If you’ve never seen a social media surgery before then John Popham’s video above is just about what you might expect.  He shot it last night at the first such surgery in Leeds, which he started after visiting our first anniversary surgery last month.

Folk in Leeds are  using a similar model to the central Birmingham surgery, you get some idea from this video at the most recent Birmingham social media surgery

It focuses on the informal and matching volunteer webby types to volunteer community types. As we found when we began these here in Birmingham, there seems to be a a great deal of enthusiasm in the digital community in West Yorkshire to get on and make things happen. Simon Duncan thought it a “great success”.

Why then do I say surgeries are spawning?

Huddersfield.  Their first is next week.

York (courtesy of the comment below from the wonder John Popham) is in December.

In South Africa Marlon Parker is adapting the idea for shopping centres and the general citizen.

Cornella near Barcelona will soon have one organised by Chris Pinchen of Citilab – who visited us again in October:

Talk About Local uses the technique and has now spawned the wonderful idea of a social media tent for fetes and fairs.

Lichfield has experimented with one.

Sheffield incorporated one in Unsheffield this summer (umh “unbrum”? – I wonder).

Podnosh has run them in Acocks Green – which was featured by the Birmingham Post and now has a life of it’s own – plus Lozells.  Alan Colson now also runs a social media surgery for councillors in Solihull.

Others include a more business minded approach in  Nottingham, (similar to our own work at Hello Digital)  SCIP in Brighton, and far afield  Mosman, Australia has now used there’s to created a site for their neighbourhood.

Any Missing?