The free Monday Social Media Surgeries I’ve been running in Rootys cafe in the Custard Factory these last two weeks have been going rather well. With the minimal of promotion (here and on Twitter) I’ve had six “patients” with a range of problems from understanding how Twitter works to advice on writing their blogs to digging under the hood of their WordPress installation to fix it. For myself I’ve found it useful on a couple of levels. Most immediately it gets me out of the headspace of my current projects which is rather refreshing but it also lets me see how people who are not me approach and understand this stuff which is essential for running workshops and training sessions. And, of course, it’s nice to give something back to the community. I was very pleased that Candice (who I’d met on Flickr) from Amnesty International West Midlands office came along to find out how they could use a blog or blogs to communicate with their supporters more effectively. We figured out some basic tools and simple approaches which should help her do this without getting in the way of their work.
While I plan to run these every Monday I’m going to have to miss the next one on July 21st as I have a meeting that can’t be rescheduled but I will be around the Custard Factory during the afternoon so if you’re desperate give me a call. Of course if one of my peers wants to cover for me that’d be super, especially as that’s how I see this project developing, creating a helping space rather than it all being about me.
But as of the 28th and right through to September I’m intending to be there every Monday. I might even do a bit of promotion. Not too much mind!