At the Public-i user group on Thursday (1st of December 2011) I video interviewed Matt Bond, communications specialist at Cornwall Council.

It was good to catch up with Matt, who has been the lynchpin in Cornwall’s interactive meetings – manning the Cover It Live chat/blog that the council has been running to help citizens play a more active part in the democratic process.

In October and November Cornwall started to work with two newspapers websites – This Is Cornwall (owned by Northcliffe) and the Falmouth Packet (owned by Newsquest) – so they could host the council’s live blog and webcast on their websites. You can see an example of this here from This Is Cornwall.

As Matt explains, journalists can join the Cover It Live chat, which he moderates. He thinks the freedom (from strict rules of objectivity) that journalists enjoy helps them to stimulate debate in a way that isn’t possible for council officers. This, plus their understanding of what most interests the public about different subjects and the extra promotion they can bring, appears to boost levels of interaction and webcasting ‘hits’.

In fact, as Matt points out, live viewing figures in the two months before were at about 400 or 500, compared with something like 3,000 to 3,500 in October and November.

Here’s the video:-

Of course, the council is still able to set the rules of engagement, because he’s in charge of moderation. But Matt, a former journalist himself, says in the video that he accepts all comments as long as they are ‘constructive’ – and there appears to be a robust level of debate.

So can others follow?

I think I can see the benefits for other newspapers and councils of this kind of approach (and we know of several other councils now who are sharing webcasts with local newspaper websites). While councils benefit from the stimulation of debate and extra promotion, it’s also helpful for local papers who are looking for dynamic online content that will attract people to their websites, but won’t be a drain on time and money.

While some people might not think council meetings provide ‘dynamic online content’, recent events in Belfast suggest that this, at least, isn’t always the case – and any local journalist knows that council politics is a constant source of stories. As the number of journalists in local newsrooms dwindles, the need for maintaining a close and mutually beneficial relationship with the council increases. The sight of the reporter scribbling on the press bench in council chambers is now much less common than it once was – and the retreat of local newspapers from the hearts of their communities (often to out-of-town offices in industrial estates) means that papers are much more reliant on digital means to bring in stories and on councils providing digestible sources of news they can access quickly to generate debate and content.

At the same time, of course, we’ve seen this same shifting landscape provide everyone else an opportunity to join the party – so much so that some of the best reporting on council meetings is now carried out by unpaid bloggers who want to keep a closer eye on their politicians.

One question I didn’t ask Matt on the video was whether he would welcome bloggers hosting the Cover It Live and the webcast themselves – but his answer by email afterwards was an unequivocal yes. In fact, in recent months the council has gone out of its way to foster a relationship with bloggers – something Matt, his colleague Hannah (who took part in this interview about webcasts) and others deserve enormous credit for.

Tags:

• Connect
• Cornwall
• Falmouth Packet
• Interactivity
• Local Governement
• Online Communities
• piug11
• Public-i Products
• social web
• This Is Cornwall
• Transparency
• Twitter
• user group

I thought I’d get something up really quickly about the user group, which has just this minute finished.

You can see the interactive player here where you can see the comments and tweets for the moment and there will be an archived version to come soon (which I’ll announce here tomorrow).

It was a very stimulating day – with excellent conversations about all the issues. I now have two video interviews (and if I can I’ll get another) that will expound on some of the views shared today.

In the morning we heard from Lewis and Ady of Public-i about the development road map. Several key issues were shared, and a lively debate insued!

• We are looking at access control – and the issue of a pay gate was mentioned. This brought up a number issues, around the commercialisation of council assets and, in particular, how it might be possible to create a ‘revenue-neutral’ model of webcasting.
• We are going to look at how we might be able to help councils to develop these ideas further – and I’ll try to keep people informed on this when there are developments.

The next session was from Dr Lewis – who answered technical questions (many questions!). I won’t go into separate issues yet – because it’s right that Lewis does, but this was a really good session – and there were some good suggestions coming from those watching online as well as in the room.

After lunch we had a great two-hour session on the issues of councillors using social media – in particular, how we might encourage counillors to use twitter and other SM in the future as part of the democratic responsibilities.

Some of the key points:-

• Tim Cheetham told us that councillors can’t – given average age and other factors – always be well acquainted to social media.
• We heard, also, that it’s important to give guidance but not expect to be able to train councillors. As Lesley Blue of Camden pointed out, we don’t train them to talk!
• Lesley shared the guidance for councillors using social media. We heard there are several prominent tweeters among the members. The general feeling was it was best to let them get on with it.
• It’s also important to emphasise why you’d be invovled, as Tim pointed out, rather than the how. Essentially, he said, it’s a sales job.
• This led on to a discussion about the politicality (if that’s a word) of councillors, who are inevitably political – but as we heard can’t make political comments on publicly funded websites, even though MPs can.
• Wilma Wilkie from Cambridgeshire County Council, told us (online) that their experiences supported the view that it was difficult to train councillors formally, but informal help was useful.
• Several people echoed views that we are seeing a shift now in the use of social media – and that there’ll be a tipping point soon! What might be important is to have prepared and dealt with the issues before that tipping point comes.

This has been written very quickly and I know that I’ve left off a few things – so please chip in on the comments if you have anything you feel I should add!!

Thanks to everyone who took part today and there’ll be more to add quite soon, I’m sure.

Tags:

• blogging
• Budget Consultations
• Facebook
• Hallam
• Local Governement
• piug11
• piug2011
• social web
• Twitter
• user group
• webcasting

I thought that a quick post to give you some idea of just how we’ll keep those who are not going to the User Group on Thursday up to date with proceedings might go down well. The response to the event has been excellent – and I know a lot of people are looking forward to it now (and the mince pies, obviously), and I hope we’ll get some people who watch and take part online in what is set to be an interesting day’s activity.

The plan will be familiar to anyone who took part in May when we held the last User Group. As well as (of course) webcasting the event, I’ll be manning a Cover It Live blog – to give you a different perspective of what’s happening in the room and to allow you the chance to contribute to the meeting by either commenting on the Cover It Live or tweeting in using the hashtag #Piug2011.

(More details when the player is up! And I’ll tweet out plenty of times – and send emails – to keep you informed).

I’d encourage people to try to get involved if they have some time – and I’m happy to pester the speakers and the panel throughout if you’ve got a burning point to make or an important question to ask! I’ll be monitoring both the blog and the hashtag – and generally chipping in with points as the day proceeds.

As our last post on the User Group pointed out, we’ll be concentrating in the panel discussion towards the end of the day on how councillors are increasingly using Twitter in meetings – and what councils should (or shouldn’t) do about this.

It’s become something of a contentious issue – as some councils have looked to develop policies over members’ use of social media, while others have chosen to ban it altogether from the chamber. With such differing approaches around, I’m hoping for a lively debate!

Tags:

• Local Governement
• piug2011
• social web
• Twitter
• user group
• webcasting

We’ll be holding (as previously announced) our next user group event on the 1st of December. It’ll be at the Hallam Centre, which was the venue for our last earlier this year – and proved most agreeable, I think, to all who could be there. We’ve already had 31 confirmed attendees – but don’t worry if you’re keen to come, there are still more places!

Rather than blather on I thought I’d simply give you the agenda, as planned, for the event and then talk briefly about what we’ll be doing…

10.30am: Arrival and tea and coffee

11am: Start of user group – with a presentation on the development road map for Public-i. We’ll be inviting suggestions on the road map at this point, so come armed with questions and ideas!

12pm: Dr Lewis’s surgery and best practice exchange - this is the usual opportunity for you to get your technical questions answered.

1pm: Lunch

2pm: Panel discussion - this will be about councillors’ use of social media – and, in particular, how do we get members communicating online more effectively. We’ll be asking: What are the real limitations around social media use by members – both during and around meetings? And: How can you explore ways to remove these barriers and get members communicating more effectively online?

4pm: Any other business

Who is coming?

Confirmed: We’re glad to welcom Simon Hill, the democratic services manager at Epping Forest, who will be our chairman.

Councillor Tim Cheetham, Labour member at Barnsley MBC is a prolific tweeter – as anyone who follows @cllrtim will know. His blog, now closed, was named one of the top 30 councillor blogs by Total Politics in 2010 and he is an outspoken and well-known politician, whose use of Twitter and social media should provide plenty of material for the panel discussion.

Lesley Blue is the committee services manager at the London Borough of Camden. She’ll know all about the changing demands of councillors and social media in the chamber – as the council’s meetings are now home to several actively tweeting members.

There are one or two others that we’re hoping to announce, who we’ll keep under wraps for the moment, but we’ll of course, be benefitting from the presence of our chief executive, Catherine Howe, both as part of the day’s proceedings in general and the panel at 2pm.

Social media: We’ll be covering the event with a webcast and social media and I’ll try to announce more details on that, early next week if not before. The hashtag on Twitter is (as before) #Piug2011.

Want to come? Get in touch with Jane Purcell – on email: jane.purcell@public-i.info or call 01273 821 282. Or just comment below and I’ll make sure it gets into the right hands.

Are we missing something? Have you got a burning subject you’d like to talk about that you think fits in here? Just add a comment below and we’ll do what we’ll try to include it.

Tags:

• blogging
• Catherine Howe
• Hallam
• Local Governement
• Online Communities
• piug2011
• social web
• Twitter
• user group
• webcasting

Like very many local authorities in the UK, Liverpool City Council is facing tough times as it looks to deal with a serious funding deficit.

On its website, it lays out the stark facts of the challenge: On top of the £91 million it has to save this year, an additional £50m must be found in 2012/13. While the council is dealing with the first year (it says through cutting inefficiencies, removing performance-related pay, reducing senior managers and offering voluntary redundancy to more than 900 staff), it is now turning its attention to finding that further £50 million.

Council Leader Joe Anderson said it has led Liverpool to the conclude it now needs an even greater level of transparency in how it deals with its budget – and it has taken the unprecedented step of webcasting meetings between councillors and officers, which the public would never normally have the chance of seeing.

He says: “I feel it is essential to make sure that the public have access to these meetings at this time. Given the level of cuts that have to be found as a result of the government’s allocation, the decisions that are going to be made are going to be very difficult and we need to make sure that people can see the care being taken to ensure the council arrives at reasonable decisions.

Liverpool has launched what it’s calling the ‘Your Services, Your Say’ budget consultation and has decided to screen live and in archive all the budget working groups and elected-member briefings that the council holds as part of this process. Up to 10 meetings in total will be webcast, over the next few months.

“As well as that there are the other meetings that will already be public, including question times, stakeholder events and consultation events that will be taking place as part of the formal process,” Cllr Anderson says.

So far, Liverpool has webcast two meetings – a members’ briefing and a working group. While the viewing figures are modest – more than a thousand in total – both meetings are available to watch and make particularly interesting viewing. As Cllr Anderson makes clear at the beginning of the first councillors’ briefing webcast, there is a determination to ensure the process can be viewed in full by everyone in Liverpool.

Obviously, at Public-i we think this is a courageous move – and there’s a forthright exchange of views on the implications of this from Cllr Anderson and Cllr Steve Radford, leader of the Liberal Party group on the council about the decision to do this in full public view (which is within the webcast below). But what is of greatest importance to the council is the impact this will have on public engagement in the budget process – at a very sensitive time for Liverpool – and the council is also using a ‘Your Choice’ game to help people understand the decision-making process.

Cllr Anderson says that he thinks interest from the public will grow – as the process develops over the next few months and he’s very pleased with how this initiative can help the council with its reputation and in retaining the public’s confidence in its ability to deal with a difficult times. “I think it opens up a different line of communication for us because, while we’re still holding meetings it is available to a much wider audience and we are [therefore] making ourselves very accessible.”

He also says the council is so pleased with the impact that it is already having that it has led to conversations about how webcasting might be used by the council in the future, finances permitting.

We will let you know how things go…

Tags:

• Connect
• Joe Anderson
• Liverpool City Council
• Local Governement
• Public-i Products
• social web
• webcasting