Connections UK conference: Day 2

Before the second day of the conference started Donald Featherstone's death was announced, and John Curry and Phil Barker gave a short but poignant eulogy about Don, his life, his work, and his legacy.

During the morning the topics of non-kinetic conflict dynamics and the common faults of wargaming in the military were explored, and after lunch there was a discussion about the stigma and scepticism wargaming attracts within the military, academia, and the general public.

The final session of the day was spent discussing what to do next with regard to Connections UK. The general consensus seemed to be:

• That another conference should be held next year ... and that this would become an annual event.
• That access to Connections UK should be open to anyone who was willing 'to advance the art, science and application of wargaming' and to participate in the 'exchange (of) information on achievements, best practices and needs.'
• That once the concept of running an annual conference was embedded, consideration should be given to it being held in other European countries on alternate years.
• That the Connections UK website would be used as a means through which participants can access the papers, presentations etc., from this and future conferences.
• That the possibility of creating a dedicated LinkedIn group should be examined.

The most important outcome of the conference was, however, the opportunity it presented for networking, and I suspect that many of the contacts that were made over the past few days will be very fruitful.