Category Archives: Uncategorized

TRIAL NOT ERROR: Why every organisation should have Trojan Mice

Okay, confession time: I try my absolute hardest to avoid books on social media.

Books on climbing? Yes. Books from self-styled social media ninjas? no thank you.

One of a few that stands like a shining beacon is the excellent ‘Organisations Don’t Tweet, People Do’ by Euan Semple.

I’ve lost count of the number of people I’ve recommended this hardback work to. Even if you don’t go out and buy it you can take something from the title.

One of the reasons why I’m rather keen on it is that it strikes a chord with some of the work we’ve done.

One example that Semple comes up with is ‘Trojan mice.’

In other words, in an organisation do lots of little things to see where they end up and if they work without shouting about them to the world. Or senior management. He writes:

“Conventional initiatives are like the more familiar Trojan Horse. Big, lumbering, slow moving. It takes a lot of people to move it and it is very hard to get it to change direction without a lot of effort.

“As we deployed low cost small tools and kicked off little initiatives at the BBC we began to describe our approach as deploying Trojan Mice, a metaphor borrowed from British consultant Peter Fryer.

“Set up small, unobtrusive inexpensive and autonomous tools and practices set them running and cajole and nudge them until they begin to work out where to go and why.”

It’s an approach that in spirit chimes with Dave Briggs’ line about JFDI – Just Flipping Do It.

Thinking back, some of the things I’ve done have worked well. Others haven’t. None of them we’ve made a big noise about from the word go.

Of course, there is the argument from some PR people that everything – Trojan Mice and otherwise – has to be linked up to a campaign with objectives, key messages and things to measure. I’m just not so sure about this. This feels like trad comms sellotaping itself to the new stuff and forgets that fact that to make this new stuff work you have to embrace the fact it’s a conversation.

With Trojan mice you can make some mistakes. Do five things. If two work, tell your bosses’ boss about them and see how you can nurture them elsewhere. Even the quiet failures you can learn things from.

Creative commons credits:

Trojan horsey http://www.flickr.com/photos/antichrist/112016740/sizes/l/

Mouse http://www.flickr.com/photos/daniel_gies/5458918139/sizes/l/

TIMELINE: 12 tips after three years of blogging… and some reflection

“Of course,” said John Lennon in passing, “the problem is we’re bigger than Jesus.”

Always put the most eye-catching quote in the first par of a feature is indeed a handy trick to know.

It reels the reader in and makes them want to read on. Same for pictures too. Get something arresting and witty.

Two things I’ve learned over three years as a blogger. There. Now they’re yours.

Only thing is, a Beatles quote and a picture of an exploding car doesn’t work when it’s a reflective piece. Unless, of course you use them as a device to get people reading and keep them reading by offering blogging tips in amongst the reflection.

Tip three:  Have a very understanding partner who doesn’t mind you hammering into a laptop when she’s watching the telly.

Tip four: Don’t worry that your first few are rubbish. It’s the law.

Now for some reflection. Three years ago I started to blog to add to the debate and conversation. There were many people I admired and respected and very few of my contemporaries are still at it. Many have moved on and are now turning their talents to other things. Realising this made me feel a bit lonely. Every blog has a lifespan. It made me think of what this blog’s timeline would be. We Love Local Government was a blog that was a cornerstone on the digital landscape. Speaking to the people behind it Glen Ocsko and Gareth Young a while back I felt a burning sense of kinship.

“Sometimes you really don’t want to write something,” one said “but you sort of have to because you’ve set yourself this deadline. Which is mad because it’s all self-imposed.”

Tip five: Write where you feel comfortable. In a chair. On the train. At the kitchen table. Vary it if it helps. But give yourself a weekly deadline.

One lapsed blogger Ingrid Koehler drifted through my timeline today. Ingrid used to work at the IdEA. It’s criminal that her talents have been lost to the public sector. She is responsible for some great work and much of it stands the test of time. Like her Connected Councillors guide, for example.

Ingrid used to collect case studies and blog them insanely early the morning. It was one of the many inspirations for comms2point0 a blog about comms and PR and an idea that Darren Caveney came up with that I sprinkled some hundreds and thousands on.

I spoke to another lapsed blogger today too. Sarah Lay is still passionate about what she does but has taken a conscious step back from writing.

We spoke of how the great mountain of work and case studies on digital innovation in local government has been produced in people’s spare time. In my corner of the allotment, it’s about public relations and communications.

We also spoke about how you can only go so far to embed good digital practice by out-of-hours work and unconferences. We’ve both thought at one time or another that they were the golden bullets.

We agreed that if local government is serious about mainstreaming change then the bright sparks doing the innovation need to be able to have room – and funding – to create and share the best practice sweets.

Tip six: It doesn’t matter what you write about is niche. It’s your niche and you’ll be amazed at how you’ll find fellow travellers.

On a lighter note, three years on and Hyper WM is going from strength to strength. A loose collection of local government people help run it. This time, Sandwell Council chief executive Jan Britton and officer Liz Onions have chipped in and former Birmingham City Council officer Si Whitehouse is taking a lead this year. The first 50 tickets went in 24-hours. If you want one go here. Quickly. It makes me feel quietly proud something that was quietly floated on this blog  following a Eureka conversation with Si Whitehouse has taken root with help, love, dedication and cake from a bunch of others. A handful of people read that blog post proposing it. But the good thing was that several of those that did wanted to come and wanted to help. That’s the beauty of a blog post. It circulates an idea cheaply.

Tips seven to ten: Write about things you are passionate about. Write one every week. Post what you write on Twitter and add the #weeklyblogclub hashtag for a ready made audience.

Since I started there are new bloggers in and around local government whose work I love. There’s comms officer Stuart Macintosh from Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council, Ross Wigham head of communications at Northumberland County Council, London social worker Ermintrude2, Carolyne Mitchell in Scottish local government and from the US Jim Garrow who is doing some brilliant stuff. Matt Murray in Brisbane Australia is doing some great stuff with photography. Kate Hughes does housing comms really well, Helen Reynolds of Monmouthshire County Council writes some cracking stuff in Shropshire Jon King  and Kate Bentham  are doing some brilliant things as is Phil Jewitt at Leeds City Council while the weeklyblogclub initiative skippered by Janet Davis is a constant source of good content.

Whatever the future holds for me I’m sure that it will be in part because of the work I’ve done and shared. I’m certain of that.

Tip eleven: Compfight is a brilliant tool to search for creative commons pictures for blogs (especially ones of people smiling which draw you in.)

Tip twelve: Don’t write too much. A few hundred words will do. That’s why I’m ending this post here.

Around 3,000 people read this blog every month which is slightly mad. If you’ve read, commented, shared or taken something from any of the 120 posts I’ve written in the last three years from me to you: ‘thank you’.

Creative commons credits

TWITTER OLYMPICS: A survey of what 1,393 tweets say about the London Olympics build-up

A world united in sport? Or an Olympic army of occupation that is taking over London causing tailbacks and mayhem? What’s the truth of it?

Taking a look at a snapshot of tweets some surprising facts emerged.
Using a tweetreach report on the #olympics hashtag that covers a three hour period just after rush-hour on Monday July 24 four days before the games started more than 1,300 tweets were analysed. They were not limited to a geographical area.
Yes, it was a bit tedious going through them all and yes, some of the results are a bit surprising. It’s also cross-posted on Comms2point0. 
This could never be a definitive study of opinion. For that more detailed evaluation and market research would need to be done. But what it does show is a snapshot of what Twitter was thinking in the run-up to the Olympic games over a three hour period.
Each tweet was assessed and graded as being positive, negative or neutral – the standard press office monitoring yardstick. I also kept a check on how many complained about LOCOG or the policing of the brand guidelines.

Headline findings

  • 37.8 per cent of tweets sent were positive about the Olympics.
  • 36.0 per cent of tweets sent were neutral about the Olympics.
  • 26.2 per cent of tweets sent were negative about the Olympics
  • 6.5 per cent of tweets sent were critical of the commercialisation or emforcement by LOCOG of brand guidelines. They’re counted in the overall negative list.

Overall:

  • More than 4 million accounts were reached by the tweets.
  • More than 6 million impressions were made by the snapshot – that’s all the individual tweets added up.
On the face of it, just after rush hour on the Monday morning before the event starts may well be a low point in the run-up to the games. It’s Monday. The event hadn’t started yet and none of the razzle of the opening ceremony had begun to kick in. Athletes were still getting to grips with the traffic.

The top three tweets

All three of the top tweets from the survey were classed as negative with the third using the hashtag of the far right English Defence League – the EDL.

But some things are were striking…

Critical tweets. To have a quarter of tweets in the #olympics hashtag with four days to go would show a surprising degree of dissatisfaction. But with the event yet to start there is still time to change things.

Dissatisfaction with LOCOG. To have 6.5 per cent critical of the commercialisation of the games and how LOCOG are enforcing the rules is a significant number for a non-sporting issue. But while the issue is big in some quarters it’s simply not amogtst many.

LOCOG not engaging. LOCOG are not engaging with Twitter criticism and the Olympics Twitter account with more than a million followers is just tweeting a handful of times. Surprising when there is so much to communicate.

Brands are not engaging with the #Olympics hashtag. The main sponsors – McDonalds and others – were absent from the snapshot of tweets.

Excitement. There is genuine excitement amongst many people that the games are almost here, that they are in London.

Is hashtag crashing the new guerilla marketing? A handful of smaller companies are using the #Olympics hashtag to target the event. Accomodation companies, bookmakers and others are tweeting using the hashtag.

Athletes. For the first time at a big event competitors themselves are having a large say.

A cross-section of tweets in the run-up to the event tells a limited story. But it does show some pointers. With the Olympic movement not connecting with social media the conversations and chatter are clearly being shaped and dominated by those outside the corporate VIP area.

There is also much excitement ahead of the games – the majority of tweets are positive.

It will be fascinating to see how it pans out.

A snapshot of tweets…

Postitive, negative, LOCOG bashing and hashtag squating…

NEXT DIGITAL: The two next steps for social media in an organisation

So much in life you can learn from The Simpsons.

Remember when Homer addresses the lynch mob with an impassioned speech and they’re so impressed they want to make him Mayor and ditch Mayor Quimby?

If only local government was that simple.

If only it took a good argument to change the world.

Actually, real life is a bit more complicated.

Back in late 2008 I started to see that my job was going to get turned on its head by social media. In 2009, at events such as localgovcamp there was a real messianic zeal of those who to get these channels embedded.

We made the case. We argued that we’d need to change what we did. We weren’t alone in this. Some exciting innovation took place. Much of it JFDI – or just flipping do it. We experimented and along with other comms teams we changed our culture.

Social media should be at the heart of what we do in comms. It should be shared and it should see frontline officers on Twitter using their own voices. But this is just the start.

We need better social media customer services…

Carolyne Mitchell, of South Lanarkshire Council, posed the question of local government comms being at a cross-roads with social media. She’s right. She  quite rightly asked if social customer services is part of the next step. It’s something echoed by Darren Caveney on the Comms2point0 blog here.

It makes sense to have a customer services presence on to answer queries direct in the channel where people want them answering. That argument works with Twitter or Facebook just as effectively as telephone or face-to-face. After all, if what people are saying about us online shapes our reputation then a swift response online can help shaped this.

One of the best case studies of good social customer services is @londonmidland for London Midland Railways. It talks to people. It finds out information. It explains things. It wins awards for it too.

“I love London Midland,” one regular user told me. “Not because of the service. That can be shocking. But I love it because it’s got such a brilliant Twitter that tells me what I want to know.”

But good customer services is only part of the battle of what’s next.

We need better digital engagement (that’s better listening…)

Jon King and Nigel Bishop who are doing great things at Shropshire Council have made the point before that we need social organisations. In other words, we need organisations that listen. Why? Because there’s no point having a shiny social media presence to announce a £1 million super scheme when people weren’t even properly consulted about the scheme in the first place, hate it and would like some answers, please.

In a world where people have an online voice all this means an organisation needs to think about better listening and better conversations.

With every good example on Helpful Technology’s Digital Engagement Guide I’m more convinced about the need for better digital engagement. Some of that has a comms aspect to it without ever being purely a communications channel. Take the Ordnance Survey blog, for example, , the head of the Civil Service Bob Kerslake taking questions via Facebook or how three agencies communicated when the gangway collapsed on HMS Belfast.

Dave Briggs’ Kind of Digital Digital Engagement Cookbook is another excellent resource.

So, the job of the bright digital comms person may not just be to ask ‘how can we communicate digitally’, but also how can we talk to people better and answer their problems too.

Comms people bothered about their organisation’s reputation need to know this and act on it.

EPIC CHANGE: 12 predictions in digital in local government for 2012

“Inventions reached their limit long ago,” one important person once said, “And I see no hope for further development.”

Roman Emporer Julius Frontius made this bold comment in the 1st century. And he didn’t even have Google Plus to contend with. Bet he feels a bit silly now.

Tempting as it is to apply it to today you’d be similarly way off the money. Robot butlers and jet packs may top my own wish list but in practical terms what is likely to change?

If 2011 was a year of rapid change in local government then 2012 may see more of the same. Most of it is just a continuation of themes that started in the previous 12 months.

Here are 12 predictions for the year ahead from my perspective as a local government comms person. (Disclaimer: much of this probably won’t ever happen).

1. Comms will have a fight for control of social media. They’ll lose in the long term if they want to keep it all for themselves. They’ll win if the create an environment for others to innovate.

2. Data visualisation will boom. With the web prompting comms people to search for new platforms to tell a story data visualisation will expand. With free tools being available there will be innovation.

3. JFDI dies. As the mainstreaming of digital continues JFDI – or Just Flipping Do It – as a way of getting things done in an organisation will end. You can’t fly under the radar on Facebook if 29 million people in the UK are on it.

4. Digital customer services will expand. Just as calls centres emerged as the telephone matured as a way you can talk to people so too will a social presence for customer services people.

5. Someone will do summat reely stoopid and it won’t matter. In 2008, a rogue tweet could have closed down a council’s social media output. As it gets more embedded it’ll be more bullet proof.

6. Emergency planners will use Twitter as second nature. There’ll be more big incidents played out on social media. But best practice will be shared.

7. The local government social media star of 2012 will be someone doing a routine task in a place you’ve never visited. Step forward the local government worker who talks about his day job. There will be more like  @orkneylibrary and @ehodavid.

8. Linked social will grow. Linked social is different voices on different platforms growing across an organisation or across the public sector. It will be especially interesting to see how this develops in Scotland and the West Midlands.

9. Good conferences will have an unconference element. Or they’ll actually be unconferences. Some people don’t get unconferences. But they generally want to leave on the stroke of five o’clock and don’t do anything outside their JD. Bright ones do but will be happier if they’re wrapped up and presented like a ‘proper’ conference. But unconferences will be more diverse and targeted.

10. Newspapers will carry on dying. Bright comms people will carry on developing web 2.0 skills and use them in tandem with old media. Good Journalism will carry on adapting to the web. But this may take time to filter through to local newspapers who have been the bread and butter of local government press offices.    

11. Data journalism will grow. But not in local newspapers. Bloggers will uncover big stories that a print journalist doing the work of three doesn’t have time to look for.

12. Amazing things will happen in Scotland. Some of the brightest people in the public sector who are innocavating aren’t in London. They’re north of the border serving as police officers as well as in local government. It’ll be fascinating to see how this develops.

Creative commons credits

Geeks http://www.flickr.com/photos/duvalguillaume/2494520518/

Computer for the space shuttle programme http://www.flickr.com/photos/sdasmarchives/6521818485/sizes/l/in/photostream/

Twitter stream http://www.flickr.com/photos/danieldslee/5897611358/sizes/l/in/photostream/

#ALLCHANGE11: A bit of space exploration

Today sees a bit of an experiment in bridging the gap between the suits and the innovators.

Or, in other words senior managers and people doing some bright ideas, not because they’re in their job description but because they care.

Innovation and Efficiency West Midlands stage their annual event at Warwick University aimed at chief executives and senior managers.

Fort the first time there’s going to be a slight unconference element to it. There’s a live blog too: http://www.iewm.net/.

It’ll also be on Twitter @iewm with the hashtag #allchange11 and I’ll be chipping in with some social reporting on the day together with a handful of others.

It’ll be interesting see how the flat heirarchy of the unconference works amongst senior officers.

What’s an unconference? The agenda gets decided on the day by the participants.

Terrifying if you like you like meetings with apologies for absence, AOB and over laden powerpoints.

But if you put enough bright people together creative sparks fly and good ideas can emerge.

Ever wanted to stick your hand up mid-presentation and ask a question? Or suggest a better way? That’s an unconference. But rather than being a rude interjection its part of the process. It’s highly democratic.

Hats off to the organisers for allowing the door open.

Of course, as a believer in the the unconference approach I’d argue more events should be run on these lines.

Is this the first to bridge the divide? No. Nick Hill and Dave Briggs staged the Epic Social Media event in Glasgow which straddled the divide rather well.

Well done Ken Eastwood of Digital Nomads and Kevin Campbell-Wright for getting the live blog going. Pete Jackson too.

What can you do?

Follow the discusssion on #allchange11 on Twitter and drop by the liveblog. If you’re in local government shout about what you’re doing. If you’re not, tell us what we should be doing.

Creative commons credit:

Space suit http://www.flickr.com/photos/sdasmarchives/6334927117/

PICTURE POST: How to source Creative Commons images (in pictures)

There’s nothing that ruins a piece of text as the lack of a decent image.

A picture can tell a thousand words.

So, thank the Lord for creative commons.

It’s a place to go when there’s no photography budget and you need an image in a hurry.

Creative commons licences allow for images to be re-used so long as certain conditions are met.

One of the best places to look for them is Flickr.

Here’s what you do looking for a picture:

1. Go to Flickr.com.

2. Let’s say we’re looking for a picture of a computer. Search everyone’s uploads for the terms ‘creative commons + computer.’

3. You’ll have a stack of thumbnails to look through.

4. Make a selection. Click on the image you want. This is what it will look like:

5. Double check the creative commons licence. That’s on the right hand side of the image. Half way down.

6. Click actions. That’s just above the image.

7. Choose a size. Download it.

8. Use the picture creatively.

9. If you can’t find it using the general search have a look at opting for searching for The Commons…

10. Now sit back and have a slice of cake.

Creative commons credits:

Cake http://www.flickr.com/photos/danieldslee/5646762765/

Computer http://www.flickr.com/photos/lselibrary/4028604399/

CIVIC SOCIAL: How digital tools can help connect a Mayor

Mayors in Walsall go back to the 13th century. Yes, children it’s safe to say that even pre-dates Friends Reunited.

What helped spread the word then was probably a Town Crier with the useful profile of having a loud voice in the marketplace where people gathered.

Today, the landscape has changed. But a voice in the place where people gather is still important.

Since May when Cllr Garry Perry was appointed to the post he’s been successfully experimenting with digital channels. As a 33-year-old he’s the borough’s youngest ever appointment. As a Facebook native and as at home there as in the Council Chamber it made sense for him to experiment using the channel.

He’s also used Twitter and connected with the Walsall Flickr group. Jokingly, Cllr Perry has spoken about creating the Mayor’s Parlour as a location on Foursquare so he can become Mayor of that too.

But is this just a gimmick? Or have lessons been learned?

Facebook

A Facebook page was created for the Mayor of Walsall. The idea was to allow the Mayor to post updates and pictures from his phone when out and about. The aim was conversational. It also helps give an idea of where the Mayor had been and the people he’d met. It’s not a dusty civic position. It’s carried out by a person. For an organisation for people.

The stats speak for themselves. More than 160 people have signed up in about six weeks. There has been more than 8,000 page views in a four week period and people have responded posting enthusiastic comments. It’s clear that successful events also draw-in enthusiasm from residents.

The events functionality also allows a good way to flag up fundraisers.

As the Mayor of Walsall Cllr Perry says: “It’s been brilliant for getting feedback from people and for connecting with them. When you’re at an event you can post that you’ve been there with a picture. There’s still a tremendous respect for the office of Mayor and it’s good to be able to meet people. Using things like Facebook, Twitter and Flickr have really helped reach a different audience.”

Twitter

More than 180 people and organisations have signed-up with updates of visits and fundraising. Cllr Perry’s sporadic previous account was re-named @mayorofwalsall.

Flickr 

A Flickr meet was staged where members of the excellent Walsall Flickr group  came along to the Mayor’s Parlour and Council House one Saturday morning.

More than 200 shots were posted by six photographers to a specially created group to capture shots for the day. It was a chance for Walsall people to visit the 1905 building and meet the Mayor. As a visit it was a success. Those who came took some excellent pictures and Cllr Perry’s – and the Mayoress’ – easy going and informal approach saw the council giving a good account of itself. Staging a Flickr meet at a council venue is something I’ve blogged about before.

As a spin-off, and by no means the purpose of the event, the photographers were happy for the authority to re-use the posted pics for the website or for other marketing. That’s a good thing whichever way you look at it. You can see the pictures here.

Press releases

Yes, we’ll do the traditional things too for old media too. That’s part of the repertoire.

Lessons to learn

1. It can put a human face on an organisation. As Pc Rich Stanley does for West Midlands Police in Walsall so Cllr Perry does for Walsall Council. They use social media to put a human face on the organisation that can sometimes be seen as remote.

2. It depends on the individual. A social mayor who is at home with the channels or willing to learn will prosper. A remote character with few social graces and mistrust of technology won’t.

3. Little and often works. Updates on the routine day-to-day tasks work really well. Don’t think you need to crack the front page of the local paper with every update.

4. It works best if the Mayor writes it. A voice can be unique and despite being a fairly politically neutral post it’s not for council officers to update on people’s behalf.

5. Be prepared to JFDI.  Not everything with social media has a 100-year-old record to it. That’s a given. So just try things out.

Pic credit: Swissrolli (c) http://www.flickr.com/photos/swissrolli/5989959370/in/photostream

SOCIAL NEWTWORKING: A case study on how to use social media to promote countryside

Some things work better on social media than others.

Parking wardens and council tax collectors struggle.

Libraries, parks and countryside can work brilliantly. Why? Because people love them.

There’s several good librarians using social media. Not least the excellent @orkneylibrary.

But  there isn’t many examples of good countryside and park use I’ve seen.

Until now that is.

Countryside ranger Morgan Bowers  is doing some truly great things at Walsall Council. She works for the same authority as I do. But I’d be saying it whichever authority she was working for.

Morgan has set up @walsallwildlife on Twitter and tweets as an real person.

She is leading a team of volunteers recording wildlife across Walsall.   I don’t get newts. But her enthusiasm for her subject I do get.

She tweets about her subject and celebrates a newt find in the same way a football supporter celebrate a 93rd minute winner.

She also talks to people. How refreshing is that?

Rather wonderfully, it works across several platforms. She has also set-up a Facebook page to share her work and also has a lively Flickr stream.

All three are really good examples on how to use each platform. Morgan isn’t alone in Walsall Council’s countryside team in using social media.

Countryside manager Kevin Clements is gradually taking a more active role with Twitter too as @countrysidekev.

Their approach is similar in many ways to @hotelalpha9, the tweeting police officer in North Yorkshire.

A personal face and real time updates that are conservational. It’s a blend that seems to work.

Often, people who work in the public sector think their day-to-day job isn’t that interesting to people.

The fact is any job that you don’t do yourself is interesting to people.  And in 2011, in the public sector why not fly the flag for what you are doing?

Here’s why I think this approach works:

Twitter

A human voice helps put a human face on an organisation.

A niche Twitter stream can appeal to a cross-section of the population.

Responding and listening are good things for an organisation to do. It can drive traffic to other web pages.

It can work in real time.

Facebook

It can connect with people who use Facebook and no other network.

Because half the population are on Facebook in the UK.

It’s good to post pictures here as people can connect with a strong images

Flickr

It’s a good way to showcase images and connect with a wider community. Remember, there’s five billion images on Flickr.

It’s a good way to keep a record of images of what a project has discovered.

It  can can act as a bulletin board to the group and a wider community.

It’s a good way to map the changing of the seasons in an accessible way.

There are a few things that can work in parks and countryside and it’s fascinating to watch innovation in a corner of local government that people have a real connection with.

Pic credits: (c) Morgan Bowers.

CASE STUDY: Newts, an 1985 Argos catologue and more cool ways to use Flickr

Someone once said that there are no rules for good photographs, there are only good photographs.

Very true. Same could be said of Flickr.

Here’s seven  good ideas on Flickr that’s fired my imagination.

Flickr to celebrate a season

Yes, you can set-up a Flickr group for an area if there isn’t already one.
But how about this? A group to celebrate the changing seasons of a borough.

Dudley Council have done just that with Winter Photos of Dudley and its partner Spring Photos of Dudley.

Both are themed around the seasons and the figures themselves are quite impressive. Spring had 80 images from 80 people within three weeks of it being launched. Winter 450 from 170.

Flickr as an image library

At less than £20 a year for a Pro account, it’s staggeringly good value for money.

It can also be used as a repository for images both with a public setting and a restricted private one which limits who in your network can see them.

With a liberal re-use licence residents, media and blogs can re-use images without you having to take a phone call, dig out shots and email.

The UK Home Office are the Daddy of this.

With 390,000 page views in 10 months those are serious figures.

They post stock images and shots connected to press stories, like the pictures that show a till receipt for two rings shortly before a sham wedding. Brilliant.

Flickr as a way to celebrate

Dawn O’Brien from Wolverhampton Council is an unsung hero. Using JFDI (just flipping do it) she has done great things to celebrate parks.

ThisFlickr group We ♥ Wolverhampton: What’s your favourite place in the city? captures images that show people’s favourite places in the Midlands city.

Flickr as a way to record nature

Morgan Bowers from Walsall Council’s countryside team is doing some really great things with digital tools. Not least the group Walsall Wildlife Recorders which aims to capture images of newts and other interesting things snapped by members of the public.

The Walsall Leather Museum Flickr meet

Acting at the suggestion of a Walsall Flickr group member, the very generous Francesca Cox allowed open access to the museum on Saturday.

It’s a fabulous place and a celebration of the town’s most famous trade.
Scores of good images emerged and several photographers generously allowed shots to be re-used for marketing.

Flickr as a way to supply user generated content

English Heritage have hundreds of buildings, burial places, landmarks and other sites to look after. Bright people there have twigged that people like taking pictures of them. They link from their website to images contributed to their Flickr group set up partly for that purpose. Everyone wins in that.

An unexpected spin-off. Social bunch they are they’ve created a Flickr group for those people. Even better than that, they ask that if people post to that group it means they don’t mind seeing the images on their website and a link from that site to the original image. It’s a great way of tapping into Flickr in a way that everyone benefits from.

The Asda catologue from 1985

Okay, so this isn’t local government. But you have to simply doff your cap to someone who scans the entire Argos catalogue from a quarter of a century ago.

Clunky boombox? We got them. Pocket calculators? That’ll be £4.99, please with more than 9,000 views of that one page alone.

Inspired genius. Or the work of a twisted loner. Can’t make up my mind which.

But it shows the single minded passion some people have.

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