Useful things from the NCVO annual conference Evolve 2015

We’ve been spending the time providing a social media surgery at #evolve2015 –  we get to charities and voluntary organisations use social media and open data bit better and in return meet fab people and learn good stuff.  Here are some of the things I found through wandering and conversations… that interest me…

Circle  Central.   My unstoppable mum is involved in a wellbeing group of “older” women where she lives. They meet up and organise to do things to keep all of them moving, involved, interested/active.  This http://www.circlecentral.com/  is a sort of paid for approach to the same thing.  Not quite caught fire but interesting none the less.  For a working example go here: http://rochdalecircle.org/become_a_helper.php

lamplight

Open data can fry your brain(s).  We’ve been learning how to introduce some open data skills into the social media surgery network thanks to support from the Cabinet Office.  Frankly we’ve been keeping it simple, helping organisations use data tools or open data sets for problems they need to solve – and then sharing what we did together at www.bevocal.org and also at blog.socialmediasurgery.com.  One conversation reminded me of what we try to do at the social media surgeries – which is stay sensitive to someone’s experience, skill and tolerance.  It’s the same as not trying to force someone to drive round a three lane roundabout when so far they only managed to get into third gear in a car park.

Data Visualisation:  https://www.silk.co/   Google fusion tables, but more visual, for data visualisation

Mentoring and Befriending Foundation now part of the NCVO.

Keeping people with learning difficulties safer online –  I had a fab conversation with Tim Davies from Camp Hill Milton Keynes.   They are focussing on refining how they use social media both to promote their residential and support work and the theatre they run.  Paul Webster mentioned this from the Foundation for People with Learning disabilities  – as a resource on stayong safer online – i like it for it’s cealr visual layout.  http://www.learningdisabilities.org.uk/publications/safeonline/

It turns out that Gill from the brilliant tool @whooseshoes may have benefited from what we do…

https://twitter.com/WhoseShoes/status/610458913658511361

Tips on micro-volunteering can be found here  http://knowhownonprofit.org/how-to/how-to-engage-people-into-microvolunteering.