I’m delighted to announce that Lauren Ivory from TweetyHall will be popping in to our online councillor event this Thursday to deliver a special presentation. The day also features sessions from Hugh Flouch of Networked Neighbourhoods and Harringay Online, Cllr James Cousins of the www.jamescousins.com and David Wilcox aka the social reporter.
If you’re intersted there are still a few places left – bookings can be made through this link. Full details of the event are as follows –
The ‘Online’ Councillor: New ways of connecting with communities
By 2014, 83% of the country will have access to broadband internet and with online engagement being an integral part of the Coalition’s Big Society agenda, LGIU believes that any community leader simply can no longer afford to rely on offline activity alone – the debate will simply pass them by.
Services like FixMyStreet, WhatDotheyKnow, OpenlyLocal, Neighbourhood Crime Maps, HelpMeInvestigate and Where Does My Money Go? symbolise the emergence of a new political literacy. These new tools and techniques are allowing citizens to connect, network and mobilise around issues and build social capital to help bring about change themselves.
The LGIU has been working with its members and leaders in the field of online political networks to analyse these new forms of participation. These platforms of engagement are not expensive or highly sophisticated – they are quick, easy-to-use and free – and we’ve found that online councillors are using the internet to add measurable value to their work.
- They are listening more effectively to the conversations taking place
- They are able to efficiently engage and respond to issues of concern
- They are harnessing these new energies to bring citizens together and put them more in control of their lives
This seminar will provide:
- An overview of social media, internet tools and hyperlcoal websites
- Analysis of the latest behavioural research into using these services effectively
- Strategic advice on efficient online engagement and community management
- Discussion on how these new activities can be fitted easily into a councillor’s daily workflow
Note: This seminar will be very interactive. To get the most out of the session all attendees are recommended to bring a laptop (ideally with a good battery life) and charger.
Speakers include:
Hugh Flouch – Founder of @NetwkdNeighds & @harringayonline, working with citizens & organisations to use 2.0 for civic empowerment & collaborative governance – www.networkedneighbourhoods.com
David Wilcox – previously worked in journalism, community engagement, and regeneration partnerships. David is the co-author of the NESTA handbook, Social by Social – a guide to using social media for social impact, and blogs at socialreporter.com.
Cllr James Cousins – A councillor in Wandsworth who has been largely ignored by Wandsworth residents on social media for a number of years. Despite this he is passionate about using social media as a way of being ignored by even more people and regularly uses Twitter, blogs and dabbles in pretty much every other network going.
Who should attend:
- Councillors who want advice on how to understand, listen and engage with local online communities
- Officers involved in supporting members or with responsibility for managing neighbourhood arrangements and engaging with local ‘active citizens’
Further exploration: LGIU has compiled a short selection of interesting and insightful resources that explore the tools available to councillors and examples of positive results achieved through online engagement.
To prove that you don’t need high production skills, there is a video of Andy Sawford, LGIU Chief Executive, discussing how social media can be used by councillors to share best practise, but more critically, how it allows representatives to engage with local citizens and build their role as community leaders.
Twitter: You can find us on twitter at @LGIU or follow our local democracy blog at http://lgiu.wordpress.com/
