Angel of the North 3 by howzey, on Flickr
Following hot on the heels of last week’s Local by Social: South West Edition in Bristol, we’re excited to announce the latest round of Local by Social events.
March will be a busy month for Local by Social, with two new events taking place in the North East and North West.
On Friday 4th and Saturday 5th March, Sunderland City Council will host Local by Social: North East Edition at Southwick Community Primary School. Then, on Friday 18th March, Local by Social: North West Edition will be hosted by Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council at Ewood Park.
Local by Social is all about using web technology to improve local communities. Each event is based around a specific theme. At Sunderland we’ll be looking at how social media, apps and other web technology can be used to promote opportunity and tackle social exclusion. Transparency and engagement will be the theme at Blackburn, with a focus on how open data and social media can increase levels of transparency and involvement in local decision-making.
Both events will feature a combination of interactive sessions with engaging speakers and group workshop sessions. At these workshops you’ll have the chance to work together to develop practical ideas for using new technology to make a positive difference to your local community.
The second day of Local by Social: North East Edition will run as a hack day and focus on developing your ideas into practical project proposals. We’ll enlist the skills of designers and technology experts to help make your ideas a reality.
Please note: although Local by Social: North East Edition takes place over two days, you are free to choose which of the days you attend. For example, should you wish to attend the Saturday but not the Friday, please select a Saturday ticket only.
Local by Social brings togther individuals and organisations from a wide range of backgrounds. Council officers, councillors, local residents, community organisers, social innovators, and application developers are very welcome to attend.
Registration for Local by Social is FREE and tickets are now available for both events:
Local by Social: North East Edition
Local by Social: North West Edition
Over the next couple of weeks we will be announcing our speaker line-up and other details right here on the Local by Social blog. You can also sign up to our Local by Social mailing list by adding your details here.
Have looked to work with small community of interest groups in Sunderland to install social media tools into sites rather than just having Facebook “because him next door has it” . Am interested in blending social media into other online content rather than seeing them as a “bolt on”.
examples
http://www.svsyf.org
http://www.twca.org.uk
http://www.sunderlandpartnership.org.uk
http://www.headwaywearside.org.uk/headway.html
Excellent! We’re not looking for lip service to digital, but an integrated approach using the right tools for the right things. Facebook’s great for some things, but not everything.
tru
the fragmented use of any tool, or anything which sends users off to another “place”, is not a good idea to me.
I feel by their very nature, social media tools are quite fragmented. That’s not to say its a bad thing. The circles in which we move are generally quite unique and healthy competition between such platforms has seen the emergence of extremely varied, yet fundamentally similar services.
It comes down to the architects of interactive and web based solutions to help identity the most relevant tools for the job. Fragmented services are fine, but a fragmented user experience is not.
I’m really looking forward to this event as it will be a great melting pot for discussions such as this!