I’m a social media evangelist. There, I said it. Thant wasn’t too hard, I think I will keep going with this label as it describes me to a T. I’ve just watch Clay Shirky, a NYU professor and noted author (on the social and economic effects of Internet technologies) talk about how social media has changed everything about the world. His artful and entertaining 15 minute TED talk has got me stirred.
The Internet used to be a one way vehicle, usually controlled by experts, now it’s many to many where people can by by pass censors and publish their view of the world. He uses the earth quake in China as an example, but given the historic political upheaval occurring in Iran, that country could also be used as a great example that exemplifies his points.
What I especially liked in this talk was his reference to social media as being the primary vehicle for convening and supporting groups (both on & off line). In York Region, there is a lot of interest and emerging plans for local networks and alliances such as the United Way of York Region, the York Region Alliance to End Homelessness, and the Linking Georgina group to convene groups around important community matters.
In York Region there is much convening work ahead as we address social disparities, our fragile support systems and the disconnections experienced by so many individuals and organizations. So I invite you to tap into a bit of social media evangelism take a few minutes out of your busy day and listen to Clay Shirky.
I attended the Annual General Meeting for the Character Community Foundation of York Region a few days ago. I was very taken with the speech given by Pier Giorgio di Cicco, poet laureate for the City of Toronto. Until attending this meeting I felt rather ambivalent (skeptical) about the Character movement that school boards, municipalities, community groups and business sector groups seemed to be embracing.
I was ambivalent because I never felt that talking about these character traits would bring about change. Now I see that it’s not so much the character trait words but the conversations that embody the change process as individuals evolve as people of character, for better or worse. By talking and celebrating character we can bring more to life the qualities that make us more generous and benevolent as humans. I also understood that by shifting the language more to character conversations, we can address deep systemic issues that keep us stuck in negativity.
I had a fantastic trip downtown to the MaRS Centre last week. It was an evening where NetChange Week and the Social Tech Training 2009 conference merged. I attended STT 2008 conference and as mentioned in other posts, this experience led to my decision to reinvent myself as a social media consultant for non profits.
When I received a notice from the STT 2009 conference organizers (World of Change) that the NetChange Week was partnering with Wired Wednesday to feature keynote speakers from STT 2009, I dropped my other commitments and took the better way into the “big smoke”. I enjoyed all the presenters, plus the great networking and catching up with my STT 2008 colleagues.
I am a huge fan of OCASI, the Ontario Coalition of Agencies Serving Immigrants. They have a wonderful site full of great networking, advocacy and support tools for their members, users and the general public. I am re-posting a complete article that outlines the Toronto Teen Sex Survey.
Suffice to say, this study is a great example of community based research were young people not only conducted the research but were involved with dissemination of the findings. The video of the research project is so illustrative of the power of social media (video) to convey complex issues through engaging story telling.
In York Region there are so many issues that can be presented through video, photos, audio or interviews. My work in this area is just beginning. The more I talk with organizations, particularly youth organizations, the more I hear the interest and willingness to use social media to involve consumers in meaningful community roles.
Despite the economic malaise across the country, I think innovation and creative thinking is on the rise as people look to new approaches to old problems. The young people and adult leaders responsible for this survey are clearly demonstrating what people can achieve when given the opportunity and support to address important community matters. Equally relevant is the value of facilitating activities for youth to seniors in projects where they can be innovative, expressive and just have fun creating stories in any form. Read more…
The official tag line was “How an Electronic Commons Can Help Us Tackle Poverty in York Region. To accomplish this virtual meeting space, the ABEL network from York University set up their cameras and microphones broadcasting simultaneously to 4 different sites.
Pathways for Children, Youth & Families held a strategic planning day on May 30th, 2009. This organization is one of the larger and more recognized organizations that work with at risk, homeless (or at risk of homeless youth). I was asked to make a short presentation on youth programming in York Region and the potential of social media as a tool for engaging youth.
Along with my presentation, the Pathways Board of Directors and senior staff heard from Jane Wedlock, Community Strategist for the York Region Alliance to End Homelessness (picture above).
I was very pleased to be asked to share my perspectives on youth programming and community development at the Pathways Board Planning day. I think that my recent work with Street Kids International in managing the Streetjibe learning community project has brought me some recognition for capacity building in our very under resourced York Region. Read more…
A social non profit is attuned, responsive and adaptive to the complex factors affecting its constituents and communities. In a social non profit there is an alignment between staff, services, governance systems and online communications. Social non profits value learning and innovation and believe in working smarter by using social tech tools to enhance communication, collaboration and learning amongst staff, volunteers, partners and service users. These organizations believe that strategic use of social media empowers staff, improves services and strengthens governance practices.
Recent and Current Projects
Faith Community
• Social Learning & Collaboration
• Return to Rural – Alberta;
• Film Development Council of York Region;
• Delisle Youth Services - Toronto;
• York Region Alliance to End Homelessness;
• York-Durham Association of Museums & Archives ;
• Streetjibe – York Region Youth Poverty Program, Street Kids International.
Contact
brent@socialmediatools.ca
Social Web Partners
I'm very pleased to have a number of very capable and talented consultants as friends and partners that work with me from time to time.
Alain Hurtubise (iAutomate.ca) designs and developments web 2. 0 platforms. Alain has over 20 years experience in web design and enterprise systems programming with large corporations. Alain's passion is paying it forward through his work with me in the non profit sector.
Peter Levesque's company, Knowledge Mobilization Works (based in Ottawa) is dedicated to building the capacity of people to create value through knowledge mobilization.
Mark Holmgren (Mark Holmgren Consulting - Edmonton AB) contributes his extensive organizational change expertise along with an array of social media integration expertise.
Social Media – a definition
Social media are works of user-created video, audio, text or multimedia that are published and shared in a social environment, such as a blog, podcast, forum, wiki or video hosting site. More broadly, social media refers to any online technology that lets people publish, converse and share content online. (via Socialbrite)
Social Learning – a definition
Social learning is participating with others to make sense out of new ideas. What's new about this is how powerful social media works together with social learning.
Marcia Conner, Tony Bingham: The New Social Learning, A Guide to Transform Organizations Through Social Media.
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