Organiser Survey

I'm just filling in a form to go to @Amanda, Twestival organiser extraordinaire, and thought as I'm writing it once, I might as well record it here too (nb. My personal thoughts, not those of the wider team):

Press and web coverage:

Liverpool Daily Post:
http://www.ldpbusiness.co.uk/business-features/features/2009/01/29/twitterers-plan-lots-of-tweets-at-liverpool-twestival-96026-22806350/

http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-news/regional-news/2009/01/27/city-twestival-for-twitters-64375-22785707/

Bootle Times:
http://www.bootletimes.co.uk/news/bootle-news/2009/01/27/bootle-users-invited-to-liverpool-s-first-twitter-event-97007-22792882/

Radio Merseyside:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p00242hw/Claire_Hamilton_10_02_2009/

CityTalk Radio:
Pete Price show - Awaiting links
Simon O'Brien show - Awaiting links

Southport Visitor:
http://www.southportvisiter.co.uk/southport-news/southport-southport-news/2009/01/27/festival-for-southport-twitter-users-101022-22792830/

Crosby Herald:
http://www.crosbyherald.co.uk/news/crosby-news/2009/01/27/crosby-twitter-users-invited-to-liverpool-twestival-event-68459-22792912/

Art in Liverpool blog:
http://www.artinliverpool.com/blog/2009/01/liverpool-twestival-twitter-festival-12-feb-09/ - Before
http://www.artinliverpool.com/blog/2009/02/liverpool-twestival-success/ - After

FACT blog:
http://blog.fact.co.uk/?p=866

Adventures in Open Source:
http://danlynch.org/blog/2009/02/liverpool-twestival/

Topix:
http://www.topix.com/uk-county/cheshire/2009/02/twitter-fans-join-liverpools-first-twestival

Click Liverpool:
http://www.clickliverpool.com/business/corporate-news/122581-liverpool-twitterati-looking-for-tweets-at-city-twestival.html

Liverpool.com:
http://www.liverpool.com/blogs/twitter-festival-at-leaf.html

P3dro's Blog:
http://www.p3dro.co.uk/?p=330

Links to pictures and videos of the event:

Echo TV:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNOhQDQYv2E

Flickr:
http://flickr.com/photos/petecarr/sets/72157613706455215/ - Pete Carr
http://flickr.com/photos/mobilevirgin/sets/72157613708019869/ - Peter Goodbody
http://flickr.com/photos/matt_thomas/sets/72157613726923723/ - Matt Thomas
http://www.flickr.com/photos/35379223@N06/tags/livtwest/ - Jennifer Welch

http://qik.com/video/1024493 - Alison Gow
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nN0PpbAjLFY and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEcCq8oD71c&feature=related- Alison Gow


Additional comments/feedback:

Would have loved to have streamed live but faced some technical challenges because of the very short lead in time.

As organiser, seemed like it all went a bit crazy about 3 days before, and I wasn't able to keep up with everything that was going on - .fm, tshirts, streaming etc. (I know it was the first!)

Would love to do it again, with more time, more team members and some choices about making it local as well as global.

Wanted to link up to other cities doing events but again, maybe next time!

In your own words, what did this experience mean to you:

Organising Twestival was an amazing experience, from initial gathering of expressions of interest through to receiving fantastic positive feedback from all involved - it has been challenging, great fun, and helped the local Twitter community to really bond.

The support and generousity of twitter folk has been quite staggering in the current financial climate, and reinforced my feeling that communities really can change the world!


Highlights:

Music - the three bands we had were fantastic!
Getting wider community involved, giving work experience to students through School Audio Engineering that did our sound.
Meeting the faces behind the @twitter names!
Using Bubblino to blow bubbles whenever#livtwest was detected on a twitter feed.
Auctioning Liverpool prints, and Stephen Fry's socks!

Will we have another one?

I said yes.

But...

That's another post...!

Review of Liverpool Twestival - Part One

I want to record what has been happening over the past few weeks, before I get onto reviewing what happened on Thursday night which is likely to be part two!

For a while now, my creative side has been itching to get out, and to some degree it can whilst at work, but not a lot. I had a feeling when thinking about New Year, and resolutions etc that this was going to be a 'big year' (as my friend Margie would say) and embraced that fact, making a decision that this was going to be the year of Yes. I even watched Jim Carrey in Yes Man over Christmas, which was reasonably good, and gave me more food for thought.

In fact, one of my resolutions was to get out more, at least once a month (posted here). Little did I know that rather than just 'getting out', before the end of Feb I'd be working with a few complete strangers to put on a party in Liverpool that would be one of 185 parties held in Cities across the world, to raise money for a very good cause - Charity:Water.

I just want to put this in context a little. I had thought about getting into Liverpool once a month to go to some gigs, having in the very far and distant past been a bit of a clubber rather than a live music person, that said - that alone would have been something very different for me.

To then volunteer (a first) to work with (not only work with, but lead) strangers that I had only previously conversed with online via Twitter, which would involve meeting up with more complete strangers was a bit random. Add to that the fact that we agreed to put on some live music, sort out an auction/raffle to raise money for charity and do quite a bit of media and PR coverage for the event - All Firsts - made it a little bit unbelievable.

Not that I'm averse to doing things for the first time you understand, I like to think of myself as innovative, and a bit quirky, but usually these things are done in quite a safe environment (i.e. work) and the one thing I love to do whatever time of day it is, is learn.

So, what have I learnt in the past month then?

Twitter is a remarkable platform for acquiring and building networks. I kinda knew this in theory, but I've seen so many examples of how powerful it is in the last few weeks that I'm qute staggered. In the words of a Stage 1 twitterer, I may be evangelising but I have strong evidence.

To be more open and trusting (within reason!) - Being cynical is so last year. I've taken my share of knocks throughout my life, and find it difficult to trust people beyond a certain level. Twestival has shown me how many good people there are out there, if only I would look for them, and the power of the community, which is hugely underestimated.

How to do a radio interview, by phone and in studio. Having appeared on CityTalk twice and the Radio Merseyside Drivetime show, I am in the words of @alisongow 'a seasoned pro'. Not sure I'd go that far, but I'll certainly know what to expect should I do it again. (It did remind me of the time I was a weather girl for Rock FM, back in the day!).
I prefer phone-in's, you can, and I did, do them in your jammies and slippers.

How to be filmed - I've now done a few pieces to camera because of this event, and whereas before I would have been so self conscious that I really would have preferred never to get in front of a camera, and have hidden behind several, focussing on the aims of the project allowed me to 'sell' the event, and hopefully come over quite calmly, rationally and not like a jibbering idiot. I'm not saying I want to watch it back, but it won't kill me.

To ask for more than I normally would - I'll say it again, I'm staggered by the generousity of the local Twitterati, and even those only slightly attached. For example, SAE sponsored the sound techs and equipment. This came about because I asked @paulnolan1980 to help (on @sicktrumpet's recommendation), not only did he help, he brought along another colleague, then we discussed having two students who would gain work experience in on the act too. Having had no experience, and no real idea of what kind of kit would be needed, Paul and Doug soon informed me that we were short of kit to the tune of about £300 (hire fees).

At this stage, I'd asked the bands to play, who were giving me requirements, we'd started publicity about the event and we working with a zero budget. Oo-er...

I, very cheekily, asked Paul and Doug to ask SAE for the equipment. They said the answer would be no. I departed from that meeting quite deflated, thinking that this might be the deal breaker. No equipment, no gig - not the end of the world I know, but not what we'd hoped for either.


Thankfully, SAE stepped in to save the day with most of the kit, and Edge Hill Uni kindly lent some too.










That I'm quite bored - and if I could fit all of this in, in 3 weeks then what else could I be doing in my spare time?

That I have confidence - I was waiting for someone to give it to me, those that know me will think i'm being melodramatic, thinking I had it all along, but I really didn't realise that I had. Well, I've found it now, and I'm not letting go of it.

I've been reminded that I love music and art, love socialising, love photography, love being challenged, love life and somewhere in the mix, most of that had got lost.

I'm sure there is much more, and I'm trying to document this as reminder to self. It has been an absolute blast. I know Andy Goodwin and Alison Gow don't think that they did very much in all of this, but you did guys, you played a huge part in it, as I couldn't have done it without you. And it is a lovely feeling to think that I made at least two new friends in all of the mayhem and madness! x

Images: Pete Carr and Jennifer Welch

Twitter and Twits

Image via CrunchBase

I've been meaning to get to the keys for a while now, but have been crazee busy organising Liverpool's first Twitter festival - or Twestival.

This week has seen quite a few firsts for me, from speaking to sound guys (i didn't have a clue!), to doing radio interviews, and responding to articles in the Independant (about Twitter) so thought I should just share some of that.

Before I made the opportunity to do so - Mike Nolan wrote a great piece on 'Has Twitter gone mainstream' which was going to be the crux of my piece - so go there and read it, and then my comments!

So many work related opportunites for using Twitter, so little time and as with anything, how we prove that this will add value, in order to release staffing to be able to support it upfront. And if we don't release staffing to support it, it'll be crap because it hasn't been supported! A vicious circle if ever there was one.

My beef with the piece in the Independant was first of all the title, 'You don't have to be a Twit but it helps' and secondly that the author seemingly fixated on one instance of how Twitter had been used, by one celebrity (@stephenfry) and discarded all of the 'good stuff' that goes on.

By good stuff, I mean the business networking, the social networking, the learning and teaching, the getting togethers to raise money for charity, the direct routes to people that you'd never have been able to access before... and the list goes on.

You can see my full ranty comment here. This article instigated quite a reaction from twitterers everywhere, and as some kindly pointed out to Terence, the article got a great deal of coverage because someone had linked to it on Twitter - had they not, I certainly would never had come across it.

Terence says "It is time to admit that computers, which have transformed and improved our lives in so many ways, are also doing terrible harm to much human interaction and thought. There are increasing numbers of people who find it easier to conduct friendships through Facebook than to leave their computer and spend time with real, flesh-and-blood friends. The fretful banality of round-the-clock texting and twittering is drowning out real communication and thought."

As you can imagine, this provoked quite a reaction including:

"Why do people like Terence always assume that online & offline friendships are mutually exclusive? I find Facebook *helps* my real life interactions - it's so much easier to organise stuff online than to rely on the old 'chinese whispers' messages which invariably end in miscommunication. Also, I have friends from all over the world that I have met while travelling - the internet allows us to keep up with each others' lives. Being able to talk with people on the other side of the world using the Internet is wonderful."

I feel particularly strongly about this - as increasingly in this very busy global world, applications such as facebook and twitter allow the beginning of a conversation, that might not ever take place 'in real life'. Certainly in my experience, I have got to know several distant colleagues through twitter, and in the absence of a direct relationship before, twitter has enhanced the real life experience.

In addition, and from a personal perspective, as a mum who spends many evenings home alone, using sites such as facebook and twitter allow me to continue conversations, not just with my 'real life' friends, but with a much wider audience. Being able to tap into knowledge that others have, and are willing to share, enhances many aspects of my life.

As with all technology - it won't work for everyone, and you do really need to stick at it and work out what you want from it, but Twitter works for me, and thousands upon thousands of others. And to finish, all I'll say is - don't knock it 'till you've tried it..

Twestival Fever

Things have been a little crazee this week. I've been having a fine old time getting involved with a very worthwhile project, and cause through one of my favourite web things, Twitter.com.

If you haven't heard of Twitter before, then you won't be alone (although it was featured on BBC News at Ten last night with regard to the Hudson River story). Twitter, by its own admission,"is a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?"

It's an interesting site to use, as the response to the question is limited to 140 characters, about the size of an SMS text message, and therefore makes you think quite carefully about what you're saying or responding to, and how you might want to say it.

As well as updating your status, additional features include following other people, and being followed. This might be based on your brief biography, links to your website or blog, or because you've said something relatively interesting that has resonated with fellow tweeple.

A whole new language is emerging; tweeple or tweeps(twitter people), tweetups (meet ups for tweeple), and now - the most exciting so far; twestivals (festivals for tweeple!).

I wouldn't like to hazard a guess at how many people are now using Twitter, but for those that are, it's a day in, day out part of their lives.

Earlier this week, I saw some updates about twestivals, which linked through to twestival.com and told a story about "a group of Twitterers based in London UK decided to organise an event where the local Twitter community could socialize offline; meet the faces behind the avatars, enjoy some entertainment, have a few drinks and tie this in with a food drive and fundraising effort for a local homeless charity."

Twestival was going to take this to a whole new level, by choosing a date - Thursday 12th Feb 2009, and by inviting cities all over the world to get involved in having local Twestivals, with the aim of raising as much money as possible for charity: water, a non profit organization bringing clean, safe drinking water to people in developing nations by funding sustainable clean water solutions in areas of greatest need.

Keen to get involved in this, I asked who was doing the Liverpool Twestival and got many replies saying 'yeah, I'd come' and 'yeah, I'll help' but none offering to take a lead. I thought long and hard about how much commitment this might take (considering I work full time, and have a demanding toddler and social life!) and then thought bugger it - this is the year of YES!

After replying to the volunteers, and pulling together a team, I registered Liverpool as a Twestival site! I am absolutely amazed and overwhelmed by the kind and giving nature of so many people who are offering to get involved/give time/do stuff to help and I know that this is going to be a wonderful event.

So, in about 25 days, the first ever Liverpool Twestival will be held.... Oh my word....

Birds Eye View of Edge Hill University

Thanks to Narco for the tip to look at Live Maps - not something I'd ventured across before, and might even save us a few quid (we've just had a request to purchase some aerial photographs of the University).

This image shows the LRC (library) and how small it looks in comparison to our newest build, the Faculty of Health - kind of back a bit, SW and looking like a building site, which it was 2 years ago.

The most amazing thing about this image, is that it loooks very different to the college of higher education where I started my study almost 9 years ago! It's a very different place now, physically, organisationally and in terms of the size of student and staff, but still a very green, lush campus, and a great place to work.

Creating Business Models

Edge Hill University and Blackwell entered into a unique and very interesting business agreement last September (2007).

The University had introduced a very innovative bursary scheme, which offers all full fee paying students a £200 return, to be spent only on learning support materials. (It won the 2006 Times Higher Award for Outstanding Financial Student Support Package)

During the first year of the scheme, Learning Services attempted to support the purchase of text books and stationery through the help desk, putting a significant amount of pressure on an already stretched service.

In January 2007, I started to look around for a solution that would ease the pressure on the service and offer a professional retail experience for our students. In thinking about this, and discussion with colleagues, we decided that we needed both a virtual/online presence, in addition to a physical/store presence.

At that point, there didn't seem to be an awful lot of choice of booksellers that offered a dual option. A chance conversation with Matt at Blackwell BBS led to a recommendation to speak to the retail and online arms of Blackwell, as they seemed more able to offer a solution.

A rapid succession of meetings followed, with the design of a unique business model taking place. Blackwell's Online and Retail divisions were at that stage very separate and it seemed at times to be a 3 way conversation rather than a 2 way supplier/customer relationship but it all worked out in the end.

From initial meeting to go live was a period of 6 pretty intense weeks, this involved designing the shop area (luckily we were refurbishing the foyer area at the time!) and designing a bespoke online bookshop area for Edge Hill students and staff.

Launched in September 2007 the shops were a roaring success, an evaluation in November led to very positive comments from students who enjoyed the flexibility of ordering from home, and having items delivered, or browsing the campus shop. Interestingly, there was a 50/50 split in online and shop sales, and quite some competition!

I've been meaning to put pen to paper for quite some time about our experience, and this does only just scrape the surface, but I've been thinking about it again recently as I'm involved in the inter-regional tender retail bookshop sub-group.(try saying that after a bevvy) The inter-regional tender brings together NOWAL (North West Academic Libraries), LUPC (London Universities Purchasing Consortium), SUPC (Southern Universities Purchasing Consortium), NEYAL (North East and Yorkshire Academic Libraries) and MUAL (Midlands Universities Academic Libraries). This group aims to use the purchasing power of all five consortia to gain better discounts and levels of service and deliver value for money.

The first meeting is tomorrow with representatives from Bournemouth, Bath, Newcastle and De Montford as well as Edge Hill. I'll post about progress (as much as I can).

REaD - Reading, Engagement and Development

For a while now (a few years), I've been working on several projects based around reading/resource lists. Initially it was to consider how we do things at my place, and how we could improve the process from a staff point of view. That done, and a little more focussed, we changed the remit to look at the student experience of reading lists, and given the almighty call of 'not enough books on the library shelf' looked at ways we could improve their experience, in terms of search and retrieval, and access methods.

A lot of good work has been undertaken, a lot of relationships strengthened, and a whole new way of working has emerged. (It needed to, we couldn't go on the way we were).

The final phase of the project is to consider how we engage academic staff with reading lists, given that many take over a module/programme where reading lists are already in place, and they are quite often low down on the priority list for attention- especially if the one there does the job.

We are starting to deliver some CPD sessions this week to colleagues, giving opportunity for discussion around understanding of, and expectation of students and staff, strategies for consideration when developing a list and the technologies that are available to assist (or otherwise).

I'm really looking forward to it - Lindsey Martin, who is our E-Learning Strategy and Development Manager at Edge Hill University will be taking on the philosophical side of things, whilst I'll tackle the practical and organisational elements.

I reckon more work will come out of the discussions, an institutional proposal for 'Reading, Engagement and Development' is already on the cards so let's just see where this week takes us!

p.s. Thanks to Jackie Chelin for all her advice on 'Reading Strategies'. The work UWE has done has been instrumental in moving this project forward.