Saturday the 12th January saw the first ever Councillor Camp event take place at Facebook HQ in London.
More than a hundred local politicians from across both the country and the political spectrum came along, eager to share and learn about all things digital and social. This was a pretty good start towards our aims for the day – we really wanted to create space for councillors to talk over the issues they see around digital and social media and form networks to share ideas and experience – the same way movements like Govcamp have done for other groups.
The day kicked off with Facebook-ers Simon Milner and Elizabeth Linder giving us some incredible examples of Facebook use and a how-to for getting the most out of it.
We then heard from a selection of fantastic speakers, who each gave a 5-minute lightning talk on their own experience of using digital or social media. All the speakers were excellent, but particular highlights included David Harrington from Stockton telling us about his Skype surgeries, Liz Ixer from Harringay Online, and Alice Perry from Islington talking about digital campaigning. The brilliant Tom Phillips who videoed all the talks is in the process of uploading them to YouTube, so check out our bookmarks for the links.
Over the coffee break people started thinking about ideas for the afternoon unconference. It wasn’t long before the post-its were flying around and we had a full to overflowing grid ready for the rest of the day. Sessions ranged from “What can councillors say legally?” and “What support do members really need on social media” all the way through to a big “Twitter bootcamp” session covering all things 140 characters.
Despite all but a few of the attendees being unconference newbies, everyone got stuck in – and the lack of structure seemed to go down really well. There are some brilliant write-ups of the sessions in the huge array of blog posts that have already been written about the day.
The day was rounded up with a closing panel, chaired by Jonathan Carr-West of the LGiU. Panelists reflected on their experience of the day and what they’d learned, before handing over to the audience to do the same.
Throughout the whole day everyone at the event discussed and shared things with each other; there was a continual buzz in the venue all day, which was just as valuable as the talks and sessions.
Our goal for Saturday was to start conversations and give local politicians a network to support each other on social media and associated technology. To encourage those conversations to continue, there’s now a Councillor Campers Facebook group, specifically for local councillors to share, ask and learn anything digital or social.
We’re now thinking about what next for Councillor Camp and we’re open to offers, so do get in touch if you’re up for collaborating in the future. And to keep up with all things Councillor Camp, just like the Facebook page.
Check out these bookmarks for links to all the blogs, podcasts, photos and more from Councillor Camp.
Title quote: Kate Butler
We did CouncillorCamp as the topic on the #lgovsm “Tweet-up” the Tuesday evening after. The discussion was “ok”, though only a few #lgovsm regulars had been to the event, and only a few new faces joined us. There were, however, a few quite strong themes from the session:
There would be interest in regional versions of CouncillorCamp. To me personally, that was a bit of a surprise, probably because I really liked working with a total mix of geography, issues and attitudes, as there was at CouncillorCamp. Nevertheless, maybe that wouldn’t be lost in, say, three or four regional events.
Several councillors commented at the event and on #lgovsm that they would like to attend an event where each councillor brings with them a relevant officer, so that the learning was shared. There were several perceptive comments at CouncillorCamp about needing to break social media out of the constraints that Leaders/Mayors and local authority comms teams can often place around it. It was salutary on the day to hear from a number of councillors who feel every bit as held back in their use of social media as do the rank and file officers who work with them. I think the idea for some learning and value-sharing is a great one.
There was considerable support for the Councillor who posted on #lgovsm: “still too many councils that block soc med – let alone fail to support”
You’ll find many more great quotes and points of view by going back through the #lgovsm hashtag on Twitter.
I hope we come to look back at CouncillorCamp 2012 as a groundbreaking event.
Tom
Thanks for your comment Tom, and also for hosting #lgovsm – it was a good bit of luck that my regular Tuesday evening thing that prevents me joining in was cancelled!
The point about bringing along an officer is an interesting one. One of the thoughts behind Councillor Camp was that this could be a bit of ‘safe space’ where councillors were talking with other councillors about issues that affect them as councillors (you get the point). In my head, an event where everyone brought an officer would really be a govcamp-type thing that had a high incidence of councillors (which is brilliant, and something I’d love to see, but not what Councillor Camp is).
Perhaps there’s something cool we could do around equipping members to make the internal case for social media though…
Thanks again for all your hard work on the day as well.
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