News & Comment

Archive for March, 2009

onoffline

Posted by ChrisQ on Mar 24 2009 | Debate, Participation, Social media, web 2.0 and other buzzwords

There's no denying we're an online company.  It says so on our website.  However, arguably just stating that we're an "online" consultation company completely undersells what we do online - as online is a completely soul-less / character-less word, that ignores the fact that we're actually dealing with "social relationships" and creating "social spaces" where people are happy to share their thoughts / ideas / feedback. Linked to our fascination in… read more

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Viral – everyone’s talking about it . . .

Posted by ChrisQ on Mar 24 2009 | Delib news and events, Opinion research

 Since launching aMap 6 weeks back, the concept really seems to have taken off with it virally propelling itself round the internet, getting people arguing from all corners of the world. A couple of my favorite arguments this week include: England or Australia byEmily from Norwich Popcorn: sweet or salty by John from Bideford Execution or Life Imprisonment by Matt from Wellington aMap's a great example of how engagement and… read more

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Alain de Botton’s ventures in participation

Posted by ChrisQ on Mar 24 2009 | Engagement

To celebrate the publication of his book The Pleasure and Sorrows of Work,  Alain de Botton has created a really interesting user-gen  website www.myworkingspace.co.uk where users can "share the true joy or horror of your working environment". I really love this concept, and simple execution, as it brings to life the central conceit of his book through in a participatory way - creating real engagement with his audience. I also… read more

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Everybody loves the sunshine

Posted by Ben on Mar 20 2009 | Opinion research, Social media, web 2.0 and other buzzwords

It wasn't long ago at all that I was getting the fright of my life trying to drive my car on six inches of solid ice and we were blogging about how the internet was awash with people talking about the snow.  Skip forward a few weeks and now the hot topic (pardon the pun) is that the sun's come out – hooray! Personally, I love that a… read more

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Banning Jargon

Posted by Gez Smith on Mar 18 2009 | Bad examples, Democracy and government, Participation

I have been doing a lot of talking to people recently, proposing and kicking off various projects, and one thing that's almost guaranteed at such meetings is someone saying 'sorry, I didn't understand that'. 

At the end of the day, if someone doesn't understand something, it's the fault of the person explaining it, not the person who doesn't understand. But it's got me thinking about how we explain what we do… read more

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Participatory Budgeting using online tools = e-PB

Posted by MichaelaD on Mar 18 2009 | Delib news and events, Participation

Delib are really excited to be hosting a seminar on Participatory Budgeting and e-Democracy with the PB Unit in London on 2nd April. The seminar is to gather views and experiences on e-PB which can then be consolidated and used to inform and guide future work in this area. This is an invite only event but all the details and outcomes will be disseminated widely, including the Delib blog. We are… read more

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Charterpelago – Your Thoughts

Posted by Gez Smith on Mar 17 2009 | Consultation, Democracy and government, Engagement

We've been working with HMRC for the last few months on the consultation for their  draft customer charter. This consultation follows a first round of consultation last summer, which produced a draft charter which is now open for comment before being finalised. If you want to take part in the formal consultation, then you can do so here. 

However, HMRC is also really keen to make sure the views of… read more

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