The conference saw the launch  of HEliX (The Higher Education Leading Internal Communications) project. The results of a major sector survey into internal communications were revealed alongside the presentation of a Higher Education internal communications toolkit and evaluation system, known as HEliX. This is part of the HEFCE funded project led by the University of Leicester with Bristol, Oxford Brookes and Edge Hill universities.

Here are some of the conference highlights:

Plenary: The Value of Staff Engagement, Professor Anne Gregory, Pro-Vice Chancellor and Professor of Communications, Leeds Metropolitan University

Keynote: Communicating in ‘unworkable structures’: the leader’s perspective Greg Dyke, former Director-General of the BBC, Chancellor of the University of York

Internal Communication in Higher Education: current practice: Richard Taylor, Director of Marketing and Communications, University of Leicester

The HELIX Evaluation & Benchmarking System for Internal Communication & Staff Engagement in HE – how to evaluate your own institution’s internal communications. Louise Simpson and David Roberts, The Knowledge Partnership

Other interactive workshop sessions were led by the project team from the universities of Bristol, Oxford Brookes, Leicester and Edge Hill, and included: