PSFBuzz North East - A Fantastic Day Out in Newcastle
July 10, 2009 by Ian Cuddy · Leave a Comment
Now the dust has settled a bit on the whirlwind that was PSFBuzz North East, what sticks in people’s minds the most about this event? For us it’s three things which come over more than anything else.
Firstly, we got a sense of being around what’s happening in the leading/bleeding-edge of social media in local government right now. Next, the incredible potential of this. And lastly, the sheer enthusiasm and energy of those there and their willingness to share/help/ support/encourage. All in all - at the risk of sounding horrendously cheesy - the buzz of PSFBuzz. How about you?
Judging by the feedback on the day and from the feedback forms, the event was a great success - so to all our delegates, speakers, supporters and our #psfbuzz followers and tweeters, thank you! If you missed out this time, let’s hope you can make it to our next event - details soon…
Here’s all the presentations from the day:
- Mike Saunt, Astun Technology
- Simon Wakeman, Medway Council
- Jack Pickard, The Pickards Information Services
- Ian Stuart, BrowseAloud
- Carl Haggerty, Devon Country Council
- Alastair Smith, Newcastle City Council
- Stuart Harrison, Lichfield District Council
- Dave Briggs - Conference Chair
Sarah Lay of Derbyshire County Council also blogged notes for each of the sessions which are available here and indispensible for referring to. Thanks again Sarah.
We’ve also collected the torrent of #psfbuzz activity on Twitterduring the conference into one handy table of tweets here. The #psfbuzz activity continues as we type…
And a special word for our commercial partners who made the day possible. Please give a round of applause for the great people at GOSS, Astun Technology and BrowseAloud for supporting PSFBuzz North East. Check out their info below.
Goss
GOSS has a proven pedigree and substantial Public Sector client list. Over the last 10 years GOSS has developed partnerships with in excess of 60 Public Sector organisations.
GOSS understands the pressures to meet online strategy standards but our flexible partnership approach ensures the deployment a dynamic Web 2.0 solution, such as www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk. GOSS Interactive enables you to create and manage:
• Personalised homepages
• Dynamic search
• RSS, Widgets and Gadgets
• Social Networking
• Mapping
• Blogs/Vlogs and Forums
Follow us on twitter for more: www.twitter.com/GOSSInteractive.
Contact Tel:01752 517350 Fax:01752 517110 Email: info@gossinteractive.com Web: www.gossinteractive.com
Astun Technology
Police and Local Authorities are looking for effective software solutions to cut costs, transform processes, improve operational efficiency and enhance service delivery. Astun Technology’s iShare data integration and publishing platform enables organisations to make the most of their own data, extracting it, transforming it and publishing it both internally and externally. It can serve call centres via systems integration and citizens via the web with a rich mix of information and maps while delivering real savings through avoidable contact and transactional services. iShare also provides a direct communications channel to citizens that subscribe to its automated My Alerts service. Easily configured and completely automated iShare is a unique mix of the Astun’s own purpose built modules and the best Open Source components. In use with over twenty authorities the award winning iShare platform continues to evolve to meet growing e-services needs.
Contact: Mike Saunt Tel: 01372 440143 Email: mikesaunt@astuntechnology.com Web: www.astuntechnology.com
BrowseAloud
BrowseAloud is the world leading text-to-speech solution from Texthelp Systems Ltd, which is designed to improve website accessibility for those with literacy difficulties, learning difficulties such as dyslexia, mild visual impairments or where English is a second language. With a choice of 17 high quality voices covering 9 languages and a number of unique features, BrowseAloud is quickly being adopted as the product of choice worldwide.
Texthelp Systems Ltd was formally incorporated in 1996 and specialise in the design of assistive software solutions to support those struggling to read and write. The company is a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, Adobe Solutions Network Developer, Apple Business Partner, HP Business Partner and is ISO 9001:2000 accredited. For the past 9 consecutive years, Texthelp Systems Ltd has been a Deloitte Technology Fast 50 Award winning company.
Contact: Email info@browsealoud.com Web: www.browsealoud.com
And Finally, Mr Briggs’ Presentation
July 9, 2009 by Ian Cuddy · 1 Comment
A superb presentation on the ‘Four Steps to Social Media Success’ from our conference chair, the masterful Dave Briggs, topped off a great day at PSFBuzz North East!
Beginning on how at a personal level, Dave explained how social media had ‘changed his life - taking him from working at a Benefits Office to suddenly being called up by Downing Street for advice. His anecdote served as an example of the “frankly scary” pace of change in which the web is altering the world around us and the way we live.
Here’s the slides:
Four Steps to Social Media Success
And here’s his four steps for how councils should get into social media:
1. Listen >> 2. Acknowledge >> 3. Create >> 4. Share.
Meaning (Thanks again for Sarah Lay’s indispensible notes of the session):
- Listen: part of the reason ppl say horrible things about you is because they think you’re not listening and they can get away with it!
- Acknowledge: even just realise there is conversation - step in!
- Create: incremental process, try stuff
- Share: open up data - more back to Stuart’s presentation.
The underlying philosophy, according to Dave, goes something like this: Start small, create a community, test, learn from mistakes and then move on. Learning Pool highlight this important message from his talk:
“Those that do it well will create a community with their followers; getting people to care about you is the absolute key. And if social media tools can help you to get people to care about their community, that can’t be a bad thing.”
And finally, don’t forget it to make it fun. Which brings us nicely to the final message of the day: JFDI!
Stuart Harrison’s TwitterPlan Presentation
July 9, 2009 by Ian Cuddy · 1 Comment
He promised us there would be lolcats, and he didn’t disappoint.
Stuart Harrison, Webmaster and Lead Developer at Lichfield District Council gave us all the inside track on his creation of TwitterPlan, one of the most noteworthy and innovative local government mash-ups to date. For the uninitiated TwitterPlan, launched earlier this year, gives out planning application alerts via Twitter covering an astonishing 300-plus councils and counting, making it definitely one to watch.
The session notes blogged by Sarah Lay make a great companion to Stuart’s slides, which you can view below to get an overview of the project.
Afternoon Kick-Off Presentation from Alistair Smith
July 9, 2009 by Ian Cuddy · Leave a Comment
Alastair Smith, Communications Adviser at Newcastle City Council kicked off the PSFBuzz afternoon sessions with what he modestly describes as ‘essentially a 25 minute rant on online reputation and shifting roles in local government communication’. His talk covered Newcastle CC’s Twitter Channel which, much like his presentation, seems to have gone a storm. The age of one-way communication is over, he said. ‘Broadcasting as we knew it is dead.’
Alastair has blogged his presentation which you can catch here (except if you’re of a very sensitive disposition). And check out his slides below:
Carl Haggerty’s presentation at PSFBuzz North East
July 9, 2009 by Ian Cuddy · 1 Comment
Not too long ago a PSF survey found large numbers of councils were routinely preventing staff from accessing blogs and sites like YouTube or commenting on websites. while other authorities took a dangerously laissez-faire approach. One of the major challenges which social media presents to councils, and brought to the surface at our first PSFBuzz conference, was the need to establish policies and guidelines for council staff on what they do online, inside and outside of the workplace - and ones that are coherent.
This was the topic tackled by Carl Haggerty, Enterprise Architect at Devon County Council, final speaker of the morning session. In his presentation, Carl underlined that instead of banning staff from accessing Web 2.0 sites, councils should be consulting with them on developing policies on internet use. He discussed the development of Devon CC’s own policy, which has secured senior management buy-in to the extent that the Council’s Chief Executive has become the social networking champion. He’s also very kindly provided us with a copy of the guidelines which other councils are free to tinker about with to their heart’s content.
Speech Enabling Social Networks: Slides from Ian Stuart
July 9, 2009 by Ian Cuddy · 1 Comment
Continuing the theme of Web 2.0 accessibility from Jack Pickard’s presentation, Ian Stuart from BrowseAloud gave a demonstration of how assistive technology can help councils extend the reach of their online services to users with learning and literacy difficulties.
Social Media vs Accessibility: Jack Pickard’s presentation
July 9, 2009 by Ian Cuddy · 2 Comments
Are social media and accessibility compatible? Are the two compatible? What can be done to improve the accessibility of social media? What do local authorities need to consider as regards accessibility when starting to use social media?
Web developer Jack Pickard offered some answers for councils on how to reconcile their desires to make use of user-generated content and rich media technologies, with the need to meet public sector requirements for accessibility. Jack has blogged a write-up of his talk here - read this alongside this presentation below where he offers some great tips on how to avoid the pitfalls and stay compliant:
Mashups and More: Mike Saunt’s presentation
July 9, 2009 by Ian Cuddy · 1 Comment
Mike Saunt from Astun Technology, our second speaker in the mid-morning session, covered the Web 2.0 areas of Social, Technology and Mashups, looking at how and why the Government’s view of information has changed from that of ‘owners’ to ‘custodians’. Though social media is rapidly changing the way the public sector communicate with citizens, he underlined the need not to overlook more traditional forms of communication: “Cool technologies shouldn’t be the only form of access.” A highlight of his presentation was a live mash-up demo’ing the bringing together of planning alerts and Google Maps, giving a glimpse of the potential of Web 2.0 technologies and approaches.
See Mike’s slides below:
(Mike has finally been convinced to join the Twittersphere - so we’re sure you’ll welcome him by following @skepticmike!)
P.S. More on Jack Pickard’s blog here.
Those #psfbuzz tweets in full
July 9, 2009 by Ian Cuddy · Leave a Comment
PSFBuzz North East was ablaze with Twitter activity - so much so that our conference wi-fi had trouble at times keeping up with bandwidth demand (yes, ahem, TweetDeck users, we’re looking at you…)
Search the #psfbuzz hashtag and you’ll see the bustling meta-conference of discussions, comments and questions which flowed alongside the main event.
We’ve aggregated all the #psfbuzz tweets into one handy spreadsheet which you download below. Et voilà! Ready-made conference notes on all the sessions.
Our thanks to Steph Gray and Dave Briggs for the hashtag search hack which made this possible.
Simon Wakeman’s presentation at PSFBuzz North East
July 9, 2009 by Ian Cuddy · 1 Comment
Here’s the slides from our first speaker of the day, Simon Wakeman, Medway Council’s Head of Communications. Simon talked about the impact of social media in local government, highlighting some examples of the work Medway has been doing to engage people online with Facebook, Twitter and podcasting:
Social media - a revolution in local government communications
[Update] Jack Pickard has blogged a great post about Simon’s talk here. And Sarah Lay of Derbyshire County Council has also blogged her notes for the session. Thanks Jack and Sarah!
If you’re interested in the public relations angle, have a look at Simon’s slides from the presentation he gave immediately afterwards to the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) North East group.
Social media and local government - CIPR NE seminar - July 2009
PSFbuzz Twitter- Ombudsman reforms proposed by the Law Commission. http://bit.ly/cC2D6o (via @PSFbuzz)
- "Clearing the path to public service complaints" Reforms proposed by................the Law Commission. http://bit.ly/cC2D6o
- RT @TrustmarqueYork RT @PSFbuzz: Councils 'could save at least £51m' with shift to ODF and open source http:/... http://bit.ly/bO8HKY #ogov
- RT @PSFbuzz: Councils 'could save at least £51m' with shift to ODF and open source http://bit.ly/aoan0m #localgov #gov20 #opengov
- PSFbuzz bookmarks