.uk>.

Stephanie Taylor has over fourteen years experience as an information professional. She is currently working on the JISC-funded Repository Support Project (RSP) which aims to assist academic institutions to develop a deployed network of inter-operable repositories for academic papers, learning materials and research data across the UK. The RSP delivers practical advice to English and Welsh HEI's regarding development, implementation and management of these repositories.

Stephanie's experience in the library and information sector has included a grounding in academic libraries at the John Rylands University Library Manchester, before progressing to work on projects delivering electronic document delivery solutions to academic libraries throughout the UK.

Stephanie is a founder director of Critical Eye Communications (CEC). As well as running seminars on core library skills, CEC's aim is to help people use the latest internet and collaborative technologies in the working environment to their best effect. The bespoke courses and seminars are practically based with the emphasis on getting people to use these tools to make their working lives more efficient. CEC enables people to use simple tools effectively.

Stephanie gave a plenary talk on "Institutional Repositories: Asset or Obstacle?"

Stephanie can be contacted at <s.taylor@ukoln.ac.uk>.

Alison Wildish is an advocate of institutions embracing third party services to support their marketing/communications initiatives and has an active interest in the opportunities offered by personalisation and user owned technologies. Heading up the Web Services team at the University of Bath she manages the central Web team and is responsible for the strategic direction of University Web services. She formerly held the same position at Edge Hill University where she led projects which include; the University portal project and the development of the Applicant Community Web site (winner of a UCISA best practice award). Alison blogs at blogs.bath.ac.uk/webservices/.

Last year Alison gave a plenary talk entitled "Let the Students do the Talking..." which focussed on the approach to Web services at Edge Hill. This year she gaveg a plenary talk entitled "Look Who's Talking Now..." which, following her move to Bath, focusses on the differences between managing Web services at new and established Universities and answering the question - has her vision changed as a result?

Alison can be contacted at <a.wildish@bath.ac.uk>.

Mike Whyment is a Project Manager for the University of Aberdeen having previously spent 5 years working within the University's Web Team.

Mike's current role see him managing the re-development of the University's Web site, including the implementation of a Content Management System. When not playing with the Web, Mike is managing the replacement of the University's Student E-mail solution, based on Live@Edu.

Mike chaired the second morning session on Wednesday 23rd July on "Getting Technical".

Mike can be contacted at <m.whyment@abdn.ac.uk>.

Paul Walk is Technical Manager at UKOLN. His interests are primarily around software and systems for the Web and he has more than ten years experience in Web-application and e-Learning systems development. His blog is http://blog.paulwalk.net.

Paul chaired the third morning session on Thursday 24^th July on "Supporting Community Needs".

Paul can be contacted at <p.walk@ukoln.ac.uk>.

Russell Allen is the Project Manager for the University of Bradford's Portal and Web CMS projects. Russell has spent the last sixteen years as a project manager delivering non-succession funded IT innovation and development projects in both public and private sector organisations. Projects have included implementing the University of Sheffield's career management skills Web site, on-line remote training for under-employed graduates in recruitment agencies, setting up community IT resources via the government's UK Online programme and developing community engagement projects via the e-citizen and e-government programs. Funders have included HEFC, DFES, ESF, SRB and lottery funding. His current job at the University of Bradford is to deliver a Web CMS, amongst other things, as part of the University's e-strategy.

Russell facilitated a workshop on "Web CMS and University Web Teams Part II - the Never Ending Story? with Claire Gibbons.

Russell can be contacted at <r.m.allen@bradford.ac.uk>.

Paul Boag describes himself as a user experience designer. He is a founding partner of Web design agency Headscape, runs the boagworld.com community for people who run Web sites, and is the author of many articles (for the likes of .net magazine and Think Vitamin). Paul is a charismatic and entertaining speaker (e.g. .net magazine podcast, Refresh06 and Web2Live).

Paul has worked extensively in the higher education sector for clients such as; City University, Brunel University, JISC and the Universities of Portsmouth, Brighton, Southampton and Lancaster.

Paul also has significant experience in running online communities and has done so as far back as 1995 when he was one of the original community leaders of geocities. He wrote his dissertation on virtual communities and the disabled back in 1994.

Paul facilitated a workshop on "Battling Bureaucracy".

Paul can be contacted at <paul.boag@headscape.co.uk>.

Keith Brooke has worked for the University of Essex since 1998, first as Web Officer and since 2001 as Web Support Manager. He is currently responsible for a team of ten covering Web development, training, support and learning technology. As if that wasn't enough, he also teaches creative writing in the University's Literature department, using a mix of traditional classroom work, workshopping, e-mail, online resources and Facebook silliness.

Keith facilitated a workshop on "Hands Up if You Haven't done Yours Yet..." with Debbie Nicholson.

Keith can be contacted at <kbrooke@essex.ac.uk>.

Mike Ellis has just emerged from 7 years working as Head of Web for the National Museum of Science and Industry, UK, which comprises the Science Museum in London, Media Museum in Bradford and Railway Museum in York. Mike is now working for a Bath-based company called Eduserv who are a not for profit IT services group. Mike's interests are in user generated content, Web 2.0, ubiquitous computing and innovation and how to lever these for maximum benefit in cultural institutions.

Mike facilited a workshop on "Mashups: More than Maps". In addition Mike gave a brief summary of the use of Web 2.0 in the museum's sector in the opening session, standing in for a speaker who was unable to attend.

Mike can be contacted at <Mike.Ellis@eduserv.org.uk>.

Stephen Emmott is the Head of Web Services at the London School of Economics and Political Science. He previously worked as the Editor of the King's Information Service at King's College London (1997 to 2000).

Stephen facilitated a workshop on "Tactics to Strategy, and Back Again".

Stephen can be contacted at <STEPHEN.Emmott@lse.ac.uk>.

Prior to becoming the University of St Andrews Web Manager, Stephen Evans was an IT manager and research scientist at Cambridge University, where he developed intranet and Web database applications for a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) laboratory. During his research career he imaged the inside of a wide variety of objects including melons, strawberries and knees! While MRI was a fascinating technique, he gained more satisfaction from developing Web-based solutions to help others with their research.

Steve is now responsible for the management and development of the University of St Andrews Web site. This includes managing the University's content management system. In addition, his role includes supporting and assisting all service Units and Schools with any Web related matters.

His main interests are information architecture and developing solutions to enhance the ways the Web is used to organise and disseminate information.

Stephen facilitated a workshop on "Mind Mapping for Effective Content Management" with Gareth Saunders.

Stephen can be contacted at <stephen.evans@st-andrews.ac.uk>.

Claire Gibbons is now the Web Manager for the University of Bradford (previously the Web Officer since September 2000), working within the department of Marketing and Communications, and responsible for the management of the University's new Web Team. Claire is responsible for the University's 'corporate Web' and works closely with departments and Schools to ensure consistency of University brand and message as well as compliance with standards and legislation, such as SENDA and the University's own Code of Practice for Web Based Materials. Claire is nearing the end of the Chartered Management Institute Diploma in Management - which has sparked her recent (and slightly obsessive) interest in organisational culture, 'people' and 'behaviours'. Claire has been a member of the Web CMS Project core team since October 2005.

Claire facilitated a workshop on "Web CMS and University Web Teams Part II - the Never Ending Story? with Russell Allen. In addition Claire gave a brief summary of the University of Bradford's use of the Ning social networking service in the opening session, standing in for a speaker who was unable to attend.

Claire can be contacted at <web@bradford.ac.uk>.

Tony Hirst is an itinerant academic in the Department of Communication and Systems, and member of the Socialearn core project team. He blogs regularly about educational Web technologies and RSS feed powered mashups at http://ouseful.info (although most of his readers would being admit to being confused by most of the posts, most of the time).

Tony facilitated a workshop on "Introducing Socialearn".

Tony can be contacted at <a.j.hirst@open.ac.uk>.

Dan Jackson is the Web Team Leader at City University London. He is part of a small team responsible for the maintenance and development of the University Web site, CMS and related systems and applications. During his time at the University Dan has overseen a site redesign and an accessibility audit. He has over 7 years experience in Web development, and his interests include Web standards, usability, accessibility, client-side coding and PHP.

Dan facilitated a workshop on "Coping with Forms: Implementing a Web Form Management Application".

Dan can be contacted at <D.Jackson@city.ac.uk>.

Kwansuree Jiamton is the ICT Manager at the Health Sciences and Practice Subject Centre; part of the HE Academy. Working at King's College London since 2000, she has an active role in Web site development and interoperability, e-learning projects and strategic planning.

Kwansuree facilitated a workshop on "The Real Information Environment" with Martin Poulter.

Kwansuree can be contacted at <kwansuree.jiamton@kcl.ac.uk>.

Tom Natt is a Web Developer working at the University of Bath. He has worked on a selection of institutional projects including wiki and instant messaging software and is currently looking at institutional repositories. In his free time he working on a selection of Web related open source projects.

Tom faciliteda workshop on "What's the Point of having Developers in a Web 2.0 World?" with Phil Wilson.

Tom can be contacted at <T.W.Natt@bath.ac.uk>.

Debbie Nicholson has worked in the Web Support Unit (WSU) at the University of Essex for 6 years. As well as working as part of the Web Design Team, responsible for the maintenance and development of the University corporate pages, Web site design and Web related support and training for staff, Debbie is currently working as a project manager for the Unit. Debbie has just project managed the rebuild of the new University Web site, and is busy planning phase 2 which will look at delivery of web information from departments and sections and the introduction of new Faculties.

Debbie facilitated a workshop on "Hands Up if You Haven't done Yours Yet..." with Keith Brooke.

Debbie can be contacted at <debbie@essex.ac.uk>.

Mike Nolan is Web Applications Project Manager at Edge Hill University where he leads the development team. Recent projects include a revamped corporate Web site and the university portal. Michael regularly posts about HE web development topics on the Edge Hill Web Services blog.

Mike facilitated a workshop on "Stuff what We're doing at Edge Hill University".

Mike can be contacted at <Michael.Nolan@edgehill.ac.uk>.

Martin Poulter is the ICT Manager of the Economics Network, a Subject Centre of the HE Academy. Based at the University of Bristol, Martin runs Web sites aimed at Economics teaching staff, students and prospective students. He also runs the Ancient Geeks community blog. His academic interests are Philosophy and Psychology.

Martin facilitated a workshop on "The Real Information Environment" with Kwansuree Jiamton.

Martin can be contacted at <m.l.poulter@bristol.ac.uk>.

Andy Ramsden has recently started as the Head of e-Learning at the University of Bath. In this capacity he is charged with contributing to both the strategic and operational aspects of elearning development at the Institution.

In terms of his own research, his interests are in the effective uses of emergent technologies for teaching and learning. In particular, the use of Web 2.0 and mobile technologies on the learning and teaching landscape. He regularly presents and facilitates workshops on this and other topics with the UK. He also sits on the Steering Group of the nationally funded Podcasting for Pedagogical Purposes SIG.

Many of his findings and reflections on the use of emergent technologies within Higher Education can be found on his mobile-learning blog.

Andy facilitated a workshop on "Embracing Web 2.0 Technologies to Grease the Wheels of Team Cohesion" with Marieke Guy.

Andy can be contacted at <a.ramsden@bath.ac.uk>.

The Revd Gareth Saunders interests lie primarily in information architecture, XHTML, CSS, accessibility, usability and helping to make sure that people can find the information they are looking for.

Gareth studied Divinity (Practical Theology and Christian Ethics) at St Mary's College, University of St Andrews; he then had jobs in a Borders textile mill and with homeless young people in London before returning to Scotland to complete a Masters at New College, University of Edinburgh and work as a Scottish Episcopalian priest in Inverness and Edinburgh. In 2006 Gareth made the seamless transition from full-time parish ministry to focus on the Web and Information Architecture: having pastoral care for Web users, if you like. He is a member of the Information Architecture Institute and is a regular blogger.

Gareth facilitated a workshop on "Mind Mapping for Effective Content Management" with Stephen Evans.

Gareth can be contacted at <gareth.saunders@st-andrews.ac.uk>.

David Sloan is Project lead of the University of Dundee's Digital Media Access Group, a research and consultancy unit specialising in accessibility of ICT to disabled and older people. He also runs the University's Web Accessibility Support Service, and has carried out several accessibility reviews of web authoring tools, including a content management system, VLE and e-assessment software.

David facilitated a workshop on "The 'other' Accessibility Guidelines - the Importance of Authoring Tool Accessibility Evaluation in a Web 2.0 World".

David can be contacted at <dsloan@computing.dundee.ac.uk>.

Jeremy Speller has been involved with the UCL Web presence since 1995. Having headed UCL Web Services for a number of years, Jeremy is now Head of Media Services which, along with the Web, covers AV, illustration, multimedia and photography. He is currently working integrating the new department to provide rich media services for UCL customers. Jeremy is atpresent directing a major project to deliver podcasting production and delivery at the institutional level. Prior to becoming a full-time Web "operative", Jeremy's background was in planning and statistics at UCL and previously at the University of Birmingham. Way back when he ran the Overseas Research Students Awards Scheme at what was then CVCP.

Jeremy facilitated a workshop on "Podcasting and iTunes U: Institutional Approaches to Scaleable Service" with Nicholas Watson.

Jeremy can be contacted at <j.speller@ucl.ac.uk>.

Nicholas Watson is the media account manager for Corporate Projects for Learning and Teaching Solutions (LTS) - the media production arm of the Open University (OU). He is responsible for production of Open Educational Resources such as OpenLearn, iTunes U and YouTube.

Nicholas facilitated a workshop on "Podcasting and iTunes U: Institutional Approaches to Scaleable Service" with Jeremy Speller.

Nicholas can be contacted at <n.watson@open.ac.uk>.

Phil Wilson is a Web Developer working at the University of Bath. He has been writing enterprise Java applications for the past five years and has previously delivered talks on Microformats, Wikis and extreme programming. In his free time he writes code for distributed syndication tools and exploring and sharing the social graph. His blog is philwilson.org: a geek commodity.

Phil facilitated a workshop on "What's the Point of having Developers in a Web 2.0 World?" with Tom Natt.

Phil can be contacted at <P.G.Wilson@bath.ac.uk>.