Wednesday 3 March 2010

Bristol, Search and Group Dynamics

Brrism7 takes place on 17th March at the Pervasive Media Studio and we've got some interesting social media related topics to discuss. As usual we're using our short presentation/long discussion format (5 minutes from each of the presenters followed by a 45 minute "open space" style discussion where you are free to join whatever groups you are interested in). The speakers are listed below.

(For meeting time/venue details, and to sign up for a free ticket, please go along to the EventBrite page.)


Connecting Bristol

Creating a world-class Digital City

Connectivity, Technology and Media are the cornerstones of a prosperous and ambitious city like Bristol. These three ‘Digital Elements’ enable the city to, do more business; to present a modern face to the outside world; and to engage effectively with local citizens and communities. Bristol already has a wealth of digital expertise and talent, in private and public sectors, in academia and in our communities. However, we believe that Bristol and the city region can reap wider benefits from this success if we adopt an approach based on "open" "green" and "social" innovation. This talk will explore what this might look like in practice.

About the Speaker
Stephen Hilton leads Connecting Bristol, which is Bristol City Council’s Digital City Partnership. Stephen’s varied interests include Web 2.0, Digital Inclusion, e-Democracy, Next Generation broadband Access and ICT and the Environment. Previously, Stephen worked as Bristol City Council’s Consultation and e-Participation Manager. During this time Stephen established a leading role for Bristol City Council in the area of local e-Democracy and e-participation. Politech Institute named Bristol as European City for e-Democracy and Stephen received a personal award as BT Government Innovator of the Year in the National Government Computing Awards. You can follow Stephen on Twitter.

Search in the Stream

How Live Content is changing Search

Social Media has not only changed the way that web content is generated but it has also changed the way in which web content is found. This session centres around the realisation that the web is now a stream and that content is now fragmented, distributed and much more real-time than it once was. What are the new rules? How can we exploit new content types. And live content types.

About the Speaker
Justin Gale is based in Bristol and has a senior worldwide role focusing on search and digital strategy for Hewlett Packard. You can connect with him on LinkedIn.




Internet Classics

A group is its own worst enemy

The internet isn't that old but its old enough to have its "classics" - i.e. articles (or blog posts) that have passed the tests of time and are still being cited long after their writing. These articles deserve to be brought to the attention of a new audience and discussed in 2010. We're starting off with an article that was written 7 years ago which, in internet time, was eons ago. Its called "A Group is its own worst enemy", its by Clay Shirky and it talks about group dynamics, specifically group dynamics in the context of social software.

About the Speaker
Michael Corbett is Bristol Social Media's founder, organiser and master of ceremonies. He's an independent consultant who specialises in social media and its socio-technical implications for organisations. You can connect with him on Facebook, LinkedIn or follow him on Twitter.