Social media ethics and web 2.0 for the cause during Barcamp UAE

I owe this write up mainly to the organisers of the first Barcamp UAE and those who had to put up with Mrs Grumpiness on Saturday – just so they understand why I was so naughty;) First of all let me just say I am very impressed with the preparations for the event, I was following the process online and I think using tools like ScaleIdea worked perfectly. Great work @floatr, @pkgulati, @disruptiveplay! Secondly, I need to thank them for the invite and making it possible for me to attend virtually (Ustream +Skype worked just fine!). I cannot stop but be amazed where we have come with technology. OK, I was a bit sleepy and felt awkward at the beginning but I actually got into the mood of talking to a great team in Dubai (from my living room!) and loved their spirit and great insights! We talked about social media ethics and this moved into session on social media for the cause (both agendas available on SlideShare event) and I think I personally came out of the sessions with one clear conclusion – by looking at different aspects of transparency and its challenges (online, offline, personal, branded, global, Middle East based etc) I strongly believe – and agree with other speakers that effectiveness of any social media initiative lies in the basic understanding of the media and mechanisms behind those. This can be applied to more complicated issues of freedom of expression too and should be used by anyone aiming to build up a social media strategy for a cause. I enjoyed the two talks enormously and I really regret I had to go to the Oxford Artweeks exhibition later. You can see more impressions of the event here, and some Twitter reactions here. I really hope t the see second one soon;)