[Originally published on the TeraThink blog]

Next week I’ll be representing TeraThink at the 3rd annual Information Governance Conference (InfoGovCon) in Providence, Rhode Island on October 12 and 13. I have attended the previous conferences, and as with the annual AIIM conference, simply sharing ideas and stories with the other attendees is worth the trip. This year I have an additional reason for attending, I am delivering the closing keynote on the first day.

I am pretty excited about this opportunity. When the Information Coalition, the organizers, contacted me about speaking. I was very excited. I spoke the first year at InfoGovCon and was interested in delivering a follow-up talk. Delivering the follow-up as a keynote is an unexpected honor.

The InfoGovCon Keynotes

I am participating in two keynotes. The first keynote focuses upon the never-ending journey that is the Information Governance industry. Pundits, including myself, have been saying that Information governance is more than a project; it is a program that is grown over time. In reality we were saying that without nearly perfect circumstances, information governance cannot be put in place all at once. It requires small battles. Small victories.

As I discussed out in my CMS Wire article last week, and I will discuss in more detail in my keynote, a journey that takes decades in today’s world of business is not going anywhere. The industry needs to find new ways to not only implement information governance but to work with other efforts to create value for the organization. Information that is not captured or classified cannot be properly secured or preserved. Digital transformation efforts offer the ability to identify all the information in the organization and take proper control of it.

The other keynote session is the closing keynote panel on Moving from Strategy to Reality. I have the privilege of sharing the stage with Cheryl McKinnon and Whitney Bouck. Cheryl is a Principal Analyst for Forrester and I have had the pleasure of working with her as a colleague at two previous companies. Whitney is the Chief Operating Officer at HelloSign and was an executive at both Documentum/EMC and Box. Both women have substantial experience in the industry and to share the stage with them both is going to be exciting. The only trick will be staying on topic and not talking about food or baking.

Diversity Matters

Last week, I was asked to join a session track panel on Increasing The Inclusivity of the Information Profession. I was hesitant at first as I, being a white male, am not a symbol of inclusivity. I then learned that my fellow panelists and the moderator represented the industry’s diversity I readily agreed to participate.

Historically, the information governance industry has been one of the more diverse industries. However, like most professions, it still suffers from a diversity problem due to its roots in the technology and legal professions. Personally I believe that with a little awareness and work, the information industry can become more inclusive. I’ve met a lot of smart people from vastly diverse backgrounds over the years. If we are more proactive, we can bring these people to the forefront of the industry.

Come on By

If you are attending InfoGovCon, introduce yourself while you are there and let’s chat. One of the primary reasons TeraThink attends conferences is to talk to people and exchange ideas. If you aren’t going to be there, keep an eye out for our wrap-up post from the conference and follow along on twitter using the hashtag #InfoGov16.

Hope to see you in Providence.

[Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on the blog of Dominion Consulting. On November 1, 2017, Dominion Consulting merged with TeraThink and are now operating jointly as TeraThink. All blog posts migrated from the Dominion Consulting website have been updated to refer to ourselves as TeraThink.]