Independent. So what do I do?

Now that my contract with my employer has formally ended, people are asking me what it is I do.
Actually I am quite busy.

My life as a self-employed consultant started with a little trip to Paris. There I attended our yearly winter-session of the Medinge Group, a think-tank on humanistic and ethical branding I am part of. It was a very inspiring trip, because of meeting my fellow Medingites, but also because I have never been to Paris before. It is a beautiful but fast paced city. (for the photo's see the Medinge set and Paris set on Flickr)

Apart from working in the background on launching a 'business' website, and modernizing my blogs somewhat, building new networks and connections, and other tasks that come with starting your own business, I am involved in a number of client projects. These projects ensure that my schedule is virtually full at least untill the summer.

What am I working on?
For a higher-ed institution I am working on designing a community of practice in which teachers explore ways of adapting their teaching to the new digital realities their students are living in. The project is aimed at increasing professional development. This is a project that will run through the entire year.

Also, together with Elmine, we will be giving a day long workshop on networked learning (a la George Siemens), where together with a group of higher-ed teachers we help them start their own social network based information and learning filter. I am looking forward a lot to doing this one!

For a department of the Ministry of Housing I am part of a project team helping a community of practice getting of the ground. For the Ministry of Transport I will be supporting anchoring knowledge oriented attitudes and processes in a newly formed organisational unit of several hundred people. Both projects will run well into the summer of this year, both build on the core of my KM expertise.

Then there is a newly formed research consortium on deploying social software behind the firewall I will be joining. The consortium otherwise consists of a number of universities and research institutes, as well as a multinational and a big international bank. Potentially a three year thing.

And finally, a project dear to me, I am working with Delft University and ten primary schools from my home region, on adapting lessons to 11 and 12 year olds to their digitally enabled lives. This is part research, looking at what kids that age do with technology, and how it changes their way of working and learning, and part consulting, translating the research into practice. Scheduled untill June.

Knowledge work, learning and social software are key elements, just as I like it, in all these projects.

Does it feel good? Yes, it does. Very much so.

First day as an independent consultant: Medinge Group meet-up in Paris.