NLab: creativity and collaboration

Amplified Leicester: A citywide experiment in social media

We're very excited to announce our new project, Amplified Leicester. Funded by NESTA Web Connect, it's a city-wide experiment to:

• explore diversity and innovation
• build a network across diverse communities
• create, share and develop new ideas
• use social media like facebook and twitter as an amplifier

Find out more at the website. If you live in Leicester and you'd like to participate, do get in touch for information on how to apply. 

Commission available for a small social research survey. Deadline for proposals: 10am Mon 8th June 09

NLab's CreativeCoffee Club Leicester has been running for about eighteen months, meeting alternate Wednesdays during term-time. Since the Club started there have been some dramatic changes including the global economic situation, and an explosion of local and national networks and social networking tools.

We would like to commission a social researcher to conduct and analyse a short telephone survey of CreativeCoffee Club members. The work must be completed by 13th July 2009, and carries a fee of £1250.

We are looking for a researcher who:

• has excellent telephone and organisational skills
• has previous research and report writing experience
• is proficient with basic functions in SPSS (eg frequencies, cross tabs)
• ideally, has some knowledge of small businesses, social networking and social media

If you're interested in this opportunity and can meet the deadlines, please email Professor Sue Thomas immediately for more information.

Remember, time is short and proposals must be received by 10am Monday 8th June 2009.

Fun at Amplified08

Photo courtesy of Billy Abbott

Very interesting time at Amplified08 yesterday, hosted by NESTA. I couldn't resist the session entitled "come and play, have fun" and I ended up playing some impro ball throwing and catching games (not real balls), and trying out the co-creation exercise that led to the pictures above.

 
Photo courtesy of Billy Abbott

Here's a picture of everyone gathered together for the mid-way whole group session and feedback from some of the workshops. Amplified08 managed to be that hardest of things - both well-organised and remarkably relaxed and informal. The event was put together and run by a host of people, and their enthusiasm, energy and goodwill was infectious.

Photo courtesy of Phil Campbell

Sessions were organised, hosted and facilitated by Amplified08 participants. If you had something you wanted to say, a topic you wanted to explore, you just signed up in advance on the wiki. On the day, you selected your time slot and space (boardroom or pod?), and anyone who was interested joined you. Many of the sessions were filmed (link to follow), and you can see the results along with a host of other cultural products. Here's the instructions for finding the 61+ pages of Twitter comments (tweets) made by people about the event:

Many of the tweets will include links to blogs, pictures and videos.

The next Amplified event takes place in February 2009 - register your interest on the wiki if you are interested in getting news (remember to include your e-mail address) or follow @shanitomorrow, @suethomas on Twitter. The timing of the event was 4-8pm - very handy for people from Leicester wanting to take advantage of cheap travel.

Success Factors for CreativeCoffee Club

CreativeCoffee Club has been going for about a year now. Local groups have met in London, Leicester, Liverpool, Bangor, Palo Alto and New York. The Leicester group has been especially successful, meeting consistently over the year with steady participation from local small businesses and visitors from further afield.

One of the great things about CreativeCoffee Club is that it doesn’t cost any money. It’s about finding a convivial, accessible spot in a local coffee bar or similar, arranging a time and date and letting people know about it – and Facebook has worked really well for that. I like the variation of the different groups – some meeting now and then, others, like Leicester, meeting more frequently.

I guess that, ideally, CreativeCoffee Clubs need to meet fairly regularly to enable relationships to grow over time, and to provide frequent opportunities for members to engage – not everyone is going to be able to make every time. Here are some of the factors that have influenced the success of the Leicester CreativeCoffee Club:

- Pre-posted events going forward for 2-3 months
We’ve gone further this year, and planned events for the whole season. My reasoning is that people know just where they are and can plan CreativeCoffee Club around other things. Posting the events well in advance means that members can add themselves to the guest list for a later event, even if they can’t make this one.

- Invites sent out at least 2 weeks before
This has probably been the most complex aspect of organising local chapters of a global Facebook group. Even with the introduction of mailing lists, we still haven’t got this quite right. However, what does seem to be important is the regular rhythm of invites for people to take or leave as they wish.

- Close proximity to/links with a large institution (De Montfort University)
Meeting within the DMU campus has certainly brought added value for CreativeCoffee Club Leicester. Members become aware of other resources available through DMU, and project managers have an informal, easily accessible way of connecting with local small businesses.

- Central location
It works in Leicester – people can travel into the City Centre easily, there’s local parking, and no one is making out of the way journeys. In a big city like London, I suspect it’s more complex and more difficult to find a focus. Wi-fi would be nice.

- Core of 4-6 active local members
There are different roles that need to be shared: organising events, getting the word out, encouraging people to come, meeting and greeting, introducing people to each other, and having enough people around to engage in conversations. Four to six people can share the work nicely and, hey, you look like a group already!

I’d be really interested to hear other people’s ideas and experiences, and especially, how the members of CreativeCoffee Club globally could get more value from each other.

Bioteams and Twitter at NLAB Social Networks Conference.

 

*** STOP PRESS *** Stunning Interactive Poll results from NLAB Social Networks Conference. Q1 Would your work team be better or worse if it organised itself more like your favourite sports team? - Only 7% say it would make things worse! Q2 Does Twitter (and other such tools) distract from work and is it worth it? -  Yes it does but Yes it is!

Does this bring back fond memories of the conference? Read the rest at Ken Thompson's site...

nlab social networks conference - flickr photos

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Know Before You Go!

Registration is closed but who is coming? Here’s your chance to greet other delegates before you meet at the conference on the 19th of June. Click 'Comment' (below) and tell us a bit about yourself - why you’re interested in coming to the social networks conference, what you hope to gain, or, just tell us a joke. Do make sure you add a link to your blog or website and feel free to add a photo.

Looking forward to meeting you all!

Back to Twitter

Fans of mine (yes, I know you are there) will remember that I've written about Twitter several times before. It started with First Experiences, then the sequel Mobile Twitter, nicely rounded off with Twitter Favourites.

Well, I'm back to let you know about the Twitter stream we've started for the Conference. Called nlabnetworks, you'll be able to join Twitter and follow the latest news and updates about the Conference. More than that, you'll be able to start contributing your ideas and thoughts, and interacting in a social network around the Conference.

If you're new to social networking, Twitter, and what it all means, and you've been feeling just a little bit diffident about how to get started, this is a really great way to start dipping your toe in the water.

Many of our speakers are also on Twitter, so you can start to engage in conversation with them long before the Conference. Or if you don't feel ready for talking, you can start by listening and reading the Twitter stream. Here are just some of our speakers you can follow:
Jim Benson, Steve Clayton, Roland Harwood, Shani Lee, Toby Moores, Vijay Riyait, Sue Thomas. You can also find Josie Fraser who will be running one of the workshops and Jess Laccetti who is part of the NLab team responsible for organising the Conference.

Some of our Conference delegates are also followers of the nlabnetworks Twitter stream - join Twitter to meet them and to start sharing creative ideas.

You might also be interested in another use of Twitter: freesuukyi08 is an online campaign for Aung San Suu Kyi.

What have you noticed about how Twitter is used? How have you used it yourself?

How Do You Make Conferences Worth the Trip and Time?

Great post from Kevin Purdy over at Lifehacker asking 'How do you make conferences worth the trip and the time?'  He writes: How do you set goals or keep focused on getting something worthwhile out of your time at conferences and seminars? What kind of must-have goods do you bring? Do you plan to meet certain people ahead of time, or are big gatherings a chance to play it by ear? Let's hear your advice, war stories, and suggestions in the comments.

And he gets some good comments, such as this from Vered: 'I like to set up a specific goal of approaching, talking with, and exchanging business cards, with five people per event. Once I accomplish that goal, I can retreat back to my hotel room, or, if the food is good and I'm not suffering too much, I sometimes choose to stay.'

And this from floydolson: 'At the very least, speak up during the question-and-answer portions of the program. A couple of times, I've learned more from audience members asking questions about their real-life experiences than I have from the speakers themselves' Floyd adds 'Afterwards, when I caught the person in the bar, I was able to compliment them on the questions they asked, and we started sharing war stories. That was a nice way to network, and added a lot of value to the conference for me.'

Here are my own tips for making conferences worth the trip:

• make sure you bring plenty of business cards to give out, pay attention to the cards people give to you, and follow them up when you get back to the office.
• mealtimes, including conference dinners, are excellent networking, so don't sneak out to make phone calls or to catch up on your email instead of eating. Get yourself a plate and ask your fellow diners to tell you about themselves.
• when asking a question from the floor, always give your name before speaking. Someone you met online before the conference may be wanting to speak with you - this is a quick and easy way to show them that you're around.
• finally - connect with other delegates before the conference if you can. The comment thread to this post is an ideal way to start!

Does your small business have 1,000 True Fans?

Kevin Kelly, former Wired editor and web innovator, has a proposition designed to help monetise creative work. He writes:

The long tail is famously good news for two classes of people; a few lucky aggregators, such as Amazon and Netflix, and 6 billion consumers. Of those two, I think consumers earn the greater reward from the wealth hidden in infinite niches.

But the long tail is a decidedly mixed blessing for creators. Individual artists, producers, inventors and makers are overlooked in the equation. The long tail does not raise the sales of creators much, but it does add massive competition and endless downward pressure on prices. Unless artists become a large aggregator of other artist's works, the long tail offers no path out of the quiet doldrums of minuscule sales.

Other than aim for a blockbuster hit, what can an artist do to escape the long tail?

One solution is to find 1,000 True Fans. While some artists have discovered this path without calling it that, I think it is worth trying to formalize. The gist of 1,000 True Fans can be stated simply:

A creator, such as an artist, musician, photographer, craftsperson, performer, animator, designer, videomaker, or author - in other words, anyone producing works of art - needs to acquire only 1,000 True Fans to make a living.

Does your small business have 1,000 True Fans? Read the full article here.

FSB National Conference - Opening

The Annual Conference for the Federation of Small Businesses opened today in the Novotel West London, with a rousing speech from John Wright, National Chairman. Speaking to a packed conference hall of 750 delegates, John reported on the growth of the FSB since they last held their National Conference in the City in 1985, when they had 35,000 members.

Standing at 211,000 members the FSB is the largest independent business organisation in the UK, probably in Europe, bigger than the combined membership of the Confederation of British Industry, the Institute of Directors and the British Chambers of Commerce.

The FSB has a growing reputation with national and local politicians and the media, and this has been reflected in their success in lobbying Government. Notably, the FSB persuaded Government to change their minds on Capital Gains Tax resulting in savings of £200 million pounds to small business owners. The FSB has also worked closely with the Scottish Parliament, the Welsh Assembly and the Government in Northern Ireland, and importantly, with the EU, helping to promote the benefits of easier trading across borders. Developing the FSB office in Brussels will become of increasing importance for lobbying, as much of the legislation that affects small businesses starts in Europe.

The theme of the Annual Conference this year is "Small Business and the Environment" and FSB research demonstrates that small businesses are already overwhelmingly socially and environmentally responsible. Many businesses are already engaging in waste reduction measures, reagarding it as simply good business practice. John declared that the FSB  and its members, small businesses, are leading by example, and challenged the record of the Government on its approach towards the environment.

John asked whether closing a 1,000 rural post offices was good for the environment; and equally whether encouraging out of town retail developments with a lack of public transport, and supermarkets with unlimited car parking, vegetables freighted around the world and high street shops closing was good for the environment. He stressed the role that local small business people could play by turning up at surgeries and giving MPs and Councillors a hard time on these (and many other) issues.

Turning to the future, John spoke of the rough ride predicted for the coming year. However, he emphasised that continued lobbying was essential to protect and promote the interests of small businesses. Not least in this is highlighting the important contribution small businesses make to the UK economy, and the important social role they have in sustaining local communities, and creating local jobs and services. The 4p increase on a pint of beer announced on Tuesday in the budget would do little to stop binge drinking, but would stop people going to the local pub, which often provided a vital social facility for communities.

Continuing the social contribution that small businesses play, John spoke of the FSB's Keep Trade Local, launched at a mass rally on Thursday 13th March. The Campaign has many elements, not least with predicted world shortages of food, the importance of protecting and supporting the UK's farmers and food producers. He queried the unfair competition that exists, unchallenged by the Competition Commission, where 200,000 small retail businesses are forced to close down every year. To a rousing round of applause, John asked whether we wanted to have true choice in the UK, rather than be led by the nose by multi-nationals deciding what you get.

Regional and local government and the public sector generally weren't let off the hook either. Public Sector procurement could be made easier, contracts disaggregated to enable small, local businesses to compete. As this reflects the Government's social policy for regenerating deprived and declining areas and which has been the case for many years, I find it difficult see why we're not further along the road on public procurement. Too hard, too messy, too protected?

The FSB is fundraising for the Princes Trust this year, an organisation which supports young entrepreneurs, many from deprived backgrounds. David Dexter, droll Conference Chairman from Lincolnshire, imposed sanctions on mobile phones during presentations by telling Conference that the owner of the first one to ring would be "fined" a £20 donation as part of the fundraising efforts.

David, who gave Parish Notes at the start of the day ("there are no practices planned, so if the fire alarm sounds, there is a fire), had many stories of life in Lincolnshire with which he interpersed the airline style housekeeping notes of where to get coffee, smokers on the terrace only, please, and do get out of the building if you hear the alarm. The only one I can remember is, "in Lincolnshire, our kitchen is so small that we can only buy ready-peeled bananas. But that's life in Lincolnshire". I liked his little stories and their absurdities, and his deadpan delivery.

John Wright, FSB Chairman, has been invited to visit Afghanistan, where he will be meeting some of the 1,000 reservists and territorials serving there. The FSB has been asked to go there and see for themselves the work carried out by volunteer service people, and to highlight the important role that employers, small businesses, can play by releasing employees to carry out these duties.

From The Guardian, 6th March 2008: Why are there no spam or trolls on Twitter?

In this illuminating post Kate Bevan explains why Twitter is relatively spam free and why it remains, for the moment at least, and pretty much uniquely on the web, "an idiot and spam-free zone."

Foresight and Innovation

A fascinating presentation from Bill Cockayne at LIFT08

Bill talks about the process of innovation and the relationship between ambiguity and time during the process. In the early stages, ambiguity is very high, ideas are free-floating and activity is conversational and informal. Bill talks about people "wallowing" in conversation, absorbing and reflecting until gradually an idea begins to become more concrete and less ambiguous over time until eventually there is a product ready to be shipped.

He moved on then to talk about the differents sorts of roles (and I suspect, different personality types) that are needed at different stages, and also about the challenges that come about in the tranisition between different stages. He concludes by offering some ideas about how we can nurture and develop the different roles to ensure the whole creativity and innovation process is supported.

The presentation is about twenty minutes long, and well worth fetching a cup of coffee for.

Toby Moores will be speaking about the trajectory of an idea from an ill-formed thought to a fully-formed product at the NLab Conference if you're interested in exploring these ideas. He's also started blogging over at the CreativeCoffee Club website, and you can follow him at Twitter.

Tools of Change for Publishing Conference, New York, 11-12 Feb 08

This conference is obsessed with social networks, and so it should be. It's packed with print publishers trying to figure out how to convert their one-to-many model for the new market where, as Douglas Rushkoff says, 'contact is king'. According to Rushkoff, what makes the net different is that it offers the chance to socialise and to break down the barriers of mass media which were created to intermediate - to put something between people e.g. buying their oats from a company called Quaker rather than, as in the past, from Joe the local miller. The same thing happens with TV, which has increasingly split families into people sitting alone in different rooms of the same house. And lone individuals buy more because the purchases are substitute people. I'm blogging this over at PART - please do call in to read the posts.

The Web Mission for UK entrepreneurs

Here's a great opportunity for UK entrepreneurs who've always wondered what's so special about California. The Web Mission is taking 20 UK Web Entrepreneurs out to Silicon Valley at the end of April this year. The point is to enable the successful entrepreneurs to build relationships with great people in the US and to explore opportunities for their companies. The Web Mission is supported by UKTI (UK Trade and Investment),  Microsoft and Make Your Mark (the National campaign for enterprise). It’s organised by Oli Barrett (also found at http://dailynetworker.co.uk ) and by Polecat.

If you're a UK entrepreneur then apply for this fantastic opportunity.

LIFT 08: First Thoughts

A busy lunchtime on the first formal day of the LIFT08 Conference, the place is buzzing, people are taking the spare chairs from my table to sit with friends and I can finally get on the wireless internet connection. I guess no network can take 750 conference delegates suddenly wanting to sign on!

Geneva is a fabulous city, with a population about two thirds that of Leicester but with a very different feel. The geography is different with the huge lake and the surrounding mountains, but more than that, you are conscious of being in a European city, an International European city. My lunch companion yesterday was telling me that over half the population are non-nationals, and many of them carry not just two, but three passports. There is a large British enclave, who, in a city where most people rent, are buying their homes - in the English way. The city has a British University and two British drama  clubs.

There is a wonderful open feel to the city with large public squares and gardens, and an excellent (and free to visitors) public transport system. I've arrived to unusual sunshine. Normally, Geneva is sheathed in cloud cover, with the city emptying at weekends as everyone races to the mountains above the clouds to enjoy some winter sun.

There are many grand buildings with balconies and shutters, but not too far behind the main streets are small courtyards, rather more run-down and housing the flotsam and jetsam of everyday living - the bins, a small playground, a seat or two and the odd small tree reaching up to the scarce sun. Some are given over to parking with tiny access streets requiring skillful negotiating, and inevitably colourful graffiti adorns any building looking vaguely empty.

Geneva is a small city and easy to get around. My hotel is within two minutes walk of Gare Cornavin and the tram stop. Yesterday, Sandra Wendland, another LIFTer staying at the same hotel, showed me how to use the trams, and with some pride I made my own way home. It was easy getting from the Airport to the Hotel, too. Taking a taxi, I was intrigued to see the woman driver had her handbag sitting openly (and open) on the front passenger seat. What kind of city is this, I thought, where a woman is not obsessed with personal safety and security?

The feel to the Conference is similar. Yesterday was a day of workshops held at the University. I felt transported back to being a student myself. The carefree-ness and instant friendships that one makes, the easy come and go as you chat with some people and then move off to meet others or go to a workshop or a walk or a coffee. People are open to talking, and have responded kindly to bossy entreaties to "Come and sit here with me".

This morning I chatted to Hamish Campbell,an independent web tv journalist, who had been in one of the workshops with me yesterday. When he decided to interview our companion, Khaled Bazzi, in the coffee room, I went across to introduce myself to Yann Mauchamp, another workshop participant who made some interesting and, to me, infinitely alluring, comments about laziness. Just now, as I am writing, Yoshiko Kurisaki has come across to say hello and pass the time of day.

Both Hamish and Khaled are here looking for partners. Both are involved in small businesses - and at least one of them is a social enterprise, I would say. Khaled represented one of the businesses showcased at the Venture Night yesterday evening. "LIFT is a rare opportunity for entrepreneurs to make the right connections and take their project to the next level."

Yesterday, my first day here, I attended two workshops, each spread over half a day. They were excellent - very different from each other and very challenging, but exhilarating and stimulating and fascinating. I'll blog about each of them separately, but let me finish by saying that if you're a business that's concerned about building creativity and innovation into your business in a structured way, you could do worse than come to LIFT. I recommend it!

Twitter Favourites

This is my last post about Twitter for a while. I’m leaving soon for the LIFT08 Conference in Geneva, so I’ll be busy telling you about lots of other things while I’m there.

But back to Twitter. I’ve talked about some of the basic things you can do (here and here):
1. Post short messages in answer to the prompt question “what are you doing?”
2. Follow other people who interest you and read their short posts (“tweets”)
3. Update and receive your tweets by mobile phone.

I’m fairly new to Twitter. Although I opened my account last November, I didn’t start experimenting with Twitter on a daily basis until around about the New Year. I wasn’t sure what the point would be.

I've mentioned one thing I've learned: being able to start conversations with people like Chris Hambly (you can read about how Chris’s communication patterns have changed and become almost cost-free).

And I’ve talked about how a small voluntary club is using Twitter as a speedy, low-cost way to keep their members informed about last minute arrangements for club activities.

The other great thing that I’ve gained from Twitter is a sort of news–stream. It’s a bit like tickertape, little messages come speeding through, alerting me to different things that are happening. These are some of the things I’ve first learned about through Twitter in the past month:

1. Microsoft offers 44.6 billion dollars for Yahoo.
2. US bank rates lowered to stave off recession.
3. Robert Scoble thrown off then re-instated on Facebook
4. The row about Scrabble
5. Tom Hodgkinson’s Guardian article about Facebook

As well as links taking me directly to each of these stories (all supplied by other Twitterers in their 140-character posts), they’ve been accompanied by Tweets with other people’s comments and observations, and links to blog posts where they are being discussed.

So, in five minutes three times a day, I can scan Twitter and pick up important news items and links to further information. But I don’t have to read these straight away. I can “favourite” key tweets and they are saved for me until I have time to follow them up properly. On one hand, I quickly find out about key stories, and on the other, I can collect information about them to read when it suits me.

So Chris is saving money, and I am saving time.

If you’d like to try Twitter, follow me and I’ll follow you. You can also follow Jim Benson, one of our speakers at the NLab Social Networks Conference.

Mobile Twitter

In my previous post, I was talking about getting started on Twitter and two of the things you can do with it. These are publishing short messages up to 140 characters and choosing to “follow” other people.

There’s another feature of Twitter, which makes it very versatile, and increases the ways in which you can use it. As well as publishing tweets (your short messages) on the Twitter website using a computer, you can also update them directly from your mobile phone.

It’s a simple operation to get your mobile phone number verified. You can also choose whether you want Twitter to send you a short message after 24 hours to remind you to send a tweet and update your followers. Even better, you can tell Twitter not to send messages to your mobile phone between certain hours, for example, when you might be asleep.

In addition, you can choose if you would like to receive updates from people you follow to your mobile phone. You can choose each person individually, so you might choose to receive updates from some people you follow, and not others.

One organisation, a sailing and motor boat club, is using this feature to tell their members about informal last-minute sailings. Often, more experienced members make last minute decisions about sailing based on the weather, and tides, and who is available to go. This means that it is often difficult to include newer or less experienced members because there has been no easy, low-cost way to share the information quickly.

Now, using Twitter, one member can send a tweet about an impromptu sailing from their mobile phone, which is then quickly and cheaply distributed to other members who have chosen to receive messages.

Other people have used Twitter to get the latest information about travel conditions. For example, they have tweeted that they are about to make a trip from north to south London. Followers might reply and tell them to avoid Trafalgar Square or that there are roadworks in Euston Road.

These are just two ideas for mobile Twitter. I’d be really interested to hear how other people are using it, and especially ideas about how small businesses might use it.

If you’d like to try Twitter, follow me and I’ll follow you.

You can also follow two of our conference speakers: Vijay Riyait and Steve Clayton

First Experiences: Twitter

I enjoyed finding Twitter recently. I had known about it for some time, but couldn’t imagine why I would want to know what anyone was doing at any moment of the day. Then, one of our NLab partners, Vijay Riyait, posted his twitter profile url in his blog and I went to investigate.

My early experiences were a mixture of delight (so simple, so playful) and violent frustration (having learned how to do it, how do you engage)?

For anyone who hasn’t joined yet, Twitter has several easy neat things you can do. I'm just going to talk about two here:

Twitter asks you the question: “What are you doing?”
You can reply by posting a small message with up to 140 characters, including spaces.

You can find and follow other people. Others can also find and follow you.

I started by going to Vijay’s profile and adding myself as one of his followers. This means that Vijay’s miniposts will show up in the stream of posts on my page. Then I had a look to see if I knew anyone that Vijay was following. Sure enough, there was Sue Thomas and JP Rangaswami. I’ve been following JP’s blog about information, Confused of Calcutta, for about six months now.

I wasn’t quite sure how I was going to use Twitter, but it seemed to be about making and joining in conversations. I’ve been on Facebook for a while, and although it has some useful features (more about those in another post) I wasn’t engaging in conversations as I had expected.

Deep in my Facebook “friends” were people I had come into contact with through obscure or tenuous means because I was interested in knowing more about them and what they did - but it just hadn’t seemed to happen through Facebook.

One of these was Chris Hambly. Twitter seemed to offer new opportunities for creating links and conversations and sharing ideas with him. Sure enough, up popped Do You Fall for Buzz Words? helping me to think about social networking processes and skills.

If you’d like to try Twitter, follow me and I’ll follow you.

x-posted from Shani Lee