leaving the bbc to join headshift

Robin Hamman 24 Comments

For a couple of weeks I’ve been dropping hints, via tweets and facebook updates of course, that I would soon be leaving the BBC. Now that everyone who really needs to know has been informed of my departure, I can finally announce here that next Friday (27 June) I’m leaving the BBC to join Headshift where I’ll be leading an already established and expanding Social Media practice.

Pokinghead

My friends will know, and probably more than a few readers of this blog will have picked up, that I have absolutely loved spending the past 6+ years throwing my heart and soul into helping people across the BBC understand and use blogs, RSS, social networking services and other forms of social media to reach out and engage with audiences.

It’s been a huge pleasure working with so many talented people on projects, programmes and websites which help inform, educate and entertain millions of people everyday.

Leaving a job where I’ve had enormous freedom to learn and grow, teach and facilitate – effectively, the job I’ve always dreamed of having – takes a truly special opportunity and that is exactly what my new role at Headshift, Europe’s leading social computing consultancy, is.

At Headshift, I’ll be leading a team of experienced Social Media consultants who have already won and done great work with the BBC, Channel 4, Metro Newspapers, UKTV, a major UK publisher and others. I’ll be focusing on extending a number of key client relationships, developing new client ideas for consumer-facing business applications of social computing, and increasing Headshift’s visibility and presence.

I’ve also recently been named a Visiting Fellow within the Department
of Journalism at City University, London and, although we’re still
ironing out the details, I hope to mix my full-time role at Headshift
with the occasional lecture at City.

Whilst walking out the doors of the Broadcast Centre for the last time and knowing I’m leaving behind many friends will be an emotional moment, I’m also greatly excited to be joining the team at Headshift the following Monday (30 June) and getting my teeth into some new and interesting projects.

This blog will continue as usual and, I think, is likely to become much more interesting – there’s going to be some great stuff ahead!

* The photo of the Nabaztag bunny currently warming my seat at Headshift’s new office was taken by Jessica Wittebort, just one of the many interesting people I’m looking forward to working with.

24 Comments

  2. That’s pretty good news for both you and the Headshift folks. congratulations!

  3. Robin… I’d read between the tweets, but had no inkling of where you were headed next. This is terrific news, and I cannot think of anywhere better. Shame about that Lee bloke though ;-)

  4. Yes, read you tweet on a leaving do and scrolled through your blog to see if there was something I had missed:-) Congratulations!

  5. Robin, congratulations for the new job. I hope that there will be time for you to come in Serbia, in April next year :)

  6. Can’t tell you how excited we are to work with you!
    Steve: I have unleashed a swarm of nanobots for that comment. Expect to begin felling unwell in 3.. 2.. 1..

  7. Yes, but Lee, are they social media nanobots? Will they be Twittering the details as they digest Steve from the inside?

  8. Wow. Nice move. You kept that quiet ;) BBC’s loss and all that… Good luck with it all. Look forward to catching up next week.
    PS. Typing this on an iPhone connected to the neighbours wifi while I’m on the balcony. Did we even have wifi when you started at the Beeb ? Where will we be in another six years?
    Bon chance

  10. From the tweets etc. from you and others, I’d worked out you were moving somewhere, but not realised it was Headshift. Good luck! Seems like a great fit.

  11. Robin, Robin, Robin.
    Good for you – when I decided to go it was like the greatest weight lifted off my shoulders. There was a physical response — and with just a little practice I reorganized my face and re-learned how to smile, again.
    Technically I’m not away yet, so I’ll leave my comments to a political minimum (come 22 July I might be less politically correct). You are a visionary, and it’s tough being a visionary in the modern BBC. Sad, as the Corporation was built on the work of people whjo understood the present and the future.
    It has been a pleasure and a privilege. I know BBC people use the “privilege” word as often as they use “delight”, but I mean it; right back to the earliest days when NI was setting up the first message boards. The technology was easy, the philosophy was the difficult bit. But we were always able to call you or Lizzie and that was a great reassurance.
    Someday someone in Beebland is going to say “Hold on, I don’t quite understand — let’s call oh, er, emmm – shit all the people who understand are gone. Now what do we do?”
    Hope you bill high to give the answers.

  13. Thank you so much everyone for taking the time to stop by, read, and post a comment. It’s so cool. Thank you thank you. :-)))

  16. Nice one Robin. So you’ll no longer be “at large” in the BBC. Headshift – good outfit. Clever move, sir.

  17. Robin Hamman heads out of the BBC

    THE blogging man from the BBC, Robin Hamman, is heading out of Broadcast House to take up a new role at Headshift, a social media consultancy. Robin was the leading force behind the BBC Manchester blog project and enjoyed the

  20. Congratulations Robin. BBC’s loss indeed. You’ve been doing good work getting the place into the 21st Century. Good luck with Headspace!

  22. Best wishes with the new venture – I think you’ll fit in with the Motley Crue rather well. Looking forward to sharing some more fun conference moments with you :-)

  24. Congratulations, Robin, and all the best for your new role(s). We’ve not met but I’ve followed you on and off over the years, since I came across your work when I was researching online community for a digital media MA at Sussex in 1999.

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