Labours social media masterclass

Like thousands of others I found out which baby number I was - 15,454,932 (roughly) born in the NHS, and posted on Facebook, alongside an add for the Labour party - a classic piece of 'What Google would do', and also what pretty much every 'top tips for social media' pages suggest.  Here's a few of the things it does:

• Uses a story to relate to the issue
• The story is personal and easy to understand
• Format is easy access, share & copy and doesn't force you to a particular site
• Clear concept, ties in with leadership messages
• Doesn't answer anything for people - not afraid to let people to use as they want
• Opens conversations on a sensitive topic - not shying away from tricky stuff 
• Encourages positive media debate
• Identifies key success of NHS being set up by Labour
• Suggests Labour is open to listening - easy to add your own comment
• Labour logo and key message spread not just by Labour hardcore, but taps into a 'silent majority' of NHS fans

Will Labour take a similar approach to capitalise on Tory education 'privatisation' own goal, and rescue their own reputation on education (at the moment Tories can say 'Academies' a Tony Blair idea)?

Or will the miserymongers be allowed to dominate, continuing a straw man campaign of fear and loathing (trojan horse!? what irony) appealing to Zenophobes, Islamophobes and conspiracy theorists to implement yet more ill-considered policies in education and beyond, while the children at schools across Birmingham and the UK suffer?

Useful links:

• http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/labour-launches-clever-tool-to-find-out-your-nhs-baby-number-and-harvests-thousands-of-emails-in-the-process-9587636.html
• http://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/jun/17/trojan-horse-affair-five-lessons-help-schools
• http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/07/02/labour-nhs-sumemr-campaign_n_5550849.html
• http://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/teacher-blog/2014/jul/16/10-top-tips-how-schools-use-social-media
• http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/michael-gove-accused-of-using-trojan-horse-row-to-push-antiislam-agenda-9488549.html
• http://michaelrosenblog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/statement-from-christine-blower-gen-sec.html
• http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-28374058

Community Health in my brave new world

Volunteers recieving award from Coop

Yesterday I took a couple of trees worth of willow along to the Heart of England NHS annual community health fair.  John Boyle from Midlands Coop had asked me to come - see Fairtrade Blog for more photos. 

I got lucky - on arriving a handful of volunteers from Joseph Chamberlain College helped me get set up, trial my activity, and spent the rest of the day wearing willow crowns and waving wands all around the event.  Someone from 'Heart of England NHS foundation asked if I could make a willow heart (why didn't I think of that?).  I gave it a go and before long, decorated heart wands were as popular as the stars.

Exchanging a 'wish for a wand' generated a tree worth of comments which reflected conversations we had making and decorating our wands.  The free chocolate, interestingly was turned down by many (on health and diet grounds?).  The event was really fun - great atmosphere, and got to meet loads of interesting and different folk.

It's glass half full, I know, but being cut off from my main source of revenue, training, networking, everything (creative partnerships) isn't all bad.  I probably wouldn't have got to go to this event, go to wikipedia workshop later next month, think more about what it is I want to do, sort out the garden, and generally work just as hard for half the money!  But today, I'm loving it.