Web 2.0 a-go-go

Two times the 2.0 fun today:

1. I had to drop out of planning for the UVic Libraries Learning 2.0 pilot program when I broke my ankle. Today I got word that I can still be involved (as a mentor) when the pilot launches later this fall. To make it easier for program participants to chat with me using their IM of choice I have now set up a Meebo account. (For me, that meant including my GoogleTalk and my MSN/Windows live (i.e. Hotmail) IM accounts.)

Once the pilot goes live we will be covering blogging, photo sharing (Flickr), Facebook, social tagging, and newsfeeds. If the pilot is a success, we will expand to include other Web 2.0 subjects.

2. Toward the end of our Advanced Communication course this afternoon, we were told that the class would be producing a newsletter which meant we were all expected to submit articles and other content to fill out the newsletter. And we had to submit it by the end of class. Yikes! So, I offered to write about "Labour and New Media" -- I have submitted it to my facilitator (who will be editing all the content this evening) and, because I can, I am including it here (unedited) for your amusement:

Labour and New Media

You’ve probably heard or read news stories about Facebook, YouTube, Flickr, and blogging but did you know these can be powerful tools for Unions, too?

While there is still, and always will be, a place for face-to-face communications, newsletters and notice boards, there is a growing trend among the labour movement to embrace the new media.

New media, also called Web 2.0 or user-contributed media, is immediate and can reach many people at once. CUPE 391, Vancouver Public Library, recently got a lot of mileage out of their Bargaining Blog. While they built the blog for their members after their employer shut down their internal email system, it soon became clear that reporters were checking it for breaking information.

Other locals are posting campaign videos on YouTube, reaching out to new members on social networking giant Facebook, and collecting photos of rallies, strikes, and community action on Flickr.

In response to member needs, CUPE has reworked the Advanced Communications course, “Making it Sing,” to include new media and to help guide CUPE activists in the best way to integrate new media into their own campaigns and communications strategies.

I'll let you know how heavily it gets edited once I see it published.