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Partnerships Online

David Wilcox on collaboration, including how technology can help people build partnerships, networks, participation. My main blog - Designing for Civil Society.
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• Web 2.0, participation and e-democracy
  Lee Bryant has now blogged a chapter we co-authored for Involve on how the latest web tools may help us re-think and re-energise public participation. Well, if I'm more honest, Lee took some items I've written over the past...
  
  February 14, 2006 | Posted by davidwilcox | Comments (1)
• Neighbourhoods, governance and games
  I'm looking forward to the conference on neighbourhood governance and community engagement organised for CDF by Kevin Harris next month. If that sounds bit challenging, but be assured that Drew Mackie and I will aim to liven things up...
  
  February 14, 2006 | Posted by davidwilcox | Comments (0)
• Salon goes with a swing
  The salon that I organised with the Civic Trust went well, thanks as much to their jazz and wine as any theories of participation I could offer. Good conversation was had by all - which was the idea. More...
  
  November 09, 2005 | Posted by davidwilcox | Comments (1)
• Old-style knowledge systems hamper spooks too
  

  Earlier this year an intelligence agent emailed me about inadequate knowledge systems in his agency. He's now written an article for a CIA journal.

  
  
  October 17, 2005 | Posted by davidwilcox | Comments (0)
• Can councils really host community campaigns?
  The UK government has funded a system to help local groups develop campaigns that might - among other things - criticise the councillors and officials providing support. I'm not sure it will work....
  
  October 16, 2005 | Posted by davidwilcox | Comments (0)
• Explore engagement at a London salon
  I'm running a salon evening with the Civic Trust in London on October 25, when we'll explore why a lot of public participation programme aren't working, and what might improve things. More information here....
  
  October 16, 2005 | Posted by davidwilcox | Comments (0)
• Marketing local e-democracy
  

  I've followed up earlier items about the UK local e-democracy national project with some thoughts at Designing for Civil Society on How to market e-democracy: engage.

  
  
  August 23, 2005 | Posted by davidwilcox | Comments (0)
• Daily regeneration news now available by blog
  

  The charity Ruralnet|uk is offering a free blog-based prototype of its daily feed of urban and rural regeneration news. A Prospectus sets out plans to continue development through sponsorship.

  
  
  August 02, 2005 | Posted by davidwilcox | Comments (0)
• Nonprofits press for more public service contracts
  

  Voluntary and community organisations are pressing for a bigger role in delivering public services - and the money to pay for that. If successful, this could pose some challenges for the way they engage with people who may be supporters, volunteers and also customers.

  
  
  July 28, 2005 | Posted by davidwilcox | Comments (0)
• Community governance made simple ... well, understandable
  

  Research into local partnerships in England highlights some of the tensions between politicians, officials and community representatives. By developing a script from their interviews, the researchers have created a basis for conversations that make community governance more understandable.

  
  
  July 26, 2005 | Posted by davidwilcox | Comments (0)
• Jamie's Big Voice shows the way for online campaigns
  

  Blogger Jamie Mccoy brought an authentic voice about homelessness to the election campaign. He's still blogging, and maybe pointing the way for campaigning organisations to use the Net more effectively.

  
  
  July 14, 2005 | Posted by davidwilcox | Comments (0)
• Even meetings about design need a designer
  

  An event last night explored how designers can help people engage with social and political issues through more innovative approaches. Unfortunately we had to make do with a rather traditional meeting.

  
  
  July 12, 2005 | Posted by davidwilcox | Comments (1)
• Engaging events: the conversation continues
  

  The Demos pamphlet on community organisations and participation continues to provide double value by sparking further exchanges on how think tanks can mix the role of expert and facilitator. Well, that's my take on the difficult to discuss issue of style.

  
  
  July 08, 2005 | Posted by davidwilcox | Comments (0)
• City directors show the human touch
  

  The Institute of Directors launched a new Hub in the City of London last night, with a little space to promote their float in the Lord Mayor's Show. Could almost have been the village hall ... except sponsorship is a little more costly.

  
  
  July 07, 2005 | Posted by davidwilcox | Comments (0)
• Effective engagement means changes in government, says Minister
  

  Opinion Leader Research has published a pamphlet outlining deliberative techniques for engagement, at the same time Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt announced a major consultation exercise in the health service. She offers welcome recognition that institutional change is needed in addition to effective techniques.

  
  
  July 06, 2005 | Posted by davidwilcox | Comments (0)
• Demos argues the case for Starting with People
  

  A pamphlet from think tank Demos suggests that community groups play a key part in helping people engage with 'the public realm' - and this should be more widely recognised by funders.

  
  
  July 04, 2005 | Posted by davidwilcox | Comments (0)
• Why aren't events about engagement more engaging?
  

  Think tanks and politicans are producing a welter of pamphlets celebrating community engagement and voluntary action. Can't complain ... but good work at local level is hardly new, and it can all sound a bit patronising.

  
  
  July 04, 2005 | Posted by davidwilcox | Comments (0)
• Neighbourhoods champion launches out at Local Level
  

  Neighbourhood blogger Kevin Harris leaves his job at Community Development Foundation to go freelance

  
  
  July 02, 2005 | Posted by davidwilcox | Comments (0)
• Google makes Brighton and Hove theplacetobe
  

  A localised version of Google is providing the south coast city with a spcecialised search engine, developed by a local partnership. With wifi offering near-blanket connectivity, the city is becoming the place to be.

  
  
  July 02, 2005 | Posted by davidwilcox | Comments (0)
• Storytelling proves more engaging than a survey
  

  The original brief for a study of community cohesion in Pendle, in the north west of England, specified a baseline survey - but the local council accepted proposals for a programme of storytelling and found it generated rather more buzz and involvement as well as useful data.

  
  
  June 30, 2005 | Posted by davidwilcox | Comments (0)
• Blogging, authority and influence. Time to organise?
  

  A conference next week explores the power that blogs may have in the media, and the authority they may begin to command in the marketplace. So is it time for bloggers to increase their influence by a bit of organising?

  
  
  June 23, 2005 | Posted by davidwilcox | Comments (0)
• Telling the lifestory of a local forum
  

  Neighbourhood forums are one of the methods for local participative democracy promoted by UK central and local government - but what do they mean in practice? We found out by inviting people to invent a place, create a forum, and tell its lifestory - all within an hour.

  
  
  June 23, 2005 | Posted by davidwilcox | Comments (0)
• Grassroots media charity goes out joyfully (more follows)
  

  Quest Trust winds up in style at its final networking event, and promises that staff who have supported community groups in the use of community media will stay in the business.

  
  
  June 22, 2005 | Posted by davidwilcox | Comments (0)
• Planning a networky organisation? Just invite everyone
  

  Traditional nonprofits - and other organisations - can end up with communication and governance problems juggling roles of board, staff, advisers and other interests. One answer - make them all part of the network. Here's a diagram that might get people talking

  
  
  June 15, 2005 | Posted by davidwilcox | Comments (1)
• Making the most of being small
  

  Jason Fried, who has developed the successful project management system Basecamp, explained to the Reboot conference why it is isn't such a bad thing to be small. You just need to embrace those things apparently constraining you, as Jason explains in a video interview.

  
  
  June 10, 2005 | Posted by davidwilcox | Comments (0)
• Microsoft's chief humaniser on pushing the political and company membrane
  

  Microsoft employee Robert Scoble's blogging is starting to show the company people have loved to hate may be becoming more access to its customers. In a video interview he talks of pushing membrane - and how this can work in civil society too.

  
  
  June 10, 2005 | Posted by davidwilcox | Comments (1)
• Community enterprise partners with IBM to provide Regen TV
  

  Community networking pioneers in East London developed a system to provide residents with community video and computing on their TV sets. Now IBM has developed an open source system to roll the model out to housing organisations and councils.

  
  
  June 08, 2005 | Posted by davidwilcox | Comments (1)
• E-democracy: the full UK toolkit now available
  

  The UK national local e-democracy project has published a toolkit drawn from a major programme of pilots. What's now needed are ways to get other non-government interests involved.

  
  
  June 07, 2005 | Posted by davidwilcox | Comments (0)
• E-democracy gains some bottom-up tools: official
  

  Local groups can develop their own citizen-based issues forums thanks to open source software developed in New Zealand, promoted by a US-based e-democracy advocate, and piloted in the UK.

  
  
  June 06, 2005 | Posted by davidwilcox | Comments (0)
• Think tank promotes local engagement to revive politics
  

  The think tank Demos launched an essay on Everyday Democracy, arguing the route to reviving public interest in politics lies in greater engagement in local as well as global issues, and matters that reconnect people with their communities. The language was high-flown - but Demos staff had some creative work from their awayday to provide a lighter touch.

  
  
  June 01, 2005 | Posted by davidwilcox | Comments (0)
• Time to tell the story of regeneration pioneers
  

  The recent retirement of Roger Matland as director of the Westway Development Trust provides the occasion to reflect on how far community-based regeneration has progressed in the UK through the creation of hundreds of similar organisations over the past 30 years. Maybe it's time they shared their stories, using the collaborative media now available.

  
  
  May 27, 2005 | Posted by davidwilcox | Comments (0)
• Finding a chance to talk with or without WSIS
  

  People trying to do good stuff with new technologies, who aren't in business or government, need a chance to network and share experience. The British Council is providing opportunities through work on the World Summit on the Information Society ... but we might achieve more without such a heavy overhead of UN-speak.

  
  
  May 25, 2005 | Posted by davidwilcox | Comments (1)
• Guide to starting blogging
  

  Techsoup offers advice on how to start blogging, and the benefits for nonprofits.

  
  
  May 25, 2005 | Posted by davidwilcox | Comments (0)
• Can't get customer services? Ask sales to step in.
  

  Bulldog provide another example of a communication company unable to match its go-faster broadband offering with reasonable support. One option is to press their sales team to stop selling and start helping.

  
  
  May 24, 2005 | Posted by davidwilcox | Comments (2)
• Grassroots support charity closes
  

  Quest Trust, set up to support grassroots activists, announces a major networking event - and its closure.

  
  
  May 23, 2005 | Posted by davidwilcox | Comments (1)
• Grassroots media using open source - analysis, action and surprise support
  

  A new essay from Jon Garfunkel analyses the role of gatekeepers in old media and blogging. Old media turned grassroots media advocate Dan Gillmour starts to practice what he writes about. CivicSpace offers a chance for us all to use the open source software Drupal underpinning Jon and Dan's work. A benevolent Milwaukee "wiki gnome" helps fix this site.

  
  
  May 18, 2005 | Posted by davidwilcox | Comments (0)
• Political apathy inquiry highlights culture change
  

  A major UK inquiry into political participation, branded POWER by two leading charities and a panel of notable Commissioners, calls for democratic innovation and a change of political culture. However, bridging the cultural gap between politics, mainstream media, public relations and citizen participation may prove a challenge for the Commission itself.

  
  
  May 02, 2005 | Posted by davidwilcox | Comments (0)
• Change or Die? Adjusting the odds.
  

  An article in Fast Company suggests that the odds of changing the way we live are nine to one even if that means we may die sooner, and this has implications for organisational change too. Maybe we can change the odds if we make closer links between personal and organisational.

  
  
  May 01, 2005 | Posted by davidwilcox | Comments (0)
• London gets an information portal: communication to follow
  

  The Mayor of London and local authorities have funded development of an information portal launched this week. Lots to search with a promise later of communication to empower citizens to engage organisations with who run the city.

  
  
  April 26, 2005 | Posted by davidwilcox | Comments (0)
• Boring and trivial election? Try paying the electors to deliberate.
  

  Independent columnist Johann Hari finds that politicians and journalists inhabit a universe that is alien to most electors - "froth built on froth, gossip drawing on gossip". He suggests taking up the idea of a Deliberation Day, and paying citizens £150 to spend some serious time thinking and talking.

  
  
  April 26, 2005 | Posted by davidwilcox | Comments (0)
• Policy isn't enough to ensure participation
  

  Facilitators and others specialising in public participation conclude that UK Government policy pronouncements aren't enough to overcome organisational inertia and an unwillingness to share or distribute power.

  
  
  April 25, 2005 | Posted by davidwilcox | Comments (0)
• Local e-democracy could help with digital empowerment
  

  The Manifesto for a Digital Britain asks "How can we empower better", in its current consultation. One avenue could be for the the Government's local e-democracy project - currently narrow in its focus - to engage more widely with other interests in the development and dissemination of its toolkit.

  
  
  April 22, 2005 | Posted by davidwilcox | Comments (0)
• New Start offers me a conversational blogprint - but how to keep talking?
  

  A conversation started here about portals, blogs and other ways to promote regeneration networking has found its way into New Start magazine. They and the portal we were discussing are much bigger media players... but this seems to be the only place we can talk. I must try more blogprinting.

  
  
  April 22, 2005 | Posted by davidwilcox | Comments (0)
• Time to open source local e-democracy
  

  The UK government is funding the world's biggest local e-democracy project which claims it will "harness the power of new technology to encourage citizen participation in local decision making" and become "Your community conversation".... but the whole exercise looks a bit top-down. How about an open knowledge approach to developing their e-democracy toolkit?

  
  
  April 20, 2005 | Posted by davidwilcox | Comments (2)
• Open sourcing society
  

  A new pamphlet from Demos sets out how the principles of open source software development could be more widely applied - and the challenges in doing so.

  
  
  April 20, 2005 | Posted by davidwilcox | Comments (1)
• Facilitation by stirring things up - time to re-invent the jester
  

  Musing about how to earn a living by stirring things up leads to contact with an online magazine about politics and dancing, which naturally enough produces some consideration of the need for a new version of the medieval jester to challenge the ways in which we do participation badly.

  
  
  April 20, 2005 | Posted by davidwilcox | Comments (1)
• Participation facilitator says spoil your vote
  

  Spoilyourvote is one of the web sites offering electors ideas for how they should exercise their democractic rights at the UK general election on May 5. One of the people behind the campaign is participation facilitator Penny Waterhouse, who also argues protest should be one of the tools used by those aiming to get people involved in civic life.

  
  
  April 19, 2005 | Posted by davidwilcox | Comments (0)
• Time to tell some wifi stories
  

  Westminster council is finding it difficult to explain their vision of a wireless city in the heart of London to staff and residents. Why not get the enthusiasts together to tell each other stories about what's working, and then spread the word on the street in terms people can understand?

  
  
  April 15, 2005 | Posted by davidwilcox | Comments (2)
• The ripple effect of blogging
  

  The story of how a UK blog item about a model for civic engagement ends up encouraging just that in Canada, via an elearning blog ... and most interestly, how it is possible to track that happening.

  
  
  April 15, 2005 | Posted by davidwilcox | Comments (0)
• Networking to give and to get
  

  Those attending a Gurteen Knowledge Cafe learned about personal networking by writing badges on what they each wanted to give and to get, and then, well, networking. However, that model may not work well for everyone.

  
  
  April 14, 2005 | Posted by davidwilcox | Comments (1)
• Making annual reports more accessible
  

  Rural regeneration charity ruralnet|uk uses simple yet effective online publishing to show how they operate as a social enterprise.

  
  
  April 14, 2005 | Posted by davidwilcox | Comments (0)
• Why hosts and moderators aren't the same
  

  Robin Hamman explains the different roles of hosts (welcoming, introducing, explaining) and moderators (policing) in online communities. The forthcoming Infonortics conference may be a good to chance to see how online facilitation experts translate those roles face-to-face.

  
  
  April 12, 2005 | Posted by davidwilcox | Comments (2)
• Does it matter if people don't use the Net, revisited
  

  A Digital Inclusion event prompts organiser Will Davies to wonder whether the 40% of people who aren't using the Net may not be wrong, just thinking and acting differently. He ponders "Is the internet all a bit, y'know, pre-911?"

  
  
  April 12, 2005 | Posted by davidwilcox | Comments (0)
• Explaining RSS? Just think sushi belts
  

  BBC online explains Really Simple Syndication by likening it to sushi belts. At least that gets it on the front page.

  
  
  April 11, 2005 | Posted by davidwilcox | Comments (0)
• Community web site or aggregator: time to combine?
  

  Enthusiasts are still developing local community websites that became popular in the 1990s, but it can be a struggle. Is it time to look at how these could be combined with aggregators that can bring together content from the growing number of bloggers in an area?

  
  
  April 08, 2005 | Posted by davidwilcox | Comments (3)
• Ideas for better conversations, while saving the world
  

  Dave Pollard suggests seven reasons for conversation - from education to entertainment - and then provides a dozen ideas on how we can better engage with each other.

  
  
  April 07, 2005 | Posted by davidwilcox | Comments (1)
• Think tank invites contributions to its digital manifesto
  

  The Manifesto for Digital Britain project has launched a three-week online public consultation, starting with questions about How can we innovate better?

  
  
  April 07, 2005 | Posted by davidwilcox | Comments (1)
• Tracking conversations about making events more interesting
  

  Facilitators Chris Corrigan and Nancy White have posted ideas on how to make conferences more interesting. Online conversation trackers make it possible to find who is discussing this and other topics.

  
  
  April 06, 2005 | Posted by davidwilcox | Comments (1)
• UK government rediscovers the digital divide
  

  A new digital strategy from the UK government promises to use technology to tackle social exclusion. The big idea is a competition for local authorities, and using UK online centres to delivery public services. Sounds familiar.

  
  
  April 05, 2005 | Posted by davidwilcox | Comments (0)
• What will you be when you grow up? Goal-less, thanks.
  

  Goals may be fine for businesses and sports teams, but they are aren't always the best way to guide our lives. If someone asks where you'll be in a few years it's OK to say you don't know.

  
  
  April 02, 2005 | Posted by davidwilcox | Comments (1)
• How to make social software events social
  

  The growing interest in online tools that can help transform our organisations and relationships offers a big opportunity for interesting events, says Lee Bryant. But only if organisers make their event formats as interactive as the software.

  
  
  April 01, 2005 | Posted by davidwilcox | Comments (0)
• Personal wikis and the temptation of lists
  

  Software for personal knowledge management can provide creative space, help pull together stuff that's scattered all over the place, and generally bring a sense of order. But it may make you believe you are doing something when you are just moving things around.

  
  
  March 30, 2005 | Posted by davidwilcox | Comments (0)
• Storytelling helps overcome community conflict
  

  Pendle borough council and other local organisations wanted to help residents understand community cohesion, and find out people's attititudes to their neighbours. Instead of commissioning a conventional survey they opted for storytelling and a strip drawn by a Private Eye cartoonist.

  
  
  March 29, 2005 | Posted by davidwilcox | Comments (0)
• Government e-democracy site relaunches
  

  The UK government has relaunched its local e-democracy site. Lots of interesting content, just a bit difficult to see who the real people are behind it.

  
  
  March 27, 2005 | Posted by davidwilcox | Comments (0)
• Free guides to collaboration
  

  Free guides to participation, partnerships, networking and other collaborations are now available on this site under a Creative Commons license.

  
  
  March 27, 2005 | Posted by davidwilcox | Comments (0)
• Poor conferences: time for participant power
  

  Too often conferences that promise conversation and creativity turn out to be the usual boring lectures from the platform. But what can participants do to challenge that? Collaborative laptop note-taking and projected feedback could be one way. Non-techies may prefer to put their hand up.

  
  
  March 25, 2005 | Posted by davidwilcox | Comments (3)
• Reducing the fear of being wrong - for spooks too
  

  Can a culture of more open, bottom-up communication within and between organisations reduce the fear of being wrong, and produce better collective intelligence? Yes, of course, social software advocates might say. But could that also apply within intelligence agencies?

  
  
  March 24, 2005 | Posted by davidwilcox | Comments (0)
• Common interest may not make a community of interest
  

  People using technology for social action, and academics studying the field, are getting together to set the future research agenda. But will there be enough mutual interest to develop a community of interest.... and is that the best way of thinking about sharing ideas?

  
  
  March 23, 2005 | Posted by davidwilcox | Comments (1)
• Building a regional network online
  

  If you don't go for a central portal, how do you build an online network for organisations and individuals in a region? Suggestions include build on what's there, talk to people, try the online tools yourself, simulate, find and support networkers, mix media.

  
  
  March 20, 2005 | Posted by davidwilcox | Comments (1)
• Blog, wiki, or classic web - it's a personality thing
  

  The type of online presence that you need - and are comfortable with - may have as much to do with your personality and preferences as what you want to say.

  
  
  March 20, 2005 | Posted by davidwilcox | Comments (1)
• First exploration: making this stuff work for me
  

  Technology has affected our lives forever....probably for the better if you have the money, not necessarily if you don't. Can we shift the balance? Only if we can work out how to integrate technology into day-to-day life and work. First item in an exploration.

  
  
  March 18, 2005 | Posted by davidwilcox | Comments (0)
• Libraries could do more to build local connections
  

  Libraries can help community cohesion by extending their traditional roles to include support for local networks, according to a report from the Museum, Libraries and Archive Council. But will the librarians be up for it?

  
  
  March 17, 2005 | Posted by davidwilcox | Comments (2)
• Scrap the nonprofit hubs: just join up what's here already
  

  An independent assessor has criticised all parties in the row about a 'hub' to provide advice and support to UK nonprofits. But do we really need these centralised systems anyway?

  
  
  March 17, 2005 | Posted by davidwilcox | Comments (0)
• If bullets are failing, re-write the script
  

  Presentations loaded with bullet points can deaden small meetings as well as conferences, and easily foster misunderstanding. Writing a script for the different participants may be a better way of getting inside people's heads.

  
  
  March 15, 2005 | Posted by davidwilcox | Comments (0)
• Regeneration mono-culture is out...except on the web
  

  The director of a regional regeneration agency, Dominic Murphy, argues strongly for greater use of the Net to share knowledge in the field. But should Government agencies only promote one-stop gateway sites?

  
  
  March 15, 2005 | Posted by davidwilcox | Comments (4)
• Rural expert Kate brightens the gateway
  

  Kate Braithwaite, Director of the Carnegie Commission for Rural Community Development, looks like a natural blogger in her question and answer session for the Scottish Rural Community Gateway. Just as well, since she'll soon have her own site.

  
  
  March 11, 2005 | Posted by davidwilcox | Comments (0)
• Welcome to Partnerships Online
  

  What's on this site, how it works, and why I developed it

  
  
  March 10, 2005 | Posted by davidwilcox | Comments (2)
• Getting it done without a deadline: tips please.
  

  What does it take to keep the blog items flowing, when there's no client to please or edition to catch?

  
  
  March 09, 2005 | Posted by davidwilcox | Comments (1)
• Describing networks: joining us, joining in, or joining up
  

  Network theory is all very well - but how do you explain simply to people different structures so that they can think through the implications for communication systems, leadership and governance. Maybe considering what an invitation would