Tag: bctblog

31st August 2010

Things I've spotted August 31st from 14:24 to 22:49

Here are some of the things I’ve been reading August 31st from 14:24 to 22:49:

Facing up to the financial facts | birminghamnewsroom.com – Birmingham City Council's Chief Exec Stephen Hughes: "The truth is, that if we are to protect the public from the consequences of these spending reductions, we need revolutionary change in the way we provide services."
We are going to have to look at ideas that might have seemed inconceivable only a short time ago.
Slices of soup – towards a new definition of local media | ASH-10 – "….the future of online media looks a lot like soup. There will be carrots and they will be important but on the whole it’ll be a murky and opaque and very hard to perceive as anything other than a whole."
The 2010 Social Networking Map / Flowtown (@flowtown) – 2010 map of social media
– ‘Do not sue’ Part II: stories and leads wanted! – an Easy-Waiver (loosely based on what you’d sign to hire a mountain bike, go paintballing etc).
Your guide to organising a street party or fete – Communities and neighbourhoods – Communities and Local Government – "We want to make it easier for you to hold these sorts of local events, without having to plough through mountains of forms and red tape. So we have produced this simple step by step guide to how to hold a community event in your local area. It includes one simple form for you to use to let your local authority know about your plans."

19th August 2010

Stuff I've seen June 19th through to August 4th

These are my links for June 19th through August 4th:

NHS spends millions on websites that fail patients, says government report | Society | The Guardian – Here, here… ” A layer of NHS bureaucracy, represented by websites built by primary care trusts, foundation trusts and strategic health authorities, received “almost no recognition” from the public. “The question is raised why these sites were developed in the first instance,” the report says.”
O2 makes text donations free for charities – Civil Society – IT – News – providing news and in-depth coverage of charities, voluntary organisations and not-for-profits – O2 has become the second mobile operator to pledge to deliver 100 per cent of all text donation value to charities in a move which could signal an industry-wide shift.
Birmingham Post – Business – Business Comment – Business Columnists – Jerry Blackett: Science festival brings hope – The New Optimists asks the simple question: what are you optimistic about? The essays in response – many from academics working in the region’s universities – Read more

19th June 2010

Stuff I've seen June 10th through to June 19th

These are my links for June 10th through June 19th:

Neighbourhoods Learning Together — BVSC – Course available for community activists in North Birmingham and Sandwell: “30 places are available and we want to the group to reflect the diversity of the area. If there are barriers or support needs which are making you hesitate, then let us know and we’ll see what we can do. The venues for the sessions will be wheel chair accessible.”
Telford & Wrekin CVS-news from the Development Team » Blog Archive » Telford & Wrekin CVS BASIS Project – “The whole purpose of which is to recruit, support and train 50 local voluntary and community organisations, in the art of social media, so that they can implement it, to ultimately support group sustainability”
Swimming pool data scraping: comparing opening times | Where can we swim? – “Birmingham City Council’s leisure centre website isn’t an easy place to look for information, harder still to try to take data, but that’s just what I’ve spent some considerable time trying to do….” Our own Andrew Brightwell continues his one man campaign to scrutinise availability of swimming pools.
The power of conversations « Francesca Elston – “…conversations make people happier and more useful.”
Pentagon hunts WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in bid to gag website | Media | The Guardian – The Daily Beast, a US news reporting and opinion website, reported that Pentagon investigators are trying to track down Julian Assange – an Australian citizen who moves frequently between countries – after the arrest of a US soldier last week who is alleged to have given the whistleblower website a classified video of American troops killing civilians in Baghdad.
Cutswatch | Society | guardian.co.uk – Public services face the harshest cuts in decades. We want to know what’s happening in your area
Futurebuilders — loan business scrapped, new direction will be grants for neighbourhood organisations « The BSSEC blog – “Civil Society Media website reports that Nick Hurd, the civil society minister, has confirmed that Futurebuilders — New Labour’s flagship loans-plus-support model for investing in third sector development, managed by the Social Investment Business — is “effectively closed for business”. In future the £200m fund will be dedicated to providing grants to stimulate the formation of neighbourhood-based organisations, a clear change of direction under the coalition’s new ‘big society’ policies.
The Office for Civil Society (the replacement for the Office of the Third Sector) has also confirmed that Capacitybuilders and the youth volunteering organisation v — both major New Labour initiatives — are “under review”.”

2nd March 2010

Stuff I've seen March 1st through to March 2nd

These are my links for March 1st through March 2nd:

MADE – Talking cities lecture series – "MADE’s thought provoking lecture series, supported by Cudos and Birmingham Architectural Association, kicks off on 11th March with a talk by Irena Bauman, Bauman Lyons Architects, entitled Happy Cities – Stitching the Disconnections"
Shona McQuillan | Artist and Illustrator | Birmingham, United Kingdom – Blog – "What struck me when I arrived is that it wasn't all about the usual suspects; curious shoppers ambled in to see what this was all about, too. And busy it was – with sales made on the first night."
Green ICT Surgeries | Voscur – "Voscur would like to help members tackle their negative impact on the environment, which seems to be an inevitable part of running a modern office or organisation.
We are running surgeries for up to 5 organisations at a time to introduce members to the Bristol Green ICT community developing around the the Green Bristol ICT website (http://www.bristolgreenict.org.uk)"
Using the internet for effective citizenship – at the Citizenship Foundation we believe that effective civic engagement – or more specifically, effective citizenship – requires critical reflection by all involved; not simply the release and management of data by one party and the voicing of opinions by another.
Leadership services – Leadership 20:20 | National Council for Voluntary Organisations – "We have launched a Commission on the future leadership of civil society, to give emerging leaders a chance to have their voices heard and discuss some of the major issues affecting both our sector, and our world. As well as contributing to this key agenda, our hope is that Leadership 20:20 develops as a network for civil society’s emerging leaders to share ideas, share information and learn from each other."