I’m looking forward to the  Social Workplace Conference 2012, taking place this week on Thursday, May 24, 2012.  I’m anticipating hearing how various organisations have overcome some of the barriers I listed in my earlier post on this topic. The line up of speakers and the organisations they represent should make for a highly rewarding day of learning and sharing good practice in the deployment of social software in the workplace, and – more importantly – the organisational changes required (e.g. operational, cultural, leadership) that will ensure a successful transition to “social business“.

Another interesting facet to the whole debate about the impact of social media in the workplace is the issue of the “disconnected workforce”, i.e. those that side-step the restrictions and limitations placed on use of corporate social software solutions by using of their own devices and applications to solve business problems.  In other words, the growing trend towards ‘bring your own device’, or BYOD, where smartphones and tablet applications can circumvent corporately approved systems and information management policies. Even where a BYOD policy has been approved, there can be repercussions, as IBM has recently found. I will be interested to get some views from the panel on this particular issue,

Speakers and Panel Members Include:

• Vic Okezie, Conference Director & Founder, Crexia
• Angela Ashenden, Principal Analyst, Collaboration, MWD Advisors
• Laurie Hibbs, Human Resources Director, LexisNexis
• Liz Pearce, Chief Operating officer, LiquidPlanner Inc
• George Reynolds, Managing Director, CloudsMatter (Qontext UKIE Partner)
• Neil Campbell, Head of Product & Marketing, brightsolid online Technology
• Lee Provoost, Head of Strategy & Transformation, Dachis Europe
• Priya Banati, Collaboration Strategy Lead, Accenture UK
• Alan Pelz-Sharpe, Principal Analyst, ECM & Enterprise Search
• Jens Schroeter, Snr Consultant, Social Media & Collaboration, Siemens AG
• Rita Chambers, e-Communications Manager, Sodexo UK
• Justin Hunt, Founder, ITSOPEN and Social Media Leadership Forum
• Leon Benjamin, Internal Collaboration Manager, Virgin Media
• Del Green, Group Internal Communications Manager, Bupa

It should be an interesting day, and I’ll be tweeting on the key discussions throughout the day (hashtag #swconf).

I look forward to perhaps meeting up with some colleagues and friends during the day – please come and say ‘hello’ if you know me