- Cabinet Office API programme: All Civil Service Jobs – An API for all Civil service jobs. To play with.
- Anecdote: Vital behaviours for knowledge sharing – “Hmmm, I think people spend more time moving about the floor and having conversations,”
- Your Right To Know » Article: Beef or chicken? Same gravy, different flavour – You can’t hope for a better result as a campaigner than to have the prime minister announce a major policy change within 48 hours of your documentary. Is this the power of television? Was Brown watching and choking on his dinner?
- Charlie Beckett: Faster than the speed of mind: is media change out of control? – Some institutions should not fear the digital reaper. Anders Sandberg thinks that the value of the British Museum, for example, lies in its amazing collection of unique objects. They won’t change in a digital age. You could create a virtual British Museum but that would be additional to rather than replace the core essential value of its physical collection.Conventional libraries on the other hand may have to face up to the extinction of their previous book-based business model. The physical library could become irrelevant.
- Basic Premises For Every Community Manager | Connie Bensen – Here’s a summary of the basic premises every community manager should keep in mind. And companies that are creating communities should also realize their importance.
- Business Strategy: Ordnance Survey – it has determined that Ordnance Survey should implement a new business strategy to meet the changing needs of customers and the wider market.
- WordPress in UK Government: an informal audit. Puffbox – “I thought it was about time I compiled a list of all the UK (central) government web projects I know of, which use WordPress.”
- Headliners | 2009 | Drug Pressures in Alum Rock – Headliners in Brum: “This film was produced by Headliners reporters; Moneeb Khan, 14, Idrees Suleman, 13, Zayyan Ahmed, 12, Mohammed Ehsan, 13, Ahsan Arshad, 11, Wasim Arif, 18, Adnan Hussain, 16 and Mohammed Abass, 17”
- BCN (Birmingham Canal Navigations) « CanalScene – Like this site and it’s use of Google Maps to trace canals.
- DFID – UK Department for International Development – What I like about this site is the way it puts the story first – makes space at the top for frsh content. It’s designed to encourage a conversation between dfid and the rest of us.
- Your content at risk: A credit crisis for the co-created web – If Flickr were to fail, how would that change your online generosity? Of course, Flickr would not be the first to disappear, taking our treasured content with it. But it would be the first co-created giant of the social media age to tank. Imagine the holes it’s sudden desctruction would leave across millions of websites and blogs… there would be one on this blogpost, for a start.
- Report: Social Media And Video Site Engagement Reshapes The Web | Nielsen Wire – “The meteoric growth in social media is the single most significant story in the online media space today. The numbers speak for themselves: the continuing growth in audience and engagement are like the bullet train that could.
On the other hand, the implications of the social media phenomenon for marketers and publishers far outweigh the impressive metrics: the world’s leading marketers are realizingthat at the heart of the social media movement lies a method to transform the manner in which brands communicate with
their consumers. We may be on the cusp of a disintermediationthat the advertising world hasn’t yet experienced.” - Government API Directory – ProgrammableWeb – Says what it is
Author: Nick Booth
Birmingham Social Media Surgery No: 6 – May 13th 2009
So we’ve made it to a full half a dozen surgeries, cracking. Scroll down for a report on Surgery no 5.
If you belong to a Birmingham based community or neighbourhood group or charity please Come and join us for the May 13th 2009 Surgery.
When & Where
Next Surgery: Wednesday, May 13th, 2009 drop in anytime between 5.30pm to 7.00pm at Fazeley Studios, 191 Fazeley Street, Digbeth, Birmingham, B5 6DR, link to map. (not BVSC) It’s opposite the bond and a go kart track. Push the large pale blue door with the silver door knob.
To sign up please go here.
So what happened last time? Well, Paul Henderson took the photo above whilst Chris Ivens summed up the point of the surgeries rather neatly:
Q: What is a Social Media Surgery? A: With an abundance of buzz-words at every tick and turn and an almost daily mention of twitter in the news we try to look at what technologies could really help your organisation and we’re here to explain in plain English what they are. It’s not a sales pitch nor are you obliged to do anything after the meet, I guess it’s the old cliché; ‘Giving Something Back’. If you come and find the session useful, please pass on the word so more people can benefit.
As with most of our surgeries, people went away having set up new blogs or picked up tips about how else they can use the social web to help their project, programme, campaign or neighbourhood.
Cannon Hill People’s Park came along for the second time. Tony Fox said of his first surgery:
Thanks to the brilliant advice and support we got last time it inspired us to put our Net.website up (just), and we’ll be along to discuss building on our Social support!
Tony and his team have now begun making good use of google maps. Karen and Geoff Caine are the first people who’ve made the move from patient to surgeon, having now made good use of their newish blog for the City Centre Neighbourhood Forum, explored with google maps and begun to encourage people to use services such as the excellent fixmystreet.
It was a good evening for neighbourhood groups. Ged Hughes of the Acocks Green Neighbourhood Forum came along, her first time at a surgery. She left saying she would love to come again and the following day created a blog for the forum. (Hurrah!). The first post tells us that their AGM is on May 14th, the day after the next social media surgery. It also pointed me to another local group already using social media, the Acocks Green Focus Group.
Other neighbourhood interest came from the East Yardley Neighbourhood Forum who went away with a head crammed full of ideas and established this starting point for conquering the social web world. Also John Heaven was with us looking for help on how to build on what is already being achieved at Lozells.info.
Laura Creaven of LUCIA Charity set up this personal blog and has got off to a roaring start. Her take on the surgery:
I have to say it was a fascinating meeting and I’m really glad I went. I’m all a bit keen about what we could achieve with it. So I’m a little excited about going to work tomorrow – sad isn’t it?!
Also with us was Mary from Birmingham Friends of the Earth and Attiya from the Health Exchange who left having set up an experimental personal blog.
The ever brilliant all-volunteer surgeons were Ben Waddington, Nicky Getgood, Chris Ivens, Pete Ashton, Paul Henderson, Gavin Wray, Daniel Davis, Simon Whitehouse. Neil Houston – who blogs about food – joined us for his first session and Rob Annable gave some great help on open source mapping. I love the way the people who help at the surgeries vary from month to month, so endless thanks for their help and a particular thank you to Diane from Fazeley Studios who also volunteers her time to keep the place open. I always forget at least one person when I list these, so apologies in advance and please just tell me and I’ll put it right.
Stuff I've seen April 27th to April 29th
These are my links for April 27th through April 29th:
- Job listing for Innovation and New Markets Executive, Screen West Midlands, Birmingham – Audiences Central – Your job will be to assist in delivering a programme of support for digital projects and companies in the region including events, project development and production funding and identifying new trends in digital media, technology and emerging business models. Experience in the digital media sector is highly desirable, as is successful partnership work, project management and familiarity with media contracts – particularly in the digital sector.
- After the crunch | Andrew Dubber – Ask me what is the greatest thing in the world, I will reply: It is people, it is people, it is people!
- The mystery of the missing London parking tickets | News | guardian.co.uk – This fab use of data to reveal curious patterns shows how citizens and news outlets can work together to ask interesting questions: ”
Nobody has parked in a loading bays illegally for 18 months, and nobody has overstayed in a parking place across the whole of London? That’s a flipping miracle. You’d think TfL would be shouting the new-found behaviour of London drivers from the rooftops.” Except … apart from a couple of low totals at the end of 2008 (which may be due to delays in tickets issued working their way through the system), total ticket numbers have generally risen; indeed they hit an all-time high in November 2007. Clearly, people aren’t really behaving better. - cybersoc.com: revealed: groundbreaking study of user generated content use at the bbc – The majority of respondents to the MORI poll commissioned had favourable views of user generated content and thought it played a positive roll in reporting yet few have actually contributed. One of the questions was whether people would take a photo if they saw a fire break out – just 14% said they would, and just 6% of those said they’d send it to a news organisation. Great differences were seen across classes – 16% of higher management would take a photo, with all saying they’d submit it to a news organisation, but in other groups (middle-management to manual laborers) only between 4 – 5% would take a photo.
- Job listing for Aspiring programme makers – Audiences Central – Our initial aim was to provide the area with its first local television channel and provide an outlet for video productions made with the various groups we work with. Now with the help of Aston Villa Community Interest Company and Data Pacific we have created V-Cube.tv. We intend to produce and schedule programmes that directly or indirectly support, enhance, promote or deliver local concerns & initiatives directly to the Web and other broadcast platforms.
- Digital Mentors FAQs — Media Trust – “Is this about getting people online? No. If more people get online as a result of Digital Mentors, that’s great. But digital media is as much about offline technology. But digital media is as much about offline technology, as long as it helps communities to express and exchange their views.”
Should the government stop local councils competing with local newspapers?
Below (scan down a bit) is a piece I’ve written at the invitation of Paul Bradshaw from the Online Journalism Blog. Paul e-mailed to say: “I’m creating a 6-part series of responses to the government as part of its inquiry into the future of local and regional media. I will be submitting the whole – along with blog comments – to the Culture, Media and Sport Committee. They invited responses on 6 areas. This part will look at the 3rd:
The appropriateness and effectiveness of print and electronic publishing initiatives undertaken directly by public sector bodies at the local level. The question of what public sector bodies should be allowed to publish, how that affects local journalism, and how it affects local democracy, is one of the most difficult to resolve – not least because it involves so many interconnected elements.” So that’s what Paul asked. He has written this and here are my thoughts – mostly on the question of the quality and transparency of information paid for from the public purse:
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I talk to a lot of people who work in council communications departments. They’re all conscious that the regional press is in trouble. If they’ve not recently lost a local paper they’ve certainly seen local journalists lose their jobs.
They consistently tell me one thing: “Because there are fewer reporters it’s easier to get coverage. Those who are left are really grateful for the stuff we give them. More and more they run it verbatim”.
On the one hand we have newspaper editors complaining about direct competition from council newspapers and websites, on the other they increase their reliance on content from these same sources. This tension amply illustrates the waning value of newspapers as mediators.
Public bodies will continue to want to connect directly with an audience. They will find it ever easier to tell their stories in audio, video, maps, text and images and they will attach all that content to rss feeds to be used by individuals and publishers of all sizes.
Not only that but public services have a growing responsibility to talk directly to the public. The conversational web and data mashing offer an unprecedented opportunity to collaborate with us to improve public services. It would be negligent for any media regulation to stifle this. Indeed central government already actively encourages local councils to improve their direct relationship with the communities they serve.
Any minister making decisions now risks being derided in years to come for not understanding quite how powerful these new flows of information are, first to undermine the business model of newspaper and second to strengthen the democratic opportunities for our public services. I can’t imagine any sensible intervention from Andy Burnham or Hazel Blears demanding that this trend should be somehow stopped!
New standards for Public Information
Newspaper editors should stop bleating about potential competition. Instead they should fight for new standards for public information.
Clearly all public communications departments take care to be accurate and negotiate the line between politics and public service. Often they will check their facts more carefully than journalists might because they get more stick for being wrong.
But as more and more material from local government press departments is used use un-mediated by millions of people how do we guarantee the quality of this information?
So now is not the time for government to stifle council communications teams. Now is the time to ask if we have the right editorial guidelines for council press officers and communications departments. Let us instead ensure every single one is a centre of excellence for plentiful, high quality and easily re-usable public information.
We already have at least one model for using public money to pay public servants to create content for the public good. It’s called the BBC. This is based on the rather clumsy notion of impartiality. The new model should be built on guarantee of quality that comes with transparency.
Any comments you make below will be posted, by Paul, through to the enquiry. Others in the series include:
Alex Lockwood on “The impact of newspaper closures on independent local journalism and access to local information”
Adrian Monck on “The opportunities and implications of BBC partnerships with Local Media”
Paul Bradshaw also on “Should Councils Publish Newspapers”