National Association for Voluntary and Community Action

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local focus national voice

Social Media – Questions and Answers

NAVCA - Annual Conference 2008

“Social Media. They get all excited about gleaming technology and clever gizmos. Theytalk in acronyms and begin sentences with: “Did you know you can..” The rest of us justwant to get on with campaigning, fundraising or service delivery. We want to talk aboutthe people we work with, the communities we’re in and the issues we’re passionateabout. We want to find and talk to people who can help us get change, deliver servicesor make a difference”. Well, Social Media is about all that, telling stories and havingconversations, having a space to do that … it just happens that the space is on acomputer. (From ‘How to use New Media’ - Media Trust).As part of this year’s annual conference we have incorporated a number of new technologyinnovations both into the run up to the conference, during it and afterwards too.There is a conference blog website atwww.navca.wordpress.comwhich will be updated duringthe conference with feedback from sessions and any changes to the programme. Pictures andinterviews will also be added to the blog to give a lasting record of the event.There are a number of computers with internet access available in the venue which you can useto read the blog; it would be great if you could also leave some comments too. If your laptop haswi-fi capabilities, access to the internet is free. You will need to select the ‘conference’ network.If you take any photographs and you would like to share them, either send them to us or addthem to the conference

Flickr

pool, tagged with ‘

navcaconf08

’ so we can pick them up.If you use

Twitter

there is a conference feed called ‘

navcaconf08

’We will be recording speaker interviews during the conference which will be available as

podcasts

on the conference blog and the NAVCA website for you or colleagues to listen to.We have a list of LIOs using Social Media tools and innovations such as RSS feeds and blogs(explained overleaf) to enhance services provided to members. This list can be found athttp://watfordgap.wordpress.com/using-web-20/, let us know if you know of more for the list.Social Media is explained in much more detail in the free booklet “How to use New Media” byThe Media Trust and the ICT Hub, available from the NAVCA stand or by contacting me.If you have any questions about Social Media or want to know how it can help you ask meduring the conference, or by phone on 0114 289 3977 or email -paul.webster@navca.org.uk.Thank You.

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Tell us what you think

We would appreciate knowing your views on Social Media at NAVCA and in the 3

sector. Onthis page and overleaf please circle your answers and leave it with me or at reception,alternatively it can be returned to NAVCA by post.

Do you see Social Media as relevant to your work? Yes / Not Sure / No

Does your organisation use any of the tools outlined here? Yes / Some / None

NAVCA, The Tower, 2 Furnival Square, Sheffield S1 4QL ● Tel 0114 278 6636 ● Fax 0114 278 7004 ● navca@navca.org.uk ● www.navca.org.ukRegistered charity no. 1001635 ● Company limited by guarantee ● Registered in England no. 2575206 ● Registered office as aboveVAT no. 600 2596 77

National Association for Voluntary and Community Action

•

local focus national voice

Did you visit the conference blog before the event? Yes / No / Didn’t know of it

Some useful terms explained

Blog

– (we

B log

). Many blogs provide commentary or news on a particular subject, cause or issue; others function as more personal online diaries where entries are displayed in reversechronological order. A typical blog includes images, and links to other blogs and media.

Circuit Rider

– A mobile ICT support and development worker who has a caseload of voluntaryand community sector clients and can give impartial advice about all aspect of technologyincluding how best to use Social Media. (see -www.lasa.org.uk/circuitriders).

Feed reader

– RSS feeds are automatically picked up to be read at leisure in a feed reader (such as Bloglines or Google Reader) without you having to visit each website individually.

Flickr

– An online photo storage website which also includes tagging and commenting sophotos taken by many people but tagged with the same terms can be viewed in a single pool.

ICT

– Well managed and well resourced (ICT) Information and Communications Technologyenables your organisation to perform better and to explore its ability to do more exciting things.

News Feed

- a method for exporting and importing content, also known as a web feed.

Podcast

- a news feed with a media sound file attached that can be picked up by a feed reader.

RSS

- Really Simple Syndication, a way of formatting news content for a feed reader or evendelivery as an email in your inbox. Often denoted on websites with an orange RSS symbol.

Social Bookmarking

– (websites such as Delicious, Magnolia or Digg). These are a way toaccess the bookmarks others have saved about a subject that interests you.

Social Networking

– (websites such as Facebook, LinkedIn or MySpace). These communitywebsites link people who share interests and activities or who are interested in exploring theinterests and activities of others. They provide various ways for users to interact, such as chat,messaging, email, video, voice chat, file sharing, blogging, discussion groups and more.

Twitter

– a social networking and micro-blogging service that allows users to send up to 140character “updates” as SMS text-based posts. It is ideal for keeping in touch with groups of people or canvassing a wide range of people about a particular topic or question.

Web 2.0

– (sometimes called Social Media or New Media). Terms used to describe internetservices where social collaboration and participation is positively encouraged, unlike websites of a few years ago where content was served on pages in a static way with no ability to interact.

Wiki

- is software that allows users to easily create, edit, and link pages together. Wikis areoften used to create collaborative websites or allow a disperse groups of people to workcollaboratively on building documents. Perhaps the most popular example is Wikipedia.

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Is your organisation planning to increase use of these tools in the next 12 months?Yes, definitely / Yes, a little / Maybe if worthwhile / No / Don’t know

Have you found this information sheet … useful / not so useful / unhelpfulWe will draw out one organisation to receive a free half-day workshop session with a 3

sector social media expert. Please leave your email address or phone number to be entered.