Brrism11 takes place on 21st July at thePervasive Media Studio and we've got some interesting social media related topics to discuss. As usual we're using our short presentation/long discussion format (5 minutes from each of the presenters followed by a 45 minute "open space" style discussion where you are free to join whatever groups you are interested in). The speakers are listed below. (For meeting time/venue details, and to sign up for a free ticket, please go along to the EventBrite Page.)

Social Media eDemocracy

During the election a local Bristol company, Evans Finch ran a Election 2010 Challenge website which allowed people to submit ideas on how the country could be run better and allowed people to vote on those ideas. The site was slick, well executed and its a good example of how Social Media can be used to find out what issues are foremost on the minds of our fellow countrymen. Experience from that website showed that people were keen on a more open, digital and most of all participatory democracy. Fancy that! Here are just two of the suggestions:

• “e-voting open to all UK residents on all laws, statutes,motions & other parliamentary business. Bring parliament to people OPEN DEMOCRACY!”
• “Create a system to let the people vote on government bills being passed through the commons.”

Chris Keegan from Evans Finch will be talking about the site and ideas submitted through it and asking “how can Social Media be used to usher in an era of neo-Athenian democracy”?

About the Speaker

Chris is a veteran of the video games industry, working on games from WWII Bomber Simulations through to Destruction Derby via Massive Role Playing Games. He is currently the Managing Director of Evans Finch a local company specialising in producing innovative Social Media Applications. He brings a wealth of technical knowledge from the interactive world as well as deep insight into games design, which he now applies to the curiously difficult task of encouraging people to push buttons on web-sites. Despite all that he's not such a bad chap and may even be worth following on Twitter.

Open Data in Bristol

The concept of Open Data is gaining momentum in the UK, pioneered by advocates such as Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web, and with vocal support from initiatives such as The Guardian’s Free Our Data campaign. Bristol City Council recognises the important of this global movement and has recently launched B-Open, an initiative to encourage Open Data in Bristol. In this Brrism talk, Mark Leaver will talk about B-Open and how you can get involved. And, in true Brrism "open space" style, we've got some issues to discuss. Is Open Data still in "geek to geek" mode or is real public value beginning to emerge? Is the "digital divide" a consideration if we are trying to create public value or public services? Or is Bristol about to go through its moment of clarity where the public sector realises that other people (that means you, gentle Brrismer) are cleverer, quicker and more in tune with demand?

About the Speaker

Mark Leaver is an independent consultant concentrating on the development of projects combining creative media and digital technologies, with a specific focus on making strategic connections to international markets.

Understanding the social media system

A couple of Brrism's ago we briefly looked at systems modelling as a way of thinking about social media. Following that we began to develop a definition of a 'system' that could be used to describe Brrism. That work is ongoing and contributions are welcomed. In this 5 min presentation, a view of Brrism will be described that builds on this definition and begins to outline the system using the Soft Systems approach. Afterwards, as always, will be a healthy discussion on how we can further develop the systems view and alternative views that could also be used.

About the Speaker

Having taught systems theory at the University of Plymouth and developed a systemic approach to change management for his research,John has spent the last 10 years applying his knowledge of systems theory to University-Business collaborations. John prefers the discussions and shared knowledge that arise from developing systems models a lot more than complying religiously to the nomenclature of any particular theory. Follow him on Twitter

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