The Kx User Conference 2019
In October 2019, we opened the doors at Whittlebury Park for our annual Kx User Conference.
The conference saw more than 200x higher education and event professionals from across the globe come together to share best practices, industry knowledge and insight.
The event kicked off on Wednesday, 30th October for the training and innovation day. The second day, Thursday, 31st October, saw a range of inspirational speakers take to the stage, as well as an exciting awards ceremony at the gala dinner in the evening.
Training & Innovation Day | Wednesday, 30th October
First things first - tea and coffee!
Once everyone was fueled with caffeine we came together in the stunning Brooklands Suite for a welcome from Luke Warren, our Chief Sales Officer.
Delegates then split into their chosen level for training with our expert team. This year, they had the option to choose between a student or commercial track and a range of various levels, including a daily user of the system, a team lead or a senior user and administrator.
Day 1 also saw the introduction of a brand new innovation zone. This gave attendees the opportunity to learn more about exciting projects happening at Kinetic, including our new cloud-based platform - Pulse! In addition to this, they were able to learn about an important project regarding student wellbeing that our Director of Innovation, Lee Rawlinson, has been working on.
In the evening, everyone was treated to some delicious food and drinks!
Speaker Day | Thursday, 31st October
Day 2 welcomed some fantastic industry speakers. Everyone also had the opportunity to chat about the Kinetic innovations, network and learn more about the industry.
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Nov 4, 2019
Welcome and Kinetic Update
First up, we had lots of fun playing Rock, Paper, Scissors. What better to wake everyone up! Then we were joined by Rob Turner, our Chief Executive Officer, where he revealed more details about our amazing new cloud-based platform - Pulse! He also shared other exciting innovations and developments happening at Kinetic, as well as our plans for the future.
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Nov 4, 2019
Does big change always mean big impact?
Rob Johnson from Southern Universities Purchasing Consortium and Andrew Cormack from JISC explored two hot topics - GDPR and Brexit, and what impact they are having on the higher education sector.
Commercial sessions
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Nov 4, 2019
Key measurements of a conferencing department's success
All the way from America, Becky McMillen from California University of Pennsylvania shared her top tips and best practices on how to ensure your conferencing team achieve high-level results and smash their goals.
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Nov 4, 2019
Standing out in a crowded market
In a competitive events and conferencing industry, finding your niche and USP is vital. Simon Herrera from UC Santa Barbara, Sarah Clayton from the University of Birmingham and David Doyle from Dublin City University, joined by the Kinetic team, discussed their ideas and best practices on how to stand out from the crowd.
Student sessions
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Nov 4, 2019
Enhancing the student experience
Tom Truman from FutureLets, Coventry University, shared his knowledge and best practices on how to enhance the student experience throughout the entire student journey by engaging them with excellent communication and the ResLife programme.
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Nov 4, 2019
Global awareness of student wellbeing
Previously Head of Accommodation at University of Liverpool, and now Director of Innovation at Kinetic, Lee Rawlinson emphasised the importance of student wellbeing across the whole higher education sector. His presentation was truly moving and gave a sneak peek into upcoming Kx plans!
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Nov 4, 2019
Keynote Speaker - Monty Halls!
Over the last twenty years, Monty has established a reputation as one of the most entertaining and thought-provoking speakers in the UK! He is a broadcaster, speaker, naturalist, former Royal Marine, marine biologist, travel writer and leadership specialist. In this session, he shared his incredible experiences on dealing with change. He made our guests both cry and laugh, within 5 minutes!
Commercial sessions
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Nov 4, 2019
Turning data into insights
David Storrar from University of Reading explored the challenges that integrating systems with Kx and other software solved and how to turn this data from reports into very useful insight.
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Nov 5, 2019
How conferencing departments can increase the enrolment pipeline
Luke Warren, CSO at Kinetic, discovered the value of conferencing teams, their impact on the organisation's revenue and how they can contribute towards a greater enrolment pipeline.
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Nov 5, 2019
"Academic venue" - advertise or hide?
Karl Reinhardt, previously from NUI Galway and now at Mezzino Ireland, discussed whether or not you should promote your facilities as being an academic venue and the pros and cons of each.
Student sessions
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Nov 4, 2019
Using Kx and Room Service for ResLife
David Wilkes, COO at Kinetic, shared his knowledge of Kx and Room Service, and provided tips and tricks on how to use these systems for the ResLife programme.
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Nov 5, 2019
Student accommodation: little things make a big difference
Rob Turner and Lee Rawlinson, both from Kinetic, explored the student accommodation journey and how small things really can improve the student experience and make a big difference.
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Nov 5, 2019
The future of student accommodation
Lee Rawlinson shared his wealth of knowledge in student accommodation, that he gained during his time at University at Liverpool, and gave insight into what the future of student accommodation looks like and how best to prepare.
What better way to finish 2 busy and exciting days than some lovely food and entertainment! After a beautiful 3-course meal, Luke Warren, CSO at Kinetic, hosted the annual Kinetic Awards Ceremony.
And the winners are...
Bright Ideas
James Morby
Sanctuary Group
Commercial Team of the Year
University of Reading
Special Achievement
Kelly Quatrello (collected by Katy)
University of Liverpool
Student Team of the Year
University of East London
Kinetic Legend
Becky McMillen
California University of Pennsylvania
Congratulations to all the winners and thank you to everyone who joined us at this year's Kx User Conference!