Last week, in a post for Weekly Blog Club, I wrote about the new iPad, and how I use it for work.
Phil Jewitt kindly mentioned my post on Twitter, and a we chatted about how weeklyblogclubbers possess all sorts of qualities which, if combined, could be pretty powerful.
The term “sociable enterprise” cropped-up in the conversation, and others including Janet Davis, Matt Bond and Sweyn Hunter joined in.
Someone suggested a sociable enterprise should be fuelled by cake, at which point Kate Bentham appeared, right on cue.*
Quick Detour: IslandGovCamp 2012
Sweyn Hunter took the conversation on a slight detour, linking it with the forthcoming #IslandGovCamp 2012 which is being held in Kirkwall, Orkney from 25th to 27th May. I’d love to attend, but sadly can’t make it, so I’ll be following on Twitter instead.
I’m hoping the Midlands minibus contingent make it so John Popham can do his thing and live-stream the event. (By the way, what is the collective term for a bus full of bloggers and social media buffs?)
I might blog about IslandGovCamp anyway, as it looks like it’s going to be a brilliant event; I’ve also got a personal connection with Orkney which I’d like to write about some time.
Return to: ‘Sociable Enterprise’
We wrapped-up our Twitter conversation by agreeing that ‘sociable enterprise’ would make a good optional Weekly Blog Club theme for this week. Yesterday Phil Jewitt tweeted that he’d been thinking about it all week; he proved this with an excellent blog post: ‘Be’ in Social. It’s well worth reading.
So, what is a ‘sociable enterprise’?
I thought I’d take a look at the words that make up the term ‘Sociable Enterprise’. I used the freedictionary.com to get some definitions which I’ve included below. I highlighted some of the bits I particularly like (and couldn’t resist replacing the ‘z’ with an ‘s’ in organisation):
SOCIABLE:
- Fond of the company of others; gregarious.
- Marked by or affording occasion for agreeable conversation and conviviality. See Synonyms at social.
- Pleasant, friendly, and affable. See Synonyms at gracious.
ENTERPRISE
- An undertaking, especially one of some scope, complication, and risk.
- A business organisation.
- Industrious, systematic activity, especially when directed toward profit: Private enterprise is basic to capitalism.**
- Willingness to undertake new ventures; initiative: “Through want of enterprise and faith men are where they are, buying and selling, and spending their lives like serfs” (Henry David Thoreau).
How about Weekly Blog Club?
If you aren’t already familiar with Weekly Blog Club, it’s a blogging community which was set up in January 2012 for those who haven’t blogged before, or who have – for whatever reason – lost the blogging-habit. It only has a few rules, and they’re really quite simple:
- blog about anything you like
- tweet a link using the #weeklyblogclub hashtag
- submit your post by midday on Thursday.
That last rule is actually pretty flexible – there’s the “squidgy deadline” for those who struggle to make it by Thursday lunchtime. The “squidginess” hangs-on until the last blogger has sent in their post for that week. Very considerate, sociable even.
Janet Davis set-up the web site; she also tweets on behalf of the group, and even summarises all the posts each week. Somehow she manages to find a way to link all the posts together – a real feat of story-telling. Thank you very much Janet.
It’s also worth mentioning that Janet paints, and has produced some excellent landscapes which she’s looking to sell. I’m rather tempted to buy one myself when her online shop is ready.**
Weekly Blog Club – sociable and enterprising
Given the sort of friendly camaraderie that has formed in Weekly Blog Club, I wondered if we might already be part of a sociable enterprise, just unaware of it.
I’m not a box-ticker by nature but, if I were, I reckon Weekly Blog Club would get ticks against the bits I highlighted earlier. I’d be really interested to know what you think.
Notes
*If you don’t know Kate, she’s quite fond of cake, which she blogs about, along with many other topics besides.
**That was my ‘enterprise’ link, by the way
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Great post Mark, it feels special to be a part of the weekly blog club sociable enterpise, I look forward to the amazing variety in posts each week.
Hi Kate, thanks very much for leaving a comment, I really enjoyed our cake-related conversation on Twitter. I’m looking forward to trying the Curly Wurly cake 🙂
Thank you very much for the kind words, Mark, and for the plug! There is a 4th rule: Be positive, not negative when commenting on others’ posts. It certainly does seem to be growing into quite an established community. I’ve begun to wonder what to do if I should (miraculously) get paid work that I have to prioritise over Weekly Blog Club.
Oh yes, I’d forgotten the 4th rule – perhaps it goes without saying. Delighted to plug your paintings – hope you find some paid (and interesting) work soon.
You don’t even have to wait until Janet’s online shop is open, my painting arrived today!
Ooh – I thought I had to wait!
Louise is right – if you spot something you like, do ask. I will also be selling prints of some of my photos at some point. I’m still trying to get myself organised.
Right, will do. I love the landscapes with moody skies. Will have another look and get in touch 🙂
I love the term “sociable enterprise” to such an extent that I find it hard to order my thoughts about it. I haven’t yet followed all the links in your piece; I’ll do that over the next day or 2. For these reasons, I’ll restrict my intial comment to this wooly attempt to transmit my positive feelings towards the concept itself and the weekly blog club in general!. Thanks for the mention of IslandGovCamp, and of John Popham’s excellent IslandGovCamp Odyssey: I’m hoping the each will have many of the characteristics of “sociable enterprise” which you highlight! (I’ll also be thinking about that collective term for the bus full of bloggers… )
Thanks very much for commenting Sweyn – glad you enjoyed the post. By the way, Weekly Blog Club welcomes new contributors – are you tempted?
Thanks, Mark 🙂 And I must admit that I was going to try to persuade Sweyn to join our club.