The focus of the November Central Birmingham Social Media Surgery was to try and get those who had been to previous surgeries to come back and build on their skills.  As ever these free surgeries are for community and voluntary groups in Birmingham.

On a blustery Friday night at Fazeley Studios, a number of people returned to the surgery with questions, ideas and ways they wanted to develop their organisation using the web.

Peter and Jean Rookes had attended a surgery a while ago and had set up a blog. But time constraints and forgotten passwords meant it had been left dormant and they were eager to get it up and going again to continue their work. Their main objective was to find a way of uploading documents to the blog so colleagues could easily view reports. I spoke to them before and after the surgery to find out if they’d got what they came for.

We also welcomed back Audrey Miller who brought along her husband Duncan. Audrey came along to one of the first Social Media Surgeries and set up her blog www.jdcbirmingham.wordpress.com for Jubilee Debt Campaign Birmingham. This time, the couple were interested in posting up photos from those involved in the organisation World Friends, so friends and families form their home countries to see them. They set up the blog worldfriendsuk.wordpress.com. Here Audrey explains:

There were also those who hadn’t attended a surgery before – such as Lee McLaughlan from Moseley Round Table. Sometimes it’s just about sitting down with someone who has a mind full of ideas which may help you with your problem. Turns out when he went home he set up the blog http://maccalad.wordpress.com/.

I notcied John Newsom from Balsall Heath is our Planet had returned to the surgery to build on his blog, which you can see here. He has changed the theme and added a number of pages with contact details, links to other sites and information for anyone wanting to know more about the charity.

Although this surgery was particularly focused on those who had encountered social media and now wanted to improve and deepen their knowledge and understanding, all of the surgeries encourage people to come back and learn more. Many from last week’s surgery said they would like to return every month to build on what they know, and sit with new surgeons who may offer different advice.