We've moved!

I will no longer be updating the blog here, as I have moved it over to Wordpress.

It was a logical step, as it's the platform we teach most people how to use, so why not make the SMS site a working example?

Head over to http://wmcsms.wordpress.com to see the new blog, and please remember to update your bookmarks.

And it's official!

What started as an idea, and a single blog entry on this site, has now started to gain momentum. My CEO (Mark Rogers at Solihull MBC) has given this his blessing on an internal blog.
I was slightly embarrassed about the email I sent Mark being posted on the blog, but what the hell, it gave me the opportunity to ask if anyone else in the council has experience of blogging and social media tools, and if so, would they like to help with the SMS we'll be running.

What happens now?

Well, I have a bloggers meet on Monday the 13th, and a Birmingham SMS on Wednesday the 15th, so I will be chatting to a few more people about making this all happen. The initial Solihull SMS will probably be a weekday evening at our Civic Suite, but this is to be confirmed.

Keep checking back, and do feel free to comment!

What's all this then?

I've been bitten by the SMS bug! SMS for the uninitiated (in this case at least) means Social Media Surgery.

It's a fairly informal gathering where people can learn about blogging, twitter, mashups, online community engagement, and in its most simple form, how to talk each other online.

Since I started working for a council in the West Midlands, I have started to feel like there are things I believe in passionately which aren’t being done, and the best way to get these views across nowadays is online. The sad thing is that so few of the people making the key decisions are online to listen.

That's where the West Midlands Councils Social Media Surgery can help. I hope to engage with the Councillors, directors, and CEOs, of our councils, and anyone involved in partnership working, voluntary organisations who work on their behalf, and associated people who make decisions, and local area plans.

Are you one of these people? Are you engaging with people online yet? Just having an email address visible online isn't engagement by the way, we in the community don't know what you're up to unless you're out there telling us, and discussing things with us in a two way dialogue.

Soon I hope to have some interest from the people above, and active social media people such as bloggers, and journalists who can help us all make this informative, and useful to get real engagement working for everyone.

Please feel free to leave your comments below, or email me to offer support, suggestions, or anything else you want to discuss about it. alanjc@chimerax.net and put WMCSMS in the title.

Technorati Tags: WMCSMS,engagement,councils,councillors,directors,ceo,West Midlands,SMS,social media surgery