Tag: Birmingham UK

Podnosh is based in Birmingham in the UK, so often we write about exciting things that are going on near us.

Pimps, prostitutes and Grandad’s Army – new podcast on the Grassroots Channel

Chris Hoare

This is the story of Chris Hoare: a grandfather who’s worked for years to clear prostitution from the Waterworks Estate on the borders of Edgbaston and Ladywood in inner-city Birmingham. His neighbours were so fearful of the pimps that they asked Chris to step up and take action. To find out why he did it this way please listen to the podcast.

The tower over Chris’s shoulder is Perrott’s Folly – a building with links to Tolkien. He worked with the Birmingham Conservation Trust (declaration – I’m a trustee!) to prevent the building’s collapse. Next steps are to use it as a tourist draw, turning what was once a neighbourhood riddled with vice into an international family attraction.

The residents have also transformed many of their communal areas. Chris is standing in front of Anderton Gardens, a new garden named after a police sergeant who worked with them. (created with help from Groundwork Birmingham)

The pragmatic approach of Chris and others in the Birmingham South West residents group reminds me of so many others we’ve spoken to on the Grassroots Channel, especially the people of Perry Common and Masood Yasin in Washwood Heath.

Thanks to Paul from the Chamberlain Forum for introducing me to Chris.

Blog rules for schools and young people – to txt speak or not?

I thoroughly enjoyed PodcampUK at the beginning of this month, but the session which I found most helpful was from Joe Dale. Joe teaches French at a Middle School on the Isle of Wight and what caught my interest were his blog rules.

They help manage the tricky problem of comments, which really motivate pupils involved in blogging or podcasting. If you take a look at the comments on this post from the Frankley Talk podcast project in South Birmingham you’ll see how those who took part wanted to share their pride and got a real kick from the praise coming from elsewhere.

Rule 7 and 10 strike a chord with me because I loathe txt speak. However different types of work may need different rules. As an outsider working in schools sometimes we can make more progress by being more relaxed. A teacher like Joe needs to remain firmly in control and is aiming to integrate web 2.0 in all they do.

  1. I will only use my first name
  2. I will never give out my email address
  3. I will never give out my home address
  4. I will never give out my telephone number
  5. I will respect others
  6. I will not use rude or threatening words
  7. I will not use text talk or chat language
  8. I will not copy other people’s work
  9. I will be responsible for everything I write
  10. I will check my spelling before posting

Below is a conversation I recorded with Joe in a short pause during podcampuk.

Whilst I’m here (and I’ll write some more on Podcampuk soon) thanks to everyone who organised the unconference and mentions for brum based Digital Central for sponsoring such a brilliant gathering, the NTI for hosting it and Aston Business School for a great venue for a party. It would be great to see you all back in Brum next year.

It'll be alright.

This recent post on how attempts to create shared online platforms for community groups often founder has received quite a few comments. In it I argued that being open and generous are key principles for success online. David Brazeal has helped me identify another: optimism. Part of what I was driving at is how risk averse public bodies tend to over moderate and control their online efforts, to the extent that they suck out the openness and freedom which makes collaboration work (see also today’s story about whether companies should ban Facebook). David sums it up:

Here’s the secret to this — the negatives almost never happen. And when they do, they’re not a catastrophe — they’re no different than the bad things that happen to you in your everyday work life already. But the positives — those things you can’t even imagine yet — they happen all the time for people who simply make a commitment to participate in this online space. And with patience, those positives start spinning at them faster and faster, so that they can’t imagine having done their work without that resource.

And one more thing. Those people and organizations who are successful in the online space — who have thriving blogs or podcasts, or who use social networks to help their work — they are not any different from you in talent or time or personality. The difference is that they’ve jumped in when the negatives seemed daunting, trusting that the positives would follow.

See Uwe’ blog for the image which got David thinking.