Birmingham City Council on Google+

Back in 2011 I attended an LG Communications conference in Coventry where the subject of Google+ came up. It was suggested councils start a Google+ page so we at least had the name registered. So I returned to Brum and that’s what I did. And then, well not a lot really. I added content pretty much as and when I posted content on the corporate BCC facebook page. And the number of people adding us to circles increased to 145. In twelve months. Wow.

But I persevered. And then something happened which I didn’t expect. In March 2013 Google emailed me and asked if I really was Birmingham City Council on Google+. After I got up of the floor (this also happened when Facebook rang me up) I said yes and we arranged a conference call.

Birmingham Pylon, Birmingham

It turned out Google were very interested in seeing if they could help us promote our page a little bit better and make us a good case study for local government. They started the process by verifying the account and giving me some tips on posting content. Then things started getting interesting.  A verified account is much easier to find on Google, it appears at the top right of the page when you Google search for BCC. This is great because not only is it very visible, it makes a great campaign box to promote key messages. And the number of people following us increased (a lot). 20,000 people had us in their circles by July and we have over 26,000 active users.

Unlike our Twitter and Facebook accounts which have a predominantly local audience, our Google+ page attracts worldwide followers. It’s an ideal tool for exporting the brand of Birmingham globally. I tend to post the same key messages as our other social media channels interspersed with more ‘touristy’ content of events and activities that promote Birmingham as a great 21^st Century city.

Content that works really well tends to be images (no surprise there) and also webcasts of BCC Council meetings, which give an insight into mechanics of local government and promote democracy. Also issues that affect everybody, like public health and environmental issues get a lot of interest. It’ll be really interesting to see how the account develops over the next twelve months.

by Guy Evans

Social Media officer at Birmingham City Council

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How brewcamps stir up innovation in local government

Pop-up cinema at Brewcamp

A few years ago a group of us put together HyperWM. It’s an afternoon unconference (no charge, no agenda) for people working in Local Government in the West Midlands to get together for a few hours and talk about stuff that matters to them.

It was a lot of fun to do and afterwards we were keen to maintain the enthusiasm and momentum that we felt had been initiated. We were also a bit knackered afterwards and quickly reviewed our initial thoughts of making it a three or four times yearly affair.

So instead we alighted upon the idea of running a regular event that was a little bit smaller; something that only needed us to find a coffee shop or similar venue who were willing to accommodate us and a few interesting people to talk or lead a discussion.

From this rather vague specification we came up with the idea of Brewcamps, an idea we adapted from the Teacamps that were started by Jeremy Gould in 2008.

The evenings can be quite loosely structured. They are very informal but are consistent in their themes of coffee, cake and conversation. Each camp will have three people who agree to lead a session each. This may involve talking about an interesting piece of work someone is doing; asking for help with something or leading a discussion on a topic of interest.

We don’t have many rules

NO POWERPOINTS (this is pretty much our only rule)

You don’t have to be an expert to lead a session at Brewcamp and we often encourage people who don’t think of themselves as being experts to talk. We’re very keen for Brewcamps to be listening and supporting environments where people have the chance to explore new ideas.

We’ve always arranged things online and as of writing this we’ve put on three unconferences and a dozen brewcamps without being constituted or having a bank account (although we do have a Google group, an Eventbrite account and a website or two)

One of the ways we try to keep fresh is by moving the venue around and we’ve held Brewcamps all across the West Midlands. If you haven’t had the chance to come to one yet then do get in touch and who knows, we might pitch up in your town for the night.

by

Si Whitehouse,

a freelance web developer and former implementation manager at Digital Birmingham, Birmingham City Council.

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Unconferences and how they generate innovation in the West Midlands

Localgovcamp, Birmingham

There has been an explosion of bright ideas in local government in the West Midlands.

It’s been powered by the social web and sees people freely give up their time to talk about how they can do a better job.

The driver of this revolution in thinking has been the unconference.

People are not waiting for permission. They’re scraping together enough money to stage an event and they’re using the internet to plan it and then distribute free tickets.

There is no agenda. There is no death by powerpoint. Job titles are left at the door and anyone can put up their hand at the start of a session and pitch to run one.

Why? You put bright people in a room and bounce ideas and the chances are you will come up with better ideas.

What’s best about those with a  public sector spirit is a willingness to share and collaborate. That just wouldn’t happen in the private sector.

But it would be wrong to think that this was powered solely by people in local government.

At an unconference chances are you will find a blogger, a librarian and a police web manager kick around an idea.

Ideas throughout Best by West Midlands have their origins directly or indirectly through an unconference.

There is a direct link between the West Midlands’ ability to stage an unconference and its position on the cutting edge of innovation of social media in local government.

When did all this start? For many it was when Dave Briggs stood up at Fazeley Studios in Birmingham with 120 attendees at localgovcamp one Saturday in 2009.

From that the first of three annual Hyper WM in 2010 which has been staged in Oldbury, Walsall and Warwick.

Librarians have staged a camp. So have museums people. There has been a CityCamp in Coventry which looked at real solutions to on-the-ground problems. There was commscamp too for communications people. The NHS had one too to look at health and digital.

The regular brewcamp meet-ups also come from this shared approach. The events are held in cafes who are willing to accommodate an extra 20 customers or so, start at 6pm and are ticketed by using eventbrite which people can sign-up to online. Three topics are decided upon in advance at the discussions are led around those subjects with the opportunity for people to chip in and debate.

The unconference approach has been the driver for the social media innovation in the West Midlands. Not only are ideas shared and shaped but a broad network is built of people who are passionate about the places they live and the job they do.

by Dan Slee,

Senior Press & PR Officer for Walsall Council,

Co-founder of Brewcamp and HyperWM

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