Experts in Residence fall kick off

Where do you go when you’re working on a project and you encounter a challenge, or when you’d like to learn how to apply new tools or approaches to your work? Well, to the experts, of course!

What is Experts in Residence?

In spring 2019, the Exchange Lab launched what was then known as Experts on Tap, which offered weekly office hours with experts from innovator groups from across the BC Public Service all in one place. Public Service employees could drop in to the Lab, have some snacks, get advice, and create connections. When pandemic restrictions forced an end to in-person meet ups, the Lab transitioned to virtual gatherings and partnered with the Innovation Hub to facilitate monthly Experts in Residence sessions via MS Teams.

How does it work?

After a five-minute lighting talk during which one of our experts will share a story about a project, a team, or a recent success or failure, participants jump into a breakout room hosted by an expert from one of nine different service areas, including Accessibility, BC Behavioural Insights Group, DevOps, the Exchange Lab, Corporate Privacy, Data, Innovation Hub, LeanBC, and Service and Content Design. Participants are free to jump in and out of rooms during the session.

*Note: These events are designed for BC Public Service employees only

What do folks love about it?

After every session we poll our participants to find out what they liked or didn’t like about their time with the experts, and about what we could change to make the program even better. Most participants (87%) find the sessions “extremely helpful”, or “good,” most also plan to attend future events, and recommend the program to friends and colleagues.

But what do folks actually say?

What’s new for fall?

Now, more than 18 months later, there have been six virtual sessions that have reached more than 250 public servants. The sessions have been so popular that we have opened additional seats, with participation now capped at 75 people monthly.

The next session, scheduled for October. 6, features a lightning talk by the Behavioral Insights team, and a new expert, Russel Lolacher of Digital Engagement.

There’s still time to register, and seats available!

To attend, register on Eventbrite. And make sure you don’t miss any future opportunities by joining our MS Teams Innovation in the BCPS community, by signing up for the Exchange Lab newsletter, and by joining the Innovation Hub’s mailing list.

Hope to see you there!

Ari Hershberg, Exchange Lab and Danna Bach, Innovation Hub

-Author Danna Bach