Written on March 12th, 2010 by Andrew Brightwell
Jamie and Jean work on the Civic Centre Residents' Association blog
At another brilliant Central Birmingham Social Media Surgery in thestudio we saw a host of exciting and interesting projects either getting off the ground or being developed still further. Read the rest of this entry »
Written on March 12th, 2010 by Nick Booth
Remove the cause of mistrust – is what Lawrence Lessig thinks will drive the transparent economy. He also believes government need to learn humility and we need to take care to avoid laws which criminalise our children because of how they use the net. He’s right….Worth listening to:
Written on February 24th, 2010 by Andrew Brightwell
Surgeons and patients at February's surgery at thestudio
We’ve just booked up three new dates for the Central Birmingham Social Media Surgeries – April 7, May 6 and June 8 – with the lovely people at thestudio, in Cannon Street, off New Street.
It’s great news, because we’ve been able to extend our original arrangement where we get the space in thestudio for free. It seems that the management at thestudio is quite happy with it, too – as long as we remember to buy a few drinks at the bar and clear off at 7pm, as we’re supposed to. We’ll issue reminders for these events closer to the dates, but if you’re looking for the next surgery it will be on March 9.
Have a look here for more details.
Written on February 23rd, 2010 by Andrew Brightwell
If you haven’t already then I’d recommend anyone who is interested in the idea of social media surgeries listening to this podcast by John Popham who talks about his experiences visiting three social media surgeries on consecutive nights in Yorkshire.
John does a wonderful job of explaining the simple way that a surgery works – in particular that it is really a conversation – where both people are engaged (the surgeon and the patient) in figuring out a solution to the patient’s enquiry.
As John explains, sometimes people are a little concerned about helping others, because they’re worried they don’t have enough skill to offer solutions.
But the surgeries are good way of breaking down this problem. Firstly, of course, there are others there who can help. And, secondly, the conversational nature of the surgery helps you to understand what might be useful and you can then work together to explore a solution. Even if you know only a little, your support can be invaluable to absolute beginners. You can reassure people that social media can be an enriching and empowering tool – and very much worth persevering with. And that, as it happens, is what social media surgeries are all about – as John says.
John plans to keep these podcasts going, so keep an eye out for them in the future. And, since I’m on the subject of podcasts, if you’re interested in finding out about my own experiences with social media surgeries have a listen to my own, rather smaller and much less accomplished, effort.
Written on February 16th, 2010 by Nick Booth
Let me introduce you to two new blogs about neighbourhoods in Birmingham, both run by public servants
Hands on Handsworth is written by Tracey Thorne – the neighbourhood manager for Handsworth in Birmingham; Be Heard in Birchfield is being nurtured by Yvonne Wager – the neighbourhood manager for that particular part of the city. (Click here to see Tracey’s explanation of neighbourhood management)
Both Yvonne and Tracey are in jobs funded by Be Birmingham – the local strategic partnership. They were inspired to start a neighbourhood blog by their colleague Kate Foley who had been running Life in Lozells – a site set up originally to address the problem of all the bad news you find when googling Lozells. Kate explains in more detail in this video made by the Chamberlain Forum.
What do they do?
They talked to us about helping them develop these sites during the Social Media Surgeries we ran in Lozells last year. Both are built on WordPress with some changes to the back end that make it a little easier to blog and listen to what the web is saying about your neighbourhood. There’s also a simple events system with mapping, plus the sites include a facility to easily turn plans into commentable consultation docs. We also provide a service that ensures the software stays updated, plugins don’t clash etc, plus training and support on using it well.
Tracey is a natural – she really enjoys writing for the site and is on a roll. Yvonne is equally enthusiastic but needs a different sort of support, so it is taking a little longer.
Why Bother
The sites are the neighbourhood managers’ home in a wider web conversation. It’s only fledgling at this stage. The point is that over time they help the neighbourhood managers share information, ask questions, pool expertise and begin to collabroate in new ways with their community. I’m not convinced they should attempt to become THE site for their neighbourhood.
Such an idea concerns me, because if THE site gets switched off or someone begins using it to be self serving that’s a problems for the whole neighbourhood. Instead I’m interested in how we can nurture a range of online resources and voices in a place. These blogs form part of that process – providing a tool that can also help neighbourhood managers link to and encourage the wider conversation.
What do you think?
It will take time and patience for these sites to bed in – but what do you think? Could you encourage them by commenting a post or do you have any advice for Yvonne or Tracey?
Written on February 13th, 2010 by Nick Booth
I think it is only a matter of time before we switch from hyperlocal blogging to hyperlocal “mapping”.
Below is a short TED2010 talk from Blaise Aguera y Arcas of Microsoft Live Labs.
He is demonstrating augmented-reality mapping technology from Microsoft. It’s quite a substantial extension from where Google appears to be just at the moment and shows glimpses of great possibilities.
If you serve neighbourhoods, interested in very local media or work for a news organisation, whether press, web or broadcast then it may be worth sparing a few minutes to watch this:
Written on December 2nd, 2009 by Hannah Waldram
Our brains are fried, we’ve done a bunch of great social media stuff… it’s time to kick back and have a chat with friends we have met through the Birmingham Social Media Surgeries this year.
Our December Social Media Surgery is going to focus mainly on the ‘social‘ part of ’social media’. It’s a great chance to come a meet other people who have been to surgeries in Birmingham, discuss your ideas and work, and hopefully go away feeling supported and inspired for the new year.
The Social Media Social will take place on Tuesday 15th December from 5pm – 7.30pm at the studio on 7 Cannon Street, Birmingham, B2 5EP (link to map).
Photo: Edward Moss
The lovely people at thestudio are letting us take over their bar area free of charge – all the more reason to buy another drink or two. They are located right in the centre of Birmingham and couldn’t be easier to get too (see directions below).
Feel free to drop-in anytime during the evening. There’ll be no agenda and it is up to you whether you come to share and show ideas, or just socialise. It is a space for voluntary groups, organisations to chat and get to know each other. Whether you’ve been to a surgery before or are interested in finding out more about what we do – all are welcome. We’d also love it if the surgeons (our voluntary social media experts) who have helped over the year come along too.
If you want to let us know you’re coming, - sign-up using the form on the BeVocal site here. Or just turn up on the night.
How do I get there? From New Street Station walk down the ramp out of the Pallasades, turn left onto New Street (past H&M) and Cannon Street is the first road on the right. Thestudios are further up on the right (opposite Jigsaw), and the restaurant is on the second floor.
Find out what normally happens at a Social Media Surgery here.
Written on November 1st, 2009 by Hannah Waldram
This is the third post in our series from the C&binet conference on what the government should do about hyperlocal. Highly developed in the US, Rachel Sterne from GroundReport presented four types of hyperlocal news models.
Whether networked or single locality journalism, hyperlocal start-ups all have some sort of editorial position and a hierarchy and production system which favours skilled editor roles. The voluntary start-ups often have an authentic and raw feel, but can be inconsistent in maintenance (thus professionalism) and attract small audiences. Hyperlocal sites which have a media parent, such as the recently launched Guardian Local and Associated Press’ Local People sites provide an instant audience, content pool, and access to the technology and resources, but can lack innovation which is prohibited by the internal politics of the media legacy of the publisher which need to be followed.
Models from the US showed how giving content providers (who write and upload articles voluntarily) a platform to publish content rewards them with being pitched next to writers on a site which give them credibility and an impetus to work hard. Similarly deputised editors will work on the basis they feel privileged to have access and control over content. GroundReport and The Huffington Post are good examples of this.
The final slide in the presentation on hyperlocal models shows government funded sites while delivering high quality of coverage would gain limited audience and less sustainable.
Written on October 5th, 2009 by Hannah Waldram
One of the heated debates which took place at the Talk About Local un-conference ‘09 – a day designed to bring together hyper-local bloggers from across the country to discuss common issues, problems, share ideas and talk about the future – was how council press officers treat local bloggers.
For example, in Sarah Hartley’s recent article for the Guardian, Stoke Council’s head of PR and communications, Dan Barton, said bloggers were excluded from press breifings and the press table in the council chamber. He said:
Opinion should be encouraged but we do draw a distinction between what is news otherwise we are in danger of de-valuing the role of journalists.
Written on August 16th, 2009 by Nick Booth
Tom Harris, MP is musing about how newspapers charging for online content will effect bloggers:
a staple of political blogging is the external link to a news site. Guido has his “Seen Elsewhere” widget and almost all of the PoliticsHome homepage is links to features and news articles in the dailies.
What happens after all these newspapers start restricting access to paying customers? Will bloggers have to assume their readers are subscribers to the external sites we link to? Those who regularly include links in their Twitter feeds, or who regularly follow such links, will face the same problem. As will those who rely on Google Media Alerts to flag up news articles on specific subjects.
Tom’s thinking of this as a potential problems for the bloggers. However his last sentence above shows how much of a problem it is for the newspapers. If the system they use makes people reluctant to link to their website, then surely the newspapers site will be less likely to show up in search.
Other newspapers writing freely and openly about the subject will get the links, as will other blogs, as will people like politicians who’ll be saying their own things on their own sites. The New York Time’s David Carr hinted that people will be bookmarking new news sites, but the links problem is surely even more fundamental. It is the start of a spiral of decline, isn’t it?
Of course Murdoch and his team may have had a uniquely brilliant new thought about this and the paid for content problem. A cunningly brilliant idea that hasn’t yet occurred to the tens of thousands of people who’ve been worrying about this for many, many years.
If they have then that is content I would pay to read. Once.
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