Robert Ouimet

Bigsnig Media | digital content

Arts Office Workshop

Notes from the Arts Office sponsored workshop on social networking at the Lynn Valley Library on Wed. June 8 and Sat. June 11.

There’s a PDF of my slides you can download here.

Please feel free to add your comments in the comments section, and if I’ve missed anything let me know and I’ll update.

Key Concepts

Social media

  • is a conversation – engage instead of broadcast.
  • loves a good story.
  • requires a content strategy – mine your organization for content – text, images, video.
  • extends your circles – the circles grow over time, not overnight.
  • is personal.
  • includes e-mail.

June 8th Workshop links:

Case study:
Kneehigh Theatre UK

Facebook
Twitter
YouTube
Flickr

Publish to various networks:

HootSuite for managing updates to multiple social media accounts. A real time saver, and you can create a variety of tabs to customize it to your taste.  A free version and a premium version.

E-Newsletter software via the web:
ConstantContact
MailChimp
ExactTarget

Donate, fund raising:
Paypal.com
Registered charities can use CanadaHelps.org

Website Content Management Systems:

WordPress is free.  Amazingly extensible and feature rich.  You’ll need web serving and a database.  The WordPress.org site outlines exactly what you need and even recommends some service providers.

On Wed. Rob mentioned SquareSpace.

Barb from the Arts Office mentioned Small Box, a Victoria based company that has their own proprietary website content management system.

On Wed. we talked about a tiny HD video camera – GoPro HeroHD. Check North Vancouver mountain bike shops, they stock them.

Things we didn’t get to but you might want to use:

URL shortening:
we didn’t talk about this but handy when you want to add a link to a Twitter post. Takes a long URL and makes it short.

Bit.ly .  Register for free to get metrics.

Event ticketing/invites:
EventBright

Oh, and the Chocolate Blog:  ChocolateApprentice.com

There’s also an iPhone and Android app to help you find chocolate wherever you are.  And it’s free . Details here.

John Ralston Saul – Podcast

“We start to accept that ridiculous language in which citizens are referred to by politicians and administrators as clients.

We’re not clients of government.

We own the government, it’s our government.

There isn’t a single thing of government which we don’t own, how could we be clients ?

And we aren’t buying shoes, we’re talking about the rights of citizens within their own society.

We’re not stakeholders, we’re citizens.”

– John Ralston Saul, speaking at the PLAN 20th Anniversary evening at Christ’s Church Cathedral in Vancouver, November 20, 2009.

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John Ralston Saul is an award winning novelist and essayist, and one of Canada’s most outspoken champions of freedom of expression.

His most recent book is called The Collapse of Globalism and the Reinvention of the World. It’s just the latest in a series of best selling works that have been translated into 22 languages and sold in over 30 countries.  Earlier this year he become the first Canadian to elected president of International PEN, the association of writers devoted to defending freedom of expression.

John is also the patron of PLAN (Planned Lifetime Advocacy Network),  and he was the featured guest speaker at PLAN’s recent 20th Anniversary celebration in Vancouver.

I was asked to record the evening, and you now can hear the John’s keynote here:

John McKnight and Peter Block – Podcast

20091122_tyze_front_200I recently had the opportunity to interview John McKnight and Peter Block  – the first time these two men have been interviewed together.

The interview was done for Tyze.com and PLAN Institute for Caring Citizenship, and was released this week as  part of the newly revamped Tyze website, which also features video content I created for Tyze.com.

These two men are known around the world for their work in community development and citizenship empowerment.  Having the opportunity to meet with them was extra exciting for me. When I was first started out as a consultant, Peter Block’s book Flawless Consulting was in invaluable resource – and I return to it when I’m finding challenges in my work.

Here’s the podcast created for Tyze.

John McKnight’s landmark books on community development include Building Communities from the Inside Out: A Path Toward Finding and Mobilizing a Community’s Assets, and his series of articles collected in The Careless Society.  He’s a professor of Education and Social Policy at Northwestern University in Chicago, and co-chair of the Asset-Based Community Development Institute at Northwestern.

Peter Block is best known for his book Flawless Consulting: A Guide to Getting Your Expertise Used, and is the author of number of other best selling books including Stewardship: Choosing Service Over Self-Interest and The Empowered Manager: Positive Political Skills at Work.

Peter’s most recent book Belonging: The Structure of Community, has been called “the most important intergenerational book of our time”.

Runs 19:05

For more on John McKnight’s work, visit the Asset-Based Community Development Institute website. You can also read more about his work on the  Northwestern University website.

You can find out more about Peter Block’s work on his website.