connect.IT annual kick-off: Association members develop numerous ideas for 2017

The joint further development of connect.IT's activities in 2017 was the focus of the "connect.IT Annual Kick-off 2017". Over 30 association members met at connect.IT on February 8 to discuss the planned events, plans and projects and to develop new ideas for the association's work.

Review of 2016

The meeting began with a review of 2016, with Steffen Jung and Frank Oschmann, Chairman and 2nd Chairman of the Executive Board, giving an impressive presentation of the highlights of the association's activities. It became clear that the life of the association is largely driven by the activities of its members for the IT sector in the Heilbronn-Franken region. On average, various events and forum meetings are now held once a week for the now more than 100 members. The third Heilbronn Barcamp in April and the IT Job Shuttle in November were key events last year.

With the new internet platform connect2know.de, we succeeded in 2016 in further promoting networking in the area of information technology in the region. The JOBSTARTER plus project "Go4.IT" was also launched in May. The IT training initiative addresses the need for IT specialists in the region and is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research and the European Social Fund.

Update 2017

There have already been numerous activities in the new year 2017. For example, connect.IT is currently involved in a qualification initiative of the Heilbronn Employment Agency. Another milestone in the association's development is the decision to set up the connect.IT FabLab on the premises of Coworking Heilbronn. The Barcamp 2017 will take place on May 20/21 as the highlight of the Heilbronn Creative Weeks. On May 16, Heilbronn University will also host DevCon for the first time - a specialist congress and trade fair for computer science and business informatics courses. connect.IT participates as a regional IT network and is a strategic partner.

Plans & ideas for 2017

The activities presented provided the best conditions for the subsequent lively discussion among the association members. Topics that could be improved in the association's work were also addressed. The following moderated dialog rounds took place under the motto "connect.IT interactive 2017": Events & Forums, Communication & Organization, Member Recruitment & Partnerships and Projects & Initiatives.

The Events & For ums dialog round developed numerous ideas for the Barcamp, IT Job Shuttle and DevCon. New events were also discussed, such as IT over coffee, FactUp Startups, Codelympics and events as part of the Meet the Expert and Meet & Chill series. Another point of discussion was the optimization of event organization.

Numerous measures to improve the external presentation of the association and internal coordination were discussed by the Communication & Organization dialogue group. The development of a communication concept and media plan, the optimization of internal communication through a wiki and a chat solution were proposed. Event organization and communication was also a key topic. It was decided to increase the visibility of around 60 events a year on the connect.IT website and to initiate a central process for publishing events or to develop an interface to existing platforms such as XING.

"Acquiring new members and partners is the task of each individual member and not just the Executive Board," was the key finding of the Member Acquisition & Partnerships dialog round. Before approaching interested parties, the specific added value connect.IT can offer potential members and partners must be clarified.

The Projects & Initiatives roundtable identified numerous new fields of action for the association. The considerations focused on an initiative around the topic of Industry / Economy 4.0, with examples that are as practical as possible, a campaign to attract IT specialists to work in the region, intensified, broadly effective educational work on what exactly "IT" is and which activities are carried out in IT professions, as well as a new offer of IT taster days for pupils, students and junior staff in companies, which should be developed jointly by interested association members.

Finally, the moderators of the dialog rounds presented the results in the central plenary session. There was another opportunity to discuss the proposals. At the subsequent get-together with sausages and potato salad, there was plenty of opportunity to network and get to know the participants. All in all, the connect.IT annual kick-off provided numerous very valuable suggestions and impetus for the association's future work.

For example, the following activities / points were defined:

• Individual meetings will be held with all department heads over the next 3-4 weeks to determine specific measures for 2017

• In future, all new events, including forum events, will be added to the website. To do this, it is sufficient for the person responsible for the event to write an email to [email protected]. The office will then add the event to the website

• Past events will also be updated in a concentrated campaign. We will approach those responsible for this

• The reported delivery problems will be investigated

• Check that the office is more accessible

• Further expand the communication plan

• Possibly also an event for department heads in future?

• Repeat this type of event (with kick-off / work character)

These are now being examined and pursued by the many active members, managers, trustees, forum and department heads. 2017 is set to be an exciting year with many highlights and it is now time to actively strengthen the IT location Heilbronn-Franken with the association's activities.