UNLEASH expands further: An intro from editorial’s latest recruit

It’s an important week for us here at UNLEASH as we quietly relaunch our website. If we chose to make some noise though, it would deserve it – a cleaner, faster and all round better user experience don’t you think? I’ve joined this company at a very busy stage of its development, which means there’s no more exciting time to become the new editorial content manager at UNLEASH.  

I’m Jon, and I’ve been in L&D publishing for nearly 15 years; in that time there’s been plenty of change in the industry, of course, but also a great deal of stasis, too.

You know the drill: how can we close the skills gap? How do we do more with less? All those questions that I wouldn’t doubt you’d find a version of etched in the Lascaux caves if you looked for long enough. 

But, this is also an industry that has made astronomical leaps forward, in no small part thanks to technology. Think of the impact of AI and machine learning, of smartphones, even something as basic as cloud technology (hello, buzzwords from 2009). So it’s made me incredibly excited to join a business that’s moving from *just* holding the best HR tech events in the market, to also cementing its reputation as the leading digital publishing platform for covering HR tech but also the latest learning and skills, talent acquisition, and future of work issues too. 

Many of our plans involve supporting an exciting 2022 events schedule, but also we have digital campaigns, programs, and other initiatives in their own right. What more detail can I give at the moment? Perhaps I’ll just have to use a well-worn triptych: Watch. This. Space.

Where do I think the industry is headed in late 2021? I think we’ve come a long way, and much more quickly than anyone could have imagined, for reasons that are obvious. I wonder how many digital transformation companies got put out of business by COVID-19, but equally how many smaller, more agile, more contemporary offerings sprung up in their place.

It’s a time of agility. If you aren’t ready to pivot, see you later.

My areas of expertise are learning and skills, and so while I’ll mostly be concerned with these areas on the new site, I’ll be publishing on and off-platform content across all our sub-topics, areas and issues UNLEASH. 

Follow us on our socials, say hi by email, sign up to our newsletters, and I hope to see you at our events next year too. Joining in early October makes me feel like I’m back at university: somewhat appropriate I think. Every day’s a school day here at UNLEASH, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.