#cipdACE16 Blogsquad Assemble!

I am so excited to be announced as part of this year’s blogsquad at the CIPD’s Annual Conference and Exhibition which is taking place on 9th and 10th of November in Manchester Central.

The blogsquad is made up of 8 HR/L&D/OD professionals brought together in an Avengers style fashion to bring you the happenings of this years event. We are not professional bloggers so expect the unexpected! We will be working our way through keynotes, seminars and exhibitions and pretty much bringing the event to life using the power of social media.

Our job is pretty simple but is by no means a walk in the park! We will be using a plethora of social media methods between us to deliver up to date information about what is going on as and when it happens throughout the entire event; bring on the plasters for our sore thumbs!

The mediums that I will be using are; Periscope, Twitter, Instagram and of course my blog here. If you want to join in or ask us a question, feel free to comment, come and meet us at the event (I am happy to have a selfie with you!) or tweet us.

It is genuinely fantastic to have been asked, my blog is still in it’s early stages but I have managed to build relationships with so many people all over the world – just by writing my thoughts on a blog, it’s pretty amazing stuff really when you think about it!

It is a real privilege to work with these people and I know I keep saying how excited I am but I simply cannot wait to meet (that’s right I’ve not met any of these guys yet!) and work with these incredibly talented and knowledgeable people.

So anyway; who are the blogsquad?

Tim Scott – I love Tim’s blog, I like to think of him as our very own Ironman, resourceful, confident and loves gadgets! I regularly read his musings and think he really brings his subjects to life

Gem Dale – I like to think of her as the Nick Fury of the blogsquad; knowledgable, smart and brilliantly funny. I am a huge fan of her blog, adore the frankness of her subjects and above all she is a master of blogging

Ian Pettigrew – He is the Hawkeye of the team; organised, knows everything that is happening and works very quickly. He is a blogging master, I know for certain I won’t be as fast as him but I certainly aim to try to keep up!

Damiana Castle – This lady is simply beautiful inside and out, she lives and breathes HR in a very holistic and inspiring way. She is our Captain America; proud, disciplined and always thinks of different viewpoints without judgement

Gary Cookson – (sorry Gary, someone had to be Hulk!) whilst he is certainly not green; Gary is a highly experienced HRD who knows his strategic subjects so I’m excited to work with someone with expertise outside of my comfort zone and hope to learn a lot from him over the two days

Amelia Tickle – I speak with Amelia regularly on Twitter and is such a get up and go kind of lady, she’s highly motivating so hopefully as a fellow newbie we can work our way through the event together, she is definitely our Black Widow; always finding solutions, is flexible in her approach and always has a plan!

Finally it’s the lady known as Priyadotcom – she is now known as our Thor; she is a powerhouse and definitely a force to be reckoned with when it comes to blogging! She is a fan of wine (as am I!) so I think we can work well together. On a serious note, I love her fresh-feel blog and how it can appeal to everyone at all levels, she is very inspiring and I can’t wait to meet her

As for me, I’m probably more like Loki…

So there we have it, this year’s blogsquad are here to entertain and inspire throughout #cipdACE16, time to buckle up and kick social media butt – blogsquad assemble!