Fall conferences on Social Network Analysis

Fall is my favorite season. The air is crisp, Walden Pond is still warm enough for swimming, and all kinds of exciting new projects get started.

This fall is a also great time to check out how people are using social network analysis to improve their businesses. I just registered for October's New England KM Cluster conference: Realizing the Value from Social Networks, to be held October 15, 2004, at the Harvard Club in Boston. (Register before 9/15 for a reduced rate.) Patti Anklam is organizing this event, which features an excellent schedule of speakers addressing questions about the value of networks in the workplace. The conference announcement summarizes --

"Over the past several years, networks have been growing in Boston, across the country and around the world. Many of which may see themselves as a laboratory for its members, a place to inquire about the nature of networks in organizations and in the world. People in these networks ask questions such as: How do you create and sustain a network? How is a network different or similar to community? What are the properties of different types of network? Can networks that are leaderless really produce value? What does networked leadership mean, anyhow? How do you build trust in networks? How do you make the business case for operating some aspect of your business using networks?

"The action/research theme for the Fall 2004 New England KM Cluster examines these questions from the viewpoints of worth and work. What is a network worth? What work is required to make it successful?"

Other conferences of note this fall include

Leading in a Connected World, organized by Rob Cross, to be held at UVA, Charlottesville, VA, November 3-5, 2004.

New York City KM Cluster conference, where Valdis Krebs will teach SNA and InFlow software, October 19, 2004.