Tag: BBC Birmingham

Teaming up with BBC volunteers for the Central Birmingham Social Media Surgeries

Karen Slater of the BBC helps Prinith de Alwis Jayasinghe of Home from Hospital Care.
Karen Slater of the BBC helps Prinith de Alwis Jayasinghe of Home from Hospital Care. Image: Francis Clarke – click on the picture for his website.

We’ve been running the Social Media Surgery in Central Birmingham for the best part of 5 years.  Last night we took a leaf out of Manchester’s book and teamed up with the BBC.  Steven Flower and the BBC Outreach team having been working together in Salford to bring both volunteer bloggers and volunteers from the BBC together to help at the surgeries.  We did the same last night with BBC Birmingham.  19 people turned up – although we can always do with more people looking for help.

Karen Slater from the BBC worked with Prinith de Alwis Jayasinghe from Home from Hospital Care – a charity which helps pave the way for people to get home from hospital – cutting down on bed-blocking. Prinith said

“Karen taught me about audioboo and how we can record interviews with our clients. We also talked about how we could use blogging on our webpage.”

but the video gives a much better idea of what they got out of it:

Zualfqar Hussain of the Small Heath Community Forum received help to set up this facebook page

Small Heath Community Forum on facebook.
Small Heath Community Forum on facebook.

 

But this video shows exactly how he gets the point of the social media surgeries

What next?  I’ll talk to Paul Corcoran and others at the BBC about us maybe doing more of these together and get back with dates.

I think it’s good news for the surgeries because extra volunteers will help plus the pull of an organsiation like the BBC, good news for the BBC because it connects their staff with more of the brilliant people who help Birmignham tick and good news for the charities and community groups we want to support – because it helps them with social media support and new connections into the BBC.

 

 

 

Fresh start for the Central Birmingham Social Media Surgery – new volunteers from BBC Birmingham

Central Birmingham was the first social media surgery set up to support local community and voluntary orgs –  nearly 5 ears ago on October 15th 2008.

We’ve used various venues, from BVSC who generously helped with that first surgery through to the fine Fazeley Studios and for since April 2010 the wonderful Studio Venues.   So thank you to all those who have given us free space and dealt with our relaxed, rather laissez faire approach to helping the smaller bits of the local third sector with free social media help.

This month we have a new venue and some new helpers:  BBC Birmingham.  For a couple of years now one of the surgeries in Manchester has eclipsed what we are doing here (not that it’s a competition) . Steven Flower has been collaborating with the arm of the BBC that gets it’s staff involved in volunteering.  Whereas a busy Central Birmingham Surgery might see 20 people in an evening he  (and Kate Fox) are  involving  sometimes twice that.

BBC at the Mailboc in Birmingham - window with a reflection of a crane
BBC at the Mailbox in Birmingham – image courtesy of feltip1982 on flickr

So what does this mean:

  • If you are from a local community or voluntary org sign up here http://www.socialmediasurgery.com/surgeries/central-birmingham  for our first surgery at the Mailbox on 17th September 2013. You might be getting help from a local blogger – you might be getting help from a local BBC staffer – either way it will be relaxed and useful.  Do not worry if you are new to all this – we are gentle!
  • If you know someone who might like a surgery please share this link with them http://www.socialmediasurgery.com/surgeries/central-birmingham
  • If you are regular surgeon then it’s a new venue.
  • If you would like to help manage this surgery then please contact me through @podnosh.
  • If you’ve helped us in the past – thank you.

So onwards and where-everwards.

ps:  Since we started in 2008 this surgery alone has seen 309 different people through it’s doors on 43 different evenings.  They’ve used what they have learnt to create or work on a minimum of 73 different websites (I know it many more – but we have recorded the 73).   It’s one of 147 that have sprung up in some shape or form across the UK and the rest of the world since then.   Last week we tipped the 4000 mark in term of organisations and people involved.