In Grizzard’s new review series, Eric shares a video book review of the book! Take a look, watch the video here.

I’m so thrilled about his review and honored by the positive response! As far as the downsides he notes:

• Beginner focused: It’s true; we were commissioned to create a handbook for organizations, communities and individuals just getting started with tools the wanted to keep the book as hands on for those at the beginning of the process as possible.
• The size: Yes! I, too, was incredibly surprised about how big it was! The design concept was to mimic the orientation of a web page within the book, so you could have comments, information boxes and so on in the side bar with the main column acting as the main content on the page, just like a web site. I think that could have been treated to a slightly narrower product though.
• The companion: As much as we wanted to give people straightforward and simple information, we also wanted to be sure they had options. The companion is also intended so that if someone comes across a tool that they are unfamiliar with, like vimeo for example, they can easily understand how it may work by seeing it listed as an alternative to youtube.  Too much information – noted! We hope it’s still useful!

Thanks to Grizzard and Eric for sharing the review of the book.  Check them out at: http://www.grizzard.com

And if you haven’t read the book yet, you can read it online (or buy-on-demand) at: http://socialbysocial.com

I’ve run workshops in village halls, conference centres, board rooms and cubby holes … but no-where as memorable as our venue yesterday at the Chain Reaction event. Amy Sample Ward and I were assigned a room on the 28th – or was it 30th? – floor of the Clifford Chance building in Canary Wharf for our session of the Social by Social game. High, anyway – providing a vista right across east and south-east London: docks, Dome, barrage, offices, warehouses and homes from 16th to 21st century.

So when we started off with the usual question about inventing a scenario – where are we going to play today? – it was pretty impossible to avoid looking out of the window and imaging the community below … with a some help from a couple of people in the room who knew the area.

It turned out that  Canary Wharf was a very mixed sort of place, with top-rental offices and high-priced riverside flats next to social housing; busy with office workers in the day, dead at weekends; retail malls, but few local shops. While there were some strong community groups, and a 32-acre City Farm, action was needed on several fronts: organising festivals and events, getting better engagement and representation for residents, and connecting different communities.

So after filling out a description of the area we split into three groups and used the Social by Social card set to plan some action. You can see the cards we used in my post from yesterday. The three groups first chose from a set of cards offering engagement activities, then from a set of social media and other tools, and finally looked at ways to pay for their plans.

I shot some video as we went along, as you can see here, starting with an introduction from Amy. Thanks everyone who came, entered into the spirit of the occasion, and resisted the temptation to spend the entire time looking out of the window.

Previous game events here.

The game will be similar in form to those you’ll find here: we’ll invent a place, break into groups around some social challenges or themes, then use sets of cards to plan how to engage people, choose social media tools, and work out how to fund the package. However, although the format is pretty standard, I’m sure the ideas will be highly creative. The cards and other props are there to stimulate conversation – and that always works.

We’ve tweaked the cards from the last play, as you can see below. Each card has an image (so they don’t all look the same), a description, and budget points from 1-3. The green budget points are for engagement cards, yellow for tools, red for funding. We’ll set a budget for green and yellow, that has to be matched by red.

I wanted to get this preview up so we can do a little promotion of the workshop, and also have an immediate link for anyone who asks where they can get the cards on the day. We’ll shoot some video and report back later.

The official Twitter stream is cr_event, and you should be able to follow tweets tagged #cr09 through a search here. Follow us @socialbysocial

One Web. For All.

OneWebDay opens up techie conversations to everyone.  The theme this year of digital inclusion is especially important now as the speed of iteration and advancement is faster than ever and yet there are huge numbers of people without access at all.  Those who are excluded and unconnected are getting online at such a slow pace compared to the break-neck speed the “rest of us” are plowing ahead.  The only way, in my view, to bring those you aren’t connected or participating online into the conversations, especially those on digital inclusion, to help shape policies and changes for creating one web that really does serve everyone.  So, for OneWebDay today I wanted to share a few ways that I think we can all help others join the conversation about creating a Web that includes everyone.

Creating for All

There are many ways to get involved in OneWebDay (see below) but some of the actions that can be most powerful in light of this year’s focus on digital inclusion include:

• Join in and contribute to the conversations, networks, organizations and conferences/events specifically focused on digital inclusion (here in the UK that includes Digital Britain, Digital Inclusion Conference, and many others)
• Share your story (about how you got online, what your first online engagement or activity was, etc.) with local networks working to create online spaces to bring more people online
• Ask your partner, parent, or friend who isn’t online, why? what or how would need to change to get them there? (Don’t assume you know the answer!)
• Are you having a OneWebDay event today? Invite people who would not have seen your online promotions to join you at the ballroom, office or pub to be part of your celebrations and conversations.
• Are you developing tools, applications, or platforms for the web? Invite your friends, neighbors, parents, and others to give you feedback (even if they don’t know what the words you use mean) about what they would benefit from that maybe you and your network hasn’t considered yet.

OneWebDay is more than September 22nd.  The ways above to contribute to this movement are available for you every day.

Every time you host an event, convene a conversation, design a workshop, or anything else, invite those who weren’t on the email list, or at the last event, or part of your local community’s “social media club” to come participate, contribute, and learn.

Continue to share your story and help others share theirs so we can identfy factors and opportunities contributing to a web for all.

Regardless of next year’s topic for the September 22nd celebrations, digital inclusion remains a core barrier to truly celebrating the web globally.

Get Involved

There are many ways you can participate in OWD09 and help celebrate the web.  Here are just a few ideas to get you started:

• Participate in Local Events
• Perform an Internet Health Check
• Post Your Own OneWebDay Story
• Youth: Post a Video Response to the OWD Video
• Sign up for a Mozilla Service Week Volunteer Opportunity
• Help Universal Giving Bring the Web to the Developing World
• Post Your Unique Ideas!
• Help OneWebDay grow by spreading the word

About OneWebDay

For the last four years, OneWebDay has attracted a global network of partner organizations and individual activists committed to broadening the public’s awareness of Internet and Web issues while deepening a culture of participation in building a Web that works for everyone. In 2008, OneWebDay organizers documented volunteer-driven events in 34 different cities across the world. In 2009, we’re geared for events in over 50 cities in 20 countries! OneWebDay is all about your passion for the Web and your creativity.

Learn more about OneWebDay.

Time: September 21, 2009 from 2pm to 5pm
Location: CLG, Eland House, Victoria, London SW1E 5DU
Street: Bressenden Place
City/Town: London
Website or Map: http://www.communities.gov.uk/corporate/contact

This is the proposed first stage – an opportunity for people involved in key projects at a programme level to do some initial mapping of who’s doing what and explore new collaborations, how to get synergy, take up, etc.

This will probably include key people from CLG, MoJ, BIS, plus Talk about Local, Media Trust, Young Foundation, RSA, IDeA and NESTA – but others welcome too if they think this is the right stage for them/their organisation to be involved. There will be other opportunities later in the process.

The Agenda

Our workshop is shaping up as a great opportunity to hear about the plans of government and national programmes to support local online communities and sites – and to explore the practicalities of setting up and running them. We’ll be looking at what social technology means for local activists, local government, and local media – and how to blend new stuff with the rich mix of existing communications and relationships in any area.

Our host from the Department for Communities and Local Government, Antonio Irranca, is on holiday until next week, so David Wilcox and I have develop a loose framework which we hope you will help fill out. The idea is for the three hours to be a mix of short presentations, and conversation starters, with most of the agenda set by those attending. It’s a chance to try the unconferencing format that’s increasingly popular when social media types meet face-to-face. (If you aren’t familiar with this, don’t worry. No embarrassing games, minimum Powerpoint, lots of chance to chat to the people who interest you).

We hope some collaborations will emerge, but first conversations -> relationships -> trust -> interactions

So – how about this:

1. Welcome, introductions and networking
2. An update from Government – what’s happening, what’s planned within DCLG
3. The national programmes – Talk About Local, Community Voices, Local 2.0 and others
4. Social innovation supported by Government – Ministry of Justice, Innovation Fund
5. Topics that you suggest. Here’s some to throw into the pot … what do you think? what would you add?

• what’s happening in local government. IDeA have big plans on social media and knowledge sharing programme; and who’s who related to local community work
• local media – citizen journalism, community reporters. Maybe something from Manchester and Birmingham?
• social spaces – how to blend online and face-to-face. Tessy Britton has a great project here
• what are the skills and roles needed. I really like Steph Gray’s suggestions on digital engagement
• the Secretary of State is keen on democratic renewal … but what does it mean, and what part might local social tech play
• resources for local activists and others – how we might use/remix content from Social by Social and other places

The format here will be someone pitches a topic and we break into groups, with the chance to repitch/remix for a second round

6. Review how useful the workshop has been and any follow through.

There’s no pre-determined agenda on next steps. If the Ning network is useful, we’ll keep it going. If other events seem a good idea, let’s see who might host next time. If this get-together is enough, that’s fine.

What would you like to hear about – or discussion might you lead?

I hope that we can get some content up online before the event, particularly on 2, 3, 4, so that presentations can be 10 minutes or less.

So, dive in! Join the Local Communities ning and add your thoughts about the event here!

I was intrigued by the set of coloured objects that Amy brought into the room.

Eventually all became clear – they were to be flags, as demonstrated by Drew:

The way that there was a “simple” worksheet on a flip chart, each of the four sections being worked through in sequence, was elegant and efficient.

Andy Gibson gave a great introduction to the report, and I liked the way he read aloud a key section of the document straight off the screen.

Before we started games designer Drew Mackie – aided by handbook co-author Professor Clive Holtham – prepared a challenging scenario: the town of Slaghamptom, suffering from rising unemployment, declining industry, public services under pressure,  some social frictions, and a football team recently relegated. What could social technology offer?

Here Drew explains how enthusiastic players formed project teams (we gave them flags to gather round), developed proposals, and then used sets of cards for engagement, technology tools and funding to create a plan. There’s a more detailed explanation of the game here.

Our teams were incredibly creative and produced three projects:

The Carbon Neutral Project

The Community Cohesion Project

The Tourism Project

Afterwards I asked Jag Gill how useful he had found it. Jag works with local voluntary and charity groups in Sheffield, including through the BashMash collaboration days to promote grassroots digital engagement.

You can see the content of the handbook here. We aim to create a wiki version, and make links between the game and handbook content. That way you will be able to play the game for real – in a local community or organisation – develop and plan, and look to the handbook for advice on how to follow through.

During the game I asked Andy Gibson, our co-author, for a quick explanation of what the book is all about. Here’s Andy’s 30 second pitch.

NESTA commissioned the work and the Social by Social team was comprised of Andy Gibson, Nigel Courtney, Amy Sample Ward, David Wilcox and Professor Clive Holtham.

Why Social by Social?

There have been so many developments in communication technologies over the past few years, affecting so many aspects of our lives and working patterns, that giving shape and meaning to the chaos has become nearly impossible.

‘Social by Social’ is a term we’ve invented to make sense of what we’re talking about.

The word ‘social’ is often used to imply all the various work that goes on in the public and third sector, and by individuals, to improve the world around us, care for each other, create value for communities and tackle the problems and inequalities of the world.

(Social enterprise. Social conscience. Social problems.)

And ‘social’ is also used by technologists and the media to refer to the new two-way communications technologies available via the internet and digital technologies. Communications which create society, strengthen relationships, support social interactions.

(Social media. Social networks. Social infrastructure.)

This book is a map of where these two words meet. It is not limited to the fashionable trends in social media and ‘web 2.0’; nor is it specifically aimed at people in the social sector. It is about how these new tools for social interaction are changing our society, and how those of us with a social conscience can use them to do more good.

‘Social by social’ change is about using new technologies to bring people together to make their world better. This handbook is a starting point for working out how to do it.

New technologies are changing the way we engage communities, run companies, deliver public services, participate in government and campaign for change.

The handbook is funded by NESTA, and we hope that it will contribute to their aim of helping a wider range of people understand the potential of using social technology for social benefit. In the video above, shot at last week’s Tuttle Club in St James’s Park, Roland Harwood of NESTA Connect explains what he is hoping for.

While at Tuttle I was also able to talk to Toby Moores, Joanna Jacobs and Steve Lawson about the way they are planning to help everyone at Reboot be a social reporter using Twitter, blogging and any other means to create a cloud of online conversations to complement the live streaming that will be provided by Richard Jolly. There should be more soon on that linked from the official site – but meanwhile keep up with everything Reboot through the Twitter tag #rebootbritain. Toby and friends are using techniques developed through Amplified09, so you can be sure there will be plenty going on, with some good analysis afterwards. The creative force behind the event is Steve Moore, who curated 2gether08 and morphed the 2gether09 plans into Reboot. The event is produced by our friends Jess Tyrell, Lizzie Ostrom and the team at  Germination.

** Handbook site will be live from about 1.30pm Monday July 6

Longer version of this post on Socialreporter.

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The format was rather like the one that we used for the Net Tuesday event: first describe the situation (Edinburgh), then break into groups and develop projects. In this case around transport, environment, community engagement, education and employment in the recession.

We then offered groups cards with ideas for engagement and social technology – much like those in the Net Tuesday event  – and asked for plans. The final stage was using some money cards to balance the costs.

As you can see from the video report backs, we got some really creative ideas … all in the space of an hour and a half. Alex recaps the scenario, and each group reports on their theme and project. We hope that the ideas will find their way into the official policy-making process.