Year: 2009

Next Birmingham Central Social Media Surgery – Thursday 15 October

It’s the anniversary of the first Birmingham Social Media surgery, designed to help voluntary and community groups in Birmingham make the most of social media and the web.

To mark the occasion we will be hosting our usual Social Media Surgery session at the Fazeley Studios, Digbeth.

The central Birmingham Social Media surgery will be held on Thursday 15 October, 2009 between 5.30pm and 7pm at The Fazeley Studios, 191 Fazeley Street, Digbeth, Birmingham B5 6DR (link to map), opposite The Bond. Push the large pale blue doors with the silver door knob.

If you belong to a Birmingham based community or neighbourhood group or charity please come and join us, you can drop in any time between 5.30pm and 7pm.

To sign up head over to the BeVocal site to sign up or find more information about locally-based surgeries.

Want to know more about Social Media Surgeries and what to expect? You can find out more information about what goes on at a surgery and how it can benefit you here.

If you cannot make September’s surgery why not book the next Central Birmingham surgery into your diary. It will be held on Friday 20 November at 5.30pm – 7pm at the Fazeley Studios, Digbeth.

Stuff I've seen September 19th through to September 20th

These are my links for September 19th through September 20th:

  • BBC NEWS | Politics | Dyke in BBC ‘conspiracy’ claim – Greg Dyke was impatient for change when he was at the BBC – remember if you have a radical boss find a way to support them: "Our current model was designed for the 18th Century. It doesn't fit 21st Century Britain," he told the meeting. And he added: "We want more influence over our lives and we are not just prepared to hand it over to this strange bunch of people who stand for Parliament because they have been knocking on people's doors for 10 years." "
  • Online Database of Social Media Policies – This database contains 82 documents.
  • Sentiment analysis – analysis « Emma Mulqueeny – Emma: "it is the first step I have seen in digitally automating the mood of the nation on any given topic."
  • Sarah Lay on Twitter and Coseley Baths – Sarah was almost in tears: "This account is the voice of a swimming baths in the Black Country on which the local council has taken the decision to condemn it to closure and demolition."
  • Sarkozy’s blue-chip Commission recommends measuring social capital « Social Capital Blog – It's personal" "A formal organization with a name and address may not correspond to any actual individual members, much less to social networks among those members. Moreover, the role of associations differs from country to country. Because of these reasons, measures of organizational density are generally not good measures of social connections, despite their frequent use for that purpose."

Stuff I've seen September 14th through to September 18th

These are my links for September 14th through September 18th:

Stuff I've seen September 13th through to September 14th

These are my links for September 13th through September 14th:

  • Free Wireless Broadband – Community – Our offer to communities throughout the UK is simple…… let us know why your community needs WiFi and we will come and install a totally free service in a public place, for 3 years (or longer if we find sponsors to pay for it). We currently have enough in the fund to pay for 50 communities in the UK.

    Freerunner have also partnered with JustGiving.com to put free WiFi Internet access where its really needed – charities. If you charity has a broadband connection we will come and install the Freerunner service for free in your location. Its perfect for charity shops as it gives people another reason to visit. It also gives you the chance to help bridge the digital divide. JustGiving.com and Freerunner have committed to provide this service to 500 charities, totally free of charge, forever.

  • Patry’s MORAL PANICS AND THE COPYRIGHT WARS: elegant, calm, reasonable history of the copyfight – Boing Boing – Cory Doctorow reviewing: "Patry's Moral Panics stands out for the sheer, unadorned calm of his approach. Patry doesn't have a lot of rhetorical flourish or prose fireworks. Instead, he tells the story of copyright in plain, thoughtful words, with much rigor and grace. Reading Moral Panics is like watching a master brick layer gracefully and effortlessly build a solid wall: no wasted motion, no sweat, no missteps. Patry knows this subject better than anyone and can really explain it."
  • The Barcelona Update Blog » Free Wifi in Barcelona – a new council sponsored scheme – This Barcelona blogger says: "All in all, we applaud the Council for their forward looking attitude – particularly as they are restricted by law in what they can do. However, it’s not quite the free for all it seems and a bit more clarity on the access at each point would make it a whole lot easier."
  • Should the Public Decide What the House of Commons Debates? – Birmingham Post – News Blog – A Commons committee chaired by Staffordshire MP Tony Wright (Lab Cannock) is to consider whether the public should be able to initiate a debate in the House of Commons.
  • 10 People You Won’t See on Twitter Anymore [Make it personal stoopid] – This new rules may cause problems for some local authorities and even newspapers: "Robotic Twitter accounts should live in fear of death by the powers that be at Twitter. If you’re not human and you’re configured to automatically tweet, reply, and retweet based on Twitter content or RSS feeds then you could be in danger. The rules express a clear preference for the human touch when it comes to Twitter updates, stating that you could be in violation of the TOS and subject to termination, “if your updates consist mainly of links, and not personal updates.”