Mike Nolan is 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".

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.

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.

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 facilitated a workshop on "Mashups: More than Maps".

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".

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.

Alison Wildish is Head of Web Services at Edge Hill University where, for the past seven years, she has led a team responsible for the development of the corporate Web site(s), intranet sites and Web services. Prior to joining Edge Hill, Alison was developing Web applications in the commercial sector. Alison has an active interest in the opportunities offered by personalisation and user owned technologies and gave a plenary talk on "Let the Students do the Talking...."

Drew McLellan has been hacking on the Web since around 1996 following an unfortunate incident with a margarine tub. Since then he's spread himself between both front- and back-end development projects, and now works as a Web Developer for Yahoo! Europe in London, UK. Drew gave a plenary talk on "Can Your Web Site Be Your API?".

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 will be be participating in the panel session on "Dealing with the Commercial World: Saviour or Satan?" and facilitating a workshop session on "Building The Web Management Community" with Steven Warburton.

Adam Hulme is an Account Manager for Maxsi. Maxsi are developers of eVisit Analyst, a range of advanced Web site analysis tools used by universities such as Northumbria and Exeter. Adam participated in the panel session on "Dealing with the Commercial World: Saviour or Satan?"

Keith Doyle is Web Content Architect at the University of Salford. He is also responsible for the intranet framework, and has direct involvement with the University intranet home pages. He is passionate about how intranets and portals can support administrative activities, and also about usability and information architecture issues. In his spare time, Keith runs a WordPress blog on information architecture. Keith give a plenary talk on "The Promise of Information Architecture" and facilitated a workshop session on "How Do I Implement Enterprise Information Architecture?"

Arthur Clune works at the University of York as an IT Security Specialist, but is also a member of the UK Honeynet Project. In the latter role he is involved in developing the Honeynet Project's "Honeymine" data analysis tool and in helping with other aspects of Honeynet development. In the past he has worked on simulations of Internet traffic, studies of road traffic and in pure mathematics. Arthur give a plenary talk on "Trends in Web Attacks".

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 gave a plenary talk on "Social Participation in Student Recruitment" and participated in the panel session on Dealing with the "Commercial World: Saviour or Satan?"

Isabel Allen, independent consultant, former head of eBusiness, Nottingham Trent University. Isabel participated in the panel session on "Dealing with the Commercial World: Saviour or Satan?"

Ewan McIntosh will be giving a Plenary Talk on Unleashing the Tribe. University and 'real life' are often seen as distinct entities by students, and employers. Outside academia huge changes in the way we interact and how knowledge is shared and analysed have been afoot for some time. A generation of Bebo Boomers are repeating the solidarity and participation witnessed by the baby boomers forty years ago. The net, gaming and mobile technologies are encouraging more collaboration across greater distances and cultures than ever before. Such stories should be encouraging rapid change in the nature of schooling. So what are the main routes down which educators could go and what are the main challenges to overcome?

The Institutional Repository (IR) had a meteoric rise to fame. In a brief blaze of glory, it was heralded as the facilitator of a free exchange of information within the academic research community - a faster, cheaper and more effective way to conduct scholarly communications in the twenty-first century. Then, just as quickly, fame changed to infamy. The technology, the ownership, and the very ideal of the IR has been called into question by many and varied voices in the wider academic community and beyond. I would like to explore the really controversial aspects of the IR, and ask my audience to consider that perhaps, just perhaps, there was something useful there all along.

James Currall will be giving a Plenary Talk on The Tangled Web is but a Fleeting Dream ... but then again... "Just a quick phone call to ask you if you could set up something to archive the University Web site, it should be pretty straight-forward for someone with your technical know-how." It is only a matter of time before someone in "Corporate Communications", the " Freedom of Information Office" or some similar department comes to you with this sort of request. How would you (have you) react(ed) to it? Many acres of virtual text have been penned on the subject of Web archiving (a fair proportion of them no longer available because the sites no longer exist:-) One of the major problems, which is well illustrated by the Wikipedia article on the subject, is that most authors have concentrated almost entirely on "How?" to do it and the (technical) difficulties that arise. The speaker will argue that "How?" is the least of your problems. What is your institutional web site for and what purpose is archiving it supposed to serve. To put it another way, the questions: "What?", "Why?", "When?" and "Where?" come well before deciding if the "Who?" is you, or trying to determine "How?". As usual Currall asks awkward questions and never seems to provide any useful answers, just turning seemingly simple problems in complex, issue-strewn minefields. He hasn't written the talk yet, but you can be sure that it will raise some very fundamental issues and give you something serious to think about and discuss and aside from manufacturing Shakespearean quotes, will probably quote from the most read book in the English Language, although you might feel the need to check that he isn't just making it up!

Rob Bristow, JISC as Programme Manager for e-Administration gives a plenary talk on Institutional Responses to Emergent Technologies - What JISC is Doing. As users of all sorts become more familiar with new technologies (including both Web 2.0 type software tools and user-owned devices) and become used to, and expectant of, managing their own data through 'self-service' applications and systems, questions are asked of institutions as to how they will respond to these new demands. JISC has been investigating this area through strands within its e-Learning and Users and Innovation programmes which have been focussed in the main on the learners' and users' experience. JISC has recently funded a further series of projects that address the way that institutions are responding to these new challenges, looking at organisational policies, practice and strategies, as well as funding pilot projects that demonstrate actual institutional responses. This work is in its early stages but the scope of the responses to the call for projects and some of the early results of the landscape study will provide some interesting real life information about institutional responses from across the sector. This talk will describe the work that JISC is doing and relate it to the Institutional Web Manager world.

Alison Wildish, Head of Web Services, University of Bath follows up her plenary talk from last year entitled "Let the students do the talking..." which stimulated lot of debate. She spoke of my experiences at Edge Hill University and the success she'd had as a result of a more 'open' approach to Web content and services. In general the community were encouraged by our approach and many claimed to find it inspiring yet others, from the larger and research-led Universities, suggested "... it all sounds very good but Edge Hill is a new University so it HAS to focus on marketing... it's different for us". So twelve months on and now sitting on the other side of the fence, working in a research-led institution at the University of Bath, She will reflect on her previous talk and report on whether or not her approach and vision has changed. She'll be answering the questions many of you wish to ask: Is it just 'easier' to get things done in a new University? Should your vision for the web be dictated by the type of institution you are? Having moved to a research-led University is she now eating her words?

Starts: Tue, 04 Feb 2025 18:30:00 -0500
02/04/2025 04:00:00PM
Location: Montreal, Canada

Starts: Mon, 16 Dec 2024 19:00:00 -0500
'Tis the season to celebrate with your alma mater!<b>&nbsp;</b>The <b>McGill Alumni Association of Boston (MAAB)</b> invites you to a festive holiday party to ring in the festive season with your fellow Boston-area alumni.&nbsp;<div><br /></div><div>Don your favorite festive attire and join us at <b>Street State Provisions</b> for an evening of good food and socializing in their private lounge. If you haven't had the chance to attend a MAAB social yet, this is a <b>perfect opportunity to meet your local McGill community</b> before the year is over.&nbsp;<div><br /></div><div>Your ticket includes your first cocktail, non-alcoholic beverages, and an array of hors d'oeuvres. You will also have the chance to win one of our fabulous door prizes. Space is limited; get your ticket today!</div><div><br /></div></div>
Location: Boston, U. S. A.

Smart planning policies and room for expansion is ensuring Melbourne keeps its affordability and acclaimed quality of life as it becomes Australia’s biggest city over the next few decades. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, Melbourne will overtake Sydney in population by 2053, projected to be home to over 7.7 million people. Currently 4.35 million people live in Melbourne compared to 4.76 million in Sydney but more people are moving to Melbourne than other Australian capital city, drawn by a vibrant and cosmopolitan culture, great public amenities and transport infrastructure and a geographical location that allows the city to expand outwards to accommodate new arrivals at lower cost than other major Australian cities.

US-based global investment management firm, T Rowe Price (TRP), has opened a new office in Melbourne. Head of Australian business for TRP, Murray Brewer, said TRP in Australia is going from strength to strength.

Chobani Australia is exporting yoghurt to Singapore less than 18 months after the American company set up in Victoria. Within 18 months, Chobani has grown production at its A$30 million yoghurt factory in Victoria from 25,000 cases a week to 25,000 cases a day, and become one of the biggest yoghurt manufacturers in Australia.

A new Victorian Government medical technology strategy will position Victoria as an internationally competitive developer of medical technology. Victoria’s Medical Technology Industry Strategy will create more high value jobs and attract investment for the state’s advanced manufacturing sector.

Singapore's RedDot Brewhouse plans to establish a new independent commercial microbrewery and beer garden in Melbourne’s west. The new RedDot facility in Truganina (21 km west of Melbourne's city centre) will be the company’s first brewery outside Singapore.

President Bill Clinton, founder of the Clinton Foundation and 42nd President of the United States and artist / activist Sir Bob Geldof will be among the high-level speakers who will join thousands of the world's top AIDS researchers, scientific and community leaders, people living with HIV and policy-makers at the 20th International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2014) taking place on 20-25 July in Melbourne. Their presence is set to further enhance the very strong program that has been put in place for AIDS 2014. President Clinton has a very strong track record in advocating for HIV/AIDS treatment in disadvantaged communities around the world. Sir Bob Geldof has the ability to motivate millions of people as we have seen over decades of activism. His music and such events as Live Aid and Band Aid have raised global awareness of famine and poverty.

International consumer management company, Gigya, has opened an office in Melbourne as part of its expansion into the Asia-Pacific region. The move comes after strong growth in 2013 for the US-based company, during which it processed more than 800 million logins for clients in 46 countries, including Tommy Hilfiger, the Independent, the Globe and Mail, KLM, L'Occitane, Next Media, Japan Airlines and Canon.

Fonterra has opened a new A$6 million ricotta manufacturing plant in north central Victoria that will deliver global opportunities for the Victorian dairy industry. Built with $250,000 grant from the Victorian Government, the Perfect Italiano Ricotta project demonstrates Fonterra’s ongoing commitment to maintaining a presence in northern Victoria and boosts the company’s Stanhope workforce to 126.

Australia’s world ranking for biotechnology innovation jumped from seventh to fourth on Scientific American’s latest ‘Worldview’ scorecard. The publication’s scorecard provides a balanced assessment of biotechnology innovation around the world and indicated that Australia’s biotech market is undergoing a resurgence.

The new Japan-Australia Economic Partnership Agreement (JAEPA), signed on 8 July 2014, will strengthen economic ties between the two nations. Japan is Australia’s third largest direct foreign investor with A$130 million worth of investment stock in Australia in 2013.

Wilcox Industries’ manufacturing and assembly facility in Victoria will be a joint venture with its Melbourne-based distributor and partner, Aquaterro – a leading supplier of law enforcement and defence equipment in Victoria.

A new wearable pressure sensor has been developed which could be used to monitor people’s health at anytime and anywhere. Researchers from Monash University’s Departments of Chemical Engineering and Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, and the Melbourne Centre for Nanofabrication, produced the new sensor by sandwiching ultrathin gold nanowire-impregnated tissue paper between two polymer sheets.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) has grown its Australian service locations to Melbourne. The expanded company will roll out Amazon CloudFront - a content delivery Web service that offers both businesses and developers an easy way to distribute content with low latency and high data transfer speeds.

Global ratings agency, Moody’s, has reaffirmed Australia’s AAA rating and stable outlook, consistent with recent assessments by Fitch and Standard & Poor’s. Australia’s sovereign credit rating is based on the nation’s highly resilient economy, high level of government financial strength and low level of event risk.

Ratings agency Standard & Poor's (S&P) has reaffirmed Australia's triple-A credit rating and stable economic outlook, stating that the sovereign credit ratings on Australia benefit from the country's strong institutional settings, its wealthy and resilient economy, and a high degree of monetary and fiscal policy flexibility. “These factors provide Australia with a strong ability to absorb large economic and financial shocks, as was demonstrated during the global recession in 2009,” S&P said.

Australia remains a top 10 global destination for foreign direct investment (FDI) for a third straight year after attracting US$50 billion in foreign direct investment in 2013, according to the UN Conference on Trade and Development’s (UNCTAD) World Investment Report 2014. Over the three years to 2013, FDI flows to Australia rose nearly 55 per cent to US$171 billion from US$110 billion over the previous three years. This impressive growth has expanded Australia’s share of global FDI inflows to 3.8 per cent in 2011-13 from 2.5 per cent in 2008-10. In contrast, developed economies’ share of world FDI inflows fell to 44 per cent in 2011-13 from 53 per cent in 2008-10.

Singapore’s Fatfish Internet Group will open a new office in Melbourne to help boost its business in the Australasian region. Founded in 2011, Fatfish invests its own funds and money from the Singapore government in IT start-up companies and those in growth stage.

San Francisco-based IT company, Zendesk, is expanding its operations in Melbourne to take advantage of Victoria’s strong information technology skills base. “Our head of product and engineering says Melbourne is the best place for us to hire right now because of the combination of expectations, talent and production,” said Mikkel Svane, co-founder and chief executive of US-based Zendesk.

Australia has achieved its highest ever ranking in the 2014 Global Innovation Index (GII). The GII 2014 surveyed 143 economies around the world, using 81 indicators to gauge both their innovation capabilities and measurable results.

Former US President Bill Clinton has told delegates at the 20th International AIDS Conference, AIDS 2014 in Melbourne, that finding more economically efficient ways to respond to HIV is vital to saving lives and preventing the spread of the virus. Mr Clinton’s speech was made to over 2,000 people at one of the most eagerly anticipated sessions at the AIDS 2014 conference in Melbourne.

New Zealand-based hydraulic equipment specialist, Transport Hydraulic Solutions (THS), has opened a large manufacturing facility in the Melbourne northern suburb of Campbellfield (26.5 km north of the city centre). “A growing number of Melbourne clients are located around this area, and for those who are based further away, our office is right near the freeway where the Western Ring Road and Hume Highway intersect,” said Managing Director of THS, Brenden Lyons.

Fleet management service provider, TR Fleet, recently launched TR Fleet Australia – the parent company’s first venture outside the UK. The Melbourne-based manufacturing business will offer a range of services in Australia and New Zealand, including a risk management tool to help employers comply with 2015 changes to workplace health and safety regulations.

Malaria is a devastating disease, affecting 200 million people worldwide and causing more than 600 000 deaths each year. In the past decade, great inroads have been made in reducing the number of infections, primarily through the implementation of insecticide-laced bed nets, and also reducing the death rate with combination therapies. However the emergence of drug-resistant malaria is rendering these therapies less effective, and there is an urgent need to develop novel therapies to cure malaria.

Indian learning solutions company, Dexler, has opened its Australian headquarters in Melbourne. Dexler Education (Australia) is expected to create 25 new skilled jobs in Melbourne following its 2014 acquisition of Online Learning Australia which had clients including AMP, ANZ, BHP Billiton, Bluescope Steel, Coles, Myer, NAB, Target, Telstra and Westpac.

Australia’s fastest-growing city, Melbourne, has again been recognised as the best city in the world to live, topping the Economist Intelligence Unit’s (EIU) 2014 Global Liveability Index for the fourth year in a row.