Over our first ten years we have worked hard to build our networks and offer our community a safe space to learn, share & network, both online & in person.
We have been fortunate enough to be supported & embraced by our wonderful profession, making some great connections & collaborations along the way.
2011
#OTalk launched on 25th October 2011. The first chat coinciding with World OT Day 2011.
It was designed to enable discussion about occupational therapy and the broader academic discipline of occupational science.
2012
2012 Saw OTalk finding its feet & share the #OTalk project with the wider OT community.
To spread the word we presented at the College of Occupational Therapists annual conference and wrote an article for OT News about Social Media and Tweet chats.
What we didn’t know then was that this was just the beginning of a long and wonderful journey.
2013
2013 was a busy year. Not only was it another year of the team sharing all things Social Media and #OTalk, it was also the year the community started to talk to us & take hold of some of the topics we had been discussing.
OTalk also introduced Journal (Media) Club this year, to allow a space to review and discuss academic journals and other media within the community.
The Team were mentioned in the Francis Report as a way to promote professionalism online and received a shout out during Elaine Hunters Elizabeth Casson Lecture on Leadership.
We were asked to present at various events such as the OT Show as well as CPD & study days, and we again presented at the COT annual conference.
2014
2014 was a great year of varied chat topics which started to reflect the diversity of our profession.
This year OTalk presented twice at the COT Annual Conference, one on #OTalk and a poster on our virtual journal club.
This year OTalk also saw the community grow in numbers and with more requests coming in for chat topics and presentations and plans to grow the team began.
2015
2015 was a quieter year in terms of presentations but there was a lot going on behind the scenes that would see 2016 be one of the busiest years for the Team yet.
Throughout this year we continued to host weekly chats to ensure our community had consistency & support online.
This was also the year we launched our #OTalk Internship and offered a student the chance to participate & receive digital mentorship from the Team.
2016
2016 was the busiest so far for the Team. We had an editorial published in the British Journal of Occupational Therapy, a poster & Social Media Surgery at the COT Annual Conference, received a shout out from Julia Scott in the Plenary Speech as well as a mention in that years Elizabeth Casson Lecture from Wendy Bryant.
This year we also launched #OTalk Research which saw a subset of practitioners join the team to host research themed chat once a month.
2017
2017 was another busy year, but no matter how busy the Team became, both with #OTalk and our day jobs we always worked hard to support our community to engage in CPD, utilise Social Media safely & reap the many benefits of engaging in online.
The team published an article on the outcome of the #OTalk Intern Project & helped RCOT to gather views for their upcoming Career Development Framework.
The OTalk team also piloted our first #OTalkOnTour pre conference dinner offering solo travellers a chance to meet people prior to conference.
2018
This year we wanted to support the #OTalk community to increase their practical skills in using social media.
We supported students with Q&As at the Northern & Yorkshire Student conference & held an occupational station at the RCOT Annual Conference covering a variety of online platforms.
Later in the year we had our first stand at the OT Show and got to meet more of our community as well as present.
2019
Continuing on with last years practical theme, in 2019 the OTalk team planned more informal events like networking dinners & drops in alongside publications & presentations.
The RCOT Conference was now a staple in the #OTalk calender & the team offered the community a chance to put faces to the names of colleagues that had chatted to online.
2020
The Team were a little quieter during 2020 due to CV19 & work pressures but we continued to host our weekly chats, offering support, CPD and sharing opportunities to the profession & our community.
The team did however continue to evolve with the development of our intern position being offered to a qualified professional instead of a student this year.
2021
#OTalk Turns Ten…
As part of the celebrations for OTalk turning ten, the team felt it was time for a brand refresh. We launched our new logo as part of the celebrations.
We continue to provide weekly tweet chats, and present at various regional events and conferences as able. Our main aim however is as it always has been, to continue to provide opportunities for the profession to access CPD via the weekly tweet chats and enhance knowledge of using the social media platforms safety and professionally.
2022
After two years of the Covid19 pandemic the OTalk Team (past & present) finally got to see each other face to face again at Rachel’s wedding.
2022 Also saw new members joining the both the OTalk and OTalk research teams.
2023
Still going strong the team behind OTalk continued to support hosts with the weekly twitter chats. In June Helen the last remaining founding member chose to leave the team, and with lots of changes to the twitter platform after its take over and rebranding to X, it became increasingly difficult to keep this resource going and free. Choosing to take a summer break in August, the team thought long and hard about X being a verifiable platform moving forward and sadly decided to not continue with the weekly chats. However had plans to move forward with the brand finding new ways to connect with its audience.
OTalk 