Back together again
This year’s Housing Technology annual conference (2-3 March) was very special because we were back in -person at The Oxford Belfry once again and also broadcasting live to our digital audience. Our last in-person conference in 2020 was the last business/IT event most of our community attended just before we went into lockdown.
Over 500 people attended in-person and online for our digital broadcast. It was a wonderful feeling to be together again and most of the feedback that we’ve received confirms that our guests felt the same.
Featuring over 35 sessions from leading housing providers and selected IT suppliers as well as two special keynotes, the conference provided key insights, knowledge sharing and networking opportunities.
Sensational speakers
With a jam-packed agenda, some of the housing providers presenting included BPHA, CHP, Halton Housing, Link Group, MHA, Optivo, Orbit Group, Places For People, Raven Housing, Rooftop Housing, Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea, Vivid Homes, Wrekin Housing and Yorkshire Housing.
We welcomed back Andrew Grill, The Actionable Futurist, who opened the first day of the conference with his keynote ‘Joining the dots with connected housing’ with some fascinating insights and predictions for the future, and the injunction for us all to be ‘digitally curious’.
On day two, BBC broadcaster and writer Timandra Harkness opened with her thought-provoking keynote, ‘What can data do for you (and what can’t it do)?’. We provided free copies of Timandra’s book, ‘Big Data: Does Size Matter?’, to attendees which she signed on the day; I’ve listened to the audiobook, narrated by the author, and can assure you that it’s a fantastic read/listen.
We hosted a pre-event get-together and an evening reception at the end of day one (including two outstanding close-up magicians); catching up with familiar faces and meeting new ones in-person was a real highlight and I know many of you felt the same… it’s been a long two years!
A big thank you
I am very grateful to all our guests, speakers, staff, film crew, tech team, venue and hospitality staff, and sponsors who were involved during the two days.
Our sponsors showcased their solutions and services in our exhibition hall which was a hive of activity throughout the event. Our sponsors were: Aareon UK, Active Housing, Aico, Amido, Capita, Civica, Crimson, Esuasive, FLS – Fast Lean Smart, FireAngel Safety Technology, Housing Insight, Itica, Kick ICT, Lima, Lioness Recruitment, Littlefish, Manifest Software Solutions, MIS Active Management Systems, Mobysoft, NEC, Neo Technology, Optus Homes, RedkiteCRM, Social Telecoms, Sophos, TechLabs London and TSG.
Accessing the sessions on demand
All the sessions that were broadcast live from our presentation rooms have been recorded and will be available very shortly on our On Demand streaming platform.
Housing Technology On Demand launched last year and it’s been going from strength to strength as we have published exclusive interviews, demos, case studies, event replays (including the 2021 digital conference recordings) and more over the past year. Visit ondemand.housing-technology.com to find out more and once you’ve signed up (free to housing providers, local authorities and other end-user organisations), you can download our app which is freely available for iOS and Android devices.
Coming up next
We have more events coming up this year including our #HousingTechLive sessions and ‘Data Matters 2022’, our one-day autumn event later this year.
We are also already planning next year’s conference, our 14th annual event. Housing Technology 2023 will be going ahead in March next year; stay tuned for more details soon.
In terms of Housing Technology’s publications, we have the magazine bringing you the latest news, insights and thought leadership, as well as new guides and reports. If you haven’t subscribed already, make sure you do so at housing-technology.com to receive our updates.
We’re very much looking forward to seeing many more of you face-to-face and virtually at our events this year and next… onwards and upwards!
