I thought that a quick post to give you some idea of just how we’ll keep those who are not going to the User Group on Thursday up to date with proceedings might go down well. The response to the event has been excellent – and I know a lot of people are looking forward to it now (and the mince pies, obviously), and I hope we’ll get some people who watch and take part online in what is set to be an interesting day’s activity.
The plan will be familiar to anyone who took part in May when we held the last User Group. As well as (of course) webcasting the event, I’ll be manning a Cover It Live blog – to give you a different perspective of what’s happening in the room and to allow you the chance to contribute to the meeting by either commenting on the Cover It Live or tweeting using the hashtag #Piug11 (I had previously claimed #PIUG2011 but there’s a conference with this name).
(More details when the player is up! And I’ll tweet out plenty of times – and send emails – to keep you informed).
I’d encourage people to try to get involved if they have some time – and I’m happy to pester the speakers and the panel throughout if you’ve got a burning point to make or an important question to ask! I’ll be monitoring both the blog and the hashtag – and generally chipping in with points as the day proceeds.
As our last post on the User Group pointed out, we’ll be concentrating in the panel discussion towards the end of the day on how councillors are increasingly using Twitter in meetings – and what councils should (or shouldn’t) do about this.
It’s become something of a contentious issue – as some councils have looked to develop policies over members’ use of social media, while others have chosen to ban it altogether from the chamber. With such differing approaches around, I’m hoping for a lively debate!
