NLab: creativity and collaboration

How to Book a Workshop

There is only time to attend one workshop.
Click through to the workshop you want to take part in and add a comment below the description.

Please note that the "Integrating Social Networking with Your Website" workshop can take a maximum of eight participants only.

Dealing with the Negative:
What to Do When Social Media Bites You
Jim Benson

We will discuss some examples of ways social media brings out the dark side of human nature. Scathing reviews, snap judgements, misinterpretations.  How can you, as a small business, protect yourself from damaging content?  This workshop will examine ways to guide the conversation, to learn from poorly delivered messages and mitigate damages.

Integrating Social Networking with Your Web Site
Sean Clark

Fed up with uploading the same content to multiple social network sites? Want people to visit your main Web site as well as find you on Facebook and YouTube? Through the use of widgets, RSS feeds, HTML code snippets and JavaScript you can integrate content from social networks with your main Web site site, both reducing the time it takes to update your Web site and increasing your chances of being found on the Internet.
   .

Weblogs vs. Social Networking Services:
A Practical Workshop for Businesses and Entrepreneurs
Josie Fraser

This workshop will look at the strengths and limitations of using weblogs and social networking services, and the advantages of and differences between the two. The workshop is a hands on tour, giving delegates a taste of the opportunities web-based services offer individuals and organisations for profile raising, reputation management, networking, and connecting with customers.

How Can Business Benefit Be Derived From Social Networking?
Stephen Peak

This workshop will engage participants by using cognitive mapping to address the question “How can business benefit be derived from social networking?” Working together participants will generate ideas, options and scenarios for the use of social networking in business. This will be a lively interactive session designed to give tangible benefit to all involved.

Can we be familiar strangers? Rethinking the language of customer relationships through social networks
David James Ross

Some businesses have clients and others have customers - do you know the difference, beyond that clients seem to have more money? Bands call their customers fans, and football clubs call their customers supporters. In online social networks our potential customers - or our leads, prospects, browsers -  can become friends with us, but are they really friends, or are they 'familiar strangers'?  In this interactive workshop, you'll explore different kinds of business relationships in social networks. 

Search Engine Optimisation and Social Networking
Angie Stokes

Search engine optimisation is a must in today’s competitive Internet environment. Small businesses who don’t have the online marketing budget are finding that it is vital to optimise their websites in order to be found in the organic searches. Search Engine Optimisation helps you to achieve this. There are lots of ways in which you can improve your SEO for your business website. Join Angie Stokes, an IT consultant and Business Link adviser specialising in web development and search engine optimisation, and explore the steps you can take when you build your site and look at the possibilities open to you through social networking. It will delve into social networks such as Facebook and MySpace and investigate some of the less known networks.

Building Better Web Communities
David Terrar

Can organizations build web communities with predictable success? This workshop calls on our experiences of building ion (the institute online network) - a collection of web based communities for members of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. We use this case study, combined with direct experiences and research, to provide a set of guidelines to help you start and manage a successful and sustainable web community.

A Model for Sustainable Community-Based Networks:
From the Cradle to the Grave
Helen Whitehead

The first social network I created – 10 years ago now – was for a classroom of 8-year-olds. Based on years of experience with communities and networks from children to artists to academics to entrepreneurs, I and my colleague from Reach Further have developed a model for developing self-financing and wealth-generating networks. This recognises that facilitation of community-based activity is key, over and above the one-to-one interactions afforded by social network systems. Workshop participants will devise real-world scenarios to exploit and test the model.

Search Engine Optimisation and Social Networking

Search engine optimisation is a must in today’s competitive Internet environment. Small businesses who don’t have the online marketing budget are finding that it is vital to optimise their websites in order to be found in the organic searches. Search Engine Optimisation helps you to achieve this. There are lots of ways in which you can improve your SEO for your business website. Join Angie Stokes, an IT consultant and Business Link adviser specialising in web development and search engine optimisation, and explore the steps you can take when you build your site and look at the possibilities open to you through social networking. It will delve into social networks such as Facebook and MySpace and investigate some of the less known networks.

Angie Stokes works as an IT consultant and Business Link adviser specialising in web development and search engine optimisation.  Angie also delivers some of the Business Link Regions Start Up Offer workshops for new business.   Her interest in social networking started when researching how children were using the internet and developed into a appreciation for the business possibilities could be created using the social networks.  Angie has a special interest in accessibility and helping to plan an event later this year looking at accessibility and the Web.  www.fourthinking.co.uk

To book for this workshop, add a comment below.

Building Better Web Communities

Can organizations build web communities with predictable success? This workshop calls on our experiences of building ion (the institute online network) - a collection of web based communities for the ICAEW member network - as well as other communities powered by WordFrame, and the available research material. We use this case study, combined with direct experiences to provide a set of guidelines to help you start and manage a successful and sustainable web community.   

David Terrar heads up D²C, a consulting firm which provides social media consulting and Software as a Service, or web based solutions for content, collaboration, web publishing, and online accounting. In addition he is Executive Director of ITBrix LLC, the software company that creates WordFrame, the web publishing and collaboration platform for building better web communities. He is on the advisory board of SocialMediaTodayLLC. David has been in the software business for over 20 years. Following an Applied Physics degree at UCL, he spent 9 years with IBM. He then performed director and senior manager roles at Cyberaid, CSI, IMI/Brook Street Computers, Interactive, DataWorks, Indus, Science Systems and CODA. David writes the Business Two Zero blog about applying web 2.0 technology, SAS tactics and guerrilla marketing to business, and is a member of both the Enterprise Irregulars and Social Media Today blogging groups.

To book for this workshop, add a comment below.

A Model for Sustainable Community-Based Networks: From the Cradle to the Grave

The first social network I created – 10 years ago now – was for a classroom of 8-year-olds. Based on years of experience with communities and networks from children to artists to academics to entrepreneurs, I and my colleague from Reach Further have developed a model for developing self-financing and wealth-generating networks. This recognises that facilitation of community-based activity is key, over and above the one-to-one interactions afforded by social network systems. Workshop participants will devise real-world scenarios to exploit and test the model.

Helen Whitehead is a Web 2.0 and elearning consultant, writer and researcher specialising in the facilitation of online communities. She has worked with schools, colleges and universities, the National College for School Leadership, creative industries, arts & literature, and a variety of business sectors. She runs the consultancy Reach Further Ltd. with Liz Cable. Helen's current projects include Kids on the Net - a network of young writers and teachers that recently celebrated ten years on the Web; ELESIG - a community of practice for learner experience researchers in HE; a community of expertise for the UN; and a network portal for business entrepreneurs.

To book for this workshop, add a comment below.

Can we be familiar strangers? Rethinking the language of customer relationships through social networks

Some businesses have clients and others have customers - do you know the difference, beyond that clients seem to have more money? Bands call their customers fans, and football clubs call their customers supporters. In online social networks our potential customers - or our leads, prospects, browsers -  can become friends with us, but are they really friends, or are they 'familiar strangers'?  In this interactive workshop, you'll explore different kinds of business relationships in social networks.

David James Ross works as a business trainer and consultant with creative, knowledge-based and graduate businesses, and teaches Branding and Marketing on degree course in Commercial Photography, Film and Video and Web Design at the University of Derby. His interest in social networks dates back to his degree in Anthropology, whose insights now inform some of his current work in marketing and online business. http://www.makingcreativitypay.com

To book for this workshop, add a comment below.

How Can Business Benefit Be Derived From Social Networking?

This workshop will engage participants by using cognitive mapping to address the question “How can business benefit be derived from social networking?” Working together participants will generate ideas, options and scenarios for the use of social networking in business. This will be a lively interactive session designed to give tangible benefit to all involved.

Stephen Peak is the Head of Corporate Development at Leicester Business School. His career spans retailing, transport, distribution and warehousing within the utility and construction sectors, culminating in the role of Group MD. He returned to education as a post-experience student at Leicester Business School where he successfully gained both his MBA and a role to create a department to build a knowledge bridge between the University and Business. This department has grown from strength to strength over the past 9 years, evidenced through an increase in clients, staff, the programme portfolio, student numbers and pass rates. Stephen has an extensive knowledge of Leadership and Management issues and has published several business management books.

To book for this workshop, add a comment below.

Weblogs vs. Social Networking Services: A Practical Workshop for Businesses and Entrepreneurs

This workshop will look at the strengths and limitations of using weblogs and social networking services, and the advantages of and differences between the two. The workshop is a hands on tour of sites, giving delegates a taste of the opportunities web-based services offer individuals and organisations for profile raising, reputation management, networking, and connecting with customers. We will look at a range of blogging tools and social networking services, including Facebook, YouTube, Flickr, Ning and Twitter - helping participants to target and identify the services and practices that most suit their business needs.

Josie Fraser is a UK-based social and educational technologist and blogger, currently working as an independent consultant. She has worked at local, regional and national level promoting and developing the effective and innovative use of ICT and e-learning design, delivery and policy. Working with Government, national agencies and international service providers on a variety of projects, she is primarily interested in social participation and engagement, e-safety, media literacy, personalisation and web 2.0. She works in online community research and development, serves on several national and international advisory boards, and manages the Edublog Awards (the annual international awards programme for educational bloggers). SocialTech Twitter

To book for this workshop, add a comment below.

Integrating Social Networking with Your Web Site

Fed up with uploading the same content to multiple social network sites? Want people to visit your main Web site as well as find you on Facebook and YouTube? Through the use of widgets, RSS feeds, HTML code snippets and JavaScript you can integrate content from social networks with your main Web site site, both reducing the time it takes to update your Web site and increasing your chances of being found on the Internet. This hands-on workshop will show you how to integrate your FaceBook, Flickr, YouTube, last.fm and other social networks with your Web site without having to be a Web programmer. Attendees are welcome to bring a copy of their Web site with them on a laptop, or may want to ensure before attending that they have access to update it via the Internet. Roughly half the workshop will be presented, half will be hands on. People need not be technical, but should have at least an awareness of how Web pages are constructed and how to use social network sites.

Sean Clark is a Director of Web companies Cuttlefish Multimedia Ltd and Calico Interactive Ltd and arts organisation Cuttlefish Digital Arts. His broad interest is in the creative uses of digital technology. In his commercial work he is interested in social networking, mobile multimedia, Web 2.0, collaborative computing and location-aware information systems. In his arts work he is interested in systems theory, emergence and representations of flow and connectedness. Sean has had a varied career that has seen him work in academia, commerce and the arts, and he is comfortably able to move his focus between the three. He has written many research papers and magazine articles, and currently documents his creative activities on the Cuttlefish Blog. Sean can be contacted by e-mail at seanclark@gmail.com or by telephone on  +44 7939 587231

To book for this workshop, add a comment below.
Maximum: eight participants.

Dealing with the Negative: What to Do When Social Media Bites You

We will discuss some examples of ways social media brings out the dark side of human nature. Scathing reviews, snap judgements, misinterpretations.  How can you, as a small business, protect yourself from damaging content?  This workshop will examine ways to guide the conversation, to learn from poorly delivered messages and mitigate damages.

Jim Benson runs the collaboration consultancy Modus Cooperandi.  He enjoys helping people create the least cost tools that achieve the greatest gain.  Jim has over 20 years experience in community creation, technology application, social psychology, management and leadership. His passions are thinking, talking and eating. He blogs about all three, as well as social software, at http://ourfounder.typepad.com.

To book for this workshop, add a comment below.