I’ve made some amazing connections since signing up for Twitter on April 8 2009. These connections happen with incredible synchronicity, and leap-frogging. Thus it was for Jason Birch and I.
Jason works in IT for the City of Nanaimo, his spouse is francophone – this was actually our first “linkage”. We share a passion for community, and for “open”. Jason invited me to speak to the spring MISA BC (Municipal Information Systems Association of BC) conference from a citizen’s point of view. Here is my presentation. I’ll post the complete text in another post.
Towards Increased Engagement – A Citizen’s View of Social Media
Description:
After years of grass roots organizing, Janis La Couvée was dismayed to note dramatically decreased citizen engagement at all levels of government; whether it was community open houses, voter turnout or participation in vital committees.Initially dismissive of social media as a time-suck, she had an “aha” moment at a breakfast meeting in spring 2009, when someone innocently remarked “well, they’re actually having tweetups in Victoria”. Janis had no doubt that if people were willing to meet face to face, they could be encouraged to build community.
This is her story.
During my presentation, I referenced Kris Krug’s Pecha Kucha talk on an “Open Everything” from March 2009. Coming as it did at the very beginning of my social media journey, it had a great influence in shaping my online “persona”. Kris is a Vancouver photographer and web strategist, on the forefront of social media in his city.
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