Be2camp events share many characteristics of TED and TEDx Talks (see below), so we emulated a lot of the format but with a particular focus on built environment and technology: hence, @ConstrucTALKs.

On 9 February 2011 in London we presented a small number of authoritative speakers - genuine "thought leaders" - who shared ideas and insights on technology, the built environment and the power of social media. @ConstrucTALKs formed part of the built environment awards for social media event, the Be2awards.

Event overview - speakers line-up (this page) - presentations

The 2011 @ConstrucTALKs line-up

Paul Carder - Linking social media (web 2.0), agile working, and effective corporate real estate

Paul kicked off the Talks with thoughts on how LinkedIn can enable collaboration within the property and real estate sector.

Paul is Director of the Workplace Performance Innovation Network ('PIN') and Research Director at  Advanced Workplace Associates Ltd. He has over 17 years experience in property, corporate workplaces and facilities management. Paul has held management positions 'in-house' at Barclays, with a global FM supplier, and in consulting/advisory roles. His experience spans client research, benchmarking, strategy, performance management and supplier/contract management. Paul started using social media around two years ago, and now owns or manages several groups on Linkedin, with a combined membership of over 10,000 workplace/FM people globally. He blogs on the Occupiers Journal and Tweets: @occupiers.

Phil Oakley - Design Communication on the Go

With some impressive HP videos, Phil waltzed through mobile technology, in particular the future importance of mobile printing.

Now UK & Ireland Country Manager, HP Designjet, Phil Oakley has been with HP for nine years and has significant European business experience working with different routes to market as well as different product business units. He is currently responsible for managing HP’s wide format printing business for the UK&I across several industry segments, such as AEC, GIS, Graphics/Pro Photo and Sign & Display. Drawing on what HP has learnt from its customers, Phil presented HP's vision of AEC collaboration technology and the market, explained some recent innovations, and looked at next steps for AEC collaboration, as he saw it. 

John Lorimer - BIM: a client's view

John Lorimer on a recorded SlideCast and live Q&A link to Manchester provided a client's view of BIM (Building Information Modelling) and the impact it will have on design, construction and operation of facilities.

John Lorimer heads the Capital Programme Division responsible for managing Manchester City Council's £300m+ pa capital programme, which includes delivery of the £500m Building Schools for the Future programme and the £150m Town Hall Complex Transformation Programme. Before joining the Council as Capital Programme Director, John worked in the private sector on major projects in both building and civil engineering, at home, in Europe and the Far East. He is a Visiting Professor at Salford University, and he chairs Constructing Excellence's building information modelling (BIM) working party. His other interests include post-1930s architecture and the decorative arts.

Tony Carroll - Doing 'good things' with social media

Tony Carroll touched on 'Big Society' through Garden Gorilla and how community groups can achieve a respected presence in the world of social media without spending a bean.

Tony has been involved in major property development and regeneration projects since the 1980s, first in architecture, then as developer and promoter of schemes and sites. As a consultant (at Provesta), developer, deal-maker and strategist, he has over 20 years' experience of commercial, residential and institutional projects. He is currently involved with several regeneration, sustainable development, renewable energy and not-for-profit projects (including Garden Gorilla and Think Zero) that involve and engage communities and business. Tony speaks and writes on regeneration, policy and sustainability, and Tweets at @tonycarroll (among others).

Don Ward - Constructing excellence with social media

Don Ward illustrated how Constructing Excellence, the leading improvement movement for construction, uses social media, and what 'value' each of the approaches and social media applications is delivering.

Don Ward is chief executive of Constructing Excellence. He joined CE from independent industry body BE in 2007, and became CEO a year later. He has specialised in industry change, supply chain integration and collaborative working, and has 25 years experience of best practice and change programmes in the construction industry. Previously, he served as chief executive of two bodies: the Construction Industry Board, set up to implement the 1994 Latham Report, and the Design Build Foundation. CE has been deploying social media both nationally and through its local and regional clubs and working groups, recognising the power of conversation to support collaboration.

Lucy P Marcus - Future Proofing the Boardroom

Lucy Marcus rounded off the sessions with a corporate view, calling for future proof boards that balance continuity with change, the old with the new, and embracing social media to move forward to a low carbon economy.

The founder and CEO of Marcus Venture Consulting, Lucy P. Marcus currently serves as the non-executive chair of the Mobius Life Sciences Fund and as a non-executive director and chair of the board audit committee of BioCity Nottingham. She is a fellow at the University of Cambridge’s Judge Business School and a member of the board of IE Business School. She is a prolific writer on global economic trends and best practices for non-executive directors and corporate boards, venture capital, entrepreneurship, biotech, cleantech, and women in business, and regularly speaks on these topics to diverse audiences around the globe. She can be found on Twitter at @lucymarcus.

Inspiration for the built environment

Since Be2camp began in June 2008 and prior to this event, there had been 15 Be2camp events, mostly participative unconference-type events focused on the built environment (architecture, engineering, construction, property, infrastructure, etc), sometimes themed (eg: education).

Our events share many characteristics of TED and TEDx Talks. They are: cross-disciplinary, aimed at creating connections and sharing ideas and knowledge to change attitudes, behaviours and industry practices, so that we can plan, design, build, manage and occupy a better, more sustainable built environment.

Foremost, we like the TEDx exhortation that the format should be:

"A suite of short, carefully prepared talks, demonstrations and performances on a wide range of subjects to foster learning, inspiration and wonder -- and to provoke conversations that matter. (The typical presentation should be an 18-minute talk by a single presenter. No talk should exceed 18 minutes. No panels. No break-out sessions. Usually: No podium.) You may not pay your speakers to present."

Let's stress the point about "conversations that matter" - for Be2camp is a social media advocacy movement with no commercial, religious or political agenda; we simply believe in the power of people having conversations online as well as face-to-face. From the outset, we have deliberately sought to share people's ideas, building up a shared resource of learning materials (presentations, videos, photos, blog posts, etc) that can be easily accessed online and used to inspire others to take the conversation a step further.

[2011 @ConstrucTALKs photos above by Graeme Hutchison - HutchisonHaines.co.uk.]