As the country begins to get back to face-to-face working, the UK’s Intelligent Transport Systems industry association, ITS (UK) is committing to offering members the choice of joining events in person or online.
It has invested in equipment to live stream Forum meetings and other discussions so that those who cannot, or would rather not, attend in person can still participate.
The society has noted that, while many members are keen to resume face-to-face meetings, others remain uncomfortable about risks, or their employers are continuing to limit travel and in-person contact, so this ensures it can cater for everyone with the new web-based service.
“We were one of the first organisations to swap to online events when the pandemic hit last year, and this enabled us to still deliver for our members,” commented ITS (UK) Operations Manager Rukshan Soysa. “While you cannot replace the value of face-to-face meetings and networking, the online events have enabled many more people to interact digitally, and of course by offering an online option we are able to remove the need to travel.”
The continued online element has another advantage for ITS (UK) members because all events will be recorded and edited, and be available for on-demand viewing. This is managed by ITS (UK) Communications Manager Paul Hutton, who is a trained broadcast journalist, along with professional TV editor Luke Dudley.
“In the past our events happened, and then were gone,” Paul adds. “The only thing we could offer was the slides that were shown, but no context to them. From now on we will be able to offer our members the chance to witness the in-person events when they want them, and thanks to Luke’s expertise, they are a very high quality production which makes them much easier and enjoyable to watch.”
ITS (UK) is currently in the process of testing the equipment ahead of the first hybrid Council meeting in October followed by a full programme of Forum meetings through the autumn, including a live stream of its Awards Ceremony in November.
The ITS (UK) YouTube Channel is available here.
(Picture – ITS (UK))
