Posts from — April 2008

Julie Starr, in talking about how news organisations are using Twitter, mentions how important continued Twitter use can be for building relationships:

Twitter is quite an intimate communication forum. Over time you make acquaintances and become increasingly interested in hearing what they have to say, what they’ve been reading, and enjoy having conversations with them. To have great lumps of news headlines dumped in the middle of all this is an intrusion. A couple of headlines here and there is fine, but a lump isn’t.

[Via The Evolving Newsroom: Less is more when updating news on Twitter.]

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Quick Info: Engage Your Community Conference 2008

Using Blogs, YouTube, and Other Cool Tools to Achieve Your Group’s Goals , 22 April 2008.

Hosted by Waikato 2020 Communications Trust

For full details, download the programme, with map, list of workshops and presenters and other information. We have it in two formats:

1. EYC Conference Programme (Word file 700Kb)
2. EYC Conference Programme (PDF 700Kb)

Venue: Waikato Management School

General Parking at Gate 10, Silverdale Rd. Waikato Management School is accessible via Gate 7, Hillcrest Rd. Registration / Refreshments: MSB level 1 foyer.

View Google Map

Workshops / Presentations

Lecture rooms

PWC; MSB 1.02 (level 1)

Computer labs

MSB 0.21; MSB 0.22; MSB 0.20 (ground level)

Programme Overview

08.00–08.30

Registration, coffee

08.30–08.35

Ted Zorn: Welcome and overview

08.35–08.55

Miraz Jordan: The new Internet: friends, connections and community

09.00–10.15

Workshops

10.15–10.45

Morning tea

10.45–12.00

Workshops

12.00–12.45

Lunch

12.45–14.00

Workshops

14.05–14.15

Hon Ruth Dyson: Priorities in developing NZ’s C&V sector

14.15–14.45

Afternoon tea

14.45–16.00

Workshops

16.00–16.15

Maria Humphries: Developing capability in the C&V sector

16.15–16.45

Ted Zorn: Next steps: Action planning

16.45–17.00

Closing

Introduction to Workshops

Holding virtual meetings and conferences using Ning and Skype — Debashish Munshi

This workshop will outline the use of two new technologies, Ning and Skype, to build networks and hold conferences by transcending traditional time and space barriers. Not only will you get an overview of how these electronic platforms can be used to form networks across space and time zones, you will but also learn how to organise a virtual conference at no (or low) cost. Debashish and his virtual collaborators will demonstrate how your community organisation can create forums for your members and associates to network with each other and hold a conference at little or no cost.

Keeping up with the Joneses: the easy way to stay in-the-know — Miraz Jordan

Organisations need to keep up with news of current events and other flows of information that affect and relate to the work they do, both currently and in the future. This workshop, presented by Miraz, will help you learn how to keep up with the flood of information, and get started on efficiently monitoring what’s going on in the world that you should know about. She’ll talk specifically about using RSS feeds and a “technology scout”.

Set up a website / blog in 10 minutes flat! — Vanessa Mohi-Goodchild & Michele Mason

The workshop will allow you to set up a basic blog or website for your group or organisation — which can actually go live by the end of the session if you choose and be hosted free of charge on www.wainet.org. Michele and Vanessa will help you learn how to use the basic features of Wordpress, including adding content, and managing blog posts and comments. By the end of this workshop, you will be able to set up a website or blog for your organisation, and know what you must do to develop and maintain it.

Engaging communities using internet tools — Two case studies — Hayden Sanders

Hayden will present two case studies of quit.org.nz and smokefreecontacts.org.nz that were created to meet community needs. The workshop focuses on ‘what they did: key decisions that impacted success’, ‘lessons learned’, and ‘how other community and voluntary organisations might use these tools’. From the workshop, you will learn how these projects were conceived, planned, and implemented to be highly effective community tools. You will be able to see how standard online tools such as blogs and maps can be used in unique was to meet the needs of its users.

Online project support from wikispaces — Stephen Blyth

To run a project efficiently you need to keep track of minutes and tasks, share ideas and even co-produce documents. There are lots of tools online to support project work within and between organisations. This workshop focuses on using wikispaces. Stephen aims to help you understand selection criteria for choosing an online project management tool; understand some of the social dynamics of technology adoption; create and set up a wiki; and plan resources and time required to set an online tool. From the workshop, you will gain practical experience and insights into setting up and running an online project space, based on your existing technology. This information will assist in your decision-making about the suitability of wikispaces for your organisation.

Virtual Rewards: Low cost/no cost social media solutions — Pamela Minett

Budget? What budget? Many organisations work on a very tight budget and social media tools provide a long awaited solution to this problem. This workshop will explain how to communicate and connect with your audiences using mash-ups and platforms such as YouTube and help you devise a web strategy for your organisation. Cathy will assist you to understand how to identify your online audience; understand and be prepared to tackle vcasts and podcasts; and understand the value of mashups and cross platform engagement. Additionally you will be able to devise and run a low-cost/no-cost campaign, and understand how to monitor your online reputation and impact.

Podcasts, Live Streaming, and other great ways your local alternative radio broadcaster can help you be the darling of the New Media — Phil Grey

A viable pathway exists for your organisation to communicate in the New Media landscape — NZ’s eleven Access Radio stations already serve this purpose in a “traditional” media respect. So, why not exploit their resources, use their technology, and enjoy free training to broadcast / stream / podcast your message to the World? Phil will introduce Access radio and what it offers local communities. He will also introduce the range of broadcast methods (e.g., regular broadcasting, live streaming, podcasting) offered by Community Radio Hamilton. By the end of this workshop, you will leave knowing there is a viable (and easy!) way to develop a podcast (and/or radio show) using professional industry resources. You will understand that your main focus will only need to be on producing content — the technical work will be taken care of.

Free online tool to organise your work. Excuse me? — Conrad Johnston

The master to do list is one of the key components of any time management methodology. Conrad will lead you to explore a number of techniques for prioritising and tracking your tasks using the online to do list called Excuse Me. This workshop will demonstrate a number of long-established time management strategies and demonstrate how to use these skills to become more efficient in your organisation.

Using Moodle as a virtual office — Michele Mason, Dean Hutt, & Ted Zorn

This workshop explains how Waikato 2020 Communications Trust uses Moodle, a free tool, to organise and collaborate. This includes streamed discussions, storing important documents, and project planning. You will try out Moodle and learn how you can use it and get support. Michele, Dean and Ted will help you understand how a virtual office can help your organisation, and assist you to create a basic Moodle virtual office for your organisation, hosted free on www.wainet.org.

Auckland WEA’s use of Basecamp for project management and Drupal for content managemen — Deborah Radford & Christine Herzog

AWEA started with Basecamp as a way of managing projects while simultaneously trying to involve a wider community. In this workshop they will describe the basics of how it operates, how they’re using it, what works well and not so well, and what they’ve learned. Their conclusion is that it does meet some of their internal needs well but is only one of an increasing range of technologies that they use to communicate with different audiences, with their current attention focusing on an open-source content management system called Drupal. From the workshop, you will be able to map your own communication needs, determine whether Basecamp is relevant to your own context, and set up a simple Basecamp for your own use.

Fundraising on the internet: Radio Heritage’s use of CafePress and Paypal — David Ricquish

Paypal is a global payment mechanism that NZ non-profits can easily use. The workshop explores how one local organisation, Radio Heritage, uses it, plus CaféPress, to reach a global online audience. David will provide examples from www.radioheritage.net, which can be applied to your own organisation. You will develop the ability to identify possible fundraising projects and merchandising opportunities that your organisation may have and can use immediately. You will then have the confidence to use Paypal and CaféPress to help your organisation generate and process the resulting online income from all over the world. Importantly, you will understand the need to build an online community of trust and that this takes time and resources.

Digital storytelling — Stephen Harlow

With so many not-for-profits trying to fundraise it makes sense (and perhaps $$$) to fundraise smart. Research shows that statistics alone are not enough to move people to give. Instead triggering emotions by telling vivid stories captures people’s attention and moves them to act. Digital storytelling is a process which combines storytelling with modern-day technology to produce authentic, compelling digital media. This digital storytelling workshop will introduce you to the process and how you might use it to tell the story of your organisation or help tell the stories of your clients. With the help from Stephen, you will be able to experience some of the technical aspects of the process by assembling a simple digital story. You will also have access to an electronic resource to guide you as you go on to tell your own story.

Web office applications: word processing, spreadsheets, email and calendars without installing one bit of software! — Mike Riversdale

Using Google Applications as an example of on-line/web-based office applications (replicating the typical Microsoft Office suite) we will find out what is offered, where they are, how easy is it to get going and answer the question, “Are they good enough?” From Mike’s workshop, you will experience the difference between on-line and PC-based products and therefore question the “status quo”. Getting the knowledge of these web services, your organisation will benefit with reduced cost and increased service.

Guest Speakers’ Profiles

Conrad Johnston

Conrad Johnson has been working in the Wellington IT industry for 7 years. He worked in a number of roles from Java Application Development to Web Integration before forming his own business “Darnoc”. Darnoc engages in research and development of internet enabled technologies, using this knowledge to enhance clients’ businesses though production and consultancy.

David Ricquish

David Ricquish initiated the Radio Heritage Collection project in 1999 and which the Foundation has since taken over, and is the founding chairman. David has been involved with radio in New Zealand since the 1970s in a number of roles including presenting radio documentaries and news programs carried by Radio Australia and Radio New Zealand International. He has worked in the tourism and TV industries both in New Zealand and the USA, published a large number of radio articles (both heritage and contemporary) and is active in a wide range of radio heritage issues in New Zealand, Australia and the Pacific.

Dean Hutt

Dean Hutt is currently the Moodle Administrator for Wintec. His role evolves looking after all the 6274 courses they have online at Wintec. Most of his time is taken up with helping support tutors and looking after technical problems, sometimes he teaches Moodle classes. He creates Web Pages and Blogs on his own time for friends and spends a lot of time fixing computers, anything from helping with viruses to rebuilding machines. In between that he’s currently teaching himself Flash and the finer points of video editing.

Debashish Munshi

Dr Debashish Munshi is Chairperson of the Department of Management Communication at the University of Waikato. His research focuses on multiple aspects of equity and diversity and he is committed to the use of new technologies for wider access to the Information Commons. A co-founder of COMMUNEcation, a network of global communication scholars, Debashish recently co-organised a virtual conference on *Global visions of communicating and organising* which attracted participants from all six continents.

Deborah Radford & Christine Herzog

Deborah Radford and Christine Herzog have worked in their community education organisation (Auckland Workers Educational Association) for many years and in many roles, from building maintenance to tutoring to governance, but most recently as core staff. After ten relatively quiet years, in 2004 AWEA moved to Manukau, became involved with different communities and activities, and was suddenly faced with a whole new range of challenges. Fortunately, there is also a new range of technologies; so we have been scrambling up a steep learning curve to use the latter to address the former.

Hayden Sanders

Hayden works as a Communications Advisor for the Quit Group which is a charitable trust set up to run quit smoking programmes throughout New Zealand. He studied Communications at Waikato University before moving to Wellington to work at the Quit Group.

Hon Ruth Dyson

Hon Ruth Dyson is currently the Minister for Social Development and Employment, Community and Voluntary Sector, Disability Issues, and Senior. She has previously held the portfolios of ACC, Labour, Associate Minister of Health, and Minister of Women’s Affairs. From 1988 to 1993, Ruth was president of the New Zealand Labour Party. After work, she is interested in gardening, swimming, tramping, kayaking, reading and music.

Maria Humphries

Maria Humphries is an associate professor in the Waikato Management School and leads WMS’s Social Enterprise programmes. Maria is interested in the changing boundaries of responsibility between the government, community, and market sectors of society, which has led her to research and teaching focus on the organisation and management of the community / not-for-profit / NGO sector. Maria’s academic background is in economic and organisational sociology and women’s studies. Along with her academic work, she was on the Board of Directors for Careers Services rapuara for over 10 years. She is on the management team of The Human Rights Foundation and the New Zealand committee working on Human Responsibilty projects associated with the Foundation for Progress for Humanity. Maria has been a Treaty Educator for almost 20 years. Maria loves being a grandmother - and a virtual arm to her career has added a great dimension to work/life flexibility -as well as the privilege of supervising research students around the world.

Michele Mason

Michele Mason is an e-Learning Web Developer and Web Designer for Waikato Institute of Technology in the Academic Staff Support for Excellence in Teaching and Technologies Centre (ASSETT Centre). She also works as a Moodle Administrator (back-up person), a Professional Development tutor in AV equipment, Interwrite Pads and Microsoft Office, a trustee for Waikato 2020 Communications Trust, and the Webmaster for both 2020 and WaiNet. Besides these jobs, Michele does digital art work specialising in Maori designs, and teaches Introduction to Computers at night school.

Mike Riversdale

Mike is a consultant working with private companies and government agencies introducing, growing and expanding “Web 2.0″ approaches and tool sets. He is a respected industry speaker and has an extensive on-line presence that he sues to educate, inform and amuse those interested in Web 2.0. And he eats his own dog food by living his electronic life online with nothing stored locally!

Miraz Jordan

Miraz Jordan is a Wellington-based writer with a particular interest in connection technology, where it’s going, what’s happening, and how that affects regular folks and community groups. She is involved with Webstock and Webguide, writes her own blog
, free weekly MacTips, and is one of the authors of WordPress 2 Visual QuickStart Guide. Miraz regularly uses Twitter, and dips in to Facebook and LinkedIn. She sometimes uses Flickr, and watches YouTube videos, but hasn’t yet created one. Miraz and her partner Deb wrangle 3 cats and 2 dogs, with some success

Pamela Minett

Pamela Minett co-founded the yMedia Group in 2007 along with Adele Barlow. She lives and works in Auckland. As the yMedia Group’s website says, We set up yMedia because we believe that individuals and organisations can find meaning in each other and use that to grow into their full potential. The yMedia Challenge, held in October 2007, featured a competition giving media students work-experience and industry exposure by helping not-for-profit organisations get into and understand the digital space.

Phil Grey

Phil Grey discovered live radio as a Waikato Uni student in the 80s, immediately gravitating towards Contact FM, and developing a love of non commercial radio formats. Phil had a career in Library management before moving back to radio as the GM of Community Radio Hamilton. He is also the secretary of the Association of Community Access Broadcasters Aotearoa, and chairs Wintec’s Radio Broadcasting Advisory Board. Phil has recently taken on the responsibility as Project Leader of the Access Internet Radio project which fulfills his passion for where radio is heading in the world of new media opportunities.

Stephen Blyth

Stephen Blyth is a self-employed community ICT development worker based in Whanganui-a-Tara (Wellington). He specialises in capacity building and knowledge sharing projects. Up until mid-2007 Stephen worked in management and advisory roles for both community organisations and government. Amongst other things, he was responsible for The Couch and CommunityNet Aotearoa websites and coordinating the 2002 Flaxroots Technology conferences. He’s been a Trustee of Wellington ICT since 2005. Stephen believes the internet can be used creatively to help achieve social justice and ecological sustainability in Aotearoa. When not online, you might catch Stephen cycling around Wellington, spending time with family and friends, or tilling the soil. Blog: www.commonknowledge.net.nz

Stephen Harlow

Stephen is a partner in Storyboards a company that specialises in helping people tell their story. An inaugural Flexible Learning Leader, he trained as a facilitator of the digital storytelling process with digital storytelling co-creator Joe Lambert in San Francisco. A founding trustee of the Waikato 2020 Communications trust, Stephen is passionate about public participation in our increasingly networked world. When he’s not networked, Stephen’s a keen bass player, home brewer and gardener.

Ted Zorn

Ted Zorn is chair and a founding member of Waikato 2020 Communications Trust. He also is a professor of Management Communication at the Waikato Management School and heads the WMS Information & Communication Technology (ICT) Research Team, which researches impacts of ICTs on work and communities. He’s also on the board of the planned Waikato Community Technology Support and Resource Centre. Alongside his university teaching, Ted worked with nonprofit organisations in the US for a number of years before moving to New Zealand in the mid-1990s.

Vanessa Mohi-Goodchild

Vanessa Mohi-Goodchild is website developer for the Waikato 2020 Communications Trust. She served as project manager for 2020’s Wainet service and as administrator for the Trust for over two years. She continues to develop websites and blogs for Wainet and is actively involved in organising Hamilton’s e-Day 2008, which she managed in 2007.

Sponsors and Exhibitors

Sponsors

• The Waikato Management School of the University of Waikato
• Building Research Capability in the Social Sciences Network (The BRCSS Network)
• ContentedEnterprises Limited

Exhibitors

• Waikato 2020 Communications Trust
• WMS Social Enterprise Programme
• Webhealth
• Velocity Networks Limited

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With the Internet fast moving away from being the “the world’s library” and towards “the world’s information store” there is a new question to be answered - who do you trust?

The question should be asked from two, interconnected points of view - trust, what is it from the :

1. readers point of view
2. authors point of view

This post looks at the first, trust from the readers point of view, with the second being discussed next week.

Let’s start with a situation we all have been in - getting a book out of the local library.
With a library you implicitly trust the content (books) you read. And by “trust” I do not mean “agree with” - I certainly don’t agree with everything on the shelves in my local library :-)

But why do we trust that the books are what they claim they are?
Probably because the time and effort taken to get the ideas from the authors head and into a book in your local library is quite considerable. The effort, therefore, to actively engage in some sort of nasty business (e.g., writing a version of Harry Potter with a different ending) is prohibitive to most. We wander into our library implicitly trusting that the book we take out was indeed written by the stated author, published by the stated publisher at the stated time and is close enough to authors intent.

If we happen to pick up a laser printed pamphlet on the way out, we generally have a different emotional response to it and don’t trust it quite as much.

However, with the Internet the time and effort to produce content is minimal and we have to devise other ways that gain our trust.
For instance, it’s taken me 30 seconds to get started with this blog posting (log on etc) and, when I push the big ‘Publish’ button, it will take milli-seconds for the system to publish it to the whole world. If Harry Potter had existed solely in an on-line environment it may have been a lot easier for me to to “fake that ending”.

The question for us on-line is - Who do we trust when it’s so hard to judge? It might be even as basic as, “What do we use to judge?”

Some options are:

• Recommendations from the real world:
  • Friends, colleagues, family …
  • Organisations that have a real world presence
• Sites from authors you’ve read over time
• Sites from authors you can connect with (email, leave comments, talk to …)

It’s hard and I don’t have all the answers - how can we trust information that seemingly springs up from new on-line services and websites, generates a buzz and then fades away just as quickly. And, of course, this is the WORLD Wide Web - how do I know that the Swedish research paper Google has thrown up is by someone with a valid and current reputation?

What do you use to judge if a website should be trusted - leave your comments …

That, my trusting readers, is ‘trust’ from the readers point of view (or “information consumer” as we’re becoming known because content on the Internet isn’t just words but sound and video as well). With the next posting I will look at ‘trust’ from the the author’s point of view - who do you trust with your ideas, business IP and memories?

Further reading about trust:

• Criminal IT: Should you trust the internet?
• Who can you trust on the Internet?
• What can you trust on the Internet?
• Google search ‘internet trust’ …

———–
This is cross-posted at MiramarMike:

Enterprise 2.0 New Zealand style - helping Kiwi organisations navigate the tricky Web 2.0 path to free information and more efficient use of the Internet

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Can not-for-profit organisations make the best use of ‘viral marketing’? To make a viral marketing campaign successful you need to push beyond the average, the accepted, the usual. That’s all very well for radical activist groups, but what about the ‘well-respected’ mainstream organisations?

It turns out that’s a question that researchers at Central Queensland University have been asking:

Not-for-profit organisations seeking to enhance social campaign messages through viral social marketing may find it hard to be edgy enough for success, while conforming to their own values.

That is according to Danya Hodgetts, from Central Queensland University, who has tested viral marketing to send an anti-obesity message.

Viral marketing - otherwise known as ‘word of mouse’ - involves creation of a funny or confronting photo, animation or video clip Email, in the hope that those receiving it will pass it on to dozens of friends.

Ms Hodgetts’ team found it hard to push the envelope far enough to get significant pass-on success, although their video involving a man walking his dog while watching TV was well received by the initial audience and led to click-throughs to a physical activity website.

[Via : Social campaigns struggle to be edgy (ScienceAlert).]

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Delicious is a great way to store bookmarks for web pages online. But actually, it does a lot more too, as C. Wess Daniels explains in his blog post Tips for Using Delicious In (Doctoral) Research:

Delicious at its very core is a site that stores websites you’ve bookmarked online, so you can get at them from any computer, but that’s just the beginning. For those of you who don’t really know much about delicious but are interested in setting it up, you can check out my presentation on what it is, why to use it and how to setup an account, or you can watch the far more clever video “how to explain delicious to your parents (also see their help page). Basically, what you need to know is if you are doing any kind of research where you use the web frequently you’ll find delicious very helpful.

Visit his post to read more about how he handles tags, notes, keywords, and also RSS feeds to help with his research.

[Via The Balcony: del.icio.us, RSS, and DEVONthink.]

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