Blog: 10 June 2022 - Helen Edwards, LLG President

Conference season is underway, and I am preparing for the LGA conference later this month, following the second day of LLG’s Spring conference earlier this week, and our hybrid day in Durham on 27 May.

Our Spring conference was a great success. I marvel at how technology has improved since the early days of lockdown. I am sure we all remember the early challenges when our IT teams had to quickly develop ways of facilitating remote working. Two years on, and we are able to hold conferences and even our awards ceremony either totally remotely or hybrid.

Conference venues able to offer good hybrid facilities, in addition to our other requirements, are few, which limits the choice of venue for our in-person sessions. The Radisson at Durham was an excellent venue with great facilities, and its location in the centre of Durham meant that those attending in person were able to take advantage of seeing some of the sights of this beautiful city.

Some members have commented that they would have liked to attend, but that “Durham was too far”. Of course, when we have held conferences in London, our members in the North have made similar comments! We do appreciate that in times of tight budgets travel costs are a consideration, especially when there is an option to attend remotely, and for that reason we attempt to choose venues in different locations each year. For those unable to attend the Spring conference in person, please do consider attending the Governance conference in Birmingham on 11^th November. This too will be a hybrid conference so for those unable to do so there will again be the option of attending remotely.

For those who attended the Spring conference, whether remotely or in person, I am sure you will agree that we had an excellent line up of speakers, who covered a wide range of relevant topics over the two days. I found much food for thought in the sessions and thank our speakers for taking time to join us. For those attending in person, it was a great opportunity to catch up with colleagues and corporate partners, who restocked our supplies of post it notes, notebooks, and pens that were depleted over the last two years!

I love the freedom we have to work more flexibly, and attend conferences remotely if we wish, but there is something special about the ability to meet up with old friends and make new ones. I am looking forward to doing so again at our Governance Conference in November, where I hope that you will be able to join us.

Best Wishes

Helen Edwards

LLG President