Why bother?

Lots of good reasons!     including:

Get recognition and credit for the brilliant work you have been doing on the project

Help us to further demonstrate the value of projects like this to you as volunteers and to your local communities to help get funding in the future to carry on the good work

and not least, to help you to further identify and log the skills you have developed whilst on the project which you will then be able to use in other contexts.  These may include, but are not limited to, using the information in your cv, job applications or covering letters when applying for paid work, giving you examples of things to say during future interviews when asked about recent achievements, supporting funding applications to enable you to set up your own group and continue the good work, and personal reflection and acknowledgement of the skills you have developed whilst involved in the project.

We hope to receive as many entries as possible to make the celebration on 17th March a really fantastic and fun day for you all whilst also making it a day that partners and funders have to sit up and take notice of.

As discussed by Mary on Friday, you can submit words, pictures, photographs, film, audio files, in fact any method that you are comfortable with and allows you to answer the questions in the form.   

Please let us know if you have any questions and we would be happy to discuss it further with you.   Wishing you the best of luck – we are really looking forward to receiving your forms.

A new Digital Activist Awards competition was launched by our very own Mary Moss. DA’s are invited to submit a multimedia presentation either as individuals or as a group. Prizes were promised. The presentation would need to include:

• Learning Journey
• Team Work
• Helping Community Members
• Contribution to the Community
• Moving On

Further details and application form should appear on this website shortly.

Next up was a film making master class delivered by the Broadway’s own head of production, Owen Davies. Owen explored how to get the best out of a filmed interview. He demonstrated nodding shots, eye line and cut away shots. The key focus of Owen’s hour was on planning, not the pros and cons of particular technologies. One of his top tips was not to put lots of on-screen writing onto films destined for the internet as they will inherently have copy surrounding them online.

This writer would like to personally thank Owen for singling me out as the interviewer guinea  pig – just what I needed this morning

Lunch was plentiful and tasty as always. Never ending coffee also made the day go smoother.

Following lunch we were treated to a quick breakdown of the ins and outs of setting up an organisation to continue DA work beyond the life of the project. Richard from NCVS Support for Groups team walked the workshop through the different options.

http://www.nottinghamcvs.co.uk/help-groups

Richard’s top tip was to use the website Nottingham Insight http://www.nottinghaminsight.org.uk/ Nottingham Insight is a shared evidence base, providing access to data about Nottingham and its surrounding areas.

Lots of thought required to digest Richard’s presentation.

Following Richard came a session sharing insider tips for those DA’s considering teaching as a progression.

Surprisingly, I arrived before Will and found my way through to the conservatory. When I got there I said hello to some Mind clients who were playing a board game and set up in the corner. When Will arrived I connected to the internet which is not always as trivial as it sounds.

Similar to a silent dalek shouting Exterminate, Will seemed to silently shout Engage, Engage, and forced himself on a man sitting by himself. I prefer it when clients ask me for help as I dislike imposing upon people. However in this case it was obvious that a more pro-active approach was needed. I talked with a group of Mind clients, told them what I do, and asked if any of them needed any help.

A woman responded affirmatively and came over to join me. Her name was Charlotte (or perhaps it was, I am writing this on the following Sunday without any notes!) She told me a little about herself and that she enjoyed using computers but still had many questions. She asked me about search engines and the difference between them. I told her about the main search engines and meta search engines. She also asked questions about free email services and social networking sites. Finally I gave her a leaflet about free computer lessons at a learn direct centre in Kettering as she was keen on taking a course.

Next I engaged, not sure I like that word, with Diane. She wanted guidance on creating a small booklet with Word 2007. I had Open Office installed on the laptop which is similar to Word 2003 in its interface. Office 2007 uses the ribbon interface. I did the best I could and described how to logically outline a document using heading styles. These allow you to use the indexing function to create a table of contents that refers to the level of the headings used. I also told her about page footers and how they hold page numbers. I realised that this was a fairly complex and advanced use of Word, and told her that we would be here to help in following weeks.

Writing this post I suddenly remember that I didn’t get Diane to fill in the Digital Engagement Form 5c. My bad. By no means the first time it has happened but the first time I have admitted it in writing.

Past 3.00pm and I had to leave but Will was happy to remain by himself. What happened then you will have to ask him.

Previously I have ran sessions in libraries and heritage centres. These are quiet places. The conservatory is a central location for Kettering Mind where clients relax and commune. It can be a much more noisy and lively place than previous locations I have attended.

Before I end let me take you back to the start of the post and the game the Mind clients were playing. You may have guessed it was Cluedo from the title of the post. A good guess but unfortunately wrong. Given the theme of the title, a better version would have been QREEASTVWXUGR, some good letters but an even more obscure headline. Yes the game was actually Scrabble but I liked the Cluedo themed one too much to let such a relative idea as the truth get in the way!

DAIN Newsletter Winter 2012 (PDF 6MB)

Please find news of our latest work and developments in our new look newsletter. Thanks to all the volunteers, partners and staff that have contributed to its development.

Some key dates for your diary detailed in the newsletter include:

17th February: Regional DA meeting and lots of free and interesting workshops with lunch

15th March: Next Steps for Digital Inclusion http://www.niace.org.uk/campaigns-events/events/next-steps-for-digital-inclusion

17th March: Digital Activist Day. A day to celebrate the achievements of Digital Activists and partners involved in DAIN

Please let us know what you think of our new design, and don’t forget to send us your contributions for the next newsletter, deadline end of Feb  

We’d like to hear from you any ideas you have for issues or subjects to be discussed on this blog and we are willing to pay in chocolate (yes we have learnt from the best !

This is the space for friends of DAIN , whether staff, volunteer, partners or beyond, to share ideas and comments on anything they feel maybe of interest to others.   And you will get a big bar of chocolate if you do!

If you can’t think of an idea – then please tell us what has stopped you from making a post or comment in the past.  Is it time, is it nerves, is it all just nonsense you feel?

Let us know – we are a research project and we’re here to learn!

Who’s for chocolate (or for the strange people who don’t like chocolate out there we’ll find you something else equally exciting)?

Will, Bill, Matthew and Linda, (L to R), Digital Activists answering questions about their study trip films.

 The premier of ‘Diary of a Digital Activist’ was screened yesterday at the Broadway Cinema in Nottingham.   The film was directed and produced by Owen Davies, Head of Film Production at the Broadway and documents the experiences and reflections of a team of Digital Activist researchers who took part in the Eurolink 2011 study trip in late October.   Please click here to view.   It is an excellent film and gives a real sense of the hard work of the team and the great projects visited in Belgium.

This was followed by the screening of several DA films, which took a closer look at the projects visited.  They are all outstanding  examples of what can be produced using movie maker and flip cameras when combined with the hard work of committed volunteer researchers.  Please take a look on our Eurolink2011 blog to view the films on the home page and let us know what you think.

Following the screenings, Owen Davies led a workshop on top tips for film making which was truly inspiring.  There were lots of tips on how to capture the best footage possible using everyday equipment and some helpful tricks of the trade as used by professionals – including ‘the nodding shot’, ‘don’t cross the line’ and how best to use cut aways .  With lots of positive feedback received already, we hope to follow this up with more workshops with Owen in the New Year.