BlueLight Camp: Post of posts

BlueLight Camp Word Cloud

Planning for BlueLight Camp 2013 is well under way, and more information will be published about the event on the BlueLightCamp site shortly. In the meantime, I thought it worth highlighting some of the articles written about the first BlueLight Camp, held in April 2012. I’ve included a short extract from each post. We’ll be drawing on…… Continue reading BlueLight Camp: Post of posts

A local GDS, for Local People

Are you local?

In case you aren’t familiar with it, GDS is the acronym for the Government Digital Service, which was set-up by the Cabinet Office to ‘transform’ government digital services. GDS is responsible for – amongst other things – the single government domain. Some concern has been expressed that GDS is ‘hoovering-up’ local digital talent, but it’s generally…… Continue reading A local GDS, for Local People

The rise of the unconference

An unconference is a participant-driven meeting. The term “unconference” has been applied, or self-applied, to a wide range of gatherings that try to avoid one or more aspects of a conventional conference, such as high fees, sponsored presentations, and organisation. This film, from TheInformationDaily.TV takes a look at the rise of the unconference, with a…… Continue reading The rise of the unconference

Unconferences: Good, Bad or Ugly?

This is the second part of a joint effort by Sasha Taylor and Mark Braggins. In this post we talk about two topics we’re finding difficult to keep entirely separate: #lgovsm (a weekly chat on Twitter for Local Gov social media folk) Unconferences (in particular, variations on Local / GovCamp) We’re struggling because #lgovsm was the…… Continue reading Unconferences: Good, Bad or Ugly?

Reflections on events

Over the last year or so I’ve attended a bunch of ‘unconference’ events. In this post I thought I’d take a look back at some of them. All events have something worth sharing, and most I’ve attended have had shed-loads; I’ve therefore got in to the habit of blogging about them. Recent examples include: Event site Blog…… Continue reading Reflections on events

Puffin Island (IslandGovCamp)

Puffin word cloud from Tagul

There was barely a cloud in the sky during the whole of IslandGovCamp. Gorgeous weather prevailed throughout. In the absence of real clouds, I decided to make one instead and make it colourful and interactive. Most of the words are clickable and lead to further information. It’s only a gimmick, but might briefly entertain and /…… Continue reading Puffin Island (IslandGovCamp)

BlueLightCamp: Weekend Camping (Pt1)

First thing in the morning on Sunday 15th April there was barely a cloud in the sky above Manchester. The sun shone, the sky was blue, and I was off camping.  It was a few miles walk to the camp site, so I left my hotel early to make absolutely certain I was there on-time.…… Continue reading BlueLightCamp: Weekend Camping (Pt1)

A ‘Sociable’ Enterprise?

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…… Continue reading A ‘Sociable’ Enterprise?

Camping without the tents: UK GovCamp 2012

I spent Friday and Saturday in London at UK GovCamp 2012, or #UKGC12 as it’s known on Twitter. It was an “unconference” with no prepared agenda. If you aren’t familiar with unconferences, Steph Gray gives a good description in his November 2011 article in The Guardian. It amazes me that so many people are willing to give…… Continue reading Camping without the tents: UK GovCamp 2012