(WORLD) Today in a discussion with a potential client, who were looking for social media experts with the aim of making them just the same, I came out with this juicy takeaway:
…strive to become expert students not just experts!
Everyday I learn something new about online platforms and technology, and their potential application. I think I know a lot (and there are obviously people who know more than me) although I am aware I don’t know a lot more.
For any individual or organisation/company, it’s not about becoming an expert but fostering an environment and attitude to know there is always more to learn—thus enabling a process of exploration and forward approaches rather than reliance on what you know now (because I guarantee in this ever-evolving-web-world it will).
The MediaSnackers Alumni are a growing number of past clients that could just disappear into the ether if we didn’t catch up with them. This is exactly what we’re doing! We decided to hunt down and grill them to find out what difference their training had made in the way they work professionally and personally. Each month we plan on showcasing the thoughts and insights from one such individual, first up Matt Barnaby from Milton Keynes:
What’s your role, who you work for, and what sort of things do you do?
I work for Milton Keynes Council as Participation Team Leader. I oversee the Youth Opportunity Fund, which is a sum of money that a group of young people control and give to other groups of young people or individuals on a grant application basis. I also oversee the MK Youth Cabinet which is a group of young people who represent all the views and opinions of young people in Milton Keynes. Over the last year they have made a huge impact on services, how the council runs and the lives of many. In 2009 we have worked with another local authority to establish a fully democratic Cabinet and enabling 20,000 young people the chance to vote via online systems. I do lots of other things like manage the Equalities work across the service; Work on individual projects that encourage people to engage and participate, develop the key Stage 4 offer to schools and generally dip my toe in most things!
Its been a month or so since you have been drenched in the MediaSnackers ‘way’, what did you learn from the experience?
Loads!
Professionally, I have convened a Social Networking group to begin to establish safe and exciting ways of working in new ways.
Started a ‘service’ Blog to share and inform (reducing email and enabling quicker and faster reporting systems)
Started using Google Docs to plan with colleagues to reduce ‘tooing and frowing’.
Made a short 2 minute film which we done in an hour and edited to prove it can be done.
Been active on Facebook (although still hiding from doing a personal site for some reason)
Personally have used it to build a GENI site and tracked family back to 1800′s as well as connecting with lost family members. Great as I’m going to be a dad and my Son will know all about his family! Also started a Blog as a means of diary. Using Google reader so that all I want to know is now my home page, saving me loads of time
How have other members of the team/organisation, that didn’t attend the course, received your new techniques?
I think they are bored of me going on about it! Some have really jumped on board and are doing it in their own ‘little bubble’ but I am struggling to get people who didn’t attend the Mediasnackers training to see the potential, not sure if there is a fear, a resistance, not enough time or just they don’t see the value? There is light in the tunnel though as people are attending meetings and I wont stop bugging them.
What has been the biggest and easiest change to make in the way that you work?
I feel much more confident in using systems such as Google Docs to plan, I’m doing projects quicker, easier and 100 times more effective (for example, this week working at local college with media students to have conversations about issues affecting them, all filmed and will be presented to senior members as solid evidence, no writing or questionnaires!!! Hoorahh)
Has there been any difficulty in implementing these new approaches?
Yes, I think that even though the service is behind this its almost as if they would rather someone do it for them. Saying that, senior managers are attending meetings and encouraging others do the same. Its very much who wants to can and who doesn’t, doesn’t at the moment but I have ideas that will bring people together and push them in to projects using this kind of technology and hopefully this will then make the ball roll faster!
What future projects do you have planned which utilise social media?
Well, already done a few media things (but got banned from uploading to YouTube grrrrr), a one minute film (which you guys have and are free to post for me ;-) …. Just finished 3 days with media students going around colleges and the city getting the views of young people on MK’s childrens plan. Been great fun now just have to edit 5 hours of footage!!!!
Hoping to use social media to organise the next Love Music Hate Racism gig in MK. I also want to make links to other countries and develop and communication where by people can talk and learn about each other, resulting in an exchange maybe. I also want to develop a full protocall in which we can then go ahead and do much more face to face online and get people involved in projects, so getting youth workers on social media really.
Brett Pierce is the Executive Director of Panwapa, a program which aims to “foster the foundation for global citizenship and community activism in young children, ages 4 to 7.”
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0.00—0.24 intro
0.25—4.20 RezEd news with Rik and Amira at Global Kids (any news or events can be submitted here)
4.21—4.42 intros
4.43—5.56 background of Panwapa
5.57—7.39 what does it look like?
7.40—11.35 unique elements of this virtual world
11.36—14.00 why choose the virtual world medium
14.01—16.30 tools for informal education
16.31—19.59 future of the platform and vistual worlds and education
20.00—20.11 thanks
20.50—22.29 Rik and Amira detailing the upcoming events for the RezEd community (any news or events can be submitted here)
22.30—22.38 outro
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Not using iTunes? Then just copy / paste this feed and drop it into your aggregating software.
Want to suggest someone or put your virtual hand-up to be interviewed? Then get in touch here.
(WORLD) The following two videos are not just for educationalists or university professors, they have resounding and illustrative truths for all professions and sectors. Please take some time to watch this talk and presentation by Richard E. Miller, Chair, Department of English and Paul D. Hammond, Director of Digital Initiatives both from Rutgers University.
(USA/WORLD) Like many others I caught the inaugaration of President Obama online through CNN and their live streaming of the event.
There’s no need to dwell on the significance of the moment however, to share the experience with others on Facebook was an illustration of the convergence of old and new technologies—not only could I read the status updates from people around the globe regarding the event but also specifically my friends could be viewed separately.
Here are some stats on the partnership:
1. 600,000 status updates posted through the CNN.com Live Facebook feed
2. Facebook averaged 4,000 status updates per minute during the broadcast
3. 8,500 status updates were posted during the first minute of Obama’s speech
What I also love is this shot of Obama’s daughter taking a pic of her Dads speech on a little digital camera (in years to come you’ll probably see it on her Facebook profile).
(GBR) A quick video review from our one day corporate training with a group of arts professionals in the East Midlands region—we had lots of fun and presented lots of social media ways to engage, promote and market their activities:
We were delighted to programme MediaSnackers training for the East Midlands cultural sector to present and explore a full range of possibilities in social media and online platforms. The session had energy and was inspiring and successfully bridged the gap between theory and practical application. Many left wanting more of the same and the training will ultimately help to bring the cultural offer to new audiences across the region.
(GBR) We’re heading up to Derby to deliver our one day corporate training on behalf of Cultivate to a group of arts professionals in the East Midlands region.
Nic Mitham is the CEO and Founder of Kzero, a virtual world consultancy based in the UK talking here about trends, metrics and opportunities for educators.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
0.00—0.24 intro
0.25—3.09 RezEd news with Rik and Amira at Global Kids (any news or events can be submitted here)
3.10—3.19 intros
3.20—4.35 background of Kzero
4.36—5.42 a few examples
5.43—6.53 changes within the virtual world sector
6.54—8.26 Kzero research (Universe graph)
8.27—9.42 educational uses of virtual worlds
9.43—10.27 what educationalists can learn from the commercial sector
10.28—12.46 predictions and trends
12.53—13.25 real vs virtual (opportunities)
13.26—14.42 advice
14.43—14.49 thanks
14.50—17.55 Rik and Amira detailing the upcoming events for the RezEd community (any news or events can be submitted here)
17.54—18.04 outro
Subscribe directly through iTunes by clicking on this icon (download iTunes for free here).
Not using iTunes? Then just copy / paste this feed and drop it into your aggregating software.
Want to suggest someone or put your virtual hand-up to be interviewed? Then get in touch here.
If ever there was an example of why organisations, companies and / or individuals should stretch their digital reach to every corner of the Internet, is the news story of Wikipedia running into financial trouble and turning to their users for assistance.
For those that haven’t heard of the story, Wikipedia required (and have now obtained) $6m for running costs, and was on course to miss that target, saved only by a personal plee from its founder Jimmy Wales
For me, it raised the big issue of drawing on your user base to bail out a company in financial difficulty, much like the way a public company would ask its shareholders for help when it gets in to trouble. I’d like to ask the question, is this fair? Is it OK to beg online? Can anyone do it? and should we accept it? Should I do it?
Many of our training sessions discuss and emphasise the importance of connecting with your audience, but we rarely go into depth regarding the whys of doing so. We stress how the more people you know, the more things you can do, and also how conversation is good and building your online community is as important as your offline community.
But once we have an audience, is it fair and our choice what we do with it / them? And if we do decide to pull at the crowd resources for whatever reason, is it also fair for the ‘cloud morality’ to shoot us down if we decide to do so?
An example would help here…
I’ve seen YouTube vloggers with a couple thousand subscribers, beg for assistance to fund a $3000 holiday to work with the underprivileged in South America, and the full sum be reached within a week. Ask yourself is that OK? Because it happened very easily.
Another example is the YouTube lovable big mouth boh3m3 seeking help from his user base to move to California (or somewhere) to help get out of his rut and kick start his life back in the direction he knows he needed. Ask yourself is that OK? Did it work? You’re thinking, you bet it did. No sooner did the begging video go up, did it come back down again after reaching his financial target. But not after getting a severe flaming by a percentage of his fan base for doing so.
And we could argue all day about the ethics of digital begging and abusing your power as a ‘celebrity’ to rake in cash from your loyal fans, but isn’t that just what Wikipedia have done? What’s the difference between the worlds biggest free encyclopedia asking for your money and a kid with a web cam on YouTube? None in my book. The only difference I can see is boh3m3′s plee was for personal benefit whilst Wiki-Jimmy’s was on behalf of a non-profit service provider.
Now don’t think that e-begging / e-marketing of this nature is easy. You’ll probably only receive the benefit from 1% of your user base, and that will only happen at all if your plee hits the emotional spot of those that care enough about your business / project.
On another level, I just need to take a look at myself and I see that I’ve tapped up digital ‘mates’ I’ve never met to help me out when the need arose – and they all have come through with generosity.
I guess its about the ‘need’ and ‘want’. If the ‘need’ is genuine enough and the ‘want’ (in whatever form) is valued by the observer, then people dig deep to help out. Also don’t underestimate the power of people’s compassion and enthusiasm to ‘want’ to be part of the next big idea. Just throw it out there, be genuine, passionate and determined – it’ll rub off on others in more ways than you think.
I love hearing stories of people pulling in the resources, goodwill and communication of invisible friends from around the world to come to the rescue when needed.
How about you? Have you ever called upon people you’ve never met to help you out? Have you ever done or thought about doing ‘a Wikipedia’? Or considered dropping a ‘donate’ button on your web page for a need that is greater than you can obtain alone? However big or small, leave a comment, we’d love to hear about it.
A really enlightening training course with all the latest web communication tools to keep up to date with the youth of the South East - thanks MediaSnackers!
What’s your role, who you work for, and what sort of things do you do?
