It’s a simple question: do people read Facebook messages and signup for events in the way they used to? The last fortnight has – in my personal case – given me a resounding answer: no. I’ve tried to organise 2
Continue reading
70th position in the Berlin Half Marathon (inline skating)
I’m absolutely stunned – I finished in 70th position (among the ‘fitness’ skaters – i.e. anyone except the absolute pros) in the Berlin Half Marathon inline skating 10 days ago, with a net time of 47:01. I knew the race
Continue reading
European Commission, obsoleted by the lightening pace at which the Internet changes expectations
On 7th January 2009, Tom Steinberg (founder of MySociety in the UK – more about them in a moment) penned a blog entry entitled “Top 5 Internet Priorities for the Next Government (any next Government)“. The whole thing is worth
Continue reading
Social norms and critical mass – the essential ingredients of a social network
A question was posed at today’s Campaign Clinic at the eCampaigning Forum about niche social networks that I felt did not receive an adequate answer at the time. Now with a few hours to reflect on it, I’ve distilled my
Continue reading
Online donation patterns
I’m at the Advocacy Online session at the eCampaigning Forum where I’ve just listened to a presentation from FullCitizen about online fundraising strategies [more here]. They rather swiftly dismissed the fundraising power of Youtube, Facebook and Twitter in one of
Continue reading
Fix My State
Traffic light stuck on amber. For 6 20 days solid*. And no-one has done a thing. A STIB tram passes this light every 10 minutes – it’s at the southern end of Chaussée de Charleroi. At least one police vehicle
Continue reading
No pay, no ads – explaining my blogging approach
An interesting debate has broken out in Brussels this week over the declining number of accredited journalists that follow the work of the EU institutions. Charlemagne and Leigh Phillips have differing approaches to the issue, and Julien has a visceral
Continue reading
The importance of place – a personal mashup of Richard Florida and Wikinomics
I’ve just finished reading Who’s Your City by Richard Florida and, in short, it strikes me as intuitively about right. The essence of the book is that where you live is as important a choice as what your job is
Continue reading
Möjligheternas Land – how social democrats need a bit of Swedish optimism
I’ve been at a conference in Brussels this morning organised by the Foundation for European Progressive Studies (FEPS) and I was asked to give a presentation about Social Democracy in the e-society era – you can find my slides here.
Continue reading
Brussels crime: EU expats need to get active
A mother of three has been shot in Uccle and EUObserver is jumping up and down reporting on the crime rates in various Brussels communes. You can just hear the typical EU expat having a whinge at Place Lux complaining
Continue reading
Ethical offsetting
A good friend of mine works for GAIA / No Burn, an organisation that makes the case for alternatives to incinerating waste. The problem is that for his work my friend there has to fly all over this place –
Continue reading
Letting an organisation’s intern see my holiday photos? I think not
Perhaps I have a naive and simplistic approach to it, but for me Facebook Friends are actually supposed to be people, not organisations. Hence I am automatically going to reject anyone called ‘European Federalists Secretariat‘, ‘Young Socialists Georgia’ or ‘Abf
Continue reading