i-FM: The online resource for facilities professionals

FM Links - Blogs & Social Networking

Blogs

Amongst the best informed bloggers in the industry are:

• Martin Pickard, Principal at facilities management consultancy FM Guru

• You also follow Martin Pickard on Twitter: @thefmguru

and

• Martin Brown, Principal at built environment consultancy Fairsnape

• You can also follow Martin Brown on Twitter: @fairsnape

BIFM Chairman Ian Broadbent blogs regularly on his activities in the industry.

Linkedin Groups

Linkedin is the leading global networking platform for professionals. There’s a whole series of groups you can join to stay in touch with the FM community – but it’s worth noting that groups vary substantially in size and focus: some show little activity, in some there is limited participation in discussions, in some recruitment consultants are the most active users (which may or may not be useful to you), and some are happy being used as a vehicle for commercial promotion.

We strongly recommend (of course) the i-FM group (1400 members when this page was last updated). This group exists for the discussion and sharing of information around news, issues and trends in the industry. It is actively policed to minimise irrelevant content. And remember, you can also follow i-FM on Twitter - @ifmnet.

Other groups worth having a look at are:

British Institute of Facilities Management (1600 members), the BIFM group is open to anyone

The Facilities Management Association (1400), with news and information about the FMA

The Young Managers Forum (260), which represents up-and-coming FMs in the UK

British Facilities Management (2800), a general interest networking group

FM in the Middle East (500), does what it says on the tin

Corporate Real Estate & Facilities Management Professionals (7200), adds in CRE and brings a strong North American flavour.

International Facilities Management Association (11,000), the IFMA group which also tends to have a North American flavour to it.

Three groups mix a practice orientation with a lot of participation by recruiters:

Facilities Management Group (7000)

Facilities Management Professionals (2500)

Facilities Management Professionals International (10,600).

Groups and their content change pretty consistently, so it is worth looking around and following links from time to time so you can stay in touch with anything that might be relevant to you.