Last week I was invited by the web community at the European Commission to visit them in Brussels.
As you can imagine working in an organisation the size of the European Commission has some unique challenges. With over 400 websites, tens of thousands of pages and 23 languages to accommodate, it is hard to get things done.
Amazingly, despite being faced with such overwhelming challenges the web community there is very proactive, positive and forward thinking. They come together regularly to share ideas and find ways to work collaboratively. They also run a series of masterclasses (hence my visit).
They asked me to give a talk based on my Fight The System presentation, although to be honest things moved a long way from that starting point.
The guys at the European Parliament attended and have written up a comprehensive post of the discussion. If you work for a large organisation then check it out. It has some useful discussion points for any internal web team.
I also think there is a lot to be learnt from the European Commissions web team. The community they have built is inspiring. Many of the web teams I encounter in large organisations are beaten down and overwhelmed. However, the guys at the European Commission have maintained an incredibly positive and proactive attitude despite an overwhelming task. I found them inspirational.
