Paradise Circus

As the cold weather draws us ever nearer towards winter – why not hibernate on the web and enjoy some friendly conversation about social media to warm the cockles.

We have scheduled in the next central Birmingham Social Media Surgery session at the Fazeley Studios, Digbeth for November.

The Central Birmingham Social Media surgery will be held on Friday 20 November, 2009 between 5.30pm and 7pm (please note this date has changed) at The Fazeley Studios, 191 Fazeley Street, Digbeth, Birmingham B5 6DR (link to map), opposite The Bond. Push the large pale blue doors with the silver door knob.

This particular surgery has a twist in that we are inviting those who have already been to a surgery to come back and develop their skills and build on their sites. Don’t worry if you’ve left a blog dormant for months – the point of this November surgery is to take you to the next level and show you some inspiring things other people have done with social media.

Even though this surgery is aimed at those who would like to improve on their social media skills, everyone is welcome, and we can work with you according to your level and needs. If you belong to a Birmingham based community or neighbourhood group or charity please come and join us, you can drop in any time between 5.30pm and 7pm.

To sign up head over to the BeVocal site to sign up or find more information about locally-based surgeries.

Want to know more about Social Media Surgeries and what to expect? You can find out more information about what goes on at a surgery and how it can benefit you here.

It’s the anniversary of the first Birmingham Social Media surgery, designed to help voluntary and community groups in Birmingham make the most of social media and the web.

To mark the occasion we will be hosting our usual Social Media Surgery session at the Fazeley Studios, Digbeth.

The central Birmingham Social Media surgery will be held on Thursday 15 October, 2009 between 5.30pm and 7pm at The Fazeley Studios, 191 Fazeley Street, Digbeth, Birmingham B5 6DR (link to map), opposite The Bond. Push the large pale blue doors with the silver door knob.

If you belong to a Birmingham based community or neighbourhood group or charity please come and join us, you can drop in any time between 5.30pm and 7pm.

To sign up head over to the BeVocal site to sign up or find more information about locally-based surgeries.

Want to know more about Social Media Surgeries and what to expect? You can find out more information about what goes on at a surgery and how it can benefit you here.

If you cannot make October’s surgery why not book the next Central Birmingham surgery into your diary. It will be held on Friday 20 November at 5.30pm – 7pm at the Fazeley Studios, Digbeth.

You may have seen the new Birmingham City Council site, judging by comments I’d say most of you don’t think it lives up to its potential. But — could a group of volunteers do better?

What does a council site need, can it be scraped together and built in a better way for free?

I’m not volunteering to code, but thought it was worth discussing — so why not pop over to the BCCDIY wiki and see what occurs…

It’s almost a year since the first Birmingham Social Media surgery began to help voluntary and community groups in Birmingham make the most of social media and the web.

Now it’s back to school and time to lock in after the lazy summer, and the first central surgery of the new season will be on Wednesday, September 23 at the Fazeley Studios, Digbeth.

The Fazeley Studios are on 191 Fazeley Street, Digbeth, Birmingham B5 6DR (link to map), opposite The Bond. Push the large light blue doors with the silver door knob.

So if you belong to a Birmingham based community or neighbourhood group or charity please come and join us, you can drop in any time between 5.30pm and 7pm.

To sign up head over to the BeVocal site to find more information about locally-based surgeries.

Want to know more about Social Media Surgeries and what to expect? You can find out more information about what goes on at a surgery and how it can benefit you here.

If you cannot make September’s surgery why not book the next two surgeries into your diary. They will be held on Thursday 15 October at 5.30pm – 7pm and on Friday 20 November at 5.30pm – 7pm. Both surgeries are Central Birmingham surgeries, which are held at the Fazeley Studios.

Nine months on from the very first Birmingham Social Media Surgery and Fazeley Studios hosts another session of free help and advice for Birmingham based voluntary and community groups wanting to get to grips with social media.

When & Where

Next Surgery: Wednesday, June 17th, 2009 drop in anytime between 5.30pm to 7.00pm at Fazeley Studios, 191 Fazeley Street, Digbeth, Birmingham, B5 6DR, link to map. (not BVSC) It’s opposite the Bond and a go kart track. Push the large pale blue door with the silver door knob.

To sign up please go here.

What are they all about?

Volunteers from the Birmingham bloggers group are offering to show voluntary and community groups in the city how you can make best use of social media. It doesn’t matter if you are the head of communications at a major charity or an active citizen in your neighbourhood, if you’re at all curious come along.

More about what has gone on over the past nine months and what you can expect at a surgery here.

By the way the surgeries have been nominated (by me I hasten to add!)  for the Digital Press Awards People’s Choice along with brilliant local activity like Rhubarb Radio and the Big City Talk site.

In the mean time, if you want to come along or know someone that could use the free help get them to sign up here so we have an idea of numbers.

As you probably know, Clay Shirky’s Here Comes Everybody is now out in paperback. Amazon have it for £5.99. I’ve found it a very useful book this last year to lend to people to explain exactly what I’m on about. Even if you disagree with his conclusions the examples he gives are worth it alone.

I’m going to buy five copies and send them to people in Birmingham. I want you to tell me who to send them to. And I want to include a letter, written by us, explaining why we want them to read it (I’ll set up a wiki for that later).

Sensible suggestions please. Think of people who will actually read and digest the book, those who have the capacity to understand and be excited by it. They don’t have to be big names but ideally they’ll have the ability to make important changes in the city.

And it doesn’t have to be limited to five. That’s just my commitment. If someone else wants to buy a batch and send them out that’s great. The main thing is we send them to the right people.