Ascentum » Twitter http://ascentum.com Fri, 03 Feb 2012 20:11:55 +0000 en hourly 1 @ascentum tweets of the week http://ascentum.com/2011/11/16/ascentum-tweets-of-the-week-8/ http://ascentum.com/2011/11/16/ascentum-tweets-of-the-week-8/#comments Wed, 16 Nov 2011 19:31:01 +0000 Stephan Telka http://ascentum.com/?p=2107 Here are some of the Twitter posts and links that we’d like to pass on from this week. You can find us on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/ascentum

-Stephan Telka-

]]> http://ascentum.com/2011/11/16/ascentum-tweets-of-the-week-8/feed/ 0 @ascentum tweets of the week http://ascentum.com/2011/09/29/ascentum-tweets-of-the-week-7/ http://ascentum.com/2011/09/29/ascentum-tweets-of-the-week-7/#comments Thu, 29 Sep 2011 19:21:41 +0000 Stephan Telka http://ascentum.com/?p=1956 Here are some of the Twitter posts and links that we’d like to pass on from this week. You can find us on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/ascentum

  • Survey Results: 54% of Canadians would engage more with government if there were ways to participate online.  http://bit.ly/oiW5MX
  • Retweet from @elliswestwood: National Assembly of Wales video to launch public consultation on bilingual services. http://youtu.be/lyNYZQI-Viw #demopart
  • @ascentum blog: @nenshi Thanks for inspiring at the Public Consultation & #publicengmt conference in TO this week! You inspired a blog http://bit.ly/qtx5Ka
  • Video: Interesting facts & figures in this video on the “Social Media Revolution 2011″ http://youtu.be/3SuNx0UrnEo
  • From the U.S.: The U.S. National Issues Forum is engaging Americans on the National Debt using Second Life http://ncdd.org/5951 #demopart #publicengmt

 

]]> http://ascentum.com/2011/09/29/ascentum-tweets-of-the-week-7/feed/ 0 @ascentum tweets of the week http://ascentum.com/2011/06/03/ascentum-tweets-of-the-week-6/ http://ascentum.com/2011/06/03/ascentum-tweets-of-the-week-6/#comments Fri, 03 Jun 2011 20:15:00 +0000 Ascentum Staff http://ascentum.com/?p=1519 Here are just some the Twitter posts and links that we’d like to pass on from this week.  You can find us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/ascentum.

  • Quote: Calgary Mayor @nenshi “we make better decisions when we involve people in our decision making”
  • Retweet: @Healthy_Weights After a break for #elxn41, Canada’s first national dialogue on childhood obesity is back! #healthyweights
  • News: We agree. Now’s a great time to engage Canadians in a public dialogue on the Senate & ways to make it more effective. http://ow.ly/57BW
  • @ascentum blog: How to produce same-day reports for in-person dialogues that will seem, to participants, like magic! http://bit.ly/kZtrUy
]]> http://ascentum.com/2011/06/03/ascentum-tweets-of-the-week-6/feed/ 0 Twitter, Dialogue and #elxn41 http://ascentum.com/2011/05/13/twitter-dialogue-and-elxn41/ http://ascentum.com/2011/05/13/twitter-dialogue-and-elxn41/#comments Fri, 13 May 2011 19:11:51 +0000 Ellis Westwood http://ascentum.com/?p=1471 Here at Ascentum, we’re really interested in how people are using social media to connect, get involved, and engage in dialogue on issues that matter to them.

That’s why I volunteered to be part of a small team led by digital guru Mark Blevis (@MarkBlevis) that looked at how people were using Twitter on the night of Canada’s 2011 federal election.

In space provided by The Canadian Press (thanks @CdnPress_Ott!) we spent a fun evening together following the posts, unfolding events and the stream on Twitter related to the election.

We used a Canadian social media monitoring tool called Sysomos to find and follow the traffic.  Using a powerful and customized search, we were able to pinpoint and track posts that mentioned any one of over 100 keywords or criteria.  For a detailed analysis of results, I’d recommend visiting Mark’s ongoing research at http://www.markblevis.com.

Lots of traffic, but less dialogue

That night, I was excited to see the high level of interest, buzz and traffic about the election on Twitter.  At the end of the night, we measured a total of 90,150 election tweets, from 45,075 users.  There was a community of Twitter users across Canada, and beyond, sharing the same real-time experience of democracy in action.  There was genuine engagement in the process.

What I didn’t see as much of, however, was real dialogue.  By dialogue, I don’t just mean people talking to each other.  As practitioners have observed, dialogue is to “honestly expressing perspectives, clarifying viewpoints, and developing solutions. The goal of dialogue is to deepen understanding and judgment, and to think about ways to make a difference on an issue.”

Understandably, on election night, people were more focused on news and results than policy issues.  However, even during the campaign, though, the twitter traffic on #elxn41 seemed to be more partisan than “transpartisan” – people looking beyond party politics to engage in dialogue on bigger issues of public concern.

It will definitely be interesting to see how the Twitter community continues to evolve in the future and whether members can shift the interaction to facilitate more dialogic exchange.

Mark, Stephanie and Nygel: same place next time?

- Ellis Westwood -

]]> http://ascentum.com/2011/05/13/twitter-dialogue-and-elxn41/feed/ 2 @ascentum tweets of the week http://ascentum.com/2011/03/25/ascentum-tweets-of-the-week-5/ http://ascentum.com/2011/03/25/ascentum-tweets-of-the-week-5/#comments Fri, 25 Mar 2011 19:02:09 +0000 Ascentum Staff http://ascentum.com/?p=1420 Here are just some the Twitter posts and links that we’d like to pass on from this week.  You can find us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/ascentum.

]]> http://ascentum.com/2011/03/25/ascentum-tweets-of-the-week-5/feed/ 0 @ascentum tweets of the week http://ascentum.com/2011/02/25/ascentum-tweets-of-the-week-4/ http://ascentum.com/2011/02/25/ascentum-tweets-of-the-week-4/#comments Fri, 25 Feb 2011 15:07:26 +0000 Ascentum Staff http://ascentum.com/?p=1407 Here are just some the Twitter posts and links that we’d like to pass on from this week.  You can find us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/ascentum

  • Study: When governments share info, people feel better about their community http://bit.ly/eyTtLd (via @EllnMllr)
  • Resource: If govt consultation online interests you @transportgovuk’s latest is interesting: http://bit.ly/hUpwXl (RT@lesteph)
  • Resource: For all you facilitators out there: The art of giving instructions http://bit.ly/hn2U2o (via@davidkahane)
  • @Ascentum Blog: Recovery in Haiti – Using the Power of Dialogue http://bit.ly/hoCpnC (by @stephantelka)
  • News: House of Commons approves Twitter, Facebook apps for MPs http://ow.ly/1s46K6 #Gov2.0 #OpenGov (via @mdassinger)
]]> http://ascentum.com/2011/02/25/ascentum-tweets-of-the-week-4/feed/ 0 @ascentum tweets of the week http://ascentum.com/2010/12/17/ascentum-tweets-of-the-week-3/ http://ascentum.com/2010/12/17/ascentum-tweets-of-the-week-3/#comments Fri, 17 Dec 2010 15:47:01 +0000 Ellis Westwood http://ascentum.com/?p=1348 Here are just some the Twitter posts and links that we’d like to pass on from this week.  You can find us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/ascentum

  • New Ascentum blog post: Adding the right images to your engagement website (so people don’t ignore them!) http://bit.ly/h8PKLw
  • Resources: Tools for the institutionalization of public engagement (PDF) #edem http://bit.ly/hsxt1P (Retweet from @participatory)
  • Resources: 24 ways to keep your blog interesting to you and your readers http://j.mp/fSvdp4 (Retweet from @GovNewMedia)
  • Resources: Nice blog! This is a nice model for #engagement sites, too. “Landing Pages: A Great Infographic” http://goo.gl/fb/MKys7 (RT @scottica)
  • @ascentum news: @elliswestwood Briefing Management at the Public Health Agency of Canada this am. Exciting online/social media #engagement on obesity to come in 2011!
]]> http://ascentum.com/2010/12/17/ascentum-tweets-of-the-week-3/feed/ 0 @ascentum tweets of the week http://ascentum.com/2010/11/19/ascentum-tweets-of-the-week/ http://ascentum.com/2010/11/19/ascentum-tweets-of-the-week/#comments Fri, 19 Nov 2010 16:18:45 +0000 Ellis Westwood http://ascentum.com/?p=1277 Here are just some the Twitter posts and links that we’d like to pass on from this week.  You can find us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/ascentum

  • Ascentum blog: “Fostering International Dialogue and Youth Engagement in Laos” http://bit.ly/9pr3m4
  • Study: “Online public participation most effective among young people who are already online” http://bit.ly/afEIDd
  • Resource: For a great explanation of why #PublicEngagement is so important, read The Change Foundation’s Strategic Plan [Ascentum client] http://bit.ly/9pgmng
  • Blog: “How can new media help civic engagement?” http://bit.ly/cGyMFD (@Afine @leifutne @jdlasica)
  • Retweet: RT @INgageNetworks: Recommended: “Using Social Media Platforms to Amplify Public Health Messaging” http://j.mp/9X9Ur9 #hcsm
]]> http://ascentum.com/2010/11/19/ascentum-tweets-of-the-week/feed/ 0 How to use Smartphones to make your next in-person dialogue awesome! http://ascentum.com/2010/09/03/how-to-use-smartphones-to-make-your-next-in-person-dialogue-awesome/ http://ascentum.com/2010/09/03/how-to-use-smartphones-to-make-your-next-in-person-dialogue-awesome/#comments Fri, 03 Sep 2010 20:15:00 +0000 Ellis Westwood http://ascentum.com/?p=1142 Smartphones bring the world into users’ hands.  Web access, Facebook, Twitter, Wikipedia and apps allow people to access, share and co-create knowledge in real time.

They are also powerful tools that can make in-person dialogues awesome – both in terms of generating shared information and giving participants a more engaging experience.  

And, researchers estimate that there are over 5 million Canadians with Smartphones.  They are becoming more common as tools for business and/or personal use.

Earlier this week, we read a great blog by Dwayne at LearningCycle.ca called “35 Ways to Use an iPhone in a Workshop”.  Some are there for fun but there are quite a few thoughtful ways to use iPhones or other Smartphones in workshop.

Here are our favourite 5:

Camera: Use it to snap pictures of group activities, flip charts, and other knowledge products participants create during small group breakouts.  These can be analyzed and included in reports, as well as shared online.

Video: Use it to capture the “story” of the day – the opening, group interactions, individual conversations, and even personal “what I learned” or reflections interviews at the end of the event.  This could be easily edited and kept as a time capsule, shared with participants only or posted online for the broader community experience the event as well.

Twitter: With an LCD display and active search enabled, use it to ask participants questions and have them @message or DM replies.  140 characters isn’t much, but it can help participants express their ideas concisely!  (You can read an earlier blog with more tips for using Twitter at in-person events here)

Wikipedia app or Google search: Use them to check facts, conduct quick research and bring additional knowledge to play to inform deliberations and make they are truly evidence-informed.

Networking: Use it to help participants build professional networks or stay in touch.  On the free Bump App for iPhones, participants can “bump” fists with their devices and exchange contact information wirelessly.  It’s as easy as shaking hands… only more fun.

A big thanks to @learningcycle for a great blog that got us thinking…

Ellis Westwood & Stephan Telka

]]> http://ascentum.com/2010/09/03/how-to-use-smartphones-to-make-your-next-in-person-dialogue-awesome/feed/ 1 How to use Twitter to make your next in-person dialogue better http://ascentum.com/2010/01/15/how-to-use-twitter-to-make-your-next-in-person-dialogue-better/ http://ascentum.com/2010/01/15/how-to-use-twitter-to-make-your-next-in-person-dialogue-better/#comments Fri, 15 Jan 2010 09:18:18 +0000 Ellis Westwood http://ascentum.com/?p=637 At its core, Twitter is a community-building tool.  In this blog, we’ll share ways you can build a Twitter community around your in-person dialogue events so they are engaging, create a stock of shared knowledge and make the results more sustainable.

Before your event…

  • twitter-logoCreate a Twitter account for your in-person event(s), right at the start of the project planning and design stage.
  • Develop a hashtag up-front (#yourevent) so you can search for and store your followers’ tweets – before, during and after the event.
  • Tap into the twitter community to build a community, share knowledge and recruit participants for the in-person event
  • Involve your followers in designing the in-person event by asking for suggestions and ideas
  • Create a buzz about your in-person event by sharing sneak previews and breaking news about speakers with your followers.   Many will re-tweet these to their own networks of followers.
  • Just before the event takes place, create a site where live tweets can be displayed.  One great tool for this is LiveTwit powered by WordPress.

At your event…

  • Setup a projected LCD screen to display live tweets.
  • Build time into the agenda near the beginning of the event to explain the live tweet process.  People can tweet to you @yourevent or tag their tweets with your hashtag (#yourevent).
  • Encourage people to tweet photos of the event.  They help capture the moment and the emotion of the day.
  • It’s a best practice to invite members of your pre-developed twitter community to live tweet the event beforehand.
  • Alternatively, under a different design each table could be given a laptop and means to share their ideas with other groups by live tweeting them in real-time.  This allows for quick thematic analysis and knowledge sharing.
  • Throughout the day, facilitators could walk participants through the live tweets and use to foster additional dialogues.

After your event…

  • Twitter gives you a platform to build on the success of the event, gather feedback and leverage a community for follow-up action.
  • Shortly after the event, thank your twitter community for participating.
  • Ask for people to post feedback, all searchable using the #yourevent hashtag.
  • Invite your followers to tweet about what they are each going to do to follow-up on the event and what actions they are going to take.

- Ellis Westwood -

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