Boris, boxing, blogging – and piglets with curly wurly tails

Piglets on board the 'Grace Harwar'

Piglets on board the ‘Grace Harwar,’ National Maritime Museum collection, Flickr Commons.

Bloggers contributed a baker’s dozen of posts in Week 19 of Weekly Blog Club, with topics ranging from the result of the Mayor of London election to piglets and many topics in between.

This week’s ‘sports supplement’ comes from Ross Wigham (football and a passing mention of cricket in Three golden management rules), and from Hannah Chia who covers boxing in Morally Bankrupt: Frank Warren Defends Haye-Chisora Bout.

The political section is written by Irena Souroup and covers the election of the Mayor of London, won by Boris Johnson for the second time, and considers what Boris might do next: Boris’s Blond Ambition.

The arts supplement this week focuses on the visual arts. Matt Bond has written about the shiny hardware and software required for editing and publishing videos: Part 4: The Edit.  My post was on the history of an aspect of 19th century art concerned with social welfare and encouraging equality in society, and an artist who illustrated Charles Dickens’s last novel: Luke Fildes: his social realist paintings.

The people section contains a very moving post by Phil Jewitt about connecting with someone at an emotionally difficult passage in life, simply entitled Connected. Kate Bentham’s work also focuses on connecting with people, sometimes in difficult circumstances, and she considers how specific types of content can help to connect in The use of piglets in social meda.

The business section gives an insight into the work of a local government comms team in Carolyne Mitchell’s If you want something new, stop doing something old as she reports on a very full day with Walsall Council comms team. John Patterson puts forward a radical idea for management within local government (that could work in other workplaces too) in Micropost: Asset Based Staff Development. There are some useful tips for both marketing and training in Janet Harkin’s The only marketing acronym you need to know.

The literary supplement considers blogging. First-time Weekly Blog Club contributor Benjamin Welby looked at the why, what and where of public sector blogging: I believe in public sector and local government blogs. Regular contributor Mark Braggins gives a tantalising glimpse of what is to come on his blog: Backblogs and Foreblogs.

Finally, on the inside back page (the one you turn to first) is Desert island tweeps by Lesley Thomson. Who would be your Desert Island tweeps? Would you limit your choice to just three?

As always, thank you very much to both the writers and the readers of all the Weekly Blog Club posts. It is good to see the number of ‘Likes’ accumulating, and letting the writers know that you appreciate what they have written is a great way of being a member of the club.

If I have missed any posts out, do let me know. It can be difficult to pick them out from the tweetstream sometimes. Any ideas for the Week 20 (entirely optional) theme? ‘Rampant growth of weeds’ is a key topic in my mind at the moment as all the recent rain is fuelling very rapid growth in brambles and docks. I am sure that some of you will have much better ideas for a theme.

Janet

Janet E Davis.

Summary of Week 19 posts

Backblogs and Foreblogs by Mark Braggins.

Desert island tweeps by  Lesley Thomson.

Boris’s Blond Ambition by Irena Souroup.

Luke Fildes: his social realist paintings by Janet E Davis.

Connected by  Phil Jewitt.

Three golden management rules by Ross Wigham.

I believe in public sector and local government blogs by Benjamin Welby.

Morally Bankrupt: Frank Warren Defends Haye-Chisora Bout by  Hannah Chia.

The use of piglets in social meda by Kate Bentham.

Part 4: The Edit by Matt Bond.

The only marketing acronym you need to know by Janet Harkin.

If you want something new, stop doing something old by Carolyne Mitchell

Micropost: Asset Based Staff Development by John Patterson.

Blue, language and doing not saying

Although some regulars were too busy to write in Week 18, what with elections and getting married and stuff, we had 11 contributions. Some were were practical, sharing of useful information and digital tools. Some were about our society. One was ostensibly about football, but really about much more. And two were light-hearted playlists.

Matt Bond launched a survey in his post this week: Local Government Film Survey Launched. He considered use of film by local government and would like people to participate in the survey. Lesley Thomson enthused about one of her favourite tools this week Stuck on Storify. Or, do as I say, not do as I do… - and has probably encouraged at least a couple of us to think again about trying it.

Janet Harkin shared a Great infographic on grammar mistakes, which some will find useful as a reminder or as training material. In the old days, it would have been called a poster, or an illustration – and if it had been arranged more horizontally, it would have been called a comic strip. What to call things and how language is not always as straightforward as it sounds was on Phil Jewitt’s mind this week. He wrote an entertaining and interesting post about how Yorkshire dialect could cause fatal misunderstandings in ‘appen it’s reet.

How language is used can really mean life or death when in the context of the emergency services. Mark Braggins’s post this week – BlueLightCamp: Weekend Camping Pt1 - was the first part of his account of an event focused on the emergency services using digital communication. It is really interesting, and relevant to us all since we all may need to use one or more of these services at some point.

Social responsibilities were a theme in other posts this week. Irena Souroup wrote about her concerns about the long hours and low pay for those who work on some of the big cruise ships in Old Pirates Yes They Rob I. Simon Hope was concerned about the lack  of information and discussion in social media about the issues relating to the question of whether some cities should have mayors: Elected Mayors – social media where are you? The issue of what to do about vanishing heart of many communities – the village shop – was covered in Peter McClymont’s post this week, Playing shops – an update, as he shared some of the story behind setting up his village’s new community shop.

The most moving post of the week was undoubtedly Dan Slee’s Losing and connecting in a Cup Final. It is about so much more than football, and is one of those “must-read” posts – but do have a hanky to hand, whether you support the blues, the reds or any other colour of the rainbow. Dan certainly started his new personal blog with a kick.

Although I put together The Blue playlist, it was not inspired by the BlueLightCamp but had been sparked off by @BlackPlaques inspiring me to collate The Black playlist. More suggestions were added by Simon Fogg. Of course, I had to do a substantial list for the original Blue Plaques, which is probably another British invention since the earliest known were in London. Deirdre of @OpenPlaques put forward a further substantial lists. Wherever you are in the world, do have a look at what Open Plaques do and consider participating.

I wrote a short ‘aside’ post on the blog this week with the stats from April, if you want an idea of how many read and ‘Like’ this blog. Thank you very much to all readers who contribute by commenting and clicking ‘Like’ buttons. It is great for all writers to receive positive feedback. Thank you to all the writers who have shared their thoughts with us during Week 18. If I have missed anyone’s post in the hurly-burly of tweets during the week, do just tweet or comment and point me in the right direction so I can include it.

Last week, whilst writing the summary, I had a thought for this week’s (entirely optional) theme…but I failed to write it down and have forgotten it. So, at present there is no suggested (entirely optional) theme for Week 19. If you have any suggestions (I assume that all Weekly Blog Club members would have only polite suggestions – in this context at least) for the (entirely optional) theme for this week, let me know. As always, there will be some of us around if you are lost for inspiration – just tweet for help. Between us, we usually manage to help to shift writer’s block.

Janet

Janet E Davis.

Summary of Week 18 posts

Great infographic on grammar mistakes by Janet Harkin.

‘appen it’s reet by Phil Jewitt.

BlueLightCamp: Weekend Camping Pt1 by Mark Braggins.

Old Pirates Yes They Rob I by  Irena Souroup.

The Black playlist by Janet E Davis.

The Blue playlist by Janet E Davis.

Losing and connecting in a Cup Final by Dan Slee.

Local Government Film Survey Launched by Matt Bond.

Stuck on Storify. Or, do as I say, not do as I do… by Lesley Thomson.

Elected Mayors – social media where are you? by Simon Hope.

Playing shops – an update by Peter McClymont.

Business failure is never fatal – a story of bravery

Serena McCrossan is another first-time contributor to Weekly Blog Club, writing a guest post on Janet Harkin’s blog. She has written about the business that she started, how she rose up again from what she perceived as failure, and what lessons she learned from the experience.

Business failure is never fatal – a story of bravery by Serena McCrossan on Janet Harkin‘s blog.

The Centre for Economics and Business Bollocks

Irena Souroup provides aromas with her Week 15 post as she has brought back some foodie goodies from her holiday. Unfortunately, a trip on the Tube revealed some killjoys in a think tank spoiling the holiday atmosphere but she has a good solution.

The Centre for Economics and Business Bollocks by Irena Souroup.

Building Blocks and MOSAIC Tiles

John Patterson’s Week 14 post starts with one of my favourite maps: the Charles Booth Poverty Map of London. John shares his thoughts on how best to represent socio-economic data about households in an area on a map, in a way that shows the data clearly in a visual form that makes sense to everybody.

Building Blocks and MOSAIC Tiles by John Patterson.

 

In praise of the post for public sector communication campaigns

Janet Harkin writes about the unique approach that Ireland has taken to communicating the message about and collecting a new tax. It highlights the importance of public sector information and effective communications.

In praise of the post for public sector communication campaigns by Janet Harkin.

Sending out an SOS

Peter McClymont’s Week 9 post is a fascinating one about his experience at the Village SOS national conference. He went to find some advice about his village’s community shop project and to network with people doing similar types of projects.

You even get to see and hear Peter talk (does this set a challenge for other Weekly Blog Club members?)!

Sending out an SOS by Peter McClymont.