22 August 2025 - SSG25 Sam Moss
SSG25 PlusOne Submission
Sam MossSupport Team Leader, Leeds Beckett University
SSG25: “Getting Better All the Time” was a fitting theme for my first UCISA conference. I’ve been a semi-regular attendee of the SSG webinars and open mics over the last few years, so had met a couple of people (in 2D) and had heard a range of interesting experiences shared by the attendees and speakers of SSG25. I was looking forward to getting more involved in the community and maybe meeting some of the elusive camera-off, chat-only contributors from those sessions.
My first impressions were overwhelmingly positive. The harbour in the bright July sun showed off what a vibrant and exciting city Liverpool is, a perfect backdrop for SSG25. I was a little nervous to meet people - natural when inserting yourself into an already established community – but this was quickly put at ease by meeting the first few colleagues from other northern universities… and mixing up alcoholic and non-alcoholic pints when placing my order. The first evening was a fantastic icebreaker and an opportunity to share stories, challenges, and ideas with people who are largely experiencing the same situations as our team at Leeds Beckett, just in a different order. It was encouraging to know that whether its admin rights challenges, encouraging customers to use a single primary device, or to use the approved method to raise a ticket, we are all at slightly different stages of the same journey.
The first full day of the conference saw some excellent sessions on AI, automation, neurodiversity, and modernising the way people access knowledge. Highlights included an engaging debate on the case ‘for’ and ‘against’ AI. The debate demonstrated the need for a balanced approach, utilising AI where it adds genuine value, while recognising the irreplaceable nuance and empathy that human expertise brings to service delivery.
The day closed with a session from Henry Stewart on “How to Create a Happy Workplace” which offered some thought-provoking ideas. As a new manager, I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about how I can successfully nurture an engaged and positive team, so I found this session gave me practical inspiration. I left with a renewed commitment to ask my team more questions rather than dictate solutions – a change I’m continuing to stick with 6 weeks on.
The second day provided some more in-depth information about Knowledge Base delivery via the “How UWE Built a Chatbot That Talks Back” session with Aidrian Moore from UWE, and Nasstar Solution Architect, Jack Fisher. This was particularly relevant based on where Leeds Beckett is on our Chatbot journey and tied in well with a live demo from Adrian in the sponsors area. It certainly felt like I was not the only one frantically scribbling notes! Another hugely insightful session was provided by Owen Dickenson from the University of Leicester alongside DTP’s Howard Hall discussing the use of a new HP product to shift from reactive to proactive fixes of the device fleet. These were 2 great examples of sessions that fit the conference theme which embraced technology to leverage service improvement.
There were many other excellent sessions which deserve to be mentioned (such as University of York’s Vicky Wilkie’s session on Disaster Planning themed around the cast from Jurassic Park!), but as I bring this to a close the stand-out experience I will take away from the event and promote is the enthusiasm and openness of the community to share with one another. I’m reminded that, whilst the HE sector faces many challenges, I’m fortunate to work within an environment where collaboration and shared learning are not just encouraged but celebrated. And in that spirit, I’m already thinking about how I can contribute to our collective journey of getting better all the time.
