Wrapping up the 2012 Digital Literacy Forum

The canapés have been polished off, the wine glasses drained and the partner displays closed at the inaugural Digital Literacy Forum. Presenting Yourself Online has been chalked up as a great success with the conference hashtag #digilit2012 making it to the dizzying heights of trending on Twitter…… in Adelaide. But all congratulations and reminiscing aside, the messages of the 2012 Digital Literacy Forum will hopefully remain as a reverberating and resounding call to action for the businesses, educators, government employees, students and not for profits who attended.

“Mobile, Social, Flexible” was undoubtedly the overriding theme for Mark Pesce’s (@mpesce) keynote. Ever professional and thought provoking, Mark’s entertaining presentation hit the nail on the head for many if not all of the participants. Businesses need to make sure their websites are mobile friendly FIRST. Businesses must embrace the mobile technology revolution. If businesses are not mobile “they don’t exist”. Businesses also need to listen to what people are saying. “Humility and authenticity are the building blocks for social marketing” also rang true for many with #qantasluxury being held up as an #epicfail in this department.

Audrey Thomas from Ajile Focus continued the high quality presentations in an honest and real presentation about how she has been the reluctant embracer of technology but found great success and surprising ease in the process. Audrey shared how, through the use of tools like WordPress, Mail Chimp and Facebook, she has evolved her business from using technology as an unfortunate add on and a necessary evil to embracing the web and social media and integrating technology into the core process of her business. People are still the centre of her business, but technology enables her to more freely communicate and connect with them.

Alison Kershaw provided an impassioned and entertaining look into the how’s and whys of the DFEEST ForwardIt project. The tool is a great enabler for embedding core digital literacy skills into communities and businesses alike. Alison showed some troubling statistics regarding internet use in Australia and amongst the elderly signalling a need for businesses and government organisations to take a closer look at how they present their materials online to be more inclusive and accessible to people with more sensitive needs.

All told the event was a remarkable success with many conversations and connections resulting from both the presentations and the networking. The City of Salisbury will continue to support businesses through events, workshops and mentoring delivered by the Salisbury Business and Export Centre and with the NBN rolling out in many areas in the next three years the digital agenda will remain at the fore of this support.