Cake, culture, camping and a flame

Vanilla and orange cupcakes (for a charity cake sale) by Janet E Davis

There was a bit of a culture theme to several of Week 21′s 10 posts. Cake featured in a culture-themed post and made it into a post title this week. Four of the posts centred on digital media, and a fifth on recent technology that included digital.

Phil Jewitt started the week with culture. His views on the Overworlds & Underworlds in Leeds, one of the Olympiad events, is even more interesting because he does not usually attend such things and is not trained in how to understand and interpret them.

I continued the culture theme with accounts of my visit to The Late Shows (The Late Shows 2012 part1 & The Late Shows 2012 part2), which is the Newcastle and Gateshead Museums At Night group of events – but breaks out of the museums and comes with added pizzazz. The visual arts on Tyneside can scarcely set foot out of the door without the performing arts dashing up to dance through the streets with them; and it is hard to tear apart heritage and contemporary in a place where two millennia of history are never more than fingertips’ distance.

There was also quite a lot of talk about cake amongst those who attended one of The Late Shows venues, proving it’s a useful foodstuff to connect people. Kate Bentham already knew the power of cake and used it to good effect to celebrate the birthday at her council of Family Information Services. She had written about this before the event and in Week 21 returned with an initial reflection on how it had gone - good, bad and cake: a social media campaign to celebrate landmark birthday - which could be useful to anyone in any public service.

Lesley Thomson does not make it clear whether cake is or is not involved in teacampscotland, but her account of the first one - Camping it up - made me chuckle at their efforts to discombobulate the café’s staff. Exciting things are happening in Scotland eg this weekend’s IslandGovCamp up in Orkney.

Peter McClymont got caught up in the excitement of the Olympic Torch Relay as it passed through North Devon this week. He tweeted, and captured the other social media coverage of the event using Storify, and then blogged to share the story of how he did it in Storifying the Torch Relay, providing another useful example to others.

Janet Harkin provided really useful, straightforward advice in 3 steps to writing a case study worth reading. We should all heed it, especially writing up social media case studies that are useful to those still arguing for using new-fangled technology.

Adam Jennison contributed a post on Benjamin Welby’s blog this week about the future of one local authority’s data: Hull’s open data future. This will be a particularly good one to read by those interested in how local government handles and shares information, and for those more broadly interested in open and linked data issues. I must admit that I started envisioning fun and useful hacks that could be done with geo-locations of trees, lamp posts etc (seriously – release that kind of data and see what can be done when it is mashed up with, say, historical meteorological data, commons or creative commons-licensed photographs (contemporary and/or historical), allow people to attach their stories to objects…).

Carolyne Mitchell was more concerned with administrative than digital boundaries moving this week. Her post - Let’s push some boundaries - makes some very good points about an idea by a think tank to change local authority boundaries. She also makes a really interesting point about who really comprises the ‘hard-to-reach’ part of a local authority’s population.

Finally, but not least, a return to technology as John Patterson contemplated what essential tech equipment he has taken on holiday over recent years and how much it has changed in Changing Luggage.*

As always, thank you very much to all who read and comment or ‘Like’ posts, as well as to those who write the posts and share their knowledge and thoughts. Writers are welcome to join at any time. Just have a look at the About page, and note that the deadline can be squishy when necessary.

Any thoughts on the [entirely optional!] theme for Week 22? Heat? Sun? The colour blue? I am hoping that we might see posts about the journeys some made up to Orkney, and about their experience of IslandGovCamp there.

Janet

Janet E Davis.

* If I could reduce the weight of tech I need, I could travel more and farther!

Summary of Week 21 posts

Overworlds & Underworlds by  Phil Jewitt.

The Late Shows 2012 part1 by Janet E Davis.

The Late Shows 2012 part2 by Janet E Davis.

good, bad and cake: a social media campaign to celebrate landmark birthday by Kate Bentham on the comms2point0 blog.

Hull’s open data future by Adam Jennison on Benjamin Welby’s blog.

Camping it up by Lesley Thomson.

Let’s push some boundaries by  Carolyne Mitchell.

3 steps to writing a case study worth reading by Janet Harkin.

Storifying the Torch Relay by  Peter McClymont.

Changing Luggage by John Patterson.

New jobs, old jobs, and 1 of the most important jobs of all

Week 20 proved to be one of the lighter weeks in number of posts, but there is more than one ‘must-read’ post amongst the nine submitted (unless I failed to spot any en route).

There was a bit of a work theme this week. Benjamin Welby’s post – Opportunity Knocks - announced that he has a new job, down in That London, working on what I what I consider to be probably the most excitingly challenging Web project in the UK at present. Good luck to Benjamin!

Kate drew a lovely picture in words with a carpenter’s pencil of her dad in Giz a Job. She shared a story from his past about her dad’s experience of getting a job when he left school, in the old days when getting a job could be less formal.

Ross Wigham, prompted by becoming an uncle for the first time, shared advice in Having babies that is based on his own experience. It is both a humorous and serious post about babies from a father’s perspective.

Feeding her baby in the middle of the night led Irena Souroup to contemplate the news and inspired her post For the Love of Brooks, an unusual view of Rebekah Brooks.

Carolyne Mitchell used her experience as a child and mother to channel Dr Seuss this week in her post Great day for blog, with apologies to Dr Seuss.

Dan Slee returned to childhood memories of a cartoon boy and his cat (who advised children to stay safe) and a more recent memory of a talk by Tom Watson as the starting point for his lively comms2point0 blog post:  Charlie says here’s a history lesson to open up innovation in your organisation. Dan shares with us ‘The Management Innovation Refusal Timeline’ which puts in a more developed form an argument that many of us have employed in trying to persuade people to use and allow the use of social media.

Ignorance Isn’t Bliss was Simon Hope’s post on the same theme as underlies Dan’s, and very specifically aimed at local government people.

Matt Murray contributed a really useful blog on using the Camera+ app on an iPhone - Mobile photography with Camera+ app. His illustrates it with some of his own photographs, including a really nice one of Battersea Power Station. I have had Camera+ on my iPod Touch (which has a much worse camera than the iPhone) for ages and not used it much but Matt’s article revealed some things that I did not know so I will be

Finally, I returned to a colour theme as an online article about the use of colour when designing websites prompted me to write about something the author had forgotten, how not everyone can see: The Red and the Green.

I have already written the first of my Week 21 posts, about the first night of The Late Shows. The Late Shows are the Newcastle and Gateshead part of Museums At Night, a weekend in May when museums open late till 11pm. The Tyneside Late Shows included contemporary art, the performing arts, a tunnel, circus, a display of photographs in  shipping containers, as well as museums. Perhaps the (entirely optional) Week 21 theme could be culture, or what our neighbourhoods are like in the evening,

You can join the Weekly Blog Club as  an author (see the About page for the short guidance notes) at anytime, or you can be one of the welcome band of readers. Thank you to everyone who wrote or read posts this week,

Summary of Week 20 posts

For the Love of Brooks by Irena Souroup.

Opportunity Knocks by  Benjamin Welby.

Having babies by Ross Wigham.

Giz a Job by Kate Bentham.

Ignorance Isn’t Bliss by  Simon Hope.

The Red and the Green by Janet E Davis.

Charlie says here’s a history lesson to open up innovation in your organisation by Dan Slee on the comms2point0 blog.

Great day for blog, with apologies to Dr Seuss by Carolyne Mitchell.

Mobile photography with Camera+ app by Matt Murray.

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

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.

Weekly Blog Club stats end of April 2012

A few stats so that those writing can see the other feedback (in general terms for now), and so that those reading have an idea of how much we all appreciate their taking time to read all our posts.

There have been a total of 268 posts on this blog so far (including this one), so approximately 248 Weekly Blog Club posts by everyone since we started. That is a lot of blogging.

Views of this blog so far:

April 2012 – 1,076

March 2012 – 999

February 2012 – 1,084

January 2012 – 837

Total views to end of April: 3, 996.

Followers of this blog: 49.

Likes during April: 36

Thank you to everyone who has read this blog and/or any of the individual Weekly Blog Club posts; who has written Weekly Blog Club posts; who has Liked posts here or on inidviduals’ posts, or followed.

Number patterns, wombling and truth

Week 17 was a light week for contributions to Weekly Blog Club but they are all a great read. You will have more time to read, appreciate and respond to most or all of the 9 posts, which cover a variety of topics. This could have been the week for a theme of numbers: 3 of the first 4 posts contained numbers, and the first contained a word that means a number. It was a coincidence…I think.

Matt Bond got the blogging week off to a cracking start with a refreshingly frank account of a tough fortnight in council comms: A fortnight of Social Media: The really good, and the wheelie bad. The county council changed bin collections across the whole county, and the changes did not go as smoothly as planned. This meant that a lot more people suddenly wanted to communicate with their council. Read how they coped with the situation and add your experience or advice. The truth about how difficult situations are resolved can really help others.

Kate Bentham will also be looking for people to participate in the new blog that is being launched as part of the 12th anniversary of her council’s FIS (Family Information Service). Her post - #WeAre12 A Social Media Campaign - covers how they use social media, and indicates that a Curly Wurly (other confectionery is available at shops) could be posted to blog participants.

Writing about blogging was the central focus of Lesley Thomson’s post this week: The first rule of weeklyblogclub… She shares what benefits she gets from the activity. If you want further information about participating in Weekly Blog Club (it is really simple), have a quick read also of our About page whilst I go out shopping for a suitable Evil Mastermind’s Lair.

Diane Sims wrote about an event this week that was all about participating – and it was for a blog (Growing Newsome) which is all about participating in local community activities centred on growing food. The wonderful title Wild Food Wombling gives a very good idea of what they did: learning about foraging for food in the countryside. It is amazing what foods turn out to be edible. There is also an extremely useful clarification on the legal aspects of foraging. Coincidentally, one of the chefs on The Great British Menu this week had used some very unusual foraged ingredients. Apparently, Douglas firs (presumably the foliage), and gorse flowers are edible.

Irena Souroup, who in a previous post enthused about cheese and bread from the land that invented cuisine, considered another aspect of French life this week. She wrote about the candidates for the French presidency in poetic form in Interlude Poetique Politique. I do admire those who can express themselves in poetry. I think I stopped trying to write poetry upon leaving school, but it has been one of my favourite things.

Phil Jewitt shared his favourite number with us this week in 47 not out, and how it has featured in his life thus far, picking up on previous topics involving toy cars and sport (Phil’s post is also our Weekly Blog Club Sports section this week). Hopefully, it will be a great year for him now that he has turned 47.

After hosting guests on her blog during the past couple of weeks, Janet Harkin wrote in it herself this week. Her post - 28 ways to make a telephone - was a delightful glimpse of a child’s imagination, and a plea for people to hang on to some imagination as they grow up. Weekly Blog Club posts indicate that imagination might remain lurking under the surface of many adults.

Bridget McKenzie and I are looking for imaginative people’s suggestions about how alternative, low-energy big public spectacles for night and dark day events. We had a discussion on Twitter. Bridget set up a Pinterest Board, and I blogged about it in Eco-light night spectaculars. We are convinced that there are more possibilities than the ones we have found so far. It may be that some hi-tech engineering that we have not yet seen offers some interesting possibilities, or there could be a low tech approach that has not occurred to us. Do feel free to send either of us links that we could add to the board.

A place that can excite the imagination is Northumberland. Maybe you could try foraging in its wide landscapes? If you want to see what it looks like, try watching the television series Vera - a detective series with the main protagonist named Vera (derived from the Latin word for truth in this case). In Screen time: welcoming Vera, Ross Wigham reveals that it is not by accident that such television series get made in a specific area. Ross explains the benefits to the county of having its stunning scenery shown off to the world* - and what events they are putting in to accompany the series.

Thank you very much to all the readers as well as writers this week. It is lovely to see how many are following the blog and ‘Like’ posts, and great to have the support of lovely tweeter-bloggers such as @comms2point0 and @WeLoveLocalGov. I will do a summary of latest stats next week.

We already have some Week 18 contributions and promises of at least 1 more so far. The (entirely optional) theme this week could be weddings to commemorate regular contributor Louise Brown’s wedding today (Louise is, rather reluctantly, taking a blogging break until after her honeymoon – and I’m sure all readers and writers wish her a happy marriage). Another couple of possibilities for the (entirely optional theme) could be the weather – April has certainly had plenty of weather – or May Day traditions.

Janet

Janet E Davis.

*I may be a little biased. If you ever want me to blog about how gorgeous Northumberland is, just say the word…

PS Advisory: cake as well as the occasional Curly Wurly may be mentioned in the posts listed.

Summary of Week 17 posts

A fortnight of Social Media: The really good, and the wheelie bad by  Matt Bond.

#WeAre12 A Social Media Campaign by Kate Bentham.

28 ways to make a telephone by Janet Harkin.

47 not out by Phil Jewitt.

Interlude Poetique Politique by Irena Souroup.

The first rule of weeklyblogclub… by Lesley Thomson.

Wild Food Wombling by Diane Sims.

Eco-light night spectaculars by Janet E Davis.

Screen time: welcoming Vera by Ross Wigham.

Facing up, photography, fun and fit

There were 14 excellent posts in Week 16 of Weekly Blog Club. The topics ranged from people facing up to tough decisions to fun and games, with photography and social media for work in between.

Another first-time contributor to Weekly Blog Club, Serena McCrossan was a guest on Janet Harkin’s blog and made the tough decision to tell the story of how she thought that she had failed one time: Business failure is never fatal – a story of bravery. Actually, she told the story of how she succeeded: firstly, in creating a business whilst still studying full-time for her degree and having a young child to look after; secondly, of how she succeeded again after the recession hit her business.

Ian Curwen had Blogged off? and was back again this week, explaining first what he had been doing. was searching for a suitable analogy after deciding that a switch was unsuitable in Analogy time. His two posts tell a story of facing up to tough truths and a determination to make the setback temporary and to continue towards his goals.

Irena Souroup faced up to making a tough decision about which candidate might be her best choice for Mayor of London. Her Week 16 post La Isla Benita is an entertaining analysis of the options.

The power of storytelling is something that both Phil Jewitt and Diane Sims understand better than most. Phil explained how his role of Storyteller worked with the Scrum Master as he was introduced to the agile method of project management in Now that’s a proper scrum, and still agile too Part 1 and Once upon a time… my introduction to Scrum Agile Part 2. Diane wrote about one of the stories of the past in her post – The Titanic: it’s not the watch, it’s the story - and how it had become a strand in her own story and helped her to understand that the story is key.

The potential of technology in our everyday lives as learning tools was on John Patterson’s mind in Diamond Books and Turquoise Daze. I thought of John’s post when listening to a talk about the psychological evidence that should guide good digital design. One message came out very strongly: how hard-wired the human brain is to focusing on another human face. It made me wonder whether that is why a lecture or presentation that I’ve seen delivered live sticks in my mind better than seeing it on screen or just reading the content of it. Would an interactive portable digital device ever be enough?

Social media was quite a strong theme in Week 16 with three posts focused on it. Ross Wigham thought about the changes in technology in his lifetime (and shared some retro-Geordiness) in No hiding place. Louise Brown responded at greater length to a Twitter discussion in which she had participated: How would you tell someone to get started with social media?  Kate Bentham provided a very useful (and amusing in the right places) A-to-Z of social media, specifically how it relates to her service in a local authority: S is for ShropCamp (caek/cake may have been mentioned).

Both Matts wrote about popular photography that combines with social media. Matt Bond covered what apps he uses on his iPhone for creating, editing and sharing both moving and still images: What’s on my iPhone: Film and Photo (both beginners and the experienced could find something useful in it). Matt Murray had made a prediction at the beginning of the year that the very popular photography app Instagram would grow a lot, but in his Week 16 post - Instagram – the rise of a mobile giant - he had to revise his estimate for Instagram’s success this year. He also explains why Instagram is popular with those who use it.

Finally, for this week’s sports page, Peter McClymont remembered some more pre-video era table top sports games, some functioning more as fun games to play than others, in Only a game: ballbearings and pucks.

I was too busy taking photographs at DIBI 2012 and then editing them to write a proper blog post this week, but you are welcome to look at the pictures (I will be blogging in words about the event). There are six sets, all beginning with ‘DIBI 2012′).

Does anyone have a good idea for the [as ever, entirely optional] Week 17 theme? My mind will be on catching up with blogging about CultureCode, DIBI 2012; and about the idea circulating that DCMS (Department of Culture, Media and Sport) should cease to exist. I hesitate to suggest a theme of considering what your idea of culture is and how important or unimportant it is to you.

Looking how the brambles in my garden have grown so much and so rapidly during the past few days when we had rain (and sleet, and hail), perhaps the theme should be ‘growth.’ I swear I could see the wretched things grow as I watched.

Thank you very much to all the readers as well as writers. This week, we received our 200th ‘like’ on this blog. It is lovely to see that people appreciate what our wonderful Weekly Blog Club members write.

Have a good week of writing and reading!

Janet

Janet E Davis.

Summary of Week 16 posts

Diamond Books and Turqoise Daze by John Patterson.

Now that’s a proper scrum, and still agile too Part 1 by  Phil Jewitt.

What’s on my iPhone: Film and Photo by Matt Bond.

Blogged off? by  Ian Curwen.

La Isla Benita by  Irena Souroup.

No hiding place by Ross Wigham.

The Titanic: it’s not the watch, it’s the story by Diane Sims.

S is for ShropCamp by Kate Bentham.

Once upon a time… my introduction to Scrum Agile Part 2 by Phil Jewitt.

Instagram – the rise of a mobile giant by Matt Murray.

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

Analogy time by Ian Curwen.

Only a game: ballbearings and pucks by  Peter McClymont.

How would you tell someone to get started with social media? by Louise Brown.

Sifting, swimming, sociable and Subbuteo

The themes had a very sibilant sound in the 14 posts for Week 15 of Weekly Blog Club. Social media, sociable enterprise, social history, and what could be described as social projects were strong themes this week. Much of the social nature actually related to work contexts. We happen to be building up quite a collection of advice and case studies of using digital media, and especially of the social aspects.

I will start with the sports section this week. Hannah Chia tackled the subject of the very eventful Oxford Cambridge Boat Race in The Boat Race: Two Boats & One Idiot by Hannah Chia. Peter McClymont shared memories of his childhood sport obsession –  Subbuteo – in his post Only a game: “Flick to kick”.

My post - Memories of children’s television cartoons - prompted others to share their memories of television cartoons from when they were children. It is interesting to see how some remain the same for people up to about a decade apart in age.

Dan Slee uncovered a bit of the past that reminded him of how people had communicated differently in the days when the local newspaper was the key public communication medium at local area level: ‘this, children, is how people did protests before facebook.’

Irena Souroup used the medium of online to communicate her disgust at the news that a think tank had been counting the cost of bank holidays, and had concluded that each one costs the country £2.3 billion: The Centre for Economics and Business Bollocks.

Elaine Walton wrote a guest post on Janet Harkin’s blog this week about counting on a good number of her social media followers responding to her questionnaire: When your Social Media reach counts for something. Her points on using a social network in such a way should prove useful to many. Louise Brown shared her wonderfully organised approach to managing online information - Sifting the online wheat from the chaff - which was equally useful, and prompted us to think about whether we could be more efficient.

It was good to see a contribution in Week 15 from Al Smith since Weekly Blog Club was suggested and initiated partly to encourage him to write regularly. Al contributed a very interesting post - Tackling behaviour change - about Cannock Chase District Council’s approach to serious social problems and how they have been using social media in the campaign.

Kate Bentham’s post focused specifically on how she had developed communication between the council and families through Facebook: One Big Facebook Family. Some of the other Weekly Blog Members were particularly taken with her giving Curly Wurlies [other brands of chocolate bars are available] as incentives.

First-time contributor Ross Wigham introduced people to his patch – the glorious hidden jewel of a county, Northumberland – and shared how the county has been adopting online methods of communication: Using social media in the public sector.

An article about a woman’s research into which streets in Rome were named after women inspired me to write a post to suggest community projects about maps, linking past and present people with places: Gendered UK street maps? This attracted more comments than any of my other posts so far.

Travelling has been the original spark for a conversation on Twitter that two of the regular Weekly Blog Club bloggers followed up. It had involved #IslandGovCamp – and cake =  and had caused the invention of the term ‘sociable enterprise’ (I think it was Mark Braggins who first suggested the term? And note: not the same as ‘social enterprise’). Phil Jewitt put forward his definition, and proposed extending the unconference spirit, in ‘Be’ in Social (and also may have mentioned cake). Mark explained a bit more about the Orkney connection, mentioned family history in passing, provided his definition of ‘sociable enterprise’ in A ‘Sociable’ Enterprise? (cake might have been mentioned again).

Finally, if you are based in Scotland, please read and respond to Lesley Thomson’s post: Anyone for teacamp? It sounds like a great idea.

If you want to join in the Weekly Blog Club, new contributors are welcome and should read our simple, basic rules on the About page (‘rules’ might be an exaggeration). If you do not already have a blog, we can help guide you a bit into setting one up. We aim to be friendly and supportive. Readers are also an important part of the club, and your positive comments and clicks on any ‘Like’ buttons available on posts are much appreciated.

The (entirely optional) theme for Week 16 could be:

1. how you deal with deadlines (we already have three posts in for Week 16);
2. how we connect with our immediate environment;
3. extending the unconference spirit.

Having suggested those three, I expect most will write about something entirely different – and at least three of them will coincidentally be on the same theme.

Janet

Janet E Davis.

Summary of Week 15 posts

Sifting the online wheat from the chaff by Louise Brown.

The Boat Race: Two Boats & One Idiot by Hannah Chia.

Using social media in the public sector by Ross Wigham.

The Centre for Economics and Business Bollocks by Irena Souroup.

Memories of children’s television cartoons by Janet E Davis.

‘Be’ in Social by Phil Jewitt.

‘this, children, is how people did protests before facebook’ by  Dan Slee.

Gendered UK street maps? by  Janet E Davis.

One Big Facebook Family by  Kate Bentham.

Anyone for teacamp? by Lesley Thomson.

When your Social Media reach counts for something guest blog by Elaine Walton on Janet Harkin‘s blog.

A ‘Sociable’ Enterprise? by Mark Braggins.

Tackling behaviour change by Al Smith.

Only a game: “Flick to kick” by Peter McClymont.

Stars, semantics, signifiers – and fire

During this 13th week of Weekly Blog Club, we had a post that had “signifcant numbers” in its title, we started with a post containing 2 x 10 and ended up with 10 posts. It might have been a light week in numbers of posts, but the content was no less significant than usual.

Hannah Chia started the week with a report of rugby in the heat: 10 Reasons Why I Had Fun at the Sharjah 10s.

There was heat as well as trouble at t’Mill in Diane Sims post - Saving Newsome Mills part three: If you’re not on the list… in which her serial about the saving of local heritage suddenly had to incorporate a dramatic contemporary event.

Kate Bentham wrote a post about our responsibilities to protect children in our communities: Safeguarding and Protecting Children. Everybody should read it.

Irena Souroup was prompted to remember bakeries when she was a child by the pasty tax debate in the news, and what yumyums signified in Milibands Pasty PR. Families were at the heart of Phil Jewitt’s post - ….and this will be called ‘Significant numbers’ as he decided that he needs to prioritise time with nearest and dearest more this year. Louise Brown’s thoughts were on her nearest and dearest as her wedding approaches in a few weeks’ time in: Looking to the stars (and the planets). She also thought about tech as she captured the moon and Jupiter on her phone.

The other posts in Week 13 focused on digital technology. Sarah Lay wrote about women in technology, specifically digital technology, in Where did all the girl Devs go? and included some very useful references, facts and figures. Lesley Thomson wrote about her attendance at an academic libraries event and the paper she gave at it on social media: Social media: A tool for research and collaboration. She included links to presentations in her post that people in other work contexts will find useful.

Mark Braggins wrote a very useful and readable post in which he explained what the tools do and how useful they are in which contexts: Ten (more) of my favourite Twitter Tools (and he listed a few more to try too).

My post this week was prompted by the articles appearing about Google’s move towards the Semantic Web - Semantic will be the New Black. During the last decade, Web 2.0 has been the trendy technology but I have been convinced for over a decade that one day a major search engine would finally start to introduce semantic searches.

What is in the future for us? Well, for the next few days, I hope that people will be writing more posts for Week 14 of Weekly Blog Club. Regular contributor Louise Smith pointed out that we have reached the end of the first quarter of the year and we still have a good number of regular contributors. We also have more subscribers every week, have had new writers join us regularly (some of whom are totally new to personal blogging).

Week 14 has already started. Two of the posts already written are about the importance of tolerance in our society, and a third is about inappropriate aggression, so tolerance or a calm society could be the (entirely optional) theme for this week. If you want to join Weekly Blog Club, do take a look at the About page for more about how it works. Readers are also part of Weekly Blog Club, and it is wonderful when people subscribe to this blog or to the blogs of individual writers.

Summary of Week 13 posts

10 Reasons Why I Had Fun at the Sharjah 10s by  Hannah Chia.

Saving Newsome Mills part three: If you’re not on the list… by Diane Sims.

Ten more of my favourite Twitter Tools by  Mark Braggins.

Looking to the stars and the planets by Louise Brown.

Where did all the girl Devs go? by Sarah Lay.

Semantic will be the New Black by  Janet E Davis.

Safeguarding and Protecting Children by  Kate Bentham.

….and this will be called ‘Significant numbers’ by Phil Jewitt.

Milibands Pasty PR by  Irena Souroup.

Social media: A tool for research and collaboration by Lesley Thomson.

Zombies, a cake called Herman and the hula hooping girl

There were 14 contributions to Week 12 of Weekly Blog Club, despite some of the usual contributors being busy, and they were as varied as ever.

Hannah Chia writes the only sports coverage that I enjoy reading. Her Six Nations Final Weekend Preview: My Top 5 Players to Watch and Very Bendy Ladies  are amusing to read, whilst her highly topical post Fabrice Muamba, Prayers & the Footballing Family is thoughtful.

Irena Souroup was also thinking about the week’s news in her posts during the week and, like Hannah’s, both also had a sports theme: hula hooping in First it was the Pigeons… and the Olympic sport of shopping how extended shopping hours on Sundays this summer will save the economy (or maybe not): Osbornes Emergency Olympic Shopping Directive.

I wrote a photo blog this week, also relating to health and fitness. Inspired by John Patterson’s moving post last week – Train-ing to overcome - about pushing himself out of his comfort zone, I thought my knee was finally ready for a challenge so tried walking down to the beach for the first time for months: Coastal views March 2012 01.

Most of the other posts this week were work-related and provided very useful information. It was great to see Lesley Thomson joining us as a writer-contributor at last. She has been a supporter of Weekly Blog Club from the beginning, pointing other people in our direction. For her first post, she contributed an update on forthcoming Scottish public sector digital events - Amazing things are happening in Scotland: Part 2.

If you have not heard about Island GovCamp by now, where have you been? Even those of us who are unable to go (I so wish I could go to that one!), are getting excited about it. It looks as if there may even be a road trip – 4 chaps in 1 camper van, fully documented on video and shared on social media (of course!). As a child, it was my dream to go to somewhere that exotic by camper van (really! we had an orange VW one).

John Patterson was leader of the pack, rather than going top the dogs,* in talking about a training exercise this week. He wrote about a method of considering what types people are, using dogs: Packtypes: Just another dog in the pack?

New contributor Simon Hope was the first to produce a Week 12 post. His was a reflection on the role of professional communications teams in our contemporary, social-media-switched-on world: Split Personalities Required. Janet Harkin’s post considered an unusual approach that Ireland has taken and the importance of good public sector communications: In praise of the post for public sector communication campaigns.

Matt Bond contributed another part to his  really useful ”How to…Film” series for public sector types (also probably relevant to SMEs): Part 3: Producing your first film. Sarah Lay provided a very useful post that advised on how to deal with zombie pages on websites, and, as an added extra, how to deal with zombies elsewhere: Ghosts of content past.

Lastly, but never leastly, two quite different foods were mentioned in posts this week: cake in Kate Bentham’s Herman the German – A Tale of Cake and Friendship, and broad beans in Peter McClymont’s Refresh. Peter’s enthusiasm for broad beans (a vegetable I have tended to avoid) is almost tempting me to try them again.

The recipe for Weekly Blog Club changes every week, but is always worth consuming. Week 13′s [strictly optional] theme could be about supertstitions, traditional customs, or the power of numbers.

Thank you to all who contributed posts, comments and ‘likes’ this week. The readers are always as important as the writers in the Weekly Blog Club, and we hope to have lots of both again this week.

Janet

Janet E Davis.

*sorry, I had to – the temptation was just too overwhelming!

Summary of Week 12 posts

Split Personalities Required by Simon Hope.

Six Nations Final Weekend Preview: My Top 5 Players to Watch by  Hannah Chia.

Osbornes Emergency Olympic Shopping Directive by Irena Souroup.

Very Bendy Ladies by Hannah Chia.

Coastal views March 2012 01 by Janet E Davis.

Fabrice Muamba, Prayers & the Footballing Family by  Hannah Chia.

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

Herman the German – A Tale of Cake and Friendship by Kate Bentham.

Amazing things are happening in Scotland: Part 2 by Lesley Thomson.

First it was the Pigeons…. by  Irena Souroup.

Part 3: Producing your first film by Matt Bond.

Packtypes: Just another dog in the pack? by John Patterson.

Refresh by  Peter McClymont.

Ghosts of content past by  Sarah Lay.