With the 2010 conference season just around the corner and job stability uncertain for some now could be a great time for brushing up your networking skills. If you’re the shy and retiring type like some of the team at Learning Pool (ahem) take a look at these top five killer networking questions below and then repurpose them to suit you.  Use them at your next conference instead of the usual chat about the weather, buffet and parking. 

Reflecting on the busy year that’s been 2009, these are the top 10 things that have given me most professional pleasure this year: 1. The Club Welcoming 50 more public sector organisations to the growing Learning Pool 'club' including our first Scottish authority, our first Northern Irish authority, our first charitable organisation and 5 more housing associations.

Our meeting in Barnsley kicked off in quite chilly weather but we were quickly warmed up by all the lovely pastries and hot drinks served up at Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council. Learning Pool's second public sector e-learning networking meeting in as many weeks came hot on the heels of a successful networking meeting in Brighton the week before, where we were inspired and motivated by the lovely comments made by both Tracey Hughes and Nick Foster about Learning Pool in Brighton.

Consulting and engaging with residents and hard to reach communities is vitally important work for local authorities. As a result, Cardiff Council, Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council, Torfaen County Borough Council and their local partner agencies have joined forces and launched an e-learning Module on Consultation and Engagement aimed at managers and professionals. Steve Jarman from Cardiff Council explains how the collaboration on e-learning worked.

Local government partnership working in Essex has delivered tangible efficiency savings to the tune of nearly £150,000 in just nine months due to the collaboration of 15 local authority HR teams. With the help of Learning Pool, the public sector learning exchange, the group developed VINE, which stands for Virtual Improvement Network Essex.

The pandemic.... I know you might be thinking, this is old news but the fact of the matter is... we're not really out of the woods yet. There has been enough stress surrounding the swine flu pandemic since its outbreak and the impact has caused major panic and distress to governments and citizens everywhere. Its certainly a critical time for governments to act swiftly and effectively without putting anymore lives in danger.

Public sector organisations looking at social media activities should apply now for funding available via IDeA.  Learning Pool members could bid for funding to create an elearning course on 'What is social media?' CLG has made £5 million available to councils for social media and customer insight projects through its Service Transformation and Efficiency Capital Fund.

The IDeA has partnered with Ashridge Business School to make their Virtual Learning Resource Centre (VLRC) available to local government audience in England and Wales.  Learning Pool subscribers can add a link from their DLE to this resource.