I spent yesterday at the Harrogate Low Carbon Innovation Exchange. I do like these events as there is a minimum of Powerpoint and a maximum amount of networking and information exchange.
I got drafted into a panel Q&A; session as one big business bod didn't turn up. A bit like Have I Got News For You, you do get to see the questions beforehand, but in my case 'beforehand' meant 'while the chair was reading out the biographies' rather than overnight. But it was fun and I even let the other panelists get a word in edgeways... occasionally.
I also chaired a roundtable discussion on empowering employees with delegates as disparate as steel stockholding, higher education and fashion retail. We developed a list of possibilities for raising awareness and influence behaviour, but I was a bit disappointed I couldn't coax the others into more of a discussion about true empowerment. In addition, to a person, none of them had a budget - they had to go cap in hand to their boss for every project. Looks as if there's a long way to go.
I do recommend these events - if you are interested check them out here.
