Keith De La Rue works as an educator and independent consultant in knowledge management, communication, learning and social media. He previously spent eight years working in Knowledge Management at Telstra, Australia, where he led a team engaged in the transfer of product and service knowledge to Telstra’s enterprise and business sales force. This group has been known both within and outside of Telstra for its innovative work in this field.
In addition to developing knowledge sharing strategies and tools, he also develops and delivers post-graduate training in these fields.
Keith is a committee member of the Melbourne Knowledge Management Leadership Forum, and is a regular speaker at conferences in Australia and overseas since 2004 on a range of topics. He has also had experience in facilitation of personal development and strategic planning workshops.
Keith worked in the Telecommunications and IT industries for over thirty years. In one role, he spent six years as a Telecommunications Consultant, consulting with a number of major Telstra business clients across a broad range of industries.
He holds a degree in Computer Science from RMIT, and is a member of Mensa, where he spent seven years (between 1998 and 2004) as a regular columnist for TableAus, the national magazine. Keith has also appeared on radio and in quiz programs on TV, and has planned and delivered a number of Trivia Nights.
He is married, with three children, and lives in country Victoria, Australia. He also enjoys travelling, reading, writing, music and trivia.
See further details of Keith’s current work here, a list of published documents here and recommendations for his work in his LinkedIn profile.
Travelling:
I enjoy travel. This has included long trips by car with my family around various parts of Australia. Also:
- My wife and I have travelled three times to Europe since 2012, and to North America.
- Since 2004, I have travelled for conference speaking to a number of places, including more than nine trips to Singapore, three to Malaysia and New Zealand, as well as a number of cities around Australia.
- In late 1998, we drove over to Western Australia with our two duaghters, travelling almost 14,000 km in six weeks.
- In 1990, we took all three children up the “centre” to Darwin, across to Cairns and home down the east coast. This was in a Nissan Bluebird wagon – 15,000 km in nine weeks. Our youngest daughter was only 15 months old on that trip.
- I travelled to Europe for one month in 1984 to pick up a BMW K100RT motorcycle on the “European Delivery” program, and had it freighted back to Australia.
- In 1983, I spent six months back-packing around Europe, with a few days in Singapore and Malaysia on the way there, and in the USA on the way home. While in the USA in October, I visited the Grand Canyon, and did the walk down the South Kaibab Trail and back up the Bright Angel trail – in the one day. While I did hitch a lift part of the way along the South Rim to the South Kaibab trail head, the trail walk itself was around 25 km, with a fall and rise (in that order) of around 1,400 m. After carrying 20 kg around for 6 months, that was probably the fittest that I’ve ever been in my life.
- My main claim to fame is my 1980 trip by motorcycle (Suzuki GSX750) from Melbourne to Karratha, WA (a distance of 5,000 km) in 5 days and 6 hours.
Other claims to fame:
- I can read and write upside-down. I apparently learned to read upside-down as a child, sitting at the table opposite my father when he was reading the newspaper. Only recently I experimented with writing upside-down (in block capitals) while doing small group facilitation, and found that it actually came quite easily to me.
- My IQ is around 135, placing me in the top 2% of the population, and hence eligible for Mensa. (I have scored in the 99th percentile in a recent spatial thinking test, which may contribute to the point above.)
- I have climbed the highest peak on one continent: Mt Kosciuszko, Australia, 2,228 metres (7,310 ft), in 2002.
- I saw and photographed a black leopard in 1997 in Wilson’s Promontory National Park, Victoria. The photograph featured in a movie.
- I have been developing and editing web sites since 1998.
- I used to play in a band that once performed for an audience of 17,000 people. (It was at a scout jamboree, in 1977.)
- I am descended from two First Fleet convicts.
Barbara –
Nice to hear from you – glad you enjoyed it!
All well here.
– Keith
Dear Keith,
Peter Morris gave me this link – every now and then I think of you and wonder how things are going. I’ve learnt a lot through reading this.
Blessings,
Barbara
Hi Keith,
I have wondered how you have been going and what you have been doing since we last met; I think it was for a coffee and a long time ago now. I was prompted to “find” you again after seeing your comment about the NBN on Q&A tonight. I agree with you, but it is hard to convince those who still think that the internet is only a ‘nerdy’ thing.
Barry Ring
Hi Keith, I found you from your post on anecdote.com.au
“Shawn – have I ever told you about how I facilitated the development of a mission statement for my church? The process allowed everyone in the church – 250 or so people – to contribute…
Posted by: Keith De La Rue at January 13, 2006 11:30 PM”
I am new executive leadership at ernestbecker.org and we are urgently in need of a our better mission statement. We have about 5000 members, and I would love to know more about how you were able to get inputs from your church membership, and how you then got that synthesized into the new mission statement. Please call or write? I’m in Seattle: 425 466 7704. Thanks!
– Melissa Ganus
Sarah –
There are a number of alternatives for spelling the name. Apart from the choice of case and number of words (Delarue, De La Rue and de la Rue are all common), there are a number of alternatives that make life even more difficult. Some of these we know are related, others are not certain: De La Rew, De La Roux, De La Reu and more. Then there is the question of the relationship to La Rue and Rue.
You can read a bit about the Australian De La Rue families on the genealogy page on this site.
As my family came out to Australia via England, I assume that the capitalised spelling that we use is an Anglicisation. One branch of my family deliberately adopted the single-word spelling about three or four generations ago as a further simplification. The other families, having come out directly from France or the Channel Islands, tend to have retained the original lower case for the “de la”.
– Keith.
Hi Keith!
Should our name not be spelled ‘de la Rue’??
What is your heritage?
Thanks so much- it’s nice to hear of another de la Rue….
Sarah
Kamlesh –
Thanks for your comment!
Yes, I have done work on measurement, and I have previously addressed this at conferences.
I would be happy to discuss an opportunity to present on this topic in Manila, if that is what you are suggesting. Please let me know more detail about what you have in mind.
Regards,
– Keith
Hi Keith,
Just enquiring if you do work on knowledge management measurements.
I have a study meeting coming up in Manila, and would be nice to have someone share what Telstra is doing in this regards.
Do please let me know.
Regards
Kamlesh
Garry –
Great to hear from you. Almost spooky… Look forward to comparing notes over a coffee!
Networks are funny things. Richard Webbe has introduced me to you and now I find that you and I have some scarily common interests; I too rode a Motor Cycle through the north of Australia (Yamaha 350b) in late ’79 (still ride VTR1000 today), enjoy time in Singapore and KL speaking at conferences when I can, long car trips, and others I wont bore you with. At Richard’s request, and now to satisfy my curiousity, I would enjoy catching up for a coffee in sunny Melbourne soon. I will email you.
Garry Gosling
June –
Email is on its way to you – I look forward to discussing further!
Hi Keith,
I’ve actually been surfing and leaving my contacts at Telstra to get hold of you. My purpose is to actually extend a speaker invitation for you to present at our regional conference here in Malaysia on Enterprise Content Management. Would be great if we could get in touch soon.