I have about three blog pieces in draft all of which are not really where I want to go with the blog, so in draft they will remain.
That said, I thought I’d share something interesting: Engaging Citizens: A Game-Changer for Development? It’s a Coursera course put out by the World Bank to discuss and share the role that citizen engagement can play in improving government outcomes.
I think it’s worth a try.
It’s been like having a super-duper butterscotch pecan sunday hiding behind my back. . .
I am moving to become the Director of Public Services at the Regina Public Library. I start my position on May 9th. Work for a week. Come back to Halifax briefly before going to APLA to be the closing speaker (you may remember the big stink I created over the idea of professionalism in libraries), and then back to Regina with my family to become immersed in the Prairie lifestyle. This comes on the heels of me announcing that I am a Library Journal Mover and Shaker (actually, I’ve known about the job for a while now)
Things that make me feel this is just sooo amazing:
Things that make me a bit sad.
Not sure when I’ll get to say goodbye to everyone, but I’ll definitely be at the next Third Wednesday for starters. As per usual, send me a Tweet if you want to get in touch before I go. I’d love to see you before i leave!
Well, it turns out that I’m a Library Journal Mover and Shaker! As much as I am honored about this, I’m most especially honored that the yarnbomb and Podcamp were mentioned. That means I get to give credit to the many many people in the community who contributed to that project including the lovely Rachel Derrah who was on the invite team for the consultations, My partner-in-so-many-crimes, Craig Moore of Spidervideo who, by some good karma was working on both projects with me, Marlo Mackay & Terri Fraser were also big inspirers on the way as were just about everyone else on the Halifax Public Libraries staff. Somehow I got lucky enough to be the face behind so much of that work.
Then there were the knitters – Sarah, Kelli, Neil, Rachel, Anne and so many more – if you want your name on the list, then add it! And The Coast deserves some thanks too because they helped us get the word out in fairly short notice and “knitten smitten”‘s Love kept us all going with it. And the Foggy Goggle for letting us take over their pub for a bit to knit our stuff.
I know that the whole Movers and Shakers thing gets some flack because — yes, it is true — many great, hard-working Movers and Shakers who are hidden behind the “I’m not blogging or on Twitter” screen are not given the credit they deserve. Here’s my thoughts — there are so many librarian rockstars, that in the end, it’s good to highlight librarianship in whatever way possible. Part of me wants to name every librarian in our system, but I’m not always sure how they’d feel about me popping their names on the Internet willy-nilly. Suffice it to say that if you work in Halifax Public, Masters degree or no, you deserve your name out there as a mover and a shaker as well.
And of course, congrats are in order for such folks as Eli Neiburger, Bobbi Newman, and Cindi Trainor . And others of course, but heck – once you’re there you can look through all of them. They’re all pretty nifty folk.
Then, one can only hope, these librarians will that that recognition and acknowledge the great people that make their communities so special. Halifax has given me plenty of opportunity and room to shine, I wish all the best for the people in this sweet, sweet town. It’s the people around me that make me Move and Shake. I just hope that I sent some of that vibration back at them.
After my Wikileaks post, I’ve found myself in a wide series of debates, both online and off about the importance about the ethics of whistle-blowing, the brokenness of ‘the system’, the aftermath of the leaks, the motives of media and so on. It’s been invigorating, actually -> certainly one positive for me from Assange’s actions (which I still consider unethical). Some things I have learned through the process:
The thing that most had me realizing how broken the system is, was seeing people cheer on Assange’s threats to drop an information bomb if he was to be arrested. Assuming this is a serious threat, being properly reported by media, it is unambiguously blackmail. Un-am-big-u-ous-ly. For reasons related only to Assange’s self-interest. Even if it’s for a spurious date rape accusation. I can understand running from the law for reasons of personal safety -> but this is an entirely different game. Again, even as I enjoy the thought of some hoity-toity public servants and cronies shaking in their boots over having their transgressions being outed for the world to see, I still think Assange is doing wrong though perhaps for the right reasons. But enough about how not to bring transparency to our systems of government. Here are real, ethical actions you can take right now to bring more transparency to society.
The current system relies on a bargain between the political wing (people who are voted in office) and the bureaucratic wing (people who advise on and implement public policy) of government. The political wing is accountable to the people – partly through elections, but also by representing constituents needs at the respective house of assembly. In general, the political wing is big on platform but low on information about how the system actually works. The bureaucratic wing, other than speaking ‘truth to power’, has the responsibility to implement public policy even if it considers it the wrong thing to do. For these reasons, bureaucrats are not supposed to express opinions about policy. When they are called upon to offer their opinion, it is supposed to be fact-based and supportive of the direction that the government has deemed appropriate. In order for the relationship between the political wing and bureaucracy to work, there are rules of behavior. The political wing gets all the credit and all the blame when things go wrong. The bureaucracy keeps its mouth shut. In return, the bureaucracy gets to maintain a level of anonymity from the public. This is not an insignificant relationship. Bureaucrats can do real damage to governments by leaking information to the public without briefing the political side of things. Believe it or not, your Ministers (Prime or Otherwise) do not know everything about every little department under their control. On the other hand, without anonymity, it would be very easy for a political power to assign blame to one of their public servants. In my view, it is this ‘bargain’ that Assange (rightfully) has decided to challenge. Unfortunately, as I’ve said before, his actions will do nothing to change the nature of this relationship. It’s not the will of Wikileaks that will bring change, but instead the will of the people.
Change is happening to the relationship between the political and bureaucratic wings of government.
When we talk about transparency, we are not calling for a desire for more information about government. Consuming information about what foreign diplomats think about world leaders is just that – consumption of information. Of course the popular media loves the idea of Wikileaks – it means that they have a gazillion bizarre public-interest stories that will help them sell papers over time. It’s a mystery to me how this sort of information will do anything to help people in Afghanistan or Sudan – where people likely know very little about the leaks.
The world we desire is one where governments act with integrity and honesty – ie. do what they promise to do, apologize for wrong-doing, cause harm only where there is a strong justification for it, have compassion for those less fortunate, and put the huge amount of resources available to them where society will see the greatest benefit. Some of the revelations move in this direction, sure -> but ‘mega leaks’ undermine the spirit of transparency itself. Everyone needs the opportunity to be frank in their workplace from time to time — indeed, it is part of the transparency and honesty we would like to see in our society. But that does not mean we would want those statements put out in the open for everyone to see.
Well, duh. Be honest yourself and fulfill your own promises. The internet’s propensity to engage in slacktivism knows no bounds. The re-tweeting and liking of all the apparent wonderful actions of Assange intensely annoyed me because it made me wonder the degree to which real action was occurring. At least it paled in comparison to William Ury’s proposal to engage in an Abraham Walk. Whose assumptions have people challenged about the nature of transparency and secrecy in government? What things can you do to draw people away from their hockey and beer to think about the role North America plays in poverty and conflict elsewhere?
One of the downsides of Twitter and Facebook is the prevalence of the pin-up opinion. Don’t get me wrong. I love the way Twitter and Facebook have developed into a wide range of local events and talks. But the micro-blogging world focuses on Aphorism over conversation. If you think Assange is a hero, then for godsake’s tell people why. Defend your opinions in a real forum and listen to what other people have to say about it. Organize a community conversation like a World Cafe or Open Space on the subject. Create some public art, but do it to engage community. Transparency will not come from people pinning up opinions.
But most of all, do not criticize your government for its lack of transparency without making yourself heard as well. Sending an email to an MP takes about as much time as writing a post, but it’ll be 10 times more effective. Of course, it won’t increase traffic to your blog … but if this is about transparency, maybe we all need to take that hit once in a while.
What do you think we can do to make a more transparent world?
Just a few notes of interest.
Craig Moore from Spidervideo and I did a talk at Third Wednesday about Events and Social Media. In part we talked about Podcamp Halifax 2011 (yes, it will be happening) and the Library Consultation Process, but mostly we were just curious about what’s going on in Halifax and how social media fanatics can get involved.
In other news, I have an article featured in the current issue of Feliciter. In it, I talk about Podcamp Halifax and how social media can combine with Large Group Methods (World Cafe, Open Space etc.) to engage community. Unfortunately, I cannot get you an electronic copy of the whole journal, but I do have a copy of my entry in .pdf. I’d love your or anyone’s feedback. Thanks to Amy and Amanda for guest editing the journal this time around.
How about we leave this post with a question – > what do you do to engage community? Does Social Media come into play?
What are the geekiest, friendliest, most community involved businesses in the downtown? That’s what I’m going to find out. Or rather, I’m going to find out just how geeky the downtown can get.
There was incentive for me to do this. The Downtown Halifax Business Commission offered me and a bunch of other bloggers a $100 shopping spree downtown as part of their Big Day Downtown promotion. You can follow the action on Twitter. The really nice thing about this is that they also made it pretty clear that I can say whatever I want about the businesses I visit. I don’t think they have anything to be worried about, really – I love the downtown. The only caveat is if I encounter some bad service or something. That wouldn’t be the commission’s fault though.
The more pressing problem is that this is a blog about librarians and libraries. How can I swing a story about a local shopping spree to a potentially huge market of 150,000 librarians in the U.S. and another 10,000 in Canada? What is it that librarians like that could still engage a local audience?
I have three answers. 1. Geek porn 2. Community-focus 3. Stuff kids would like in a way that stretches their imaginations a bit.
What do I mean by geeky? Well, as this Venn Diagram demonstrates, geeky means that I am looking for things that smart people could be obsessed about. Think comics books and graphic novels (I considered inviting comic / graphic novel writer Faith Erin Hicks to come along, but we aren’t really friends or anything and I didn’t want to be creepy). Or crazy rubber duckies in astronaut uniforms.
Community Focus is another bit. Just Us Coffee is an obvious one here, but I’ll be looking around for shops that recognize the value of their communities and put a little back into it.
I am going to demonstrate number 3 by bringing along the ever-famous Mr. 6. Yes, the kid who can tell you the atomic weight of vanadium without searching Wikipedia. That also means a trip to the Freak Lunch Box is inevitable.
I’m really looking forward to my day. I’ve given myself a deadline of August 10th to write it all up. I promise to take lots of pictures and may consider including some video if I can muster it.
That said, I haven’t completely figured out our itinerary yet. I could use your help.
If you are a resident Haligonian, where should I go to find the geekiest things in town? What businesses are real community players?
If you are a librarian or geek (or library geek), what object(s) will score me the largest number of geek points? What should I go out looking for on my big day downtown?
It should be no surprise that I am big on using your right to free speech, among other things, to become engaged in the political process. I’m not talking about running for elections, but maintaining a level of accountability from your government – and that includes libraries, police force, politicians and other public servants.
On my part, I am one of the many people tasked with getting as many people out to the public consultations for the central library as ever I possibly can. I really don’t care if you like the idea or not – the reality is that it belongs to Halifax and so Haligonians not only deserve to have a say, but at some level have a responsibility to use their say. If you cannot make it out physically, why not view past ones from u-stream? Here is a Wordle for some of the things said so far. You can also use #hfxnewlib Twitter tag to send a message out to the architects as well. (PS. The next consultation is on August 25th, 2010 from 7 to 9 pm (doors open at 6:15) at Pier 21.
There are a few other efforts that I’ve noticed on the web, looking to get the community more engaged in the political world.
What initiatives are you seeing from the public sector that are working to get people more engaged in the political process?
As an invitation to the Consultations for the New Central Library in Halifax, Nova Scotia Canada, we got some knitters together to wrap a tree in a patchquilt of knitted cloths.
Yes, that’s me scratching his head on the ladder. It was early – what do you want? 🙂
So, I’ve posted my reply to the Why Professional Librarian is an Oxymoron post called (More than) Ten Reasons Why “Professional librarian” Isn’t an Oxymoron on Library Journal. Now people are probably wondering, ‘was he just kidding?’, ‘did he cave into pressure? from the field?’, ‘is he being dishonest?’ and so on. It raises questions (for me) about the nature of blogging itself, how it is perceived by a broader audience, and more importantly, how it’s going to change over time.
The dominant paradigm for publishing — and this includes academic publishing — is the scientific or pseudo-scientific approach. The assumption here is that there needs to be an answer, that can be defended or rejected, and if defended, a ‘theory’ will be shaped around that answer to help us come to broader conclusions about the world we live in. This assumption is the reason why more than one person insisted that I ‘need to define “professionalism” or the whole exercise is pointless’. If I define professionalism in a certain way, then people can live in the comfort zone of ‘well, under those circumstances, I can accept that librarians are not a profession.’
And that’s why the professionalism post took on the shape it did. Some in support, some against, and afterwards, I need to come to some conclusion about whether librarianship truly *is* a profession. Tah-dah! Now we can all write journal articles about professionalism and develop a whole theory of professionalism to add to all our dismal literature.
There is another, different paradigm, that is emerging in society however. I’m going to call it the ‘co-creative’ paradigm. In this paradigm, my post was an exposition – a call for a community to define librarian professionalism for itself. The assumption is not that there is a right answer, but an emergent or evolving answer – something we can use to build our futures together, to create change, and improve lives. The goal in this paradigm is not the ever important ‘answer’ but the relationships and conflict that happen around that discussion. It is here that paradoxes like ‘librarians are and are not a profession’ are okay. Under this paradigm, strong emotions are a means to an end, a way of connecting people and building a dialogue (not necessarily a consensus) around our differences. I think blogs can lend themselves to this paradigm as well, IF the main post and the comments are seen as one voice.
Things that help me understand this new paradigm are new ideas in Restorative processes (including justice), The Hub (a co-creative workspace), grassroots movements and unconferences. I think there is a way to make social media play into these processes more, I just haven’t quite found the right way.
As I write this, MPOW is beginning the process of distributing it’s new strategic plan. The previous mission and vision spoke to the ever important goals of life-long learning, joy of reading and power of information. Our new mission and vision value the same things, but realize that our communities are changing. The new paradigm we are dealing with is about building our futures, and imagining possibilities – with, not for our communities. Our new paradigm sees education and reading as a means now – a way of connecting people, and inspiring discovery. I have to say that i am totally inspired by this new vision in librarianship. I think librarians – professional or not – have strong networking skills on their side and that this skill is the road to a great future for librarians, whereever they decide to work in future. Tally-ho!
A basic Google search will turn up all kinds of blogging and podcasting advice. How to get bonus Google Traffic using SEO tips. How to write great content. How to monetize. How not to become a viral ad for social media marketing douchebags. What to Tweet and What Not to Tweet.
What seems to be missing is what happens when you talk about your blog or podcast in actual public. But, the way that Twitter and Foursquare seem to encourage ‘meet-ups’ and the popularity of large-scale unconferences such as Podcamp Toronto make it more necessary to remind bloggers that the people who read your blog are also the people who are going to try and meet with you in public. They may never ever tell you that they read your blog or listen to your podcast, but that does not mean they do not have a dialogue in their head about what they like or do not like about your web presence.
Enter case study #1 – I’m at a bar mingling with a whole group of people with common interests in social media. I’m excited to meet so may new faces. I join in to a conversation half-way through and a woman is talking about her blog or podcast. She’s bragging about the huge response she gets from her readers claiming , somewhat disingenuously, that she does not know why they bother to follow her. Then comes the punch line: “Maybe they only read my blog because I’m a girl.”
I couldn’t help it – it’s part of my east coast blood to knock anyone just a little off their high horse. I mean no malice nor do I wish to give an air of arrogance, but I reply:
“Actually, I am almost convinced that everyone reads my blog because I’m a boy.”
What followed was a pre-rehearsed tirade of insults for my ‘sarcasm’ that I wasn’t able to hear because the music in the bar was too loud. I happily nodded-and-smiled my way to the end of the conversation and moved on to someone else. It was quite a funny experience, because I didn’t think anyone would take themselves so seriously as to take offence at what was obviously a small joke. But, now I have it behind me, I’m much more willing to take a look at why I would bother to quip at such sillyness.
A litany of red-flags went off when I heard ‘people only read my blog because I am a girl.’ Among other things, it implies:
Intended or not, it left a really bad impression. I felt it hard to imagine following this person or reading any of her content. I was not interested in any social media advice she had to offer. She’d need a real kick-ass portfolio showing some serious writing chops before I’d ever consider hiring her and even then, i’d be worried about the ethical side of her performance.
Of course, this is only a first impression situation. We could end up being the best of buddies. Still, it does say something about personal branding in general and the degree to which internet culture can honestly spill into the so-called ‘real world.’
Here are my ideas about how you might talk about your blog online:
Nothing else. Do not go on about problems, issues, or mistakes unless people ask you about them. Ask them questions about what they like most about your blog instead. Keep them talking instead. It’s an old trick coming from my singing and acting days. If you do talk about problems and issues with your content, it will sound like you are saying your readers / audience have no taste.
Your blog/podcast exists not because you write or talk into a microphone, but because there is an audience willing to listen to it. Speak approvingly of the people who make your blog possible. Just because they may enjoy reading trashy (or even *gasp* porn) content once in a while does not mean you can treat them like idiots.
Would you buy a car from an engineer who made even the slightest quip about its design? Nope. Respect your product. Respect that you put a lot of time into your blog and/or podcast. You deserve credit for the mere effort.
Don’t get me wrong – I’m not talking about a lack of transparency here. Yes, you definitely want to own up to errors in judgement or fact. What I’m saying is that you should respect the quality of your work and focus on the positive unless there is something glaring that needs to be adjusted.
In practical terms, this means you could be explaining ‘what is a blog?’ to Chris Brogan or Cory Doctorow or talking about how ow.ly ‘s statistics through Hootsuite compare to bit.ly in front of someone who thinks the Internet is a bunch of pipes. Social media Gurus look pretty much like social media luddites.
Conversation wasn’t invented by Social Media sites believe it or not. The way to start a conversation is to ask questions, take interest, listen to others, appreciate new interests, learn and so on. In this way, a mingle in a bar is not that different from your blog. If you are genuinely interested in what your audience has to say then you are hardly ever going to have people wondering who the heck you are.
Conversely, if you are just name dropping famous bloggers to assert your social media status, you are going to lose very quickly.
Bloggers and podcasters have been a marginalized species for quite a while now. I can appreciate the self-consciousness now that the whole social media thing has become mainstream. There are people who have been in the space for years that are being eclipsed by just about anyone with a computer and digital camera. Social Media ‘experts’ are popping up everywhere, with little or no real social media experience.
Everyone simultaneously knows everything and nothing about social media. Fewer people are asking ‘what is a wiki’, but many of the people in the know still do not understand the usefulness of the ‘revert’ feature.
People are interested more than ever about what bloggers have to say. You finally have an audience willing to listen to you at parties. Relax and enjoy the attention. Answer questions sincerely and honestly – assuming nothing about your listener’s skill level or interests. It’s just a conversation, after all.
What advice / experiences do you have about talking about your blog or podcast in the ‘real world?’
