LocalGovCamp Lincoln Recap: My interview with Andrew Beeken

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The guy behind it all…

So as you guys already know, I was at the LocalGovCamp in Lincoln last Friday and was fortunate enough to talk to Andrew Beeken (in video above), who was “the man of the hour” and ask him about what he thought about the whole unconference. I mean, I personally thought it was great and definitely different from the previous LocalGovCamp in Birmingham just because it was a smaller crowd and we had more time to chat to everyone who was there. Having the capability to network rather effectively and have a more open table discussion, certainly made this LocalGovCamp a more cosy and intimate affair.

The Think Tank Mugs…

One of my favourite things at the LocalGovCamp in Lincoln was surprisingly the MUGS! I know its silly, but if you’ve been to as many conferences as I’ve been to recently, you do tend to appreciate the little details like the mug. If you think about it, almost everytime you go to an event there’s this white cup with a saucer which you have to hold rather delicately to make sure it doesn’t tip over (I’m a klutz, it always happens to me!). But here at the Think Tank venue, we were instead given mugs (gosh I wish I had taken a picture!) which worked perfectly because it was a cold day so it was nice to wrap our hands around the mug to keep us warm… Wow, who knew I had so much to say about a mug… ;o)

The building that changes colour…

It was also quite delightful to see the Think Tank change its colours throughout the day from orange, red, green and purple. Yes, people, you heard me right… the building changes colour!!! :o)

The sessions..

It was rather nice to have just 2 sessions running at one time because makes life much easier when trying to decide which session to go to. There were alot of familiar and unfamiliar presenters at this LocalGovCamp which was great because it created a great mix in dynamics and content that most of us has either heard or not heard of before. I have to say, there were some heated discussions here at LocalGovCamp Lincoln, but I take that as a positive step forward because the event is now attracting a different type of crowd who are not all on the same page or see eye-to-eye, giving us a better view of what the ‘real world’ objections and assumptions are. This way we can clearly identify our way forward along with the challenges that come with it. There was also a good mix of topics being discussed, for example mapping, e-petitions, advertising, social networking sites, hyperlocal blogs/community websites, user testing, government consultations and etc.

Blogging the sessions…

I will cover a few of these topics here on the blog and hopefully you’ll be able to have a better insight into what was discussed and possibly join in on the conversations. And also, if anyone of you took a picture of the mug, can you please share it with us please?!? ;o) Thx. Be sure to check out my interview with Andrew in the video above!

Hope this was useful!

­Liz

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