SPEED MEETING: A Special Session to Introduce Academics and Professionals to Each Other in Person

and via Web Cast

Deborah E. Swain, Organizerdswain@nccu.edu

Beatrice PulliumBPULLIAM@providence.edu

Kris LibermanKris.Liberman@FMR.COM

Anne Rogersanne_rogers@cargill.com

Deborah Barreaubarreau@email.unc.edu

Julie Hersbergerjahersbe@uncg.edu

Leona Faustleona_faust@sec.senate.gov

Frank Exner, Little Bearfexner@yahoo.com

Deanna Hall

The opportunity for companies with universities to create joint ventures is growing with a recent focus on short-term projects -not mergers. How can those involved in research and practice meet-especially graduate student researchers seeking collaborative university, corporate or government partners? Also, according to Wired magazine (April, 2007), there is a new emphasis on transparency and sharing across companies-beyond competitive intelligence. Such change is leading to increased knowledge sharing across corporate boundaries. Can information professionals share safely ideas, not secrets, and

find partners for short-term development? Information technology companies seem less interested in formal mergers than in cooperative ventures (Apple with Google, for example).

Companies and schools invited to send representatives include:

3M (St Paul, Minnesota)Invitrogen Corporation (Milwaukee, WI)Pierce Milwaukee (Milwaukee, WI)Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Milwaukee, WI)Covance ( Madison, WI)University of Wisconsin-MilwaukeeUniversity of Wisconsin-Madison

Can the ASIS&T Annual Meeting facilitate such collaboration? Through this session, we

would like to cultivate appropriate sharing in a modern format on Sunday, October 21, the

first day of the full conference, to give attendees a chance to connect for later

collaborations. In the past interested individuals requested information interviews. Can

technology and a gathering of researchers and professionals improve on the information

interview? Live social networking!

As a scheduled technical session, the “Speed Meeting” is similar to “speed dating” when

mini-blind dates are held as a social activity for potential couples. The speed meeting

session is intended to encourage students, academics and professionals attending the

conference to meet briefly, exchange ideas, and make plan to meet later (or not). The

brevity is reinforced by a bell ringing every seven minutes. As one SIG chair has suggested,

a nickname for this event might be “speed geeking.” There is potential for fun, too. What is

a conference for if not to meet people?!!

There will be preliminary information sheets for conference attendees available at

registration and passed out at the first plenary session. Sign-in sheets before the session

will be available to help match areas of interest. Various shared issues and technology

m-communications can be discussed between scholars and employers in government and

business. Discussion questions may include: How have professionals applied research

developed in universities? Are there other names used in human resources for “knowledge

managers” and “digital librarians,” for example?

SIG members from Knowledge Management (KM); Blogs, Wikis, and Podcasts (BWP); and

Management (MGT) will coordinate inviting business and research sponsors to the Speed

Meeting. To assist remote-site participation by ASIS&T members and invited participants,

there will be a web-camera and computer network interview set up for non-local attendees

to participate. However, primarily local businesses in the Milwaukee-Chicago Area with IS

interests and conference sponsors will be invited to send representatives. The session is

proposed as an arranged session to give graduate students and faculty in IS the

opportunity to meet organizational representatives interested in products and projects

involving Information Systems, Knowledge Management, Web Technology, and other

aspects of IS research.