Creating Community Conversations - Gallomanor

Code of recommended practice on local authority publicity - A consultation

2008-12-18T23:21:19+00:00

It's a fairly important part of the DCLG White Paper Consultation process for CivicSurf. The Code of Practice on Local Authority Publicity has been blamed by many as a major obstacle to helping councillors use blogs. This consultation is a chance to make your views clear on the matter.

I'll be reading this over Christmas and posting some thoughts and responding in the New Year.

[Cross posted from CivicSurf]

And that's why we need FOI

2008-12-18T14:41:24+00:00

From an article in The Guardian.

A minister apologised to parliament yesterday for telling MPs that 70 police officers were hurt during a climate change protest, after the Guardian revealed that most of the injuries were inflicted by insects or the heat. Vernon Coaker, the Home Office minister, told MPs at Commons question time yesterday: "I was informed that 70 police officers were hurt and naturally assumed that they had been hurt in direct contact as a result of the protest. That clearly wasn't the case and I apologise if that caused anybody to be misled."

The apology followed a freedom of information request from the Liberal Democrats, which showed that no officers in the £5.9m police operation at Kingsnorth power station in Kent during August had been injured by protesters.

Instead, police records showed that their medical unit had dealt mostly with toothache, diarrhoea, cut fingers and "possible bee stings".

Shock Horror - Positive Youth Media Coverage!

2008-12-11T16:12:36+00:00

Wiltshire Times Headline
Originally uploaded by gallomanor

It's not often that young people get positive media coverage, and it is even rarer for Skate Boys to be seen in a positive light. That's why this needs to be shared.

Original Story.

Councillors, even better than your Dad!

2008-12-03T16:23:40+00:00

The I'm a Councillor evaluation report for 2008 is now ready. Topline results for this year are that councils were busier than ever before. The average number of questions asked per council is 331, by an average 203 users. Compare that with 111 questions asked, by 126 users in the average council in 2004 and you can see the huge growth there's been.

This is partly due to great work by councils and teachers. Thanks! But another reason, we think, is that schools now have much better ICT facilities. And teachers and students are more computer literate. So it gets easier and easier to engage schools using a project like this.

The other really striking finding was that 68% of students surveyed used the site in their own time, at home, having been introduced to it at school. As one teacher said, 'They don’t usually do that with their school work!" This is up from 50% last year. Users also spent 40% longer on the site and visited 40% more pages.

We can't say really what's caused this, but we suspect it is the re-design, which has made the site more attractive, user-friendly and easier to navigate. In particular I think the gallery of councillors at the top has made the site much easier to find your way around, and far more interesting looking. I have to confess this was Shane's idea (although he may have nicked it from the X Factor site).

The report also has lots of feedback from young people, councillors, teachers and council officers. The title of this post comes from my favourite quote:-

"[I liked] that you got to ask real councillers that have experience what it was like and other stuff Cos its good just asking your dad but it is even better asking councillers who specialize in politics"

And what greater accolade could there be?

BarcampUKGovweb09

2008-11-25T16:11:05+00:00

One Saturday in January I jumped on an early morning train from Bath to London to go to a BarCamp. My expectations weren't enormously high. I'd heard they were very geeky, get your laptop out and code type affairs and that, quite frankly, is not me. And it wasn't BarCampUKGovWeb08 either. And I doubt it will be the case for the 09 event which again is happening in January.

BarCamp was in fact just what I, and many others, want from conferences: expert speakers who know what they are talking about and not selling you something; an interesting and full agenda (made up on the day); and lots and lots of networking with folk you want to meet.

My one complaint from this year's event is that not enough non-techie government types were there. There were enormous numbers of ideas and some very committed comms and IT related civil servants but not enough policy and service types who inevitably need to buy into Gov2.0 to make it happen. So I added an action point to the To Do on the BarCamp wiki that we must spread the word to that type of person.

So if you're working in Local Government and have wondered what the hype about Gov2.0 is, but not wanted to get pitches from expensive technology firms; if you understand the realities of trying to get councillors to adapt and engage with communities; if you recognise the value of the information that local government holds but wonder how to use it best; then BarCampUKGovweb09 is where you should be on Saturday 31st January 2009. Sign up on the Wiki or email me and I'll do that for you.

Others blogging about it include:

Tom Watson, Jeremy Gould, Dave Briggs, Simon Dickson, & Neil Williams

"This is your victory"

2008-11-05T09:46:32+00:00

"Above all, I will never forget who this victory truly belongs to. It belongs to you. It belongs to you."

Barack Obama acknowledges why he won the election. He gave his campaign to his supporters and they gave him his victory.

I'm a Councillor 2008 - final report

2008-10-29T16:09:28+00:00

Young people deserve a voice. The minority group we call youth includes the "hoodie" who nicked my mobile telephone, the 18 year-old winger your football team just signed, and the sixth former who will, some day around 2040, be elected Prime Minister. It's unsurprising, then, that young people are eager participators in politics. All they need is a voice!

Our flagship youth engagement event, I'm a Councillor, Get me out of Here!, has finished for the sixth year. The event - featuring local councillors and young people from 22 counties across England, Wales and NI - put school pupils and youth group members in contact with local politicians live and online. Young people also met volunteers from abroad: a former MP from Taiwan, a political activist from Zimbabwe, a city politician from the Netherlands...

But, enough sales pitch. The best thing about I'm a Councillor isn't the event: it's the young people, who logged in, read manifestos, asked questions, completed quizzes, attended live chats, and so on. For our final report, we'll focus on the young people that are I'm a Councillor's heart and soul.

What gets young people going? What did they ask about? How did their local councillors respond? Quotes, and a final report on the event, in this extended entry.

This year's enthusiastic, engaged young participants asked a record number of questions, tallied record numbers of votes, and wrote more lines of chat than in any previous year. For some young people, the event was a chance to jump into local democracy, and speak out to councillors who were listening.

Young people weighed in on important local issues, especially local youth facilities:

Q: can we ave a skate park in bedwas and a legal graffiti wall plz

- snoopyxd

A: I think if I am elected today then I will need to visit Bedwas School as the first thing I do as there are lots of things that people in Bedwas are asking for- we will have to work out what is possible first.

- Cllr Hefin David

Enthusiasm (and tenacity!) gets you heard. The councillors in Caerphilly County Borough Council reacted to intense interest in local youth facilities:

A: I can tell a lot of people want a skate park in Bedwas by the amount of people that asked the same question, my advice would be get a group of you together and ask the youth forum to set up some meetings with the right people in the council and let’s see if we can do something about it, if elected then i would support you to form a group, or alternatively whoever is elected as youth champion you can ask to help you to set up a group and some meetings.

- Cllr Lyndon Binding

It was exciting to watch councillors engage with young people. Hopefully, in a few months, we will report back on the continuing conversation between youth and councillors in Caerphilly and elsewhere. Watch this space!

There is a wonderful equity on the internet that helped young people and their councillors get in easy contact. Young people wanted to hear about local democracy from the inside, and the councillors opened up:

Q: Hi. Do you like bein a councillor or is it quite borin sometimes? Thanks
- covcitygrant

A: I do like being a Councillor yes. I spent long enough trying to become one so I'd better enjoy it now hadn't I?! Truthfully and occasionally some meetings can go on too long which can be tiresome, particularly when you hear the same people going on. (Never me though!).
- Cllr Jim O'Boyle, Coventry City Council

Young people used the event to voice their opinions on current affairs, too:

i just wanted to ask about sex education in schools - coz in school we get a bit and the stuff is good. ... do u think ther should b more money invested in sex and relaitonships lessons to try and stop the number of girls having babies?coz the number is quite high. so if there was more money, it would like benefit people more ... i think every1 should do it and other good things to do with sex / love in schools, coz we need more! what is ur response?

- BubblyJo

Totally agree with you, unwanted pregnancy can mess up young lives,and STD's are bad news.We do need to invest more in teaching and telling about relationships, I've been married 10 years and it isn't always easy.The problem is that a lot of Councillors don't want to discuss it, some of them get embarrassed easily.I like your thoughtful mature attitude.

- Cllr Nic Hodges, Vale of Glamorgan Council

Proposed reform of 'sex and relationships' education is a very topical issue, commonly mentioned in this month's news headlines... but have you ever heard John Humphrys interview a school pupil about it? Speaking directly to her local councillor, BubblyJo supports the curriculum, asks the councillor for his angle on teen pregnancy, and voices her hope for more good work on sex and relationships education in schools.

BubblyJo spoke out, and she wasn't alone. We find again and again that young people are better informed, and care more about their local area than most adults assume, even the ones who work with them all day. As one teacher told us:-

“I was delighted to find out how much our pupils actually cared about our
borough”

This year's young participants were the most active on record, and enthusiastic about getting involved in politics. They want to vote:

Q: do you think that the voting age with in the uk should be lowed to 16 stay the same or even be raised to 21.

- percy

... to change things in their local area:

Q: the government wants more over 16`s to carry on in to further education. so why are they stopping sensible transport schemes like the freedom passes for the over 16`s??.

- percy

... and to find out more about politics across the world. This question was submitted to Cho-Shui Lin, political activist, journalist, and former MP from Taiwan:

Q: Y was Publishing illegal magazine during period of Martial Law the bestthing u have done!!!!
- Chow.Bbz..x

A: Publishing dissident magazine during the Martial Law era was a very risky job. During that tense time, many comrades and I fought for Taiwan's freedom of speech. Even though many including myself were jailed during that period of time, I still look back to those days as the best days of my life, because I fought for my ideals.
- Cho-Shui Lin, Taiwan

Mr. Lin was elected by the young people as international champion. You can read more about the international volunteers in my earlier post. Huge thanks to our six international politicians and activists, all volunteers, who came on the site and talked to young people about life and politics across the world. They supported the main, local event, which was the most successful and active we have yet enjoyed:

2008 stats

Young people taking part:    4,266
Questions asked:                  6,961
Page views:                           130,600

We're working with councils and schools to continue the positive trend next year. Most importantly, we're trying hard to get young people involved. We should forget the empty platitudes about youth, "our greatest natural resource", and instead focus on this demographic for what they are: an influential but often sidelined minority, eager to have a voice.

For more information about the event and how to get involved, check out the I'm a Councillor website or email Sophia Collins, event producer at sophia@gallomanor.com

Atheist Bus Campaign

2008-10-29T12:20:37+00:00

Chloe joined us last year to be our admin support for I'm a Councillor. At the end of the contract she left us to work for The Bible Society. One day, as happens occasionally, the conversation in the office turned to religion and atheism. Chloe remarked that she never met a atheist. There was a bit of silence, and then one by one people in the office stated their position on the matter and Chloe was surprised to find that she'd been working with three for the previous couple of months.

I guess most atheists aren't too dogmatic about it and don't shout about it too much. For most it is a bit hypocritical. That's why the Atheist Bus Campaign is all the more astonishing for it's success.

In just over a week over 7,500 people have donated a total of over £112,000 against a target of £5,500 to run bus ads in London. It's an incredible response and from a professional point of view it is worth looking at the reasons why.

1. Simple proposition. Donate money for an ad. It didn't try to crowdsource the copy for the ad; it didn't try to get ideas for where the ad should be placed. It just asked for money. Interestingly a Pledgebank pledge gathered 877 signatories - well short of the 4680 required. Is it because a pledge is that much more complex than a donation? "I'll say I'll donate if enough other people also say they'll donate. I hope they do as they say."

2. Simple process. Click on link, decide how much, follow clear instructions. More complex than signing a pledge but because the concept is simple the instructions and process make sense.

3. Fun. The advert is funny. The campaign feels rebellious. People were trying to outdo each other in the comedy stakes by leaving witty comments on the donation page.

4. Press Coverage. These factors made the campaign an unbelievable success. They helped it to gather lots of lots of press coverage, which snowballed into more donations and more press coverage.

The person behind who started the campaign is Ariane Sherine. Unsurprisingly she's a TV comedy writer and journalist. She teamed up with a website designer called Jon Worth and the rest is history.

Blog Action Day - Poverty

2008-10-15T10:40:37+01:00

I've seen poverty, but never experienced it. Living in Bombay (as it was called back in 1985) the drive from the airport to downtown involved passing by shanty-towns and beggars with limbless babies pressing themselves against the window of the air-conditioned Mercedes as we stopped at the traffic lights. We were always told not to give money because of reasons which I really don't want to publish as I have no way of verifying.

Working with the folk from the Scarman Trust (now 2QAB) in recent years has given me a little more insight into the thoughts of how we can help with poverty here in the UK. It's not just about a lack of money and personal effects but also about communities with a lack of power and control over their environment.

What was clear from working with the team was that pity and outside consultants were not what helped communities. It was primarily about providing members of those communities with the skills and knowledge they needed to take control, the skills they needed to transfer the knowledge they have around the community. Too often they had seen well meaning government funded agencies descend on a community, spend money, depart and leave the community in the same situation of deprivation and lack of control as before.

Sucessful new technologies are socially inclusive

2008-10-15T10:17:04+01:00

I went to see some dinosaurs at the Natural History Museum yesterday. I was there because TalkWiki had gathered speakers such as Tom Reynolds, who blogs at Random Acts of Reality and others. One of the others, Peter Kawalek, from Manchester Business School, mentioned a powerful idea almost in passing. He said "all successful technologies are socially inclusive". Unfortunately he didn't back this up with anything but anecdotal truths as evidence, but think about it:

The alphabet vs hieroglyphics
English vs Latin
Internal Combustion Engine vs Horses
Printing press vs scribes
Radio and TV vs broadsheets
Internet vs books

The reason why this caught my attention was that social exclusion is one of the barriers we face when trying to implement e-government activities. The fear that by doing so we are excluding part of society. If it could be a commonly accepted notion that e-enabling things was inclusive in the long run then that particular battle over social exclusion would be easier.