LocalGovCamp 2012

On Saturday 14th July I had a day out in Birmingham. Not for my normal spotting but to attend LocalGovCamp2012. This is a day when all of us Local Gov people get together and share ideas. See what everyone is up to. Ask questions and generally have a good old chin wag.

The venue was Maple House in Birmingham. In the middle of the country to try to make is easy for people over the whole country to attend. To be honest, I wouldn’t say Birmingham is a nice city. Somewhere that needs door staff at McDonalds during the day says it all in my book. The venue itself was OK but very hot inside. At the end of the day I was quite glad to get out into the fresh air to be honest.

This is the first time I'd been to a Local Gov version of these events. Previously I had only attended the UK Gov ones in London, but the format is the same. People pitch in for ideas on subjects they want to talk about and once all the subjects have been finalised, off everyone goes to the rooms where the meetings take place.

Meetings I attended.

Blogging

First meeting and first problem. When you have people who have chatted to each other over twitter, e-mail and probably face-to-face they build up a certain knowledge of each other. So when the two hosting this meeting about blogging started they assumed that everyone know who they were and I would say that most did. Sorry but as I haven't been part of their in-crowd I didn't know who they were. A small introduction would have helped. They talked about their blogs and eventually blogging in general. Some good advice was given which anyone new to blogging would certainly found useful.

New Social Media

This was a general chat about what new social media channels people are using. It's not all Facebook, Twitter and flickr. We all need to at least be aware of what the next big is might be. New things people are using that will need checking out by me include

IFTTT
Google+
nOtice.com
Muxi
Spong
Streetlife

One Gov

Stuart Harrison presented this one. It was great to meet the top man finally. He talked about whether it was possible to create one Local Gov Site. After all we all do roughly the same things. We all collect Council Tax, empty peoples bins, run swimming pools, educate peoples children and so forth. So the question was raised could we all get together and build one website.

Most delegates were agreed that whilst one local gov website was fine in principle, in practice might be another issue. However a lot a people were keen on working closer together and collaborating with each other on sections of their websites. Sharing code and experience. And so Project Maple was born. The name coming from the name of the building we were all in. Stuart agreed to set up an e-mail group for us all to share ideas. Whilst I can see huge issues with this, I do see it as a potentially very exciting project and proud that I am in it at the start.

Social Media Strategy

Lead by John King E-coms manager at Shropshire council, he talked in depth about how Shropshire Council produced its Social Media Strategy. Key points her raised.

Its not about the tools its about the culture – Their Social Media Strategy doesn’t mention a single Social Media channel by name. He firmly believes that how you treat people on one channel should be no different to any other channel.

He said that you needs terms and conditions to cover all channels, so you can enforce policy where you feel people have fallen below the expected behaviour.

He also mentioned that he gave staff training on social media

Finally if staff miss-use social media than that is a management issue rather than an issue with the social media.

Telling Stories.

I joined this session late after joining the #localgovsm group before realising that it was kinda a closed shop talking about some group they were all members of. I’m glad I did change. Telling stories is kinda like the 'day-in-the-life-of' pieces. Where staff, not just council officers tell their story of what they do day to day. However, Peter McClymont who ran the session suggested that councils look in the wider community for people to feature. This is done with the aim of bringing the community together. One great example he cited was from Kabul in Afghanistan (www.kabulatwork.tv). Defiantly one for the e-Comms teams in councils to look at.

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So overall it was a good day. Glad that I finally got to meet the legend that is Stuart Harrison, would have liked to talk real ale with him but no time. Glad that I also met up with other twitter people for the first time face-to-face. But again Mark and Kate we'll have to chat properly next time. Pity I had to rush off so quickly at the end but having a train to catch meant I couldn't stay long. Maybe next time I’ll book a hotel room for the night. Wished they turned the air-con on in the building, phew it was hot and wished they was a meat option at lunch that wasn't spicy, but hey it was free so can't complain that much…

Khao Soi Recipe by Dan Harris

This blog post was going to be about the localgovcamp2012 which I attended back on the 14th July. However I have just heard some shocking news. Dan Harris was a guy who I have chatted on twitter quite a bit. I did meet him a couple of times at UKGovCamps. At the last one that we were both there, he was chatting about how he was off to the far east on a cycling holiday. I think it was from that holiday that he came back with a recipe for Khao Soi. He would tweet about it every time he made it. I think it was one of his favourite meals. I asked him about it and he very kindly e-mailed me the recipe. I deeply regret that I have yet to try it out.

Sadly Dan was killed yesterday in an accident involving his bike and a bus at the Olympic Village. Shocking news - he was one of life's good guys. Someone who lived life. So in respect for him I dedicate this blog post to him and publish his recipe. I hope this is OK. This weekend I hope to make it and eat and drink in the memory of a truly nice guy. My thoughts are with all his family and friends at this very difficult time.

All the words below are his, not mine.

1 tablespoon oil
1 cup chopped shiitake mushroom
1 medium zucchini, chopped
1 small carrot, chopped
1/2 cup chopped baby corn
1 tablespoon red curry paste
1 teaspoon curry powder or according to taste
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
1 teaspoon dark soy sauce
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 cup coconut milk
1 cup water
2 cups fresh Chinese wheat based noodles or about 3 oz dried thin wheat based noodles
1 cup bean sprouts


Toppings and garnishes
2 shallots, chopped
3-4 lime wedges
Chopped coriander
Chopped spring onion

Heat a large wok with oil. Add shitake mushroom, zucchini, baby corn and carrot and cook on high for about 2 minutes. Then add curry paste and curry powder. Toss to coat the vegetables. Add light soy sauce and cook about 30 seconds so the vegetables absorb the liquid. Then add dark soy sauce, brown sugar, and coconut milk. Let the curry simmer for about 2 minutes.

Then pour in water and bring back to a simmer. Taste curry and adjust soy sauce, and sugar to taste.

Bring a large pot full of water to boil noodles. If using dried noodles, cook in boiling water till noodles are very al dente. If using fresh noodles, boil for about 1 minute. No matter what noodles you use, make sure not to over cook them. Drain well.

Add cooked noodles and bean sprouts to the curry broth. Serve Khao Soi in individual bowls.

Serve with chopped shallots, lime wedges, spring onion and coriander on the side.