Brrism8 takes place on 21st April 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.)
Social Media on the Move
Anywhere, Anytime AccessWe love using social media on the move - but what's the best way to do it? What phone do you buy, what apps do you run? Not as simple as you might think because they're not really phones - they're actually tiny computers and so its not just about buying the best phone but working out what "app story" you're buying into. Sam Machin will be asking: Apple, Android or other - who's going to win and in what timeframe. And, once you've decided that, what's the best app to use for Twitter, geo-location and many more. Sam doesn't have all the answers to these questions by the way - but as per Brrism's user generated content model he'll be facilitating discussion to allow you to discover the answers yourself.
About the Speaker
Sam Machin has worked in the Mobile industry for 12 years, most of that time has been spent at the convergence point of mobile and the Internet. After seeing far too many false starts he has a real hope that the truly mobile Internet is here. He likes to think of himself as a 'well rounded geek' he writes occasional code mostly in python and even more rarely blogs about the mobile industry. You can also follow him on twitter.
CoWorking
Working for yourself, not by yourselfWork used to be a place you went rather than a thing you did but then came along email/mobiles/the web and then, all of a sudden, the life-work boundary became very blurred. This was even worse for freelancers whose place of work is also the place they live and so, a few years ago, some freelancers from New York decided to start the "Jelly" coworking movement. Social media and the web has enabled this meme to cross the Atlantic and Bristol now has a thriving coworking community. New kinds of physical workspace are being constructed to complement the virtual worlds in which many of us work. What will these places do for our productivity, creativity and community? Will they be able to restore the work-life balance to equilibrium?
About the Speaker
Lee Cottier is a Bristol-based freelancer. As well as his "day job" as a teacher/trainer/coach, he's somehow accidentally carved himself a sideline as a local "champion" of the coworking movement. Under his twitter alter-ego of @CoWorkingWest he's spreading the message of "working for yourself, but not by yourself" and has been organising Jelly coworking events locally for the last 6 months.
Social Media and Me
The Commerce Free ViewAt last month's Brrism Richard Churchill presented "Social Media is Rubbish, discuss" so this month we're redressing the balance with "Social Media and Me" which takes a more Panglossian approach. This is presented by Heike Harding Reyland who, despite being a voracious user of social media in all its forms, does not use social media in her job. This makes her perfect to talk about social media from the personal perspective and all that entails.
About the Speaker
Heike is living proof that social media is the great equaliser because although she "only makes cakes for a living" (her words, not mine) she is more adept in her use of social media than many social media professionals. She tweets from HeikeM and, as you can see, listens to Radio6 and cares very much about what's going to happen to it.