I mentioned in my previous post about the Birmingham Social Media Café which takes place monthly at the Coffee Lounge in Birmingham. I went along today and it’s really fired me up and reminded me how far things have come in a few short years.
For the first few years of working in Community Media I was struggling to explain to others what I was doing and why I was doing it – and that was on the rare occasion that I felt confident enough in my own work to tell people about it. So often I found myself rather uncomfortably trying to navigate my way between exciting community activities and the rather dull, corporate-driven ‘Creative Industries’. Maybe I was just another freelancer feeling my way, but I think it was also the environment I was trying to work in.
The Social Media Café was jam packed with people that are successfully straddling the gap between what is happening to real people in the real world and the sometimes artificial bubble of the ‘Creative Industries’, to create a whole host of new and exciting initiatives that are getting important stories out into the public realm.
Not only were the people I met doing some really innovative and fun stuff, they were all incredibly rooted and passionate about the ‘social’ side of media. With initiatives such as the Social Media Surgeries and the mixture of talented people, increasingly accessible media formats and some wonderful stories I know that more and more Brummies will be able to make their voices heard to help create a more vibrant, confident city.
Can’t wait until the next meet! If you’re interested in how media can be used to support what’s happening in our communities then join us!