CivicSurf

Thursday February 25th 2010 in London.

Themes will be relevant to anyone working with local government in the social media/digital engagement space. We are aiming to create spaces for discussion and engagement, the sharing of experiences and creation of new ideas. Conversations are encouraged. We will have lots of parallel sessions and break-out spaces. In the tradition of localgovcamps, you set the agenda in the beginning of the morning and afternoon sessions.

Anke Holst seems to be leading the organisation on this.  I highly recommend you book a space now – use this EventBrite page.  BarCamp offer so much more conversation, discussion and exploration of ideas than traditional conferences.

If you are interested in the do’s and don’ts of getting your members and officers online then you should come along.  Chat to those who have been there before you or even better share your experience if you’ve already been down the road.

The best PR is the PR that is unsolicited and comes out of the blue.

A comment was posted this morning on the IDeA’s Policy & Performance blog:

The CivicSurf DVD is a fantastic introduction. And that’s not just my opinion. We invited our councillors to a 45 minute session and showed the film after a very brief introduction about online communities. The fact that they saw ‘people like them’ in similar circumstances got the key points across very effectively, and it generated some great questions and comments. I prepared a document that gave links to social media tools, blogs by elected representatives and online community websites to encourage further investigation and play. One councillor is now blogging regularly. But all who attended now have a better understanding of the possibilities for online engagement. Long story short, thumbs up to CivicSurf.

It was written by an Australian Local Govt Officer who requested a CivicSurf DVD a few months back.  I’m really delighted that the film helped convince his elected representatives within just 45 minutes.  It is exactly what it was made for.

You can follow the councillors (and some others) on Twitter: @OzGovLocalClrs

I had a tweet yesterday from a friend saying how a certain DVD had appeared on their desk with instructions to watch and digest.  I’m assuming it is the CivicSurf DVD because one was sent to every CEO of every local authority in the UK due to arrive yesterday and today.

I’m glad that the CEO from the council above actually opened the package and saw that it was relevant to my Twitter-friend, but I’d be far more pleased were we to get comments here saying that the CEO had watched it themselves (only 15 minutes long) and found it so interesting and inspiring that they visited the site to get more information.

So for those of who who are visiting this page because you’ve received the DVD – you may be asking what next?  The answer is: Show it to your councillors and senior colleagues.  Let them see what some very typical councillors thought about blogging.  Let them see and hear what some of the most experienced bloggers thought of it.

We can help too.  If you let us know you want to show the film we’ll arrange for an experienced blogger to attend and answer any questions that arise.  Just drop me a line at shane@civicsurf.org.uk or call on 01225 869413.