Rethinking RSA networks, playfully

About 30 RSA Fellows and friends enjoyed an afternoon last week playing – very constructively – with Lego and plasticine under the guidance of David Gauntlett, Professor of Media and Communications at the University of Westminster. I’ve written before about David’s metaphorical modelling, and this time we were discussing the future of RSA networks and other activities. Excellent reports from Mike Amos-Simpson, Leon Cych and Tessy Britton.

A Members Connection Kit

Tessy Britton has come up a cracking, practical idea for the new-style convening space Clay Shirky advocates where self-organising meets organisations. It’s a members connection toolkit. Hope others like it at our workshop tomorrow. There’s also a great discussion on Amy Sample Ward’s blog Moving away from “organizations” – to what?

Government needs advice? Just open up and ask.

The blog of the IDeA Strategy and Development Unit may sound dry, but it provides an open window into the workings (and not workings) of local government. It is about Policy and Performance.
The other day there was a great post on the 10 local government social media myths including “it’s all about the tools”, “it’s only the young who use social media”, “It’s too hard” and “It’s easy” … all neatly disposed of.
Ingrid Koehler has an insightful piece on Does digital inclusion mean social inclusion? and I have now just seen Read on if you dare! from Ingrid’s colleague Adrian.

Are you brave enough to read on? You are about to read reports of a meeting at CLG (Department of Communities and Local Government), so if I accidentally transcend the bounds of confidentiality, you may have to crunch on a cyanide tablet. Or I might have to self-destruct. However, since it was about providing information to the public, any over-concern with secrecy would be less likely to attract the attention of the secret than the irony police.

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How social reporters can help turn old-style conferences into the new convening spaces

I’m delighted to find there’s increasing interest in social reporting around events … which may start with an enquiry about how to capture some video interviews, but can lead to a discussion about how an organisation may network with its members, clients or customers.
Over the past year I’ve had a lot of fun using standard video cameras, mobile phones to stream video to the web, videoboos on a laptop, giving Flips to facilitators, and blogging before, at and after events. You’ll find a series of posts here.
Bev Trayner and I were fortunate to work together last year on a European community of practice and major event in Lisbon which gave us the chance to develop a first-draft socialreporting toolkit, which Bev offers for download here. There’s also a work-in-progress wiki here. (read more...)

Clay Shirky: nonprofits must become new-style convenors – or lose their members

Clay Shirky really pins down what any organisation relying on members or supporters for its life must do if it is to stay in business as people increasing network online. That means change for campaigning charities, trade associations, and membership bodies who may (read more...)

Clay Shirky at LSE: full video and audio

I’ve uploaded the full video of Clay Shirky speaking last week at LSE, which I wrote about here. The video is on blip.tv here. The audio isn’t great so you may wish to download that from the LSE site. Download mp3 (42mb).

How to rename Silver Surfers? Just ask them.

My friends at Digital Unite organise Silver Surfers Day each year, with participation by hundreds of local centres introducing thousands of older people to computers and the online world.
They could do with a better name, and a blog post on “What do you call a person over 50 on a computer?” is producing lively discussion … including for reasons I don’t understand “Purple Surfers”. Maybe Deep Purple nostalgia. (read more...)

BeLocal imaginings

Kevin Harris reports from the recent BeLocal workshop how he asked groups to play-through ways in which online tools could empower local people and tackle problems: “The potential value of the game was summed up for me in the narrative
developed by one of the groups about their character – a 51-year old
gay formerly married self employed tradesman with no computer skills,
who became the driving force for a locally-grown information
service that addressed exaggerated and stifling perceptions of the fear
of crime”. Longer workshop report here from Carl Haggerty, including more prosaic yet still worthwhile applications.

Seriously Civic Social Media in Brum

Today’s the last chance to comment on the Birmingham Big City Plan, so in case I have one or two readers up that way I’d better get this posted, and also endorse Nick Booth’s recommendation to click over to the independent Big City Talk. There (read more...)

Social Innovation Lab site launched

Tessy Britton points to … The Social Innovation Lab for Kent has
had its stealth site made live. It really is pretty marvellous! There
are lots of ideas and working methods as well as case studies and
videos.