Category: Social Media Surgery

“Aren’t there enough people using the Internet already?”

 

Our Digital Planet
Our Digital Planet – from Nominet Trust

Home for the next couple of weeks with @nominettrust #ourdigitalplanet

I’m just finishing the first week managing the Internet Station for the Nominet Trust’s Our Digital Planet exhibition which Podnosh are supporting as it moves around the country.  We’re helping people who’ve not had much exposure to the internet to have a go and see what else there might be for them online.

We’re on the promenade in Brighton this week and naturally only a few of those I’ve approached as they walk along have felt they needed to come in for more.  There are plenty though who want to engage in conversation about whether we should be doing it or not which is where the quotation above came from 🙂

Nevertheless, it’s extremely heart-warming to work with those who are brave enough to step inside and sit down at a laptop.  It’s like doing a Social Media Surgery but with people who have even less idea of what things are possible or how technology might fit into their lives.  I’ve helped people use Google Maps to plan family day trips, showed them that downloading and using Skype to keep in contact with far-flung family members needn’t be so daunting and today I helped a man to get his photographs off the old phone that he was carrying around simply because it had his favourite pictures on and onto his smart new Samsung from which he was already comfortable sharing to Facebook!

I’ve also had the pleasure of meeting some inspiring people from projects like History Pin, the local AgeUK group, and BeatBullying as well as Clem Wilkinson who came along to run Social Media Surgeries.

We’ll be back in Brighton from 28th-31st next week and then the exhibition all gets shifted up to Bristol where John Popham will be in charge for a couple of weeks, then I’m with it in Cardiff in early October before it goes on to Liverpool and Glasgow.

 

Building civic engagement in Wolverhampton one neighbourhood at a time

Yesterday saw us host the first in a whole series of Social Media Surgeries we’re involved in around Wolverhampton.

It took place in an area of the north east of the city called Low Hill. It was set up and managed like all other social media surgeries except instead of being supported by just one organisation, it’s being supported by a partnership of public sector organisations from across the city that includes council departments and housing  associations.

The thinking behind this means we’re able to support a more diverse mix of people to benefit their communities and improve civic engagement across the city with input from lots of different areas.

Yesterday’s event was really well attended and, with support of “surgeons” from our public sector partners, were able to help:

One attendee on returning back to work even declared it the “best social media surgery ever“. I’m not sure we’re impartial enough to be the judge of that but I’m sure looking forward to the next one in Low Hill and the others due to be arranged across the city.

Helping Birmingham Leadership Foundation use social media

Video by Punk Zebra for BLFLeaders

Birmingham Leadership Foundation helps new and aspiring leaders to emerge. They connect emerging leaders with established leaders to help them learn from each other’s experience.

They organise networking events, training and connect existing leadership development projects to encourage the next generation of leaders in Birmingham to develop – leaders who reflect the city’s demography. These could be:

  • A young person aged 16–30 with the ideas, ambition and spark to make an improvement to the lives of others in their local community.
  • A person who is proactive in their community.
  • A chief executive or senior manager of a private company or public sector organisation who wants to work with, and support, the local community but lacks the know how and contacts.

Nick and I ran a social media surgery at the Foundation’s first Monday Masterclass last month. We’ll be working with the young leaders at the upcoming Masterclasses, sharing social media skills to help them get out there, network, collaborate and make things happen.

We’re also helping the Foundation team with their social media strategy and to further develop their own social media skills.

A perfect description of a perfect social media surgery? Bearwood.

This video is shot by the Lorna Prescott – who’s the surgery manager for the enormously successful Dudley Social Media surgery –  and she’s talking to Coral Musgrave who organised last night’s first social media surgery in Bearwood. It is wonderful to see surgeries seeding with people who run one helping others develop there’s – and all working along the keep it simple lines that started with the recipe.  Lorna (of Dudley CVS)  learnt this from her first surgery:

  • Never underestimate the power of sharing knowledge, skills and experience (crucial in community development practice)
  • Social media surgeries are to help active citizens to join the massive conversation which is taking place on the internet
  • Social media surgeries are not basic IT training – we can signpost to adult learning for that
  • Individuals working in the public sector, voluntary sector and involved in community groups are willing to give their time

Well done and lets hope those organisations come back for more help in Bearwood. Can I make one suggestion Coral?  Put some more dates in – so people who are enthused can book to come to another.

May I also say it’s a top notch piece of social reporting. Lorna came to one of our social reporter training programmes a year of more ago – and is a natural in the business of keeping things relaxed, simple, and get them online quickly.