29 August 2025 - SSG25 David Roberts
SSG25 – A Surprising First Experience, and a Memorable One
I hadn’t planned on attending SSG25, so when I received a surprise plus-one invitation, I was genuinely delighted. It was not only my first time at a UCISA event, but also my first visit to Liverpool—so the experience felt entirely fresh and full of promise.
A Warm Welcome
The event kicked off with a welcome session tailored for first-time attendees. It was an informal presentation with just the right amount of audience participation—enough to make everyone feel at ease and give a flavour of what to expect over the next couple of days. It worked beautifully as an icebreaker, and I’d absolutely recommend it to anyone attending UCISA for the first time.
From there, we moved into a lively mini-game session designed to get people talking, sharing ideas, and building a sense of community. It set a collaborative tone that carried through the rest of the conference—creating the perfect environment to connect, discuss challenges, and explore solutions.
Connecting with Exhibitors
One of the highlights for me was spending time with the exhibitors. The University of South Wales already partners with some of them, so it was a great opportunity to put faces to names and deepen those connections. Several other products on display caught our attention as well—we’ve already begun exploring how they might work for us.
Two standout sessions from vendors were Nasstar’s "Talk Nerdy to Me" and DTP’s "Modernising the Operating Model around your End User Compute Fleet". Both offered useful insights and left us with food for thought.
Learning from Peers
The most valuable aspect of the conference, without a doubt, was hearing from peers across other institutions. Their stories, advice, and practical insights were incredibly enriching. One session that especially resonated with me was Fola Braimoh and Mindy Bour’s talk, "An Essential Quality for Thriving in Customer Service."
As someone who leads a service desk team, I couldn’t agree more with their emphasis on empathy. It’s a quality I believe is fundamental to our work, and their talk reaffirmed its importance. I’ve already taken steps to embed this more deeply into how I support and develop my team.
A Happy Workplace – Inspired by Henry Stewart
I was also really pleased to see Henry Stewart’s "How to Create a Happy Workplace" on the agenda. I’ve always believed that a happy team is a productive team, and this session gave me a fresh perspective and practical tools to take that further. His approach to empowering teams to make decisions within clear boundaries really struck a chord with me—it’s something I’ll be working to implement more intentionally moving forward.
Final Thoughts – Would I Recommend SSG? Absolutely.
I’ve already recommended SSG to my colleagues and even suggested to leadership that attendance next year should be opened up beyond just managers and team leaders. It would be particularly valuable for early-career staff who are eager to grow.
If I have the opportunity, I would absolutely attend again. SSG25 was insightful, welcoming, and incredibly well put together—I’m already looking forward to what SSG26 will bring.
