Representing In A Digital Age - What I Said to N Yorks Cllrs

N Yorks Council Chamber - Impressive

This week I was lucky enough to be invited to speak to all of the councillors on North Yorkshire Council about the possibilities that digital presents in terms of their varying roles.  Firstly, what a beautiful part of the country, what a magnificent building County Hall is (I'm a civic building nerd) and what lovely hospitality - thank you.

I think it is ok to say that one of the main reasons I was there was to provide a bit of challenge and explore the art of the possible.  Of all of the councillors there only one is a social media user.  It was nice to catch up with @torycannonfoder as he was present back in the day when we did our regional  cllrsocmed sessions.  He's still flying the flag.

My presentation slides are available here but here's a summary of what I said:

• It's not easy being a councillor - difficult decisions to take, changing and increasing expectations against a backdrop of diminishing resources. AND all of this in a digital age.  Would you want the job?  But does digital provide opportunities?  
• Opportunities to Inform ..... residents what you are doing for them.  Here's an example 
• Opportunities to Communicate ..... about whats happening in your patch. @JayneCowan is brilliant at this.
• Opportunities to Engage ..... with resident and communities about local issues and concerns.  Cllr Nicola Turner uses Facebook effectively in this way.
• Opportunities to Broadcast ..... Councillor Phil Murphy, Monmouthshire, using You Tube as part of the council's budget consultation.

• Opportunities to Watch ..... you don't have to take part.  Put your ward into the Twitter search engine and see what's going on.
• Opportunities to Campaign ..... whilst it might be no substitute for good old fashioned shoe leather there is evidence from the Obama campaign that social media can have a positive impact as part of the campaigning process.
• Opportunities to Mobilise ..... there are now many examples of the value of social media in supporting mobilisation in terms of crisis and emergency.  As community leaders councillors are often in the frontline when supporting residents in such situations.
• Opportunities to Notify ..... we're all familiar with the village notice board.  Have a look at what Cllr Darren Fower is doing on Pinterest 
• Opportunities to Meet ..... these days no digital presentation to councillors would be complete without name checking Cllr David Harrington's Skype Ward Surgeries
• Opportunities to be Transparent ..... most councils are now web casting or live streaming their meetings.  Why not use parts of that content to communicate and share with your residents?

I tried to make the point that these are all tools that can be added to the elected representatives tool box (thanks to Dan Slee for the tool box image on Creative Commons).  They are tools that may help them do what they do already.  They are not a panacea nor are they a substitute for tried and tested methods (door knocking, leaflets, poster, meetings).  

As is traditional  closed with the issues that usually come up - connectivity, your kit, pressures on time, managing on-line reputation.

I was the slot before lunch so that, in a nutshell, was it.  I'm not sure what effect any of this will have had.  Let's see.

Please feel free to comment on this post and share.

If you want to continue the digital democracy conversation join @LDBytes on Twitter or join the LDBytes Club on KnowledgeHub

If you want to redesign local democracy come to your event: Local Democracy for Everyone - We're Not in Westminster Anymore

The End of an Era?

The Beginning

This is a very personal post that just had to be written.  It is intended for an audience of two.  I have just returned form the LGA Conference where I have been doing more of the councillor / social media stuff which I've blogged about in the past.  This post is not about that.

This post is about two gents who I have had the good fortune to work with over the last three years.    Thanks to Ken Eastwood having the foresight to put a councillor / social media session on at LocalGov Camp Yorkshire and the Humber I met Councillors Tim Cheetham and Simon Cooke.  Since then we have worked together across the region trying to raise the profile and discussion around all things democratic and social media.  They have both visited the Council I work for to help me spread the word.  Our work together has been captured and shared here. 

The End?

Here's my take on Simon and Tim.  Ideologically they probably couldn't be much further apart, but they have quite a few things in common.  They are passionate about being a councillor, they genuinely believe in representing their communities and making a difference.  They want to be representatives in a digital age and they want to support their colleagues on that journey.  They are very funny and have a unique sort of chemistry.  All this I have observed.

For reasons which aren't really material to this post I think today may be the last time that all three of us will collaborate.  As Simon tweeted as we chatted over lunch - it had a bit of an end of an era feeling.  If that's the case perhaps it's fitting we ended on the national stage at the LGA Conference.

As an officer it goes with my territory that relationships with councillors remain professional, neutral and independent.  I think I kept my part of the bargain over the last three years.  That said I think I can also say that we worked well together and genuinely got on - this is a good thing and something I look back on with great pride.  So this is my chance to say thanks, it was a real blast.

Democratic Digital Engagement - A Blueprint for Local Government?

Democracy Dude

This post was born across the Twittersphere - an appropriate product of the social media age given the subject matter.  Social media facilitated off-line contact between two (as it turns out) like minds.

Anyone who is interested in local democracy, the role of councillors, decision making and forward thinking practice in terms of democratic engagement should follow Dave McKenna (@localopolis).  I did and have nothing but admiration for the work he and colleagues are doing at Swansea.

We have developed a dialogue over the last few months, a dialogue based on our shared passion for local democratic legitimacy and the opportunities that social media presents. Our on-line dialogue very recently progressed to a telephone conversation where we kicked about a few ideas (and our shared liking for New Model Army) and loosely agreed to do something, but we weren't sure what. 


Three e-mail conversations (and much work by  Dave) later we agreed to share what we have so far.  We have tried to take our passions, interests and day jobs and try and set out some ways in which this whole local democracy thing can be made, well, more engaging, exciting and meaningful to local people.  As we pinged e-mails back and forth the challenge was clearly where to stop (should we present our views in the context of the Localism Bill, what about local politics, what are the implications for officers?...).

We came to the conclusion that the best thing would be to share our initial thoughts in their raw form to, hopefully, stimulate a discussion.  Presented below is the fruits of our on-line and off-line labours. It is a first pass at "Five Essential Features of Local Digital Democracy"

What is Local Digital Democracy?

§  Local digital democracy means using social media to make a bridge between the formal world of local politics and the real world of real people

§  It means being clear that local government is not just about services – it has a distinct and important democratic role with elected local councillors at its heart

§  It means recognising that the world is changing.  Social media is changing the way the world works – local democracy needs to catch up

§  It means recognising that local democracy needs stronger citizen engagement

§  It means building from the traditional ways of doing things and using online tools to make them work better and reach more people

Why Local Digital Democracy is Good for Everyone

• The council as a whole is more effective, innovative and efficient  - it helps employees get better connected with decision making and each other 
• The reputation of the council is improved both internally and externally
• Councillors can raise their individual profiles and get their messages across more effectively
• Improved citizen engagement makes for better policy development and decision making 
• Citizens learn more about their elected councillors and can hold them to account better
• Councillors will have better information and intelligence about the patches they represent.  Better informed councillors can lead the debate in their communities and in the council. 
• Councillors can make better decisions by getting the right information at the right time
• Councillors can reach more of their constituents quickly and easily
• Citizens can quickly and easily find information about the decisions that affect their community and the issues that they are concerned about
• Officers can conduct research more quickly and easily saving them time and the council resources
• Young people are provided with a greater opportunity to engage with the democratic process on their terms
• Local politics can reach a wider audience and encouraging more people to vote and maybe even consider public office - local digital democracy can help attract the next generation of councillors and this will definitely be online!

  

The Five Essential Features of Local Digital Democracy

1.         Online Councillors

• Whether blogging, tweeting or facebooking, councillors are the human element of the local democratic process – local digital democracy won’t work without ‘em
• Councillors have democratic legitimacy through elections – their participation gives online democracy legitimacy
• Councillors will need skills, knowledge and tools to be key players in democratic digital engagement.  They will therefore need support from their Councils
• Social media can help local political parties to work more effectively by improving internal and external communiciatons
• Check out ….. to see what is already happening…  CllrSocmed

2.         Social Council Decision Making

• Agendas, minutes and reports tell the story of local democratic deliberation and decision making but the way they are presented and organised makes engagement close to impossible to all but the most dedicated
• By breaking everything down into bitesize chunks, like status updates or tweets, it becomes possible to share, tag and comment.
• Bitesize chunks can also be made transportable so they can be used on whatever social media platform people are using
• You can find some more thinking along these lines at Localopolis

  

3.         Social Council Meetings

• Council meetings are the live action of the local democratic process
• Live tweeting and blogging brings the action from council meetings to a wider audience
• Social media interaction can facilitated to allow online citizens to feedback and ask questions
• Engagement through social media may be the first step to observation and even participating in person
• See the Kirklees experience

4.         Social Local Elections

• Local elections are the most dramatic aspect of the local democratic process but campaigns can be lost in the traditional media in the noise of national politics
• Digital engagement can create spaces, such as online hustings, for local campaign issues to be aired and debated and for candidates to promote their campaigns
• Digital engagement also provides a way for election teams to raise awareness of the elections and encourage higher levels of registration and turnout
• Having social media elections, with social media candidates, who become social media councillors helps a wider group of people make the connection between the ballot box, the individual and their role as community leader and decision maker
• You can find an example here from Calgary

5.         A Local Digital Democracy Community

• Digital engagement in local democracy is not the same as engagement in local government – often this is seen as being just about delivering services
• The promoting of citizenship and online local democracy through initiatives such as Local Democracy Week (I’m a councillor get me out of here) needs a distinctive identity both locally and nationally
• Every local area has a digital ecosystem that can be cultivated and supported – someone needs to be making sure everything works together to produce the best results
• Local councils should take the lead locally and act as local democratic hubs, organisations such as the LGA and LGIU need to take the lead nationally
• National social media platforms, such as the Knowledge Hub can provide the platform for a national democratic community to share good practice and ideas

Themes

Underlying local digital democracy are five themes that help the local digital ecosystem to flourish and need to guide those involved:

§  Connectability – Everything needs to be designed so that it connects to everything else (widgets, links, transportability)

§  Customisability – Everything needs to be set up so people can decide who and what they want to engage with

§  Sociability  - Effective digital engagement will require a whole new language for those involved in the local policy process – the arcane language of council meetings won’t work on facebook.  It also means putting real people at the front of engagement, not functions, teams or meetings.

§  Accessibility – Not everyone is online and not every online person ‘does’ social media.  This means both ensuring that non digital remain effective and that opportunities and encouragement are there for those ‘new starters’ that want to engage

§  Openness – This means both being willing to share information and ideas at all stages but also ensuring that there is clarity, honesty and realism about engagement so that there are no false expectations, and clear   

I Blame the Officers

Last week saw the last of our social media sessions for councillors.  It was a great finish in Leeds where we had a cracking group of enthusiastic and interested councillors from across the region.  Full details of those sessions can be found at Cllrsocmed.  


Over the course of the five sessions there was one theme that was coming out loud and clear - the officers are the problem.  Now let's make it clear, I am a fully paid up member of the officer corps and have worked with councillors a long time.  The officer / councillor dynamic is no different to any relationship, it's complex, multi-faceted and often subjective.


That said, the majority of the councillors who attended our sessions were clearly of the mind that their organisations and their officers were barriers to progressing their social media journey.  It gives me no satisfaction to say that IT, Web, Comms and Democratic Services all came in for some degree of criticism.  Problems ranged from the outright banning of social media, to the lack of developmental support and the provision of tools (telephony in particular) that were not up to the job.  Whilst councillors did not want to be spoon fed, they did want a degree of importance placed on this whole agenda by their own organisations.  The word "culture" cropped up a few times and I think this is important.


I am pretty sure that organisational culture is not entirely determined by its officers.  It is for this reason we turned these discussions back to the councillors in the room.  They and their councillor colleagues provide the political leadership, they take the decisions.  Perhaps they have a considerable role in what happens next on their social media journey.  I got the feeling that some of those councillors intended to take the discussions back into their organisations and affect the necessary cultural change.  I hope so.  Through Cllrsocmed we are hoping to keep in touch with those councillors and find out "what happens next".  Watch this space.

Governance and Councillors - Some Social Media Resources and Ideas

Last week there was a really good Twitter discussion superbly facilitated by @LouLouk as part of the #lgovsm series of Friday get togethers.  If you've not checked them out I suggest you do - 1.00 p.m. - 2.00 p.m. every week.  A priceless opportunity to share your ideas, work and challenges with some brilliant folk who are willing to share.

The theme for the discussion last Friday was Councillors and Social Media.  In advance (at Lou's request) I quickly pulled together a few resources to facilitate the debate.  This post is intended to add to that list and try and put in place the stuff (and people) I've come across so far that might be of use to others.  Some of this will include work I've been involved in at Kirklees, but won't be totally parochial (I promise).  So, in no particular order:

A brilliant and comprehensive account of all matters Councillors / Social Media can be found in the excellent Connected Councillors produced by, what was, the Improvement and Development Agency.  For me this is a brilliant resource that captures all the key issues, benefits and case studies in one place.  For officers and councillors alike it sets out the context in a way that makes the arguments in favour compelling.  My own copy is now dog eared such has been its value to me as a regular reference point.  Good stuff and a good starting point for taking the discussion into your organisation.

No social media session for councillors can ever be complete without a reference to TweetyHall.  Every time we have delivered such sessions we have used TweetyHall to not only explain what Twitter is, but also graft its importance to the representative role by showing politicians in action in the Twittersphere.  It is also a brilliant short cut for councillors who want to follow their councillor colleagues asap - they are all there in one place, brilliant.

Another understandable area to work through is the worries that naturally arise for councillors when contemplating using social media.  I've blogged previously about the "types" of councillor on the social media journey and there are inevitably some who want reassurance as to their role, identity and responsibilities.  I have called these the "curious yet cautious".  There's some good guidance out there to use as a reference point (although in many respects there is no substitute for common sense) e.g. the Blogging Quick Guide and tips on Blogging and Facebook for Councillors.  Personally I like the simple messages - if you wouldn't say it in a public meeting, don't say it on-line.  Seems to get the message across.  If that doesn't do the trick there are some examples out there that show what can go wrong - here's one Dave Briggs blogged about.

When we've run sessions with councillors it's always good to have some cracking first hand examples of the politicians who are using this stuff to good effect.  There are a lot of councillors out there who are using blogs and I only name check the following because I've come across them and thought they reflected diverse examples of the possibilities - Cllr Daisy Benson, Cllr Tim Cheetham, Cllr Simon Cooke, Cllr Andrew Cooper.  All different in their own right and all major political parties covered there - I'm an officer remember.

In terms of some of the learning we've collected as part of working with councillors in the context of social media this has been pulled together as part of Cllrsocmed.  This is basically an ongoing project in Yorkshire and the Humber involving myself @steventuck and @spencerlwilson.  I'm not going to go on at length about this stuff, its all there for anyone who is interested.  In the context of this post I'd suggest looking at the Tips section and the videos that Steve has produced in response to request from councillors at our sessions.  Our learning journey continues and we'll keep posting stuff up there when we get chance.

In terms of work taking place in other authorities I've come across some stuff that I really like and admire.  Anyone wanting to see innovation should look no further than the stuff that Dave McKenna (@Localopolis) and colleagues are doing at Swansea.  Their approach to overview and scrutiny using a social media approach is cutting edge governance activity in my humble opinion.  Similarly, I really like the work that Monmouthshire is doing.  I love their Twitter Q&A work and the councillor fronted budget work they have done using YouTube.  I also note that Blackburn and Darwen (like Kirklees ) are now Tweeting Council meetings and @Tomsprints has plans afoot for Kent.  I would also recommend checking out the work the Michele Ide-Smith is doing in Cambridgeshire which she is meticulously capturing on her blog. I'm sure there are many more, but I haven't found them yet - please let me know.

Turning briefly to Kirklees.  We're rolling our webcasting at a pace now (some real opportunities when used alongside other social media I think), looking at other media for Councillors Annual Reports, have re-designed our councillor profiles on our website to make them more informative and individual to the councillor.  We're using Twitter to promote our meetings, councillor surgeries and overview and scrutiny.  We're currently looking at delivering a different overview and scrutiny offer using social media and are taking an holistic look at the social media opportunities for Governance and Democratic Services as a whole.  I think the opportunities are significant - political group support, decision making processes, support for ward councillors, local government elections, information and intelligence for community leaders, ward surgeries, promoting democracy and democratic engagement..... I could go on.

This has been my own attempt to share what I've come across (I haven't got time right now to share some of the stuff I've found from other countries, that will have to be another post) - please reciprocate, we're all in this together after all.

Its Your Council - Join In (A Positive Footnote)

A few weeks ago I blogged about our webcasting / Tweeting Council meetings experience at Kirklees (Its Your Council - Join In).  The reason for  the post was to share our learning and generate some interest and debate.  Looking back now, I was genuinely surprised at the attention it attracted and the discussions it sparked.  We received enquiries from officers across the sector and were the subject of a case study by those lovely folk at Tweety Hall.


All of this is brilliant in itself, but there is now another dimension to the experience, one that is worth sharing.  You may recall that in the post I wanted to give another perspective on Tweeting meetings, one that differed from the pervading media line that had been reported so regularly elsewhere.  It was the line that focussed on the negatives - councillors not showing respect, not concentrating, using Twitter like naughty schoolboys / girls electronically passing notes across the Council Chamber.  The benefits of opening up democracy, stimulating public engagement and interest, raising awareness around decision making, seeing politicians in action - none of these stories featured.  Where are the positive stories?


Well, here's one - Hundreds Tune in for Kirklees Council Webcasts.   It would have been easy I guess to write more of the same negative stories that have been a feature in the past.  Credit where credit is due - the piece is a very positive one.  

I hope this post provides encouragement to other councils considering exploring social media to open up democracy - there are some good news stories.  Finally, I would add that evidence is invaluable in making a compelling argument - the stats are an important consideration when trying to make the business case.

 

Case Work Keeps Coming Through Thanks to Twitter

The other week I came across a cracking little case study.  I follow Stockton councillor David Harrington on Twitter (I recommend you do the same - @cllrharrington).  On that day he tweeted:

“Received two DM's with ward queries. Thanks to Twitter residents sent me a DM knowing the problems with email.”

Now on the surface this may not seem like such a big deal.  Two pieces of case work amongst what I am sure is a heavy volume doesn’t exactly grab the headlines, but it got me thinking.  We’ve all begun to depend on e-mail as part of what we do.  Like most things its great when it works.  After the telephone it’s the main point of contact between residents and their councillors.  Expectations have been created.  What this little example shows is that there are some real alternatives, especially when the more traditional media break down.

Councillor Harrington was able to let his followers on Twitter know that he wasn’t contactable by e-mail.  He was able to use social media to broadcast this message.  More importantly he was able to use Twitter as another tool to carry out his ward councillor role.  

Now I don’t know the nature of those two pieces of case work, and nor should I, but they could have been urgent issues that local residents needed sorting.  Being able to access their councillor in this way meant that their issues were communicated and progressed.  There is significant potential in this small case study for councillors and the organisations that support them.  We need to explore and embrace the alternatives that can work alongside and complement more traditional ways of working.  Powerful stuff eh?

Councillors, Social Media, Chickens and Eggs

This blog has been inspired by some of the work that we (@steventuck and @spencerlwilson) have been doing regionally across Yorkshire and the Humber. Thanks to the support of Local Government Yorkshire and the Humber we have been running social media sessions for councillors, the full details of which can be found at cllrsocmed.

So far we have done two sessions, both of which have been real contrasts and posed different questions and challenges. At the heart of the issue is where do you start and what do you cover. This is a real conundrum for which, it seems, there is no consistent answer. Right at the outset it was clear that there was a real cross section of councillors at the two events, and I am not referring to their political affiliation. When recently facilitating the Local By Social on-line conference discussing councillors and social media I referred to four types of councillors in this context:

1. Perpetual sceptics - unlikely to be convinced (if you can crack the tough nuts, you're home and dry)

2. Curious yet cautious / fearful - with support and encouragement will begin to dip their toe

3. Grab it with both hands and run with it - self explanatory, they are the evangelists and will be key to supporting the curious yet cautious

4. The next generation - future councillors who will walk through the door following their election expecting social media as a tool in the same way that a computer and email are now seen as tools for the job

I think it would be fair to say that our first two sessions have had a good blend of types 1, 2 and 3. I look forward with interest to see if the May elections deliver a raft of type 4's. Whilst not wishing to generalise I think that our two sessions provided a microcosm of the current councillor / social media landscape. This is the whole point of this post - it's tough, it isn't one size fits all and it's a balancing act for anyone seeking to deliver support and development sessions.

On the one hand it is important to explore some of the concepts, understand the benefits and identify the risks. Some councillors wanted to know what all of the fuss was about, why should they even bother with this social media stuff, how was it going to help them in their roles as councillors? Some wanted to discuss and explore the problems and their real fears, some of which were technical, some reputational. On the other hand some councillors just wanted to be shown how to use the tools - "how do I get started" and "what do I do" were common questions. I guess that this all emphasises that councillors are coming to this debate from different starting points, with different needs and with different learning styles. It poses the dilemma - which should come first context / business case (chicken) or let's dive straight in (egg).

My personal view is that there needs to be space for all of this, but our sessions lasted over four hours and I felt we were still scratching the surface. The councillors who co-facilitated the sessions with us (@cllrtim and @simonmagus) were brilliant at bringing the whole debate to life from a councillor perspective - they thoroughly covered the "what's all the fuss about" dimension. I think we only partially satisfied those councillors who wanted to roll their sleeves up and get on with it. We perhaps needed a bit more social media surgery, but we ran out of time.

Since the session @steventuck has pulled together some on-line tools and posted them to cllrsocmed which we hope will be useful to those councillors who just want to get started. In future sessions we hope to look at how we can better strike the balance between context and getting started.

In summary, for others who might want to do some of this stuff for their councillors we have learnt:

- All councillors are different and come at this agenda from different starting points. This may be obvious but will need to be managed as part of any session

- Be prepared to be flexible with your session plans - we don't even bother with a structure now

- Co-deliver with councillors - they have the unique understanding from a councillor's perspective

- Be prepared for a little bit of a hard time - sorry but both sessions have been characterised by a segment where councillors DEMAND to be convinced why they should bother with this. Given that they are already very busy people I think that this is reasonable.

- Have a balance between democratic services and web team officer support on the day

- Get there early to make sure the technology is working

- Have a post-mortem / reflective meeting to share thoughts and learning

- Post your learning and keep in touch