Social Media Surgeries
June 2, 2009
Nick Booth wrote: A group of volunteer social media-savvy people that get together once a month to give one to one advice on which bits of the social media palette might be able to help voluntary and community groups accomplish more.
How did you identify the issue to be resolved?
It started in October 2008 with a collective wish for the Birmingham Bloggers ( http://tinyurl.com/6mbhua ) to contribute to Blog Action day ( http://tinyurl.com/3puhzo ). So rather than simply blog, they arranged to do something more practical: run a social media surgery. Many of these groups deal directly with poverty in the city and by helping them to do what they do better, all of them contribute in some way to creating life opportunities or alleviating suffering or disadvantage. With a venue at BVSC with tea, coffee, a bite to eat and wifi, the first surgery took place on October 15th 2008.
What was your innovative solution?
No boring speeches, no jargon. Just approachable experts offering a free, hour or two of one-to-one help, encouragement, demonstration and discovery of what social media can do. Anyone from the head of communications at a major charity to an active citizen could come along. The volunteer ’surgeons’ wanted to share how social media works, they were enthusiastic, friendly and above all keen to give something back and give their time to help organisations who really needed help.
What tools did you use?
Tools that are suggested by the surgeons are tried, tested and things that work and usually:
* free - or very cheap
* fast and easy to set up - blogs and sites get created and sparked into life during the surgeries
* appropriate - the volunteers are driven by a desire to help and understand that to take the first steps, the only investment that is needed is time and confidence - not an expensive website, so a Flickr account might be perfect for sharing photos or setting up a Wordpress blog.
Most importantly, what impact did your project have?
It was supposed to be a one-off but five surgeries later at least 60 people from 50 organisations have been helped by at least 33 volunteer surgeons contributing around 175 hours of high quality, highly skilled voluntary effort.
And that effort has turned into - new websites:
* Birmingham’s Jubilee Debt Campaign ( http://jdcbirmingham.wordpress.com/ )
* Court Lane Allotments ( http://courtlaneallotments.com/ )
* The Digbeth Trust ( http://digbethtrust.wordpress.com/ )
blogs:
* City Centre Neighbourhood Forum ( http://brumcitycentre.wordpress.com/2009/04/ ) and its follow-up
* Canal Scene ( http://canalscene.wordpress.com/ )a brilliant combination of a blog with Google maps
* Get Walking Keep Walking Birmingham ( http://getwalkingbrum.wordpress.com/) rum with the local Ramblers and Mohini’s
* MangoStreetPreachers (http://mangostreetpreachers.wordpress.com/ )
and other place-based sites have started making their sites more social and connecting with others including:
* Acocks Green Neighbourhood Forum ( http://acocks-green-neighbourhood-forum.org/) has already begun connecting with others like the Acocks Green Focus Group ( http://acocksgreenfocusgroup.org.uk/ ) and I am AG (http://iamag.wordpress.com/ )
* East Yardley Neighbourhood Forum ( http://eastyardley.wordpress.com/ )
* Cannon Hill Peoples Park ( http://www.cannonhillpeoplespark.net ) and the established http://www.Lozells.info have been taking advice on where to go next online.
More comments, stories and videos of the work done at the surgeries at the Podnosh blog ( http://www.podnosh.com/blog/2009/05/31/birmingham-social-media-surgeries-taking-stock/ ).
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