Data Protection - is it possible or just a pipedream? - April 2008

Data Protection - is it really possible or just a pipe-dream?  This seminar welcomed two speakers Jonathan Holbrook, the Head of Data Protection Practice Private Sector at the Information Commissioner's Office and Sunny Bath, the Data Protection Officer at Euromoney Institutional Investor.

The question highlighted was not 'how did X government department lose CDs holding 1000s of individuals details?' but 'why did they have/gather/need those details in the first place'?  Today's surveillance society not only includes the existence of CCTV cameras but also the reality that many companies hold masses of information on each of us.  For example, what is our supermarket loyalty card tracking - and what do they do with that information?  Why does London Transport need to know our every move, via the data gathered on an Oyster card?

Some may argue that tracking individuals' information is essential for marketing and security reasons, but wouldn't it be nice to know who was building an information footprint of our daily life, and why. Sunny Bath suggested we send a subject access request to any company whom we think may hold information on us.

Jonathan also highlighted the potential dangers of sharing information on social networking sites, particularly for children, emphasising the need for guidance on safe usage of these sites.

For Sunny's presentation please follow this link

For Jonathan's presentation please follow this link

With thanks to TFPL for sponsoring and hosting this event.

The credit crunch - how will it affect the City, and you? - March 2008

This special seminar took place in a new venue for CiG – the City Marketing Suite near to the Guildhall.  The topic was in direct response to current events and how we can best address them.  

A Credit Crunch not only affects the City and business, it affects future development, jobs and, hence, individuals. 

What has caused the current Credit Crunch? What has the Sub-Prime market in the US to do with it? How can research professionals support the City to ride out the storm?

We invited three City based professionals to give us their views:

        Saxon Brettell, newly appointed Head of Research, Economic Development Office, City of London Corporation. 

Saxon is an Economist and formerly a Director of Cambridge Econometrics.  He commented on his most recent appointment: “Retaining London's position as the world's leading financial centre depends on a full understanding of the forces that drive change… Our aim is to better support the competitive edge of the City and to provide the research base for a socially and environmentally sustainable City that continues to give the greatest benefits to all.” Saxon is a regular contributor to programmes on the economy at the BBC. To see Saxon's presentation please click here.

 Simon McGinn, City Property Advisory Team Manager, City of London Corporation.

The level of available office space and new properties in the City is a key indicator of economic strength.  In addition to tracking these issues and supporting businesses to find property in the City, Simon has also been key in enabling development of the network infrastructure in the "Square Mile" which has included the most advanced WiFi network in Europe in 2006.  The aim of the CPAT is to “attract and retain businesses, maintaining the capital’s position as a global financial centre.”

        Goretti Considine, Business Librarian, City Business Library.  

      The CBL is key to assisting and supporting individuals to develop their careers and identify new job opportunities, as well as providing a major base of information for researchers working in the City and the wider community.  Goretti will explain about how the CBL supports individuals and companies, especially during economically unstable times.

With thanks to the Seminar sponsors, FactSet.

Second Life seminar - January 2008:

An online demonstration of Second Life showed how daily business and leisure activities are conducted, the legal implications of the virtual world were also discussed. Our two speakers were David Naylor and Kaoru Sato. 

David Naylor, partner at Field Fisher Waterhouse LLP, specialises in technology, media, and communications law.   In 2007, David lead the project which saw FFW became the first major international law firm to open an office in a virtual world. He will take over as President of the Second Life Bar Association on February 1, 2008.  David’s avatar on Second Life is known as Solomon Cortes.

Kaoru Sato is co-founder and creative director of The Guild, a digital creative agency founded in 2004.  Kaoru has a twelve year track record and was one of the core members of Fusion Interactive (later known as The Interactive Agency) a web agency operating in the boom years of the mid-late 90s, working on online and print based creative work for organisations including Sony, Halifax Bank of Scotland, Goldfish, Orange, Arts Council England, Microsoft, Beck's Bier and ITV, the work ranging from the design of complex e-commerce and content managed websites to creating print-based and online marketing campaigns and corporate identity. He later became creative director of the digital division of Chemistry, a leading UK integrated marketing agency.

He has won and was shortlisted for various awards, notably PPAi, Revolution and BIMA awards for Goldfish Guide and Microsoft Press. His campaign "Art or Arse" for Beck's Bier was in the same week named by both The Observer and The Daily Star as their site of the week. To view Kaoru's presentation from the seminar please click here

With thanks to TFPL for kindly supplying venue and drinks reception.

Information Professionals' Christmas Party 2007

Aslib, AUKML, BIALL, CiG, Cilip in London, CLIG, CLSIG and SLA Europe joined forces to present the Information Professionals' Christmas Party at One Whitehall Place, London on Monday 3rd December 2007.

Thank you to our gold sponsors: Wall Street Journal Eurpoe, and to our silver sponsors: Bailey Solutions, CILIP, FACTSET, ICC Information, Infocandy, ISI Emerging Markets,  OneSource, Report Buyer, Sue Hill Recruitment, Swets Information Services, TFPL, Wildy & Sons

Please click here to view the photographs

What's happening to Knowledge Management? - October 2007

The Seminar was introduced and Chaired by Catherine Kelly, Course Director, MSc in Information and Knowledge Management, London Metropolitan University.  We looked  at where KM is now and the issues of putting the theory into practice in the day to day work of an organisation.

Catherine explained how Knowledge Management theory has developed in recent years.  She then highlighted various issues related to workplace implementation.

We invited three KM practitioners to take part in a panel discussion::

·      Louise Taylor, Global Knowledge Manager, Heidrick & Struggles, an international executive search   and consulting company

·      Sarah Parker , Deployment & Vendor Consultant, Ernst & Young.

·      Gretchen McCarthy, Knowledge Management Division, Financial Services Authority Information Centre

The panel discussed, with the audience, how KM is implemented in the workplace - its successes and failures - and how to develop career opportunities within this rapidly expanding area of professional management practice.  

SPEAKER

Catherine Kelly (BA, PG Dip Lib, MBA) is the Course Director for the MSc in Information and Knowledge Management at London Metropolitan University . Prior to joining the academic sector in 2004, Catherine worked as a business researcher and knowledge manager within investment banking, management consultancy and the online industry for organisations including JP Morgan, Bain & Co. and Data-Star over a 20 year period. 

Click here for Catherine's presentation

This event was kindly sponsored by Intelligent Resources and Infocandy

An overview of the work of the City of London Police Money Laundering Investigation Unit.

	Why KYC is important
	What information to look for
	Where to find the information

	The drivers for KYC research
	LexisNexis KYC Product Demonstration

Click here for Michele Bate's presentation

Click here for Mark Dunn's presentation

This event was kindly sponsored by LexisNexis

Compliance update - April 2007
An insightful discussion and best practice guidance on the latest developments in information rights law focusing on:  

Data Protection Act Update

The Freedom of Information Act 2000

The Re-Use of Public Sector Information Regulations

SPEAKER
Ibrahim Hasan is a UK qualified solicitor and writer with experience of advising and training the public sector on all aspects of information law including data protection, freedom of information and surveillance law. He is the Director of Act Now Training.

This event was kindly sponsored by OneSource

Click here for Lesley's presentation

This event was kindly sponsored by TFPL

7 steps towards more effective communication - February 2007
Stephen Cotterell, Director, Executive Matters Limited  

	How to combine logical thinking with emotional intelligence
	Understand how people really make decisions
	Learn to tell a structured story, which is compelling and powerful, using vertical and horizontal logic

Stephen asked the group to form into small teams and then asked us to think of difficult situations which come up time and time again in our daily work. Using the Situation, Complication, Question, Answer technique (See presentation below), he led us through how we might approach these situations differently in future Stephen then showed us how we might display this information to make it more easily digestible for our audience.

Click here for Stephen's presentation

Building a business strategy - January 2007
Mary Lovell, Business Development Director, 7Side

Mary shared her own experiences on how to effectively build a business strategy.

For a hard copy of the presentation slides, please contact Kate George-Weaver, Manager of Events & Marketing, 7Side Limited -  kate.george-weaver@7side.co.uk

CiG seminars at Online Information - November 2006
CiG committee member, Jill Fenton of Fenton Research Ltd, presented two free seminars on Tuesday 28th November. 

Understanding your client  
When looking at a client or companies business status, it is vital to delve into 'the bigger picture' in which they operate to fully understand strategies, finances and future growth opportunities.  Areas discussed included domestic markets, shareholder value, economic and political environments and current caselet examples.  

Information Professionals' Christmas Party - November 2006
AUKML, BIALL, CiG, CLIG, ICLG and SLA Europe joined forces to present the Information Professionals' Christmas Party at the Science Museum on Monday 27th November 2006.

Thank you to our gold sponsors: Inderscience Publishers and Prenax, and to our silver sponsors: Bailey Solutions, Brand & Company, CILIP, EBSCO Information Services, Experian, ICC Information, Infocandy, 7Side, Sue Hill Recruitment, Swets Information Services, TFPL, Thomson Scientific, Wildy & Sons

Click here for photographs

Presentation skills: conquer the fear - October 2006
CiG's October seminar was kindly sponsored by CILIP.

Speaker Lesley Robinson, an information consultant who runs Lesley Robinson Consultancy Services, drew on personal experience to provide the audience with a number of hot tips for giving a successful presentation and also with warnings of pitfalls to avoid.

Lesley's aim was to provide members of the audience with the following:

Lesley discussed the different skills required to give presentations to over 20 people, to less than 10, and on a  one to one basis, and also asked for feedback from the audience on how they would tackle these different situations.

Structuring her talk around the following 5 overriding themes, Lesley provided the audience with lots of useful advise on how to ensure presentation success.

Lesley's talk was practical and entertaining and employed the techniques was discussing.  

Click here for Lesley's presentation

CiG Open Day & AGM - September 2006
CiG’s Open Day & AGM was held on Tuesday 26^th September at St Bride Institute.  With the aim of presenting a key learning opportunity for business information professionals by providing updates on industry developments and new opportunities, the event consisted of 3 free practical seminars, short product reviews by participating vendors, the official AGM meeting and a drinks reception and dinner.

The 3 free practical seminars focused on the theme of change management within the information industry.  Chaired by Julia Hordle (Intelligent Resources), Kate Arnold (NHS Direct), Kim Horwood (PTSC) and Jane Heenan (Fidelity Investments International) shared their experiences of change management, leading to a lively and interesting audience discussion.
A summary of the panel debate is available here

Euan Semple, a former head of KM at the BBC, discussed the impact that forums, blogs, wikis and social networking tools can have within a corporate environment.  Euan presented enthusiastic and thought-provoking ideas regarding knowledge sharing via these ‘new’ technologies.
Click here for Euan Semple's 'Social Computing' handout

Finally, Manny Cohen (RM Online Ltd), presented a highly entertaining (and interactive) talk regarding the changes in the dynamics of the business information industry due to the latest advances in technology and the Internet, 

Throughout the day, vendors were invited to make short product presentations.
Copies of these presentations are available here

A very enjoyable drinks reception and dinner (pre-dinner drinks and dinner wine were kindly sponsored by EBSCO Information Services and LexisNexis Butterworths respectively) was followed by an entertaining talk by Jo Owen, telling us about his experiences of using information throughout his varied career.

CiG would like to thank all speakers and sponsors for their support in ensuring a successful and enjoyable event.  

Successful communication with Business NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) - August 2006
CiG’s August seminar for CiG Members served as an introduction to NLP - or how to achieve excellence in communication - a critical asset in today's business world.

The event was kindly sponsored by TFPL and was hosted by them at their new offices in Blackfriars.

Katie Hogg, Director, Resolution Coaching and Training Ltd gave a lively and engaging presentation of how NLP can improve communication in all areas of our lives. 

With 93% of our communication to others being non-verbal (38% how you sound, 58% how you look) and only 7% the words you speak, the ability to get our message across more effectively, listen to what others have to say, and hence create rapport, is a key life tool. 

NLP was "discovered" and developed in the 1970s through the analysis of exceptional communicators to discover what made them so successful.  NLP has continued to develop ever since.   It is:
1.      Neuro  (the 5 senses)
2.      Linguistic (language and non-verbal communication)
3.      Programming (repeatable sequences of thoughts, feelings, behaviours)

To reduce the (perceived) differences between you and the person(s) you are conversing with you need to create trust and understanding by:
-         matching (not mimicking, their actions i.e. movements, voice, words/phrases)
-         pacing (your speech volume, level etc with theirs)
-         leading (them through what you are saying and encouraging others to speak)

This will help create rapport and build the relationship.

Katie (who has been an NLP practitioner for over 20 years) demonstrated how, used well, NLP can encourage positive responses from others and how bad communication creates barriers between people which prevents them getting their messages across.

The CiG members then worked in groups to try out these ideas, both in a negative and positive way.  This was a highly practical session in which great interest in NLP was generated, as was a wish to learn more. 

Summer Party - July 2006
This year's Summer Party was held at The Puzzle Pub in Holborn. Thank you to our sponsors: Bailey Solutions Ltd, Experian, LexisNexis Butterworths, Perfect Information, Sue Hill Recruitment and Swets Information Services.

Click here for photographs

How to do legal research / How to do primary research - June 2006
CiG’s June seminar covered the knowledge base and skills required for legal research, and primary research.  The event was a collaboration between CiG and ICLG, and kindly sponsored by LexisNexis Butterworths and Ashgate Publishing.

Tracey Dennis, Head of Library & Information Services at Lewis Silkin (a City-based commercial law firm) spoke on ‘Sourcing Legal Information in the UK and EU’. 

John Marcantonio, Associate Director, Tecnon OrbiChem consultants delivered a presentation on ‘Value and Practices of Third-Party Research’

Click here for Tracey Dennis's presentation

Click here for John Marcantonio's presentation

What type of researcher are you: Bloodhound or Golden Retriever? - May 2006
Freelance research and knowledge consultant, Stephanie Wheeler and Roberta Gardner of HR consultancy Cubiks,  gave an interesting presentation on the range of roles open to information professionals.  The title of the presentation was Data Retrieval to Organisational Research Consultant.  Topics covered by the two speakers included:
    
the meaning and importance of personality traits within the workplace
the range of research/information roles within organisations
the range of personality traits demonstrated by research and information professionals
the  PAPI - a personality-based assessment tool and how it applies to individuals and teams of researchers, a number of delegates to the seminar had completed the personality assessment questionnaire and Roberta provided them with the results
    
Dr Nick Coates, Head of Research at Freshminds, followed the animal theme of the title.   His presentation was entitled 'The human zoo; an irreverent look at researcher personalities'.  Nick investigated:

the public perception of the information professional and current threats to the profession
the need to address the animal within
the way literature and scientists have compared humans to animals
the nature of identity
how different researcher personality types compare to animals
the need to adapt to survive

Click here for Nick Coates' presentation

Click here for Stephanie Wheeler's presentation

Technology trends: spend management, reasons to be cheerful & "disruptive innovation" - April 2006
Spend management and reduction of procurement costs are hot topics in many large organisations. Gerrard Cairns (Infocandy) spoke about e-procurement systems and how these can be used to increase the control of subscription spend on journals and magazines, and reduce hidden costs.  

Are we about to see the return of the eBook? Our speaker Dan Penny (EPS Ltd) thinks so. His presentation looked at why eBooks didn’t work first time, the risks and advantages of publishing books online, and the recent reasons to be cheerful.  

Web 2.0 - you’ve heard about it. This seminar gave an opportunity to find out exactly what it is and what it mean for information services? Paul Miller (Talis Information Ltd), author of a white paper “Libraries 2.0: the challenge of disruptive innovation?” was our speaker on this topic.

The seminar was chaired by

Click here for Gerrard Cairns' presentation

Click here for Dan Penny's presentation

Click here for Paul Miller's presentation

This event was sponsored by Infocandy

Boundary crossing - March 2006
Julia Cotter (Aon Ltd), Jeff Davis (Integreon) and Craig Parris (Egon Zehnder) discussed how they have developed their careers, either by moving from company to company, sector to sector or by expanding into different areas within the same organisation. They also discussed how they have adapted their information/knowledge management skills and capabilities to enable them to be successful in their alternative roles. The session was chaired by Jacky Berry (TFPL).

This event was sponsored by TFPL Ltd

Cops and Robbers: Using business information to protect against money laundering - February 2006
Working with business information today, you are most likely working within an organisation that is compelled for both business and legal reasons to protect itself against money launderers.For our February seminar, D.I. Mick Dockree, City of London Police Economic Crime Training Manager spoke to attendees about how the police must use (both publicly and commercially available) business information resources to corroborate evidence in white collar crime.  Richard Russell, Business Solutions Director at Complinet, also spoke to the group and raised some of the issues that surround sourcing information in the due diligence process.  He suggested that when an information professional is selecting databases to use for due diligence that they look for features such as fuzzy logic (the capability to match variant names); transparent data provenance; and human fact checking (rather than relying solely on technical solutions).

Click here for Richard Russell's presentation

This event was sponsored by aRMadillo and City of London

Innovation in service marketing - January 2006
At our January 2006 seminar, sponsored by Intelligent Resources, the following three speakers presented their perceptions on Innovation in Service Marketing.