17 October 2023 - DIG23 reflections - Andy Nicholson
I hadn't attended any UCISA events before, so in all honesty I wasn't entirely sure what to anticipate, especially in the context of the Digital Infrastructure Group events. Before the conference I read the agenda and did some basic research on the speakers and their respective organisations. I looked at the list of exhibitors, and I suspect like many of the first-time attendees made a mental note of familiar exhibitors and the sessions I was most looking forward to.
Although that gave me a good overview of the topics and areas covered, I was still unsure of the level the discussion would be. Would the discussions veer into highly technical terrain, delving into areas with which I was unfamiliar, or would they be tailored to a more senior level, potentially omitting the specifics that are often of great value? I was hoping that either way they would all be relevant or valuable for me in some way regardless of the depth or breadth of the content.
My colleague and I left from Leighton Buzzard and the location in Birmingham was easily accessible on the train, the short walk from the station to the venue was no trouble as the rain had stopped, briefly.
The Newcomers Session was a great informal introduction in to how to approach the event, with useful advice from existing members and some tips on who the organisers and best people to speak to would be if I needed help in any way. I'm not a naturally outgoing and confident person in public places, so it was helpful to have a gentle push and a reminder that you only get out of the event what you put into it.
It was good to see the presentations were held in an appropriate space that blocked out other distractions, with plenty of repeater screens so that everyone in the audience were able to view the talks comfortably. Live transcriptions that worked accurately and rapidly were also available, and the choice by many of the presenters to give a brief visually impaired description of their appearance was nice to hear.
I was happy to see that all the presenters spoke well, and although my fears of the content not being at the level I had hoped had partially came to fruition, what I came to realise was that actually, that didn't matter. The talks that did get technical were presented in a clear and easy to understand manner (I should have known better considering the industry we all work in), and the presentations that left me wanting more in terms of specifics were the basis for conversations later in the conference, either at the social events, or with the exhibitors in the hall.
The most valuable outcome of the entire conference was the opportunity to engage with vendors and connect with other institutions. We often found ourselves in conversations at stands with helpful and generous people from other universities who had either already navigated many of our upcoming issues, were in the middle of implementing various technologies, or were considering a path related to the main session topics. Getting to hear their first-hand the experiences and challenges that others have encountered was extremely helpful and building those relationships that wouldn't have happened otherwise.
Being able to offer our knowledge and experiences in return was also rewarding in many ways & hearing from peers that some of the projects we'd undertaken, (and in some cases spent many years implementing often without recognition from within our wider university) has caused just as much friction for others was reassuring that we hadn't gone down the wrong path, and the fact that they appreciated the work we'd completed on a professional level was fulfilling.
It's all too easy to think that you're on your own when you're deep into a project and dealing with its challenges, but the conference reminded me that we're all part of a bigger community trying to achieve the same things, and how valuable it is to build more relationships within it. I would recommend the conference to others and would happily return.
Andy
