Nick Booth of www.podnosh.com explains how you can help and be helped through the social media jungle.
The Birmingham based social media movement has teamed up with the BBC to run their long standing Central Birmingham Social Media Surgery from the BBC Mailbox. It means you can now get free practical help in how make the best use of social media for your cause or group from BBC staffers and local bloggers – all volunteering their time for free to give you free help.
The first surgery to be run with the BBC will be on September 17th at 5.30 to 7pm at the Mailbox – please sign up here: http://www.socialmediasurgery.
What to expect?
The first surgery for community and voluntary organisations was run in Birmingham on October 15th 2008. I only ever meant it to be a one off, but people enjoyed it so much they did it again and again. So far there have been 147 different places running surgeries – most in the UK, but some afar afield as Kathmandu and Vancouver. More than 4000 people/organisations have benefited
The movement is not funded. Some surgeries are run with financial support from local public services, but there is no single grant to make it happen.
Last year the surgeries received a Big Society Award from the Prime Minister, another award from Oxford University and the European Union for Innovation in a Networked Society and this year a National Adult Learners Week Award.
If you’ve never been before, surgeries are aimed at local community and voluntary groups and charities. They are deliberately relaxed. No lectures or presentations.
We will introduce you to someone who’s experienced in using social media and they’ll talk to you about what you’re trying to achieve – then starting showing things that might be able to help. You’ll be free to ask as many questions as you like and apply it to helping you achieve what you want to do. If you want to set things up there and then, you can do that too.
If you already have experience of using social media come along for extra help – or (if the surgery is busy) we might even ask you to share your skills with someone else. If you want to help a local charity, sign up as a “surgeon”.
Nick Booth
www.podnosh.com