Celebrating nine years of KM

 By Hugh McKellar, KMWorld editor in chief Where were you in 1997? That's when this magazine completed its transformation from Imaging World to KMWorld and when we kicked off the first KMWorld Conference and Exposition and began mapping the future for knowledge-based organizations.

 Since that first event, we've had hundreds and hundreds of conference sessions given by more than 2,000 presenters. And it's certainly safe to say we've covered every technology trend imaginable. On the exhibit floor, well more than 500 vendors have displayed and explained their solutions over the years to attendees topping the 30,000 mark. Between those two components, the event has helped transform the way information is managed, and the meeting has always been a magnet for those willing to take the risk of embracing new ideas and technology.

 So now, as we gear up for this year's conference (our ninth), I encourage you to turn to page 25 for an overview. Note that there is a date and venue change from previous years: KMWorld and Intranets 2005 will be held Nov. 15 to 17 at the McEnery Convention Center in San Jose, Calif. We'll be tackling this year's theme, "Applying Strategies, Practices and Tools for Organizational Success" again with three components to the conference: knowledge management, content management and intranets. As in years past, the event will feature pre-conference workshops as well.

 As always, we'll feature some of the brightest and most engaging thinkers and speakers in the extended business community today. The conference kicks off with Tom Davenport, who'll be discussing some of the findings in his new book, Thinking for a Living, How to Get Better Performance and Results from Knowledge Workers. Hubert Saint-Onge begins the Nov. 16 sessions talking about "Building Capability in the Conductive Organization." The closing keynote will be delivered by the Dave Snowden, who now heads The Cynefin Center (which was spun off from IBM in 2004). He will address "From KM to Sense Making: From Efficiency to Effectiveness."

 Even if I weren't part of the team who helps shape part of the conference, I would consider this to be the single most important event of the year.