At the CompTIA EMEA Member and Partner Conference in Bishopsgate, London, last week, the UK Community heard from its UK Executive Council (UK EC).
UK Executive Council Chair Kristian Wright opened the conference with an overview of the great things in store for delegates at EMEACon and went on to educate the audience on the work of the UK EC. Wright, who has been working with the UK EC for two years, provided an overview of what it has achieved in 2016, including regional tours that saw the CompTIA team travel to Cardiff, Dublin and Cork; meeting new members; and educating on the value and benefits of CompTIA.
Wright also issued an invitation to the next UK Community Meeting that is taking place at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff on 14, 15 March 2017.
In addition, Wright encouraged interested delegates to join the new Solution Provider Virtual Group and advised that CompTIA will also be focusing efforts on raising awareness and building communities in Ireland over the coming months.
The stage was also opened up to members of the UK EC, who provided updates on four key 2016 initiatives.
Council member Jason Etherington advised delegates on the launch of the new Ambassador Toolkit containing a range of resources to help any interested parties promote the benefits of CompTIA. This will soon be available for download from the UK Community webpages.
Perry Ashby shared the great results CompTIA has achieved through social channels increasing awareness and driving engagement including, a 64 percent increase in traffic to the website through social activities.
The UK EC has also been working on UK-based cybersecurity initiatives and an update was provided by David Watson around the great work undertaken to support members in this area.
Lastly, Tracy Pound, PCR Woman of the Year 2016, discussed Dream IT and Advancing Women in IT. Pound updated delegates on the need to encourage more diversity in IT and the desire to engage with girls at an early age. She shared new available resources, including a new infographic available for download, to help share the opportunities available in tech.
In addition, Pound discussed the new initiative #MakeTechHerStory, which is proving a real success in promoting IT and tech as a career option, seeing coverage in Forbes.
CompTIA is also a firm believer in supporting great life-changing initiatives and every year the UK community votes on charities to support. For 2016, the nominated charities were Dragon Hall and TeenTech and representatives from these charities were in attendance and provided an update on how CompTIA’s contributions are making a real difference to people’s lives and futures.
Jim Hamilton, CompTIA vice president, member communities, also provided delegates with an overview of the great work that CompTIA communities undertake. Hamilton provided insight into the differing communities that span both geographical areas and communities focused on key themes such as security and cloud, and encouraged delegates to get involved.
Jim said, “You are CompTIA, the investment and engagement in communities and initiatives made by you the members, creates the value and helps shape our industry.”
If you would like to discover more about the CompTIA communities, click here.
To access Dream IT resources, click here.
