I am at KMUK 2010 today and tomorrow. Some of my reactions to the presentations are tweetable, but some need longer reflection.

The first session comprised keynotes from Lee Bryant and David Gurteen. They complemented each other very neatly. Lee talked about the need to take KM back from the technologists, as he has before. This time, though, I was struck by the number of times he referred to an activity that should naturally be driven by KM folk. What some people might see as missing from this equation was the reason why KMers should be (a) able to understand what the organisation needs and (b) in a position to impress the importance of these changes on key people in the organisation. This is not a criticism of Lee -- it is more a criticism of many KMers who have retreated to KM and technology ghettos.

David Gurteen used his time to demonstrate much better KM behaviours. Taking his cue from Gandhi's famous exhortation to "be the change you want to see" he built on a number of his favourite writers to explain what KM should be doing. That is exactly what good KM folk should do. The best of us (and I try, but can't claim to be exemplary in that regard) read widely and re-present our learning within our organisations critically and in a way that is intended to generate value for the organisation. That cannot be done in a KM ghetto. It requires a deep understanding of what the organisation needs. When done successfully (and repeatedly) it embeds respect for KM within the organisation.

We need to listen to David and Lee.