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Barcamp Oxford
It’s all still fresh and I need to settle my thoughts. Once is certain – it was one of the best events I have been to recently! I think working with guys from OSS Watch and Torchbox on this one was pure pleasure – you are the most organised and serious people I’ve met in the shire so far! It was a pleasure to work with you. As for the day, the people and sessions – I feel the breeze of a huge change, injection of inspiring ideas from a very supportive crowd! I only regret I could not be in all sessions at once;)
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Barcamp London 6
It was really interesting to take part in Barcamp London 6 just a week before the BarCamp in Oxford! I really just had a few hours, but I managed to take part in few interesting sessions and talk to few amazing people! Quite in a rush, I decided to quickly propose a session on Twitter ethics – simply because previous one was based on Twitter presence too. The insights on the Twitter presence of individuals and large companies like BBC opened my eyes to new challenges of this constantly developing platform, where accepted behaviour also changes gradually.
- Do you, for instance, make a note of your intentions to post in several languages on your Twitter bio? Should we?
- If you are dealing with a large client who expects several accounts, how do you handle their main Twitter account? Who and how manages it?
- Is customer service possible, ethical and effective via Twitter? Under what circumstances?
- Is Twitter celebrity phenomenon worth ‘following’?
Those and plenty of other questions were a result of a day at the Barcamp! If it were not for an important weekend plan, I am sure I would have truly enjoyed the rest of it:) Weekend plans do take priority though sometimes, so I am happy I could be at the BarCamp for a while. I learned a lot! (pix on my Flickr soon, but check the event site and Slideshare for more info). Thank you to the Guardian for hosting it and the other sponsors for making it happen! Great stuff!
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Oxford Tuttle
Oxford Tuttle is a coffee morning dedicated to networking with local IT and social media professionals. Last week on Thursday we have spent all morning disputing different projects we are involved in, ideas we want to develop (and need money, help, creative feedback for) but mainly getting to know each other. I came out of the meet up with few interesting business cards and plenty of new ideas in my head!:) I have learned about the site called TunaTheDay – interesting project dedicated to music online and very much reminding me of my boyfriend’s band;) Also, hoping to see a network of allotment owners – since I am considering to become one as well. (yes, will plant geekette roses, lavender and maybe move my little olive trees there!). Random? No, on last Thursday morning of the month everything is worth talking about. Really enjoyed my two coffees there!:)
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Oxford Geek Night 11
…was the first of three events I attended last week (not really feeling like posting – and I do apologise, it’s my overly depressive mood that is affecting my writing, but I really need to share my thoughts before the next lot happens;)). Oxford Geek Night is established now as a source of great info, developments and a brilliant way to spend an evening with people who LOVE talking geeky. After a drink and dinner with Amanda (with a flavour of ‘spot the geek’ game;)) we joined the crowd upstairs.The presentations were great! I really liked listening to Mike Kus talking about his approach to creativity – I loved the presentation too! Other slots we equally interesting and I do apologise for being grumpy and disappearing so quickly.
Do check the conversations about #OGN, photos and the event site. It’s worth it! The crowd was brilliant, it was good to see few of you there and have a chat. I cannot wait to see you all at the BarCamp!;)
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Salam Pax
I have learned a bit about the Middle Eastern social media since I started working for Global Voices but must admit that Salam‘s book was an extraordinary experience to me. You are probably bored with my exclamations about the books I read, but honestly – with my amount of ‘free’ time I need to choose my literature carefully. I am geekette and love to read blogs, but I equally love to switch all the devices off, sit down and enjoy the sensation of words published on paper. It’s a different process, takes time and dedication, takes patience and attendance to only this one item in your hand: a book.
Why am I writing this? Because Salam’s ‘The Bahdad Blog’ is basically his online diary from quite complicated times published in a form of book. A piece of his live blog and life blog of Iraq taken out of its original context and multiplied in its effect via the ‘old fashioned’ medium. I could not put it down, even though I know Salam Pax from the web, I read his blogs. I think it’s the fact I was on my own with the text. Or maybe the idea of someone bothering to publish one of our precious online contributors to the journalism free to speak up? I do not know.
I know it’s a must read! And I encourage you to check his personal blog, follow @Salam on Twitter and read his blog on the Guardian. It gives you great insights into his culture as well as one of the rational, every day views on Iraq’s reality. Another little miracle of the modern age? Definitely!:) I just cannot describe how it enriches me to read content like his, and Riverbend’s (more about her soon)!
(it was great to meet you – in all those ways, Salam Pax::)
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OxTwestival – Oxford Twestival write up
Oxford Twestival was not my first networking event in this city – city I love already, even though I am just planning to move to this spring/summer. I know most of the attendees from Oxford Geek Nights organised by Torchbox, and I was very happy to see you all again. Twestival is about Twitter, about music and about charity. And I think we’ve managed to enjoy all of those throughout the night! I am extremely impressed by Helen and Rob for arriving earlier and helping us out! We were also very lucky that The Funky Lamas took care of all the equipment for themselves and Ben and that they moved the crowd with their rhythm and enthusiasm. We are also very, very happy and proud to know that Ben is from Oxford and he honoured us with his presence and music that night. (I am not being diplomatic here: there are my genuine feelings about the night!). I am very happy to have worked with @jake and @colinmercer on the event, and I think that their spirit and humour made it an unforgettable evening. (Also, we have a good photo of Colin and his hat;) I am very, very happy that my friend Kristina made it, that newly met Marianne made it too, and that I got to talk to Amanda a bit. But most of all I am happy everyone else was happy! It was such a positive evening. Let’s face it – it was a perfect size party for Oxford feeling. We had space to talk, to share a pint, to listen or dance to the live music. Musicians had time and mood to play together and join in their experience of the evening. Correct me if I am wrong, but I think it was a good place to be that night – for everyone, regardless their social media expertise, their musical preference, their job etc. I just hope it’s not the last Oxford Twestival. But there is something else I felt that night – lack of unfriendly competitiveness. Torchbox is organising their night, Rob has ‘his’ Oxford Professional Meetups, but we all go to all of those events. And you will wonder why I mention it? Simply because of my experience – I worked in event organizing for about 10 years in Budapest – and I have always experienced a strange sense of ‘whose party is better’ mood, which actually causes a strange distraction during conversations. Here, in Oxford, I see the same trend as in professional blogging – support and common understanding of each other’s needs. We need knowledge, we need an occasion to have a beer, we need to develop and network. All this can be done in a friendly, open and transparent way. I hope I am right and I hope it will stay this way. I actually hope we will have more and more social media related events in Oxford and we will meet more often;)
So, what next: Oxford Internet Professionals meet-up this Wednesday. See you there!:)
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Blogger Interview – Ahmed Naguib
I didn’t do them for a while, but there is a few coming up. Let’s start with Ahmed. I met him through a random search around the Middle Eastern social media and must admit I love it! TechNRolla is about life and technology, life in technology, technology in life and many more. But hey, let Ahmed speak for himself!:)
Syl: You quote Dante Alighieri in the header of your blog: ‘Consider your origins: you were not made to live as brutes, but to follow virtue and knowledge.’
Why this motto?Ahmed: It’s because I’m a Dante Alighieri fan, I loved most of his books and he is one of the greatest writers ever, I picked this quote because I read an article by the conservative contessa that explains the quote and the weird thing was that it totally felt like my own rules in life, she wrote that the quote is about ” doing the right thing and believing that what you do will come back to you in life. It means being a good parent. It means sticking to your beliefs. It means you taking control of your own life. It means loving your country and being a patriot in the entire sense of the word.”
Syl: You posted about change in Egyptian social media. ‘We need to think, think of what we should do and when we do it’ is one of my favourite quotes from your blog. Tell me, is your opinion representative of your generation?
Ahmed: I do believe that it is a representation of most but not all of my generation, the knowledge that each one of us possess is different, so some people may have the same opinion, some others won’t, and maybe some will be like “Well, I’m not sure, maybe”.
Syl: We all have to compromise. I currently work for a WOM agency, which means I sometimes need to be careful how and what I write. So far it has not been an issue to me because I find a perfect balance between my work and private life and private ideas. However, the fact I need to self-censor my content is there. Do you need to be careful about yours? Do you feel you can be as open as you want about any issues
Ahmed: No, not yet anyway, I’m an Egyptian teenager, I am not going to get into a business mood until I am in college “after a year or so”, and I do think that I’ve the freedom to say whatever I want to say, but I don’t ever talk about crucial stuff unless my point of view won’t hurt anyone, like politics for example, and I can be very open about anything, it’s a matter of what you see is important, what you think is good or really interesting to be shared with others.
Syl: Going back to where it all began: how did you start – blogging, using Twitter, Facebook?
Ahmed: I started using Facebook when I was an exchange student in the US at the age of 15, I saw my friends use it, and I haven’t heard about it before, so I decided to create an account so I can get in touch with them when I go back home.
Using Twitter was from about 4 maybe 5 months ago, I didn’t really understand why was it that popular but after using it for a couple of weeks I managed to understand what it’s about and since then, I am addicted to it.
About blogging, I had a couple of failures, I started my first blog back in 2004 but couldn’t keep going because I wasn’t that good at writing in English, I tried to blog in Arabic but that was more difficult than writing in English, stopped blogging for a period of time, and then decided to give it another shot after one of my friends, Roger Byrne “Whom I met on Twitter” gave me the opportunity to guest post on his website www.on.eti.me, and since then, I’ve been blogging.Syl: How did you feel about social media after coming back from your scholarship in the US?
Ahmed: The year I spent in the US had a great effect, I didn’t hear about Facebook or other social media websites till I went to the US, It also helped me in improving my language and communication skills.
Syl: Do you have other online presences?
Ahmed: You can always find me on :
Syl: What does blogging mean to you?
Ahmed: Blogging is an awesome thing, it’s a way to share what I’ve learned and what I’m learning, it’s a way to express feelings and get opinions about everything, blogging is not and will not be about making money, I do think it’s the other way around, it also helps you in making new friends and fight everything that’s bad out there.
Syl: And how about microblogging? Is it more important than the blog? Which platform is your starting point?
Ahmed: Microblogging is as incredible as blogging, it’s slightly more important than a blog because people like it, sometimes I prefer reading someone’s opinion about something in 140characters than reading a 1000words blog post, it’s also much better when it comes to live blogging, my starting point was blogging of course because from doing that I got introduced to Microblogging 🙂 .
Syl: I very often post a part of the interview on my Polish-English blog Bar Mleczny, which is an initiative to promote Polish culture in the UK and vice versa. Hence my next question:
If I say ‘Poland’ what are the first three words that come to your mind?Ahmed: Europe, Warsaw, snow.
Syl: Starting point for the bar is food – do you like regional or rather foreign cuisine?:)
Ahmed: I like everything, I’m an adventurous type of a guy, so I would eat anything that’s new “except if it’s just too disgusting”, but mainly I prefer our regional cuisine because it’s not too heavy like European food and not too spicy like Indian food.
Syl: Do you prepare your meals yourself?
Ahmed: Not that much, my cooking skills are limited even though I took a Culinary Foods course while I was in the US, but I do by best to learn.
Going back to your presence: you have a very strong message and very positive, pacifist approach to life.Syl: In your everyday life what is the most positive result of your blogging?
Ahmed: I think clearing my mind would be the answer, I am an over thinker, I think of a lot of things so when I blog about them, it makes me feel much better.
Syl: Thank you! -
Oxford Artweeks kicking off
My online gallery on Oxford Artweeks website is up and running, so keep your eyes open. There is more to come soon;)
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Oxford Geek Night 10
Last evening I spent not only sharing my recent studies of Twitter ethics but mainly meeting extremely interesting people, very often sharing my interests. OK, I am still a bit sceptical about calling myself a geek, nonetheless, I am one, and there is no way back;) So, here is what happened last night and I really hope to see at least the same faces at our Oxford Twestival on the 12th of February and on the next Oxford Geek Night 11, on the 25 of March.
First of the longer slots, 15 min long, was about fonts – history and technologies behind those. Actually, I completely agree with Elliot Jay Stocks (working for .net, one of my favourite UK magazines – simply because it fills out the gap in the UK market when it comes to printed press about social media), who is worried about standardizing the currently developed fonts. I consider my chat ok because I made a few people smile and think – which is exactly what I hoped for (there are more reactions here). And within perfect 15 min! The shorter slots were just as much interesting, as Elliot’s one though. ‘The new British Standard for Accessibility’ presented by Bruce Lawson is very close to what I deal with at work, so it made me think a bit and I am sure I will read his blog. The issues of the web and the younger generation are something I am interested in two reasons: my work on social media ethics and blogger interviews I did with Monik and Etiole – 13-year-old bloggers. (I see Monik is organizing Twestival in Mumbai, btw!) I am convinced Tim Davies looked at the issues he is dealing with from the global point of view as well, so I think he can see the challenges of a country where web access at school is a restricted and common culture not as IT orientated as in Asian countries for instance. I strongly support Tim’s initiative, so do check his Ning community! I missed part of ‘Microserfs’ (my bad, apologies) so I cannot express an opinion about it. I do however love the design Peet Morris’ blog! David Sheldon’s ‘Tomcat: scaling past one machine’ was a test of my basic IT knowledge, but I got it at the end! Not bad for a blondie:) Tom Dyson‘s ideas around ‘Dynamic demand’ are thrilling, and I am sure plenty of eco bloggers would be extremely excited to see the results of his thinking! And finally – just when I thought I cannot fit any more cool ideas in my head – ‘Working with RGBA Colour’, by Drew McLellan – a feast for a photographer:D I had a beer with guys from Torchbox, I met few other interesting people, and I met the author of Twitter Song – Ben Walker!
It was a pleasure to meet you all!:)
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Global Voices London Meet Up
This Friday in London you can meet the faces behind Global Voices!
I learned so much working for GlobalVoices so far, that it’s hard to gather in few points, I will however attempt.
1. Media is never what it seems.
2. Media has no power at all when in comparison to blogging.
3. It’s damn difficult to post an article (even about your own country) and not to offend anyone.I posted four articles about Poland and generated few quite upset comments already. (not that I aim to respond to silly ones, nope).
4. It’s difficult to separate facts from opinions, and present actual opinions too:) but I am learning.
5. It’s honourable to be a blogger in a country where freedom of speech is an abstract phrase – honourable and dangerous. I consider those bloggers heroes.
6. It’s a privilege to translate their words and spread the word in my language speaking communities. I just wish I had more time to do more of it.
But hey, I am about to meet GV contributors this Friday in London and I am very, very excited to see them all!
If you want to join us, feel free to – both on Friday, both online – just here.
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