Posts Tagged Community
It’s a Social World…
Posted by Ben in Digital Identity, Events, Web Technologies on May 17, 2010
As someone who loves to talk, I’ve taken part in a lot of events that discuss social communities and the ‘social web’. I often notice that one of the most neglected topics of conversation at these events is that, by its very nature, social media is a global phenomenon.
Back in February, shortly after I’d done a series of talks about social communities being a force for good, I saw mention of a social media event to be held later this year in Bosnia and Hercegovina. Not knowing much about the country (save news reports I remembered from the early 90s) I got in touch with the organisers to see what it was all about.
KUL Social
What I found, on talking to the event organisers, was an ambitious project to bring social media and web experts from all over the world to the beautiful town of Laktasi and essentially create a three-day knowledge transfer – giving both local and international attendees a chance to see what is possible through the power of the social web, and for speakers and attendees alike to share ideas and experiences that will ultimately help to enrich what is a very global community.
In the words of the KUL Social website, “The event has been devised as a holistic Social Media ‘melting pot’ that will include a wide range of topics presented by speakers from different countries and cultures, all of whom have a passion for that which is known as ‘Social Media’”.
I’ll be there talking about digital identity, how young people – who were born into the world of the internet – manage their lives through technology, and discussing the pitfalls and possibilities of being able to live your life online.
There have already been a huge number of speakers announced, and the list doesn’t disappoint. So far there are sessions that look at blogging, podcasting, open source software, e-society, freedom of speech, the ‘dark side’ of the web – and the list just continues to grow.
Exporting Knowledge
There are 193 countries in the world, and each one has a different culture – a unique story to tell. The very global nature of the internet has opened up the world – given every single one of those stories a stage – and has made the import and export of knowledge a very personal, accessible thing.
Events like this are key in making this happen – showing that you can be at the forefront of knowledge and technology no matter where in the world you’re based.
And so if you can, support KUL Social – whether that’s by coming along as an attendee, blogging about it, helping the amazing team of people who are organising the event with logistics, or becoming a sponsor – and by doing so, contribute to an amazing event that goes one step further to uniting the world through knowledge, technology, and people sharing the things that they’re passionate about.
For more info & news on the event, and to register, go to www.kulsocial.com
Peace, Love, and Wireless Controllers
Posted by Ben in General Thoughts, Microsoft, New Technologies, Xbox on March 6, 2010
What do 500 gamers, a popular web comic, and the first US state to declare independence from British rule have in common?
Well, unless your guess included dodge ball, lasers, crazy costumes and a huge amount of socialising, you weren’t at all close.
Dispelling the Myth
I’ve written before about how communities of tech enthusiasts can come together and do great things, and I’ve tried to challenge the stereotype of the typical über geek on many occasions. This weekend, I’m in Providence, Rhode Island, for Digital Overload – one of the hottest video game events of the year.
I’m well aware of the sigma that surrounds ‘gamers’. There isn’t a person reading this blog that won’t have an opinion around whether video games make people violent serial killers or tree-hugging pacifists.
It’s with that thought that I write this post. As I sit here in this impressively large conference hall – at one of the most anticipated independent community run events of the gaming calendar – I started to look back over my love affair with video entertainment over the years, and how it had effected my development.
One Man’s Journey
I’ve always loved video games – from the first ever games I played on our old Amstrad PC and SEGA Master System, right through to the current titles I have on my 360. What’s more rare is that I came from a family of gamers – my Mum would always get ‘first dibs’ on any new RPG we’d get – spending hours hand-drawing maps of dungeons, working through the puzzles she encountered, and setting the controller down only once she was done.
When I start to think of the strengths I have as an adult, it’s quite easy to map these things back to the games I used to love playing. Having always been a role playing game (RPG) fan, I got used to both solving complex problems, and making sense of complex storylines.
Cut to the present day, in my adult working life. I find myself constantly telling stories, whenever I talk about digital identity and social media; and solving complex problems, when I work on cloud services deployments for Microsoft. The skills I gained by playing those games as a child had a measurably positive impact.
Digital Overload
The really amazing thing, being here in a hall full of gamers, is how easy it is to spot both the good that gaming can do, and the myths that are being disproven.
Everyone here is really friendly – I can walk up to someone and not only will they say hi, but they’ll take the time to explain what they’re doing (when they realise I have no idea what game they’re playing) or offer you a turn on their computer or console – kit that doesn’t come cheap.
The weekend isn’t just about console and PC gaming – there are tabletop games, poker tournaments, costume competitions and even a huge game of dodge ball! Anyone that arrived at the event thinking that gamers were lazy, stupid and lacking in social skills would have had their mind changed pretty quickly!
The event was put together by Tim Buckley, author of the extremely popular comic ctrl+alt+del. The comic follows the lives of two best friends, their love of video games, and their eventual love lives, trials and tribulations, and killer robots. Tim even drew one instalment of the comic there and then (and I managed to grab a photo of him doing so) – showing off how he does it, and answering questions from the crowd.
The Power of Community. Again.
It’s a real shame that so many people see ‘gamers’ in a really different light to that of reality. From personal experience, some of the nicest and most tolerant people I’ve met were from the gamer community – all of whom show real tolerance of people from any ethnic background, gender, sexuality or religion.
If you ever pass a video game convention, you should stick your head around the door and see for yourself – no doubt someone there will say hi, and you’ll have the chance to experience once again the power of technology communities that I talk so much about!
The Real IT Crowd…
When you say the word ‘geek’ to some people, they think of spots, hunchbacks, and an inability to find a date.
The notion of geeks being anti-social is one of those urban myths, sort of like when your Mother told you that the moon was made of meat, or that if you picked your nose your brains would fall out. Over the past two decades, ‘social geeks’ have regularly met up, discussed cool stuff, and braved the world beyond their screen in the interests of getting to know one another. This gave birth to one of the IT industry’s best kept secrets:
The ‘Geek’ Community
It’s not all socialising – there are user groups, presenter nights, think tanks and conferences – and if there’s one thing I’ve learned in the 12 months I’ve been involved in the tech community, it’s that a social geek is a more productive geek.
“Each time I attend a community event, whether it be a conference, presentation or just a few beers I never come away without learning something new.” said an enthused Dominic Green, a recent university graduate who joined Microsoft as a developer, Azure enthusiast and general boffin. “That’s one of the great things about the dev community – everyone involved in it is so passionate about software development, it creates an almost addictive atmosphere.”
It’s not just stalwart developers that benefit from the UK tech scene – Ben Hall, all round IT ninja and co-author of Testing ASP.NET Web Applications had this to say: “Being part of the community has opened my eyes with regard to writing amazing code and using different frameworks to their full advantage, allowing me to be a better informed developer and benefiting my team and others around me.”
Ben was keen to let us know it’s not all about writing code – “With the support of my peers within the community, I have been given the opportunity to speak at conferences and become a published author – something I never thought possible before joining my first user group”.
While the scale of the tech scene is a well-kept secret, many people seem to struggle with a more profound problem – how to get involved. The saying “it’s who you know” is thrown around a lot, and seems to put a lot of people off of the tech scene – I mean – what’s the point in trying to open a door if it’s locked from the inside?
Thankfully, the door is a lie.
When I first started getting involved in the UK tech scene, I knew very few people that were a part of it… but I decided to jump in at the deep end, and see how easy it was to keep afloat – and so I went along to an event… and people talked to me. People I didn’t know. People I got talking to. People I then met up with for coffee. And a drink or five.
“The developer community has exposed me to many technologies and concepts that I would not have experienced without the wide range of people, interests and experiences.” Dom said to me. “Being a part of the developer community has allowed me to build up a great network of contacts and friends.” – and he really hit the nail on the head with that – these people aren’t just contacts, some of them are now friends too.
So how can you get involved?
Go to an event, user group, geek night, tweetup or general geek themed shindig. There are always people there willing to be social and tell you what’s on their mind.- Don’t just listen – join in the conversation. Twitter is a great medium for that if you can’t make it to a physical event.
- Love the geek world, and it will love you. If you’re passionate about what you do – whether you’re a developer, an IT Pro or just a technology enthusiast – you’ll find like-minded people.
Check out the LondonDev Community calendar for geek events in London, other events in and around the south of England, and check out the GeekUp and other events if you’re based ‘up north’ or in Scotland.
There may be a local tweetup near you too – take a look around at the various events happening in the UK.
I’ll see you there!
