We started UKNOF over 15 years ago. There were almost 50 people at UKNOF1, back in May 2005. In contrast, virtualUKNOF in May 2020 was attended by over 360 people.
Growing the attendance numbers – and sustaining them for the future – is something we’ve worked hard on. A part of that is listening to the UKNOF community. You told us how we needed to improve.
We listened to people in the community at and between UKNOF events. We also listened to the advice that came from the UKNOF Advisory Committee. We implemented their advice and UKNOF has been changing. These are some of the things we have done:
- Succession planning – we have brought three new people onto the UKIF Ltd board as we prepare for some of the longest serving board members to step down.
- Developing committee charters – we created a formal charter for the Communications Committee when we set it up. It sets a committee size, responsibilities, and term limits.
- PC renewal – Seven new people have joined the Programme Committee and we are formalising its charter.
- Board meetings – These now take place monthly.
- Transparency – regular reports of each Board meeting, summarising key decisions, actions and progress, are circulated to all UKNOF Committee members after each Board meeting.
We have designed structures to ensure a continuous flow of fresh ideas and improvements in the future.
Of course, you might have a great idea for the board or a committee. If you do, please mail them directly or speak to one of the members. And please use the free text comment box on surveys to tell us where we need to make improvements.
We are grateful to the Advisory Committee for their input over the years. We hope that implementing their advice in formal structures will give us constant renewal and ideas for improvement. It also means that we believe the Advisory Committee has served its purpose. We won’t create a formal charter for it.
We will be thanking the current and past members of the Advisory Committee for their service at UKNOF51, in Manchester in April.