Case Europe Annual Conference 2009

This week I attended the annual European Case conference in Liverpool.
Last year the conference mostly focused on integrating the various functions in Advancement. This year the recurring themes were "new" technologies and the global financial situation.
The later fact was also visible in the organization of the event. For example, the notepad given in the delegates bag was very plain...while the bag was full of glossy brochures from the vendors. Just as I did, I heard many people complain about the food quality and lack of desserts at lunch.
But, yes, indeed a conference is not about food and goodies, but it helps to make it more enjoyable. Listening to people talk during 7 hours can be quite exhausting.

So, what about the conference itself? First, I really think I should have one blog focusing on the issue of advancement in France and Europe, to keep my private life from the professional one :-).
The best thing was to get to know my French colleagues. The other best was a little Facebook to evaluate how many of the FB users are living in X/Y/Z areas... I also reflected on the role of the private, closed, proprietary networks versus social network site such as Facebook. I wonder if we can correlate the phenomenon to private exclusive clubs versus public bars. It was also very interesting to hear stories from our British counterparts, since they started doing Higher Education advancement 15 years ago. It helps to put things in perspective, and gives us goals and hopes!