Anthropology, sociology and the psychology of humans, have all been subjects that fascinated me ever since I can remember. While I may have gotten my degree in business, most of my private reading revolved around these topics. Perhaps that’s why I’m so passionate about social media and how we can use it to improve government and society. Videos like this remind me why I write this blog, why I am involved in this community, and why I love spreading this viral knowledge to others. We are in the process of re-constructing the very nature of human social interaction and community building.  This goes way beyond technology. In fact, as I often mention in my workshops, technology is simply the enabler. Anyone can use this stuff, not just the geek next door. Technology is no longer a barrier. It will be interesting to see how all of this evolves as we begin to be overwhelmed with content and the need to filter based on relevancy. Will we slowly regress back to controlled dissemination of content? 

I came across an interesting new initiative launched by Jennifer Bell over at Visible Government the other day. The campaign website is www.ibelieveinopen.ca and was started to encourage federal government transparency. It challenges both candidates and voters to take a pledge for the upcoming federal election.

Candidates are asked to commit to five key improvements in government transparency, they are as follows:

1. Support reforms that increase government transparency and accountability.
2. Make campaign promises specific and measurable, and report progress on promises and their metrics at least semi-annually.
3. Publish the content of his or her daily schedule, including meetings with lobbyists and special interest groups.
4. Support reforms allowing free access to scientific and survey data gathered by government institutions.
5. Support reforms that make it easier for Canadians to obtain government information they have a right to know.

The campaign also calls on voters (measured separately) to register their support for the goal of increased transparency in their federal government.

When asked why she started this initiative, Jennifer Bell from Visible Government said:

“Few Canadians believe campaign promises, and even fewer know what their governments do on a day to day basis. Our goal is to open up government and let citizens see what their taxes are paying for”. Per capita, Canadians are the most web-savvy people in the world, yet our federal government isn’t using web 2.0 technologies to open up government to Canadians; It’s time to change this”.

I couldn’t agree with her more. As of September 25th, 2008,  51 candidates have signed up and 130 voters. What  I find particularly interesting, although not surprising, is that the candidates that signed up are either from the Green Party or the NDP.

How many Liberals so far? One. How many conservatives? Zero.

You’d think they’d have someone tracking the blogosphere for these kinds of things. Perhaps they do, but are focusing on responding only to big political blogs, which usually just beat their own drums or regurgitate campaign promises. Real democratic initiatives start small and are grassroots and organic in nature, like this one. They should not be ignored. For starters I challenge, David McGuinty (liberal) and Elie Salibi (conservative) from my Ottawa South riding to take the pledge. Let’s see if they are really listening…

You can overlay this data with worldwide statistics on blog usage, which Universal McCann (March 2008) found to be as follows:

• 184 million worldwide users have started a blog
• 77% of active Internet users read blogs

I found some of the demographic statistics to be particularly interesting. The most active blogging age group is 25-34 and 66% of the world’s bloggers are apparently male.

Be sure to read the full Tecnorati findings here. Is anybody else surprised at the male:female ratio?

Those of you that have been reading this blog for a while now, know just how much of an avid supporter I am of the unconference movement. This week I was once again blown away by the quality of yet another PodCamp, this time in Montreal (Podcamp Montreal 2008). While I’m not a big fan of the name for numerous reasons (often alienates non-geeks among other things), I am inspired by the passion of speakers and quality of content each and every time I attend.

I’m going to attempt something a tad different with this post by not summarizing this year’s speeches. Instead I will provide you with a condensed list of my top takeaways, thoughts and/or notes from each presentation I attended over the last two days. Please note that more take-aways do not necessarily signify better content (and vice-versa). I benefited in one way or another from each and every presentation.

Please don’t suck! - Sylvain Grand’Maison

• Be a storyteller when you present. Even boring stories can be made exciting!
• The aggregate online persona of a person can often be richer than a face-to-face meeting.

I am utterly stunned at the level of backchannel conference discussions occurring on Twitter nowadays (for conferences on nearly any topic…not just web). I am even more stunned as to how many organizations have no idea about it.

Here’s how you can get started:

• Step 1 is to create something called a hashtag for your event - usually preceded with a number sign (e.g. #marcom2008). If you don’t officially suggest a hashtag, someone else will likely create one for you (hence the word “backchannel”).
• Step 2 is to use Twitter Search to follow it. You can then do neat things with the rss feed like display your hashtag in a widget on your website.

Try following these (the first two are occurring right now or just ending so there are fresh updates every second):

• Social Media For Government Conference (#ALI)
• Web 2.0 Expo (#w2e)
• Interactive Advertising Bureau Conference ( #IABC)
• Democratic National Convention (#DNC)
• Republican National Convention (#RNC)

Leveraging this backchannel properly can give you much more presence (and buzz!) than your website, even if only a handful of people use it. Each post is like an entire targeted web page in terms of SEO. For more info, have a look at this blog post on Twitter I wrote last week. Have fun!

Technorati Tags: Twitter,hashtags,#ali,#web20,#iabc,#dnc,#rnc,backchannel,conference promotion,event promotion,buzz marketing

Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.

Okay, so I admit that I’ve been on the fence on this issue for quite a while now. Last year, I started off as a Twitter effectiveness denier, and then quickly found myself making use of it more and more (especially as new, sister-applications were developed). My own main use is simply “being in the know”. I love the fact that I find out about something AS IT HAPPENS. It’s a sense that not every type of person may appreciate, but it’s definitely worth something. Whether you like it or not, if you’re in communications or marketing, you may soon have no choice.

Consider these stats:

• 2.5 million monthly users
• Over 428,000 tweets a day
• Representation from nearly every country on earth

So what’s the big deal? Why should someone working in the government even care?

• These are conversations going on right now!
• You can easily filter, aggregate, and respond
• A single post can blow your PR release out of the water in terms of search engine visibility.
• The medium allows for amplification (via rss)

Tips to get started as a Twitter’ for a government department:

• Create a profile that clearly identifies you as an employee (e.g. JohnSmith@HealthCanada). You can have a separate “personal” account but I would recommend having one and one only since you should be speaking as a “human voice” anyway. Don’t forget to add a photo!
• Use Twhirl or Tweetdeck to manage everything and make your actual posts (instead of going to the web site). These apps are based on Adobe AIR, which essentially means they take very little system resources and are ridiculously easy to use.
• If you’re so desperate on time that you can’t even manage to write 140 characters, you can use Twittertise or Tweetlater to schedule Tweets if you do things on a regular schedule. For example, if your news release must go out everyday by 9am, have Twittertise send out a 9am tweet “Just posted a news release for Health Canada…” with a link. You even get to track responses and views.
• My personal favourite is of course Twitter Search which I use pretty much 90% of the time I’m doing anything related to Twitter. Use this to track what people are talking about RIGHT NOW! You can use specific keywords, names, or simply look at the trending topics if relevant. Note that once you enter a query and start browsing through the results, Twitter Search will post a little message mentioning how many new tweets were posted since you pressed enter. Type in Sarah Palin just for fun and see for yourself.
• Start following other government employees right now! (thank you Nedra Weinreich for reminding me). Here is a list of government Twitter users from the U.S and a list of U.K government Twitter users. I’m yet to find a Canadian list…perhaps I’ll make one myself one of these days.

Make no mistake, I fully understand that public sector organizations are in a different boat and have much more red tape and/or stagnancy than the private sector. However guess what? That doesn’t have to affect you! You can start using Twitter right now. As of now, it’s not blocked in most Canadian government departments and it’s free! As for communication policies, read over your employee contract, everything is there. The same rules apply as if you were having a dinner conversation or phone conversation with a concerned citizen.

That’s my two cents on Twitter for the day.  You can follow me at twitter.com/mikekujawski

By the way, the book they recommend at the end, “Groundswell“, is a must-read!

BarCampGov (Ottawa)

Date: September 5, 2008

Official Blurb: A great chance for Government of Canada employees to get together and talk about what they’re doing with social media and new technologies. Take the opportunity to meet others in communications, marketing, web development, design (and any other job description) to find some inspiration, some motivation and help build a community.

My Take: As a long-time government contractor and supporter of public sector marketing advancement, I am definitely looking forward to attending.  We have a rapidly growing social media community here in Ottawa, and a great big chunk of it is comprised of government employees. Why? Well, for starters, we’re a government town, but besides that , government service delivery is simply destined to be significantly affected by Social Media, it already is. Don’t believe me? Be there on September 5th and see for yourself.

Location: The Code Factory: 246 Queen Street, Second Floor, Between Bank and Kent. On the south side of Queen above the Green Papaya on the second floor.

Cost: $10

Social Media for Government Conference (Ottawa)

Date: September 15-18, 2008

Official Blurb: This conference has been researched with and designed for federal, provincial and municipal government managers, directors, analysts, leaders, officers, administrators, specialists, advisors, coordinators, staff, assistants & consultants involved in nearly every function of government. Several organizations are making dramatic strides in developing approaches and systems that work for them. The periodic sharing of these experiences and “best practices” is an important element in this social media evolution. That is why this forum, presented by the Advanced Learning Institute, is such a valuable opportunity to hear perspectives and share experiences of other professionals engaged in the “journey.”

My Take: At first I was a little hesitant about an American organization (Advanced Learning Institute) coming to Ottawa to teach Public Sector Professionals how to leverage social media. That being said, upon looking at the conference schedule, numerous familiar faces popped-up, which means that ALI basically chooses local experts as presenters in order to ensure relevancy to the audience. I do still feel it’s a bit pricey for the Ottawa market but hopefully it’s a success. The more we teach government how to use this stuff the better. Even if it’s just a few departments at a time.

Location: Delta Ottawa Hotel and Suites, 361 Queen Street
Ottawa, Ontario

Cost: $1699+

PodCamp (Montreal) 

Date: September 20-21, 2008

Official Blurb: This is a two-day podcasting and new media conference. PodCamp Montreal is based on a model which has been successfully implemented in cities such as Toronto, Boston, New York, Chicago, Perth and Berlin. Participants will include new media enthusiasts and professionals specializing in blogging, podcasting, Facebook, YouTube and social networking. PodCamp Montreal’s volunteer organizing committee includes some of Montreal’s top podcasting and social media specialists, such as Sylvain Grand’Maison, Julien Smith, Bob Goyetche, Mitch Joel, Jean-François Blais, Laurent LaSalle, Laurent Maisonnave, Hugh McGuire, Harold Boeck and Michelle Sullivan.

My Take: If you’re even remotely interested in the new media landscape, this is simply a must-attend event.  What I love the most about the PodCamp format is the job diversity of people that attend. You get everything from techies to marketers, from entrepreneurs to hobbyists, from business executives to public sector professionals…they’re all there. Best of all, this conference is collaboratively organized, allowing it to be free of charge, while at the same time gathering high quality speakers. Take a look at the PodCamp Montreal Schedule if you’re still unsure if this event is right for you. I will be making a presentation on current best practices and lessons learned in federal government social media engagement. I hope to see you all there!

Location: Pavillon de Design de l’UQAM.: 1440 Rue Sanguinet, Montréal, QC

Cost: Free

Mixx Canada Full-Day Conference (Montreal)

Date: October 6, 2008

Official Blurb: Knowing that the Interactive Media advertising landscape is changing at a faster rate every year, the new IAB Canada MIXX Canada Conference Series is designed to keep marketers and advertisers ahead of the curve, by focusing on leading-edge speakers, from both within Canada and around the globe.

My Take: IAB events are always a great networking opportunity and very informative. They tend to lean more towards the online advertising side as opposed to “strategic” marketing, however that comes as no surprise seeing as how they are put on by the Interactive Advertising Bureau of Canada. I have only ever attended the annual IAB Roadshows , however this year I made sure to register for the full-day conference. I should point out that this conference will also be held in Toronto a week prior to the Montreal event. Why am I going to the MTL one instead? I simply love “Beautiful Montreal” (as I’m sure Mitch Joel would agree).

Location: Montréal Marriott Château Champlain, 1 Place du Canada

Cost: $200 IAB Members;$275 Non-Members

So there you have it, four local and relevant conferences to attend over the next 9 weeks. The landscape sure has changed from a few years ago when Web 2.0 conferences were something you’d hear about once in a blue moon or through a thick grapevine!

Technorati Tags: PodCampMontreal,BarCampOttawa,Mixx,IAB,ALI,socialmedia,conferences,ottawa,toronto,montreal,events