Short updates and video for internal comms

Lucy Hooberman reports that the BBC is trying Yammer for internal communications – a sort of private Twitter service – and notes via Ethan’s blog that Telefonica in Spain use Yammer plus an internal video sharing service by which researchers have two minutes to explain their work to colleagues.

Tips for winning at SI Camp

The Social Innovation Camp team has analysed what excited them about projects that won last time: proof of potential; people-power; technology, but not just for geeks. You have until November 7 to enter for the next Camp in December, (bearing these tips in mind).

Details of first London Net Tuesday

Details of the first London Net Tuesday organised by Amy Sample Ward – interviewed here – are now on Amy’s Netsquared blog. It’s November 4, 5.30pm.

Social reporting shifts power relationships

Tim Davies tried social reporting at an event for youth service managers, and found that he got more buzz  from previous experiments equipping young people to do the job. Something about the shift in power social media brings.

Amy brings Netsquared to London

Amy Sample Ward from David Wilcox on Vimeo.

A year ago a group of enthusiasts for web-enabled social innovation and change met in London committed to setting up Netsquared in the UK, loosely based on the Netsquared conference and community started in the US.

It didn’t happen like that, and although the social innovation landscape is now more highly populated, a bit more joining-up would be helpful. (read more...)

The five year journey from Civic Hacking Fund to mySociety

Tom Steinberg from David Wilcox on Vimeo.

Five years ago I met Tom Steinberg at a conference workshop where he was tentatively proposing the idea of a “Civic Hacking Fund”. Last night Tom and friends, including social media Minister Tom Watson, celebrated the fifth birthday of mySociety, the high-successful organisation now justifiably proud that:

Using our services, 200,000 people have written to their MP for the first time, over 8,000 potholes and other broken things have been fixed, nearly 9,000,000 signatures have been left on petitions to the Prime Minister, and at least 77 tiny hats have been knitted for charity.

(read more...)

Localmouth: a new model for online neighbourliness

Recent get-togethers about local online have both rekindled enthusiasm for what social media can do for neighbourhoods, and also pointed to more general models of how collaborations may work between commercial, public, nonprofit interests and volunteers.

My early enthusiam for the web in the mid-1990s was fired by the example of Freenets and community networks in North America, so I was delighted when my friend Kevin Harris helped organise a couple of events recently, as I reported here. (read more...)

Another open bid to government shapes up

After promoting some very helpful discussion about the idea of local digital mentors – included in the recent Communities in Control White Paper – Dave Briggs is now doing something to help develop a network of people who might play that role:

To pick up on the thread of Digital Mentors – the role outlined by CLG to help disadvantaged communities find a voice online – I have started a new site along with a growing bunch of collaborators to develop the role online, gather stories and resources together and maybe to unorganise a tender bid when the funding for the pilot projects becomes available.

I’d encourage anyone interested to get involved: check out the blog, sign up to the mailing list and throw some stuff up on the wiki.

(read more...)

Social reporter gets tree interview exclusive

Ed Pomfret - The Woodland Trust from Yemisi Blake on Vimeo.

If you are a mainstream journalist the biggest buzz – as I recall anyway – comes from other journos following up your stories. Exclusive! I’m getting a lot of cheer from other bloggers saying they find some value in the idea of social reporting. New tag! Yemisi Blake just sent me this brilliant example: (read more...)

Tools for collaboration at RSA: blog + Tuttle

Last night the 254-year-old RSA (Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures & Commerce) took another step along the inevitably bumpy road to re-inventing itself as a network of thought leaders and civic innovation activists.
The backstory is here: how Matthew Taylor took over as CEO with a vision to transform an old-style hierarchical organisation by bringing the 27,000 members (Fellows) into the middle of policy and practice, with extensive use of online networking. Big problems in trying to do several things at once: change culture, promote projects for civic innovation, develop new online systems … while also running the main business and creating the best open, free events programme in the UK. (read more...)