American policy making is now open and online

If you are in any way involved in policy making and/or lobbying in Europe, I recommend you listen to a recent interview with Tim O’Reilly on  IT Conversations talking with America’s deputy chief technology officer for open government Beth Noveck who leads President Obama’s Open Government Initiative.

You’ll hear how Obama’s administration is now committed to open and transparent policy making. What does this mean exactly? Well, for example to develop policy for their healthcare reforms, they don’t only want representatives (a.k.a associations) speaking on behalf of healthcare professionals, they want the healthcare professionals to come forward and engage online to shape healthcare policy, as Noveck says, they are the experts and they live the policy. 

The objective of the new openness is as, Noveck coined it, to tap citizen expertise and stop ‘closed door’ lobbying. Lobbyists can still contribute to policy development via the administration’s online brainstorming platforms like everyone else, out in the open.

Noveck felt that Standing Committees and think tanks, were going to play less of a key role in policy development because they simply take too long and government need expertise and better answers faster.

I would be interested to hear what others in Brussels feel about this new way to create policy because if it works, I believe it will be coming to Europe, and Phil Weiss from ZN will tell you, it’s already begun. The mind boggles thinking about all those dear lobbyists and federations in Europe, who are still grappling with the concept of integrated web communications, being forced to lobby online and in public. LOL

On the other hand anyone with crowdsourcing talent will become gold dust, as federations and industries wold need to activate their networks with precision and speed to have any hope of influencing policymaking, just like online activists have been doing for (ummm let me think….) years.

Postcast:

IT Conversations: http://sic.conversationsnetwork.org/shows/detail4318.html
or
iTunes: search for IT Conversations and look for one with Beth Norveck’s name in description.

Part II – Start blogging: even when your company says NO

Last week I mentioned that my brother fancied creating a blog to share his expertise in a particular field of work. I caught up with him over the weekend to find out what names he was considering. I admit it took me by surprise. Even though I often hear of companies choosing to block social media, I didn’t really believe it, but indeed social media appears to be carving a path between those that embrace it and those that fight hard to keep it far away.

So my bro works for the latter, taking the approach that silencing employees is the best way to manage the evil threat of social media (sigh). It’s so easy to put a one-liner in a contract to say “can’t blog” instead of pushing one’s brain cells a little further than thoughts of lunch, and developing a reasonable blogging policy for employees.  Here is a man who already has an amazing professional reputation off-line, being trusted and respected by all his various stakeholders. Transferring that trust and respect to an online audience can only benefit the company as a whole. Simply creating a few rules of engagement could make everyone satisfied.

Anyway, I told him that he’s not alone, I have heard that the European Commission also bans employees from blogging (unless they’ve woken up and changed the rules recently). So even though it’s against the blogging ethos to be anonymous, I feel that as long as he is clear about why he is blogging anonymously and shares his qualifications and experience, I think it’s OK. I’d be interested to know if you agree or not.

So we set up his WordPress blog account in 2 minutes. The name? He called the blog exactly what he does… I can’t tell you want it is but it’s like saying ‘Wedding Cakes’ or “Marathon Runner”. His choice was perfect to ensure the key words of his profession are pushed out every time he writes a new blog entry and the right audience finds his blog.

Coca-Cola’s online social media principles

How refreshing (no pun intended), a global company empowering its staff and partners to engage online with guidelines on doing it safely, rather than silencing them… So it can be done.

In short it says have fun, but be smart and here are the principles.

Filling life with extraordinary moments!

Adam Buxton, bless!

Creating opportunities: building your online presence

Shoot! The second half of last year turned into an inspirational draught. I lost all hope of blogging or having time to continue learning about social communications and communities. I even lost the will to read blogs or listen to podcasts, which used to be a joy. But quite by chance, my dear brother came to the rescue the other day. We were chatting about his profession in relation to the recession. We were running through various scenarios if he lost his job, one being returning to self-employment. Frankly, unemployment doesn’t sound likely as the redundancy rounds at his company over the past 18 months have finally stopped. However as he was talking, I was thinking about the rule in crisis communication that one shouldn’t start blogging in a crisis. Apparently people distrust you because it’s clear you are only doing it due to sheer desperation and not because you truly want to be part of a community. The time to start blogging is when all is calm and you do it out of a transparent desire to contribute to a given topic and connect with others.

I suggested that if he was thinking about returning to self-employment in the future, then he could consider launching a blog now to share his professional expertise, build a profile and presence for himself online by becoming a respected content provider on his chosen subject as well as slowly engage and link up with other experts via networks, which could help open his horizons, whatever the future might hold. I didn’t have to say it twice, the lad got it instantly. It was as if he’ d been waiting for his official blogging invite to arrive in the post. LOL.

Anyway, I’ll make no secret of it, this is a dream for me too and it’s rebooted my enthusiasm and imagination. A new opportunity to learn and explore opportunities for him to engage in this fascinating online world and how it works. So bro and I have a virtual date this weekend to create his blog. Step one is to build it. I have challenged him to come up with a name for his WordPress blog. I want to ensure that THE keyword relating to his blog content is ever-present in every URL he creates with each blog entry and page….so what’s the keyword? Is it his name? Is it his profession? Is it a professional word?  Is it a combination? Or a non-expert word for the same thing? It all depends on who he will be writing for and why, which he’ll need to clarify first. Can’t wait for our next discussion.

Has social media killed print?

I checked my postbox tonight, after returning home from IABC’s latest social media event in Brussels, and got that wonderful zing feeling when I saw a small padded envelop waiting for me. I didn’t know what was inside, but it’s always a pleasure to get a parcel in the post.

Ah! Of course, it’s the arrival of my latest wierd photo that I’ve turned into a postcard via NetPrint, an online printer. It’s a developing fad of mine to create printed postcards from my latest favourite digital photo, which I then post to friends and family, instead of buying or using the freebies you find in pubs. Call me sad, but it gives me such a kick to print my own.

Flipping back to the IABC event, someone asked the panelists, “Is print dead?” There was an array of yes, not yet, maybe and never answers from the panelists, which were all valid responses, but I had to smile tonight when admiring my new postcards. “Long Live Print!” Thanks to innovation, free software and new business models, I have found a new avenue to self expression through print which I can post to friends and family. (By the way, I order my stamps online.)

So is print dead? Nah! Its just being challenged by modern alternatives and being forced to undergo a personality change which is good. They said TV would kill radio but it’s come back and is more vibrant than ever and is using social media tools, like iTunes, to reach a wider audience that the radio waves can’t reach. Is the telephone dead…? etc. Please can we stop these kind of questions? Stuff gets phased out when it really becomes irrelevant, like writing with a feather, and that’s good.

View comments on the IABC NING platform

Free ebook by Phil (hyper)Weiss on getting online & staying there

Admittedly I haven’t read it, as a hard copy was placed into my sticky fingers 30 minutes ago, but knowing Phil Weiss, I know your online journey starts here will be excellent. This book will give you a step-by-step guide to getting online. The book is the latest in a series of Hyperthinker ebooks that Phil is writing.

OK that’s it, I’ve gotta run. Hopefully will get back to blogging again soon… I know I know it’s a question of priorities… aarrrhhhh!

Has IABC Brussels finally created an emonster?

On a hazzy Sunday morning early in 2009, Hugh Barton-Smith,came up with the idea of a Web 2 EU event for the IABC Belgian chapter. The idea was to get a few peeps together to discuss the benefits and use of web 2.0 (or has Hugh says web 2) in our European public affairs strategies and political communications.

The first Web 2 EU event in May was excellent but was somewhat dominated by PowerPoints from:

• Charles Crouch, eBusiness Lecturer at Boston University
• Philip Weiss, internet entrepreneur and HyperThinker from ZN
• Me, eCommunications Manager for a pesticide trade association
• Mathew Lowry, the driving force behind the launch of Blogactiv
• Neville Hobson, the UK’s influential blogger and podcaster

All good stuff, but left little time or energy for the audience to ask questions and have a real conversation.

So ZN stepped up and hosted a follow-on event last night to really get a conversation going about how communication professional can get their head around web 2.0 concepts and tools. What works, what doesn’t and to seek answers to the tough questions that colleagues and clients keep asking about Web 2.0. We had a lively discussion but if you missed it, don’t stress, just join the growing IABC Ning community where the networking and discussion just keeps on flowing. Other offline events will follow.

I took a lot of video material at the event of deeply profound comments , but being a part-time airhead, deleted it all except for this passionate introduction by Phil followed by Hugh’s musings on IABC and Ninging it.

IABC online communications event, Web 2 EU, lives on…

Following the event organised by IABC last month on Web2EU, an exciting conversation started and IABC’s Hyperthinker Phil Weiss is hosting a free and informal get-together to pursue the discussion.

Join the conversation: either via the IABC Ning forum or/and by attending the follow-on event on 18 June in Brussels. The original event was interesting but it was kinda’ dominated by a few presenters. Now this follow on event is about having a proper conversation about the whys, the why nots, the oooo’s and the ahhhhh’s of introducing web 2.0 strategies into your political communications activities.

The Web 2 EU conversation will be hosted at:

Le Break de l’Abbaye
Rue St Georges 2A
1050 Ixelles

Starting at 1700 for a couple of hours.

Register now and I’ll look forward to seeing you there http://be-iabc.ning.com/xn/detail/3281770:Event:825

Do you know what people trust?

Phaff! Of course I do. Don’t I? Actually I just took Edelman’s Trust Barometer test (recommended by Mathew Lowry) and I’m way off mark about what and who people just/don’t trust. I recommend you have a go. Tell me how you scored, can’t be as bad as me.