Yesterday I spent my afternoon at the newly openened Mad Lab in Manchester’s Northern Quarter attending an event boldly called “Connecting2.0Communities” and organised by Manchester Digital Development Agency (MDDA). The idea was to “connect” digital experts with Third sector, not for profit and freelancers looking for information, advice and support on using soccial media tools.

Events like this should be welcomed, they are a great way for different community groups to connect, share and collaborate and I really hope the event becomes a regular fixture in Manchester’s calendar. But, I couldn’t help feeling that with a few “tweaks” a good event could have been great and so, I’d like to offer a few suggestions – and – an offer to help put some of them into practice at the next event. I’ve used a few photos to illustrate my points, these weren’t taken at yesterday’s event, but come from other community organised events I’ve been to in the North West, and I hope they show that a slightly bolder approach to community events can be successful and rewarding for the organisers and the attendees.

So here goes, feel free to disagree, add your own contributions and maybe even come along to the next event and join in?

Make me welcome:

The event was organised using Eventbrite, which can be set up for free if you’re not charging a booking fee, this meant participants could be contacted prior to the event by the organisers. There was a hashtag on twitter #con2com – but it wasn’t used as widely as it could have been to create a sense of anticipation before the event and I didn’t notice many other people tweeting during the afternoon. Why not consider offering participants the chance to network or start conversations before or after the event? Secondly, make the event “check in” a positive experience. I was greeted by a friendly smile from one of MDDA’s staff and I was asked to complete a monitoring form. Next time it might be helpful to delegate the job of sitting on the welcome desk to  specific person, get attendees to sign in so you know who’s there and ask everyone to wear a name badge (organisers too – it’s nice to know who you are).

Tell me what’s going on

Yesterday’s event was advertised as a “drop in”, and when I arrived there was a real buzz, people were sitting, standing, talking and laughing. It would have been helpful to know what was planned, “presentations” were hinted at but no-one seemed to know what was on offer, so I wasn’t able to decide if they would be relevant or useful to me (more of those later).  It might be helpful to find out from people as they arrive what they have come for – to network, to ask a specific question or to simply find out more about social media tools. Having someone on hand to point out people who might help or having a system for accessing advice might be helpful? Keep the presentations short, informal and optional.

Trust people’s ability to self organise

The first part of yesterday’s session was really helpful, I found a very nice “expert” who was able to show me how to embed some links into my Tumblr – he also tried to convert me to Google Chrome instead of Firefox, but I’m sorry to say after trying it out on the way home, I’m a Firefox girl through and through! I found the formal presentations frustrating, Matt from Virtual Construction, told a great story about how he had helped one of Manchester’s voluntary groups to use online tools to create and spread a message very successfully, and Richard tried to convince us of the need for every organisation to develop an “IT Strategy”. And, even though the “Expert Panel” were very friendly and willing to offer advice I couldn’t help feeling that the “audience” were being treated like empty vessels waiting to be filled with the geeky bounty of the (all male) panel. It came as no surprise to hear that at least 2 of them were academics and at least 3 had a teaching background. I wondered if maybe next time the organisers could take a more open space approach, learning from the Bar Camps and Unconferences which have taken place in the past few years, allowing participants to self organise around a topic or question. It may seem unnerving if it’s not an approach the roganisers have used before, but most of those in the audience were there voluntarily, all with something to offer or to share and maybe a less informal approach might help to break down the “digital divide”? Which brings me on to a personal request: Please don’t call the panellists, “Experts”, call them contributors, collaborators – even to borrow a term from the excellent Social Media Surgeries springing up around the country -  “surgeon” (never heard of a Social Media Surgery? listen to this podcast on Paul Webster’s Tumblr ). Use a term which implies the opportunity for collaboration, alternative opinions and offers a more inclusive approach than that of the traditional teacher / pupil relationship implied by the term expert. Also, there’s no shame in admitting you don’t know the answer to a question. Take for example yesterdays discussion about free hardware. Obviously the panel didn’t know or couldn’t remember the name of local social enterprises which can offer advice or support – but surely someone in the sudience could have taken advantage of the free wifi and  googled it – or instead of suggesting adding another page to the MDDA website, why not direct participants to the excellent online resource One Central Place which has its offical launch next week?

Show jargon the red card

Finally, a plea for some plain English please. The “expert panel” clearly shared a common language, which excluded most of the audience. There was plenty of self congratulation and back patting – not a bad thing in itself, but I’m sure I’m not the only one who sat in the audience bemused and confused by the “geek  speak”. So, I would suggest that if the “Social Media Question Time” approach is used at future events, everyone in the audience is given a red card with the instruction, that  as soon as an “expert” says something you don’t understand you show them the red card! Believe me, there’s no better way to remind a presenter the value in plain speaking (I know I’ve been the recipient of several red cards at community events).

So there you are, a few minor gripes and niggles. I really hope the Connecting 2.0 Communities becomes a regular event, I’d love to be part of it and watch it flourish and I’d love to know what other attendees thought of it and I’d be very interested to know how the organisers plan to reach out to more voluntary groups across Manchester and create a vibrant social space for collaboration and conversation. After all, isn’t that what at’s the heart of “engagement”?