It was great to see so many of the Jisc and Janet networking community at our first ever Networkshop online. While the circumstances driving us to that format were of course very unfortunate, the fact that around 500 people registered, and the vast majority of those then attended our three day event, was fantastic to see.
I thought the talks were all really interesting, with a nice blend of keynotes and lightning talks, and many aspects were very thought provoking. If you missed anything, I believe some recordings of the content will be made available in due course, so keep an eye out for announcements on that.
What was also great to see was that there was also a lot of really engaging and fun discussion in the AdobeConnect side chat channel, which persisted through the whole event. I was talking to some colleagues and we felt it would be a great shame if that chat came to a halt with the close of Networkshop 48, so we thought we’d look to find a way to let it continue.
And that’s how the new Network Community Slack workspace was born. We realise that Slack isn’t everyone’s favourite way to chat – there are many other options – but felt that it was as good a way as any of the options out there, and something worth trying. For an invite to the Slack space that’s valid for 30 days after Networkshop click here. Alternatively, feel free to email me at the address below to ask for an invite.
If you’re not familiar with Slack, a workspace is essentially a chat space with multiple channels or rooms, the default two being #general and #random. The first you might use for “on-topic” networking chat, the latter for “off-topic” stuff like cats (which is what the Internet was built for, right?). But there are also many other channels, which with the Slack app you can find by hitting the ‘+’ sign next to the Channels tab on the left side. So there’s #wifi, #security, #nostalgia, and many more, and you can also create your own. You can join or leave channels as you wish.
I’d recommend using the Slack app, rather than using a browser view, but that’s a matter of personal choice, and perhaps whether you are a member of other Slack workspaces and want them better integrated into one application.
Anyway, the space is there for you, to use and shape as you please. We’ll create channels for our future events such as Networkshop and Tech2Tech, as we did for #networkshop48. But don’t be afraid to chip in. Feel free to ask any questions; someone in the community is likely to have a good answer ready for you. And also feel free to invite colleagues and friends to join, the more of you we see there, the better. The community is as good as you make it.
Best wishes,
Tim Chown
Network Development Manager, Jisc