The Work Wise UK programme provides a number of media opportunities. The key media focuses surround Work Wise Week (May 15-21) and National Work from Home Day (Thursday May 15, 2007), and Commute Smart Day (staged in October).

There are various other media opportunities which will be advertised here, both national and regional Please register if you would like advance warning of these opportunities.

• Work Wise Summit
• Work Wise Week
• National Work From Home Day
• Spokespersons and interviewees
• National case studies
• Regional case studies

Forthcoming opportunities include:

Further details of these and other opportunities will be provided when arrangements have been completed. Please Register and you will be sent details and updates.

WORK WISE SUMMIT
The third Work Wise Summit will be held on Wednesday , May 21, 2008, at the QEII Conference centre in London. The format this year will be similar to that in 2007 with Declan Curry, business presenter for BBC Breakfast, chairing the discussion and debate.
There will be a photo-opportunity at the conference, and a limited number of interview opportunities with the key speakers. Please contact the press office with your requirements.
Speakers this year include:

• Rt Hon. Hilary Benn MP, Secretary of State, DEFRA,
• Brendan Barber, secretary general, TUC
• David Lennan, chairman of Work Wise UK and former director general of the  British Chambers of Commerce
• Edmund King, president, the Automobile Association
• Caroline Waters, Director of People and Policy, BT.
• Ben Plowden, director, Smarter Travel Unit, Transport for London

Other speakers will be announced in the run up to the conference

WORK WISE WEEK
Work Wise Week 2007 will run from Thursday May 15 through to Wednesday May 21 – again, an unconventional week to demonstrate flexible working. The week will consist of a number of themed days, with media opportunities and events for each. There will be a number of interview and photo opportunities on each day, both national and regional. To ensure you are advised of each, and get your bid in early, please register, and you will be sent details of each prior to general publication. The programme for Work Wise Week is:

Thursday May 15 will be National Work from Home Day. Employers and staff around the country are being encouraged to work from home on this day, so that everyone can experience the benefits. This is not giving a day off for those participating, but an opportunity to demonstrate that without the stress induced by the workplace environment and the long commute most have to endure, people can be more productive occasionally working from home.

Friday May 16 will focus upon the significant positive impact of smarter working on the environment both in terms of the reduced need to travel and also a longer term reduction in resources and infrastructure to support a smarter working workforce.

Weekend May 17/18 will be Wise Work Weekend, a consumer-focused initiative to provide guidance and help to those people who would like to work smarter.

Monday May 19 will look at the transport impacts of smarter working. The Automobile Association, Transport from London and Work Wise UK have joined forces to focus upon smarter working as a being a significant part of the solution for congestion and public transport over-crowding. A fall in the need to travel, and the staggered time of travel, resulting from smarter working will significantly help in solving the problem of traffic congestion and overcrowding of public transport.

Tuesday May 20 will focus upon employee benefits and social impacts of smarter working in terms of improving work-life balance, leisure and family benefits, and the knock-on effects on health and relationships. Various organisations with interests in these aspects will be involved in the day, both nationally and in the host region(s). The emphasis will be upon promoting a better work-life balance – working smarter, living better.

 Wednesday May 21 will feature the Work Wise Summit at the QEII Conference Centre in London. The summit will cover most of the elements of smarter working through a series of keynote speeches and panel discussions, including organisations such as TUC, CBI, BT and Transport for London. The emphasis will be upon making the UK more competitive in the face of growing economies in Asia, enabling a second industrial revolution to make the UK the most progressive economy in the world.
NATIONAL WORK FROM HOME DAY

The third National Work From Home Day will encourage staff and employers to try out home working. This was the main focus of Work Wise Week last year, especially with the media, with numerous radio and television interviews.

WORK WISE WEEKEND
The weekend in Work Wise Week (Saturday and Sunday May 19 and 20) will be Work Wise Weekend. Further information about this consumer-fronted initiative will be issued in March.