Attending the KIMRA Conference was one of the most valuable professional development opportunities I have experienced in my career thus far. KIMRA was particularly useful as it brought together an important mix of professionals across a range of industries. This enabled me to learn from knowledge professionals from industries that are more progressive than much of the legal industry, benchmarking its progress against theirs.
It was also incredibly valuable to be “in the room” with people who have more influence and authority within their organisations than I do at this point in my career. It isn’t often that junior colleagues have the opportunity to learn from and network with more senior colleagues and further, it was encouraging to note that conference speakers were accessible during networking breaks.
Of course, in addition to all of this, the sessions were also incredibly valuable. The most important themes centred around differentiation: keeping humans in the lead, valuing curiosity as a competitive skill, building a strong knowledge layer and empowering people to take ownership of innovation. The conference helped energize me to continue to create value in a world increasingly shaped by AI.
Perhaps the greatest benefit from attending the conference and receiving the award was after the event. Together with my line manager, who also attended the conference, we presented our findings to the wider Knowledge Services team which led to an opportunity to present our findings to the firm’s Innovation Group. These presentations provided an opportunity to raise the profile of the Knowledge Services team and reinforced the strategic contribution that Knowledge Services can make to the firm. We were able to demonstrate that the themes we identified as significant closely aligned those embedded within the firm’s upcoming 2027-2030 strategy. Additionally, it was lovely to be reminded of the positive and supportive culture at Clarke Willmott who championed my receiving the Rising Star award in several meaningful ways.
As someone early in my career, having the opportunity to represent the firm, share insights with senior stakeholders and contribute to strategic discussions has increased my confidence and accelerated my professional development.
