Home - UK Web Focus

IWThe UK Web Focus Consultancy

Background

Since 1995 Brian has supported effective use of Web technologies across the UK’s higher education community, initially as senior trainer at Netskills then, for over 16 years, as UK Web Focus at UKOLN. Following cessation of UKOLN’s core funding Brian worked as Innovation Advocate at Cetis for about 19 months. However this finished following the cessation of Jisc funding which led, after a period of two years, the closure of the organisation at the University of Bolton.

After working as a Web and technology adviser for the UK’s higher and further education communities since 1996 Brian Kelly is now an independent consultant. This web site provides details of Brian’s consultancy work, access to the UK Web Focus blog and links to Brian’s papers and presentations.

The UK Web Focus Blog

The UK Web Focus blog was launched in November 2006 and originally hosted by WordPress.com. The blog has been migrated to the ukwebfocus.com web site and will continue to contain posts about use of Web technologies, especially developments of interest to the higher education community.

The IWMW Event

IWMW, the Institutional Web Management Workshop series, was launched in 1997. The event has proved to be sustainable, with continued interest across the UK’s web management community in participation in an event which focusses on the challenges of providing large-scale web services in higher education.

IWMW 2016 marked a special occasion – the event was the 20th in the series. The event was held at Liverpool John Moores University of 21-23 June 2016.

IWMW 2017 was held at the University of Kent on 11-13 July 2017.

IWMW 2018 was held at the University of York on 11-13 July 2018.

IWMW 2019 was held at the University of Greenwich on 25-27 June 2019.

IWMW 2020 will be held at the University of Dundee on 30 June – 2 July 2020.

IWMW 2019

IWMW 2019 was held at the University of Greenwich on 25-27 June 2019.

Testimonials

Brian Kelly truly inspires thought and action toward the future. I had the pleasure of seeing Brian present live and I was blown away by his work on innovation and how well he wove the practical into the thought provoking. Joe Murphy

Library Futures Consultant

Brian is a remarkable individual. He combines detailed knowledge of the technologies used in higher and further education with enthusiasm, but tempers this with a real understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of that technology, and where it is best applied or not applied. He is a skilled presenter and writes in a fluent and approachable style. He won’t remember this, but he is the man who introduced me to Twitter many years ago! He will be an outstanding consultant. Charles Oppenheim

Retired

I have worked with Brian both in the capacity of a speaker and attendee at the events he has managed and as a colleague at the University of Bath. He is extremely knowledgable and has an infectious passion for what he does. I have personally learnt a great deal from Brian about the way technology can be utilised particularly by academics. He is fantastic at sharing ideas and encouraging debate and his blog is regularly cited as the place to look for the latest thinking in the technology sphere for HE. Alison Kerwin

Director of Strategic Marketing and Digital Communications at University of York

I first met Brian in 1997 when I idly attended a course on HTML that he was delivering. I was not to know at the time that this would act as a catalyst for me to change my entire vocation. Meanwhile, Brian was busy establishing a nationwide network of education web professionals which flourishes to this day. This network and its associated conferences and subgroups has sustained and developed my career and that of many others. Brian’s relentless enthusiasm and embracing of change is infectious and the value he has delivered to the sector is immeasurable. Mike McConnell

Business Applications Manager, University of Aberdeen

UK Web Focus blog

Revisiting Event Amplification

by Brian Kelly | Oct 14, 2018 | Events

This post looks at digital archives of tweets posted during previous ILI conferences and suggests that making use of Twitter at the #ILI2018 event can propvdie benefits for delegates, speakers and event organisers.

My Participation at ILI Events

by Brian Kelly | Oct 9, 2018 | Events

The ILI (Internet Librarian International) conference is celebrating its 20th anniversary next week. This post provides a summary of Brian Kelly's presentations at ILI conferences since the conference was launched in 1999.

The ILI Conference – Looking at the History

by Brian Kelly | Oct 4, 2018 | Events

The ILI event is 20 years old this year. What might we learn from looking at previous event web sites? And might such analyses provide an interesting prooject for LIS students?

Top 10 must visit conferences in Europe for digital professionals

by Brian Kelly | Nov 30, 2017 | Events

A post was published on the IWMW blog a few days ago summarising "Other Events of Interest to the Web and Digital Management Community". The purpose of the post was to "to identify ways in which we can improve future IWMW events [by] surveying similar events aimed at...

IWMW 2018 to be held at the University of York on 11-13 July 2018

by Brian Kelly | Oct 25, 2017 | Events

The IWMW 2018 event (#iwmw18) will be held at the University of York on 11-13 July 2018. The event co-chairs, Brian Kelly and Claire Gibbons, are pleased to announce details of the event which next year will celebrate its 22nd anniversary.

IWMW 2017 Deadline Approaching!

by Brian Kelly | Jun 26, 2017 | Events

Host Institutions for IWMW Participants (and a Survey for Non-Participants!)

by Brian Kelly | Jun 13, 2017 | Events

Looking Back at IWMW 2016 The IWMW 2016 event was held in Liverpool just over a year ago. Write-ups about the event have been published on the University of St Andrews Digital Communications Team blog; Plymouth University's Create Digital blog; the TerminalFOUR...

Profiling Speakers and Facilitators at IWMW 2017

by Brian Kelly | Jun 12, 2017 | Events

About This Post “Individually we are strong. Together we are stronger.“ Recent IWMW events have attracted participation from across the length and breadth of mainland UK. But not all institutions are represented at the event, the annual Institutional Web Management...

IWMW 2017: The Workshops and Master Classes

by Brian Kelly | May 30, 2017 | Events

Overview There are over 40 speakers and workshop facilitators at the forthcoming IWMW 2017 event. But what are the characteristics of the people willing to stand up in public and share their thoughts on best practices for providing institutional web services and other...

IWMW 2017 Open For Bookings

by Brian Kelly | Apr 25, 2017 | Events

IWMW 2017 A recent post published on this blog summarised the plenary sessions at the IWMW 2017 event which will be held at the University of Kent on 11-13 July. The theme of this year's event, the 21st Institutional Web Management Workshop event, is "It’s The End Of...

IWMW 2017 Programme Available

by Brian Kelly | Apr 11, 2017 | Events

A recent post announced that the "IWMW 2017 Programme [was] Available". The post described how "IWMW 2017, the annual Institutional Web Management Workshop, will be held at the University of Kent on 11-13 July. This year’s theme is “It’s The End Of The Institution As...

The uwebd Online Community

by Brian Kelly | Feb 14, 2017 | Web2.0

The programme for the IWMW 2017 event is now available. IWMW 2017, the annual Institutional Web Management Workshop, will be held at the University of Kent on 11-13 July. This year's theme is "It’s The End Of The Institution As We Know It (And We Feel Fine)".

CILIP West Midlands Annual Members Day 2017

by Brian Kelly | Feb 13, 2017 | Events

In December 2009 the <uwebd/> Ning network was created by Mark Greenfield "as an experiment to see if web 2.0 technologies could be utilized to create a community for [US] higher education web professionals." The network grew steadily over the years and by...

IWMW 2017: Call for Submissions Now Open!

by Brian Kelly | Jan 26, 2017 | Events

The 10th Anniversary of the UK Web Focus Blog

by Brian Kelly | Nov 1, 2016 | Blog

I am pleased to announce that the call for submissions for the IWMW 2017 event is now open. The IWMW 2017 event will be held at the University of Kent on 11-13 July 2017. This year’s event is the 21st in the series, which was founded in 1997. This event is the...

Planning For IWMW 2017 (comments from #IWMW16)

by Brian Kelly | Oct 24, 2016 | Events

The UK Web Focus blog was launched on 1st November 2006 so today sees its 10th anniversary! I suspect there will only be a handful of blogs which have been in operation within the UK educational technology over this period: Tony Hurst's OUSeful blog is one that...

Use of Technologies at #IWMW16

by Brian Kelly | Oct 17, 2016 | Events

About This Post Having established the IWMW event series 20 years ago I am very aware of the importance of event evaluation, which can help to identify successful aspects of an event, areas which can be improved and how the event can be shaped for future years. This...