Last Wednesday saw the launch of the ITsON series with a look into the growth of Sophos. Jan Hruska, co-founder of Sophos, entertained the 80 attendees that had come along to the launch with a presentation on how Sophos has grown over the last two decades. Starting from the company's humble days with two employees, a piano, a DEC Rainbow and puppy Sophie, Jan described some steps that have seen the company expand into their new Abingdon premises and their international operations with over a thousand employees.

"It was fantastic to see the huge turn-out that we had for the launch," says Richard Mercer, Business Support Manager for The Oxford Trust. "We had expected a lot of interest in the ITsON programme from our discussions with the ICT sector, but Jan's talk attracted a wider audience that we had hoped for . delivering a real sector-grabbing event that will set the tone for the rest of the networking series."

The evening saw members of the ICT community networking and discussing ideas and business opportunities. The networking and discussion started with the extended question time following Jan's talk and moved further into the evening along with the wine and canapés.

"We received a lot of positive feedback from the enthusiastic attendees and advice on the series - both from our discussions on the night, but also from a subsequent event survey. It is this information that will help us to deliver networking events that provide both informative events and increase the contacts and potential collaborations with the ICT sector," says Richard.

ITsON is a sector-focussed networking programme that will bring events to the ICT sector. Six events over the next 12 months will bring together a suite of high-profile speakers, panel discussions and networking opportunities with the long-term view of building onto the existing ICT networks, further supporting the local and regional industry.

The next ITsON event will be on the 11th September 2008 and will explore some of the engagement opportunities between Oxfordshire's local academic institutions and ICT companies.

For more information about the next event and for more details of the entire ITsON programme please visit www.itson.org.uk, sign-up to our ITsON mailing list or contact Richard Mercer on 01865 728953 or richard.mercer@oxtrust.org.uk