jeff, i find that senior execs/board membs don't really 'learn' much from seminars. i found that out by asking questions gently afterwards on a one-on-one basis.
i find the best thing is to get the influencers on their own in a situation & in a place/time where they feel comfortable. the approach that 'i know you know a fair bit about technology but i need your help to find out what your colleagues need to know' often gradually reveals what specific execs themselves really need. in my experience, putting them all in a seminar & treating them the same makes them feel threatened and, worse still, that they as individuals don't have to take too much in because 'somebody else' will have understood. i've often taken the stance that 'you'll have heard about the XYZ new technology. most people find it very difficult to understand at first. i did myself so i thought it might be helpful if i explain it to you and give you the opportunity to find out more about it because it will be coming up in a paper/submission i'll be asking you guys to make decisions on at the next meeting'. i hope this helps, jeff. as director of the institute of information technology at unsw i had to do quite a bit of this stuff. i find academics & their administrators are the most arrogant about what they know but are also the most fearful that they will be found out not understanding whatever it is. at the stock exchange, as national development manager, i often had to explain stuff to board members & brokers alike. & of course i've had to do this sort of thing stacks of times as a 'consultant'. as a 'girl' it was always very easy to be ever so humble & apologetic for using simple terms to explain techo stuff. (sorry other 'girl linkers', i know that's not fashionable or PC now but in my day it was useful.) the result was watching execs becoming empowered to ask sensible, relevant questions & knowing it was useful to them because they used me as a source again & again!! annm ************************************ Ann Moffatt EXoCaT Pty Ltd 49 Raintree Avenue BURRUM HEADS QLD 4659 tel +61 (0) 7 4129 5796 fax +61 (0) 7 4129 5916 *********************************** ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jeff Waugh" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Ann Moffatt" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Cc: "Mail List - LINK" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "Mail List - SLUG" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Monday, July 29, 2002 4:44 PM Subject: Re: [LINK] Re: [SLUG] NSW DET to be urged to use OSS > <quote who="Ann Moffatt"> > > > first, we need to educate board members and senior exec on technology > > issues. as the only technology literate member of the board of nsw tafe > > for the 2 years i served on that board i spent a considerable amount of > > time & energy bringing other board membs & senior exec up to speed on > > technology issues. > > Thanks Ann, > > What sorts of carrots can we offer to the exec and board? SLUG is very well > prepared to help organise and host a seminar on the benefits of Free and > Open Source software, though our experience is mostly in business and > technology. > > Are there specific things we should look into for this audience? How can we > attract their attention? :-) > > - Jeff > > -- > ... *bounce*bounce*bounce* -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group - http://slug.org.au/ More Info: http://lists.slug.org.au/listinfo/slug
