Talk About Local

Social media fun at the fair

On Saturday me and Mike were lucky enough to enjoy a day in the sunshine in the name of work, giving something of a mini social media surgery under a tent in a field.  We spent the day introducing people enjoying Fulham Fest to the new community website for the London W14 & SW6 neighbourhoods, a ning site which manager Annette Albert has built up into a fantastic local resource that covers local events, news, groups and information.

We got a fair few signed up to the site and many got cracking with adding to it straight away by poll voting, posting events, starting discussions and joining groups.  What was most rewarding was inducting people who initially had reservations, either because of a fear of the technology or because they could not see how it might be used.  It was just a few simple steps to show people how easy the site is to navigate and discuss issues important to them that the site could help with.

Getting people there who were at first quite reticent enthusiastic about the site really highlighted the benefits of holding a social media surgery as part of a larger, community event.  Many of the people I met on Saturday wouldn’t have come to something solely about social media or using a community website, but by being part of a fun and informal family day we were able to teach in a relaxed, ‘non-training’ atmosphere and get past preconceptions they may have had.

So now I’m all for a social media tent becoming a staple part of local fetes and fairs.  Next time you’re organising a community festival or gathering, think about making space for a couple of laptops next to the face-painters.  It’s a great way of raising awareness of a new hyperlocal site and you’d be helping people discover something new, get involved with local activity and carry on communicating long after the party’s over.

2 Comments September 8, 2009

TAL Unconference

We are going to be holding the first Talk About Local Unconference in Stoke-on-Trent on Saturday 3rd October. We are proud to announce that the Unconference is being hosted by Staffordshire University Faculty of Arts, Media & Design in the film theatre which is a very short walk from the railway station.

Directions to the campus can be found here

Stoke is easily accessible from most rail routes, the M6 and even canal.

The conference is not for you to come and be comatised by web 2.0 marketeers telling you how you can monetize 24/365 relationships or transition viral ROI it is for real people, running real hyperlocal sites to network with people who are doing the same thing.

The thing people say to us most when we are talking about Talk About Local (and you may have noticed we love to talk about it!) is ‘I didn’t know anyone else was doing this’  so we are giving you the chance to meet up with all the other people who you didn’t know were doing the same as you!

The format is going to be Unconference, fun, relaxed and informal.    As well and the unconference event, we will be holding social media surgeries where you can come along and speak to friendly developers and experts to get advice about your site or how to fix that niggling problem you just can’t seem to get your head around.

The best bit is it’s free! Yes FREE!

But there is no such thing as a free lunch I hear you cry.

Well actually there is because we will even feed you during the day!

Please click HERE and fill in our very simple pre registration form and we’ll add you to our mailing list, as soon as we have the venue confirmed we’ll drop you a mail with all the details.

5 Comments August 16, 2009