Author: Nick Booth

14th November 2009

Stuff I've seen November 9th through to November 14th

These are my links for November 9th through November 14th:

Building the “Local” website, not a council website « Carl’s Notepad – Shouldn’t we take the same approach as we do in the “real” world and position our information and services as part of the community and not expect people (and i include myself here) to have to visit a local council website to access information or perform a transaction.
WTop Ten Things a Brand Must Be to Go Social | Simon Mainwaring – "Brands live or die on the good grace of their pro-active, connected customers. They can be your greatest allies or quickest destroyers. It is a privilege for a brand to enter their lives and any attitude short of that is a fast track to self-absorbtion and self destruction."
Pezholio » Blog Archive » Who said Social Media can’t save councils money? – Pez saves Lichfield Council £3.22 and more importantly some poor resident a fruitless phone call – all thanks to twitter!
Stephen Hale at fco.gov.uk – Stephen Hale at the Foreign Office writes a great post on the web and government. He belives you have to a clear clear web strategy but above all: "make sure it's ambitious." Well worth a read.
There’s too much kick-boxing « Audit Commission newsroom blog – The Audit Commission (a customer) finding it's voice: "We say there’s too much kick-boxing going on. That was just in case you were already yawning. In fact, there’s too much tick-boxing going on."

9th November 2009

Stuff I've seen November 7th through to November 9th

These are my links for November 7th through November 9th:

October Wrap-Up « Blog « WordPress.com – Last month 467,107 new blogs were created on wordpress.com. For more mind numbing statistics click on the link.
Let me take you by the hand… « Beanbags and Bullsh!t – Really intersting thoughts on social enterprise: "Whether or not their activities are described as ‘trading’ for tax purposes, it’s hard to see how those social enterprises that just provide an outsourced public service in a specific area – and would go bust if the council (or other agency) cut their biggest contract – are businesses in any meaningful sense. Either way, Curley’s point is that these kinds of organisations – that make up a worrying large chunk of the social enterprise sector – are not sustainable unless state funders choose to sustain them."
Center for Media Justice : Grassroots groups speak up for Net Neutrality – Interesting campaign in the USA to support net neutrality on the basis that a controlled network will discriminate on race ground – and I presume also on the grounds of wealth.
What do you think about the way that technology can empower young people? | The Youth of Today – "The Youth of Today programme is conducting a survey of 13-25 year olds around the world to better understand how young people use information and communication technologies (ICTs). We are conducting the survey as part of our work on a publication on the subject (coming March 2010)."
The Future of Politics is Mutual « SoloBassSteve.com: Shiny Happy People Blogging… – We now live in a world where we construct our own media consumption, where we pull together, build our own stories. Politics and the mainstream media are clinging on to old methods of distribution and delivery.
UNB Student Union | Blog | Our Dirty Linen, Part 1: Communications – I will be working with some student unons this montha dn found this wonderful idea – admitting fault: "Welcome to Part 1 of a blog series that we’ll be calling “Our Dirty Linen.” The idea is simple: we admit to areas we haven’t been doing so well in in the past, we talk about some of the ideas we have for moving forward, and you give us feedback to guide this process."
Campaign for better connectivity on trains « John Popham’s Random Musings – Yes

5th November 2009

Stuff I've seen November 4th through to November 5th

These are my links for November 4th through November 5th:

The Big Debate – Ten more ideas – Birmingham Post – Business Blog – "Be ambitious and aim… low. It sounds mad, but I think some people were discussing the problem with large projects / initiatives having lots of money attached, largely that they're often then crippled / stifled by paperwork and a need to 'report' on outcomes. "
Developers are great but… « Emma Mulqueeny – "when they do open it all up, please take time to look through what has been done, and see what clues you can find to making your own businesses better – in and outside of government."
SI Web and New Media Strategy – Executive Summary and Moving Forward – "This Smithsonian Web and New Media Strategy was created through a fast and transparent process that directly involved, and continues to involve, hundreds of stakeholders inside and outside the Institution. This strategy feeds into the Smithsonian’s comprehensive strategic plan."
Secretary Clinton Announces Civil Society 2.0 Initiative to Build Capacity of Grassroots Organizations – In her remarks today to the Forum for the Future, Secretary Clinton announced Civil Society 2.0, which will help grassroots organizations around the world use digital technology to tell their stories, build their memberships and support bases, and connect to their community of peers around the world.
Innovation Exchange » Innovation for Personalisation: A call for ideas (West Midlands) – “We need to work together with passion and commitment to help everyone lead fulfilling, independent lives. This is an important event for the JIP in helping us to find high-potential innovation projects that are making personalisation a reality”.
Eric Robinson, Lead on Personalisation, ADASS and Corporate Director of Social Care and Health, Staffordshire County Council

Personalisation depends upon our ability to innovate in social care – to develop new services, relationships and organisational approaches. Across the West Midlands, people in the public and third sectors are already using their passion and ingenuity to deliver personalisation. But no one person has all the answers and we can always do better.