Hello Digital is the annual Midlands Media festival and I was lucky enough to get a place at the main industry event on Wednesday 21 October. This international and interactive conference at Millennium Point, Birmingham was aimed at SMEs (and yes, that was me in The Birmingham Post last week – one for the clippings scrapbook!).
Among the speakers was local MP Sion Simon who was keen to encourage the region to recognise and share its digital strengths. His speech was uplifting, inspiring and informative. There is a concentration of Social Media talent in Birmingham – Architects, Engineers and Surveyors in the region are gradually embracing Social Media / Web2.0 and using the tools to improve communications, ultimately improving the quality of the end result of their projects. The success of Be2Camp Brum in August is a testament to the region’s strengths.
At the RIBA Practice Stakeholders Forum, which takes place tomorrow, I’m thrilled to see that the RIBA have invited Paul Wilkinson (co-founder of Be2Camp) to live stream the event via the Be2Camp site. Additionally, there is a section of the afternoon dedicated to social media: ‘Tweets, blogs and other useful things’ with the speakers sharing ideas about how they use these tools, how they save time and communicate more effectively. But it’s important to remind Architects that there is more to Web2.0 than Twitter. Back in July, Hugh Davies wrote an article in Building Design about Web2.0 and asked if Architects are ready to tweet. I couldn’t resist commenting:
Web2.0 isn’t just about a practice’s website or using Twitter. There are numerous tools out there that give us the opportunity to share information, collaborate with other consultants, involve communities who might not normally have a hands-on role with a project…….the ultimate result is better buildings. As a Practice Manager, the benefits that I see in terms of improving efficiency and communication by using online tools are the most important aspect because of their green credentials. Better Buildings and Sustainability; surely these are at the top of every Architect’s agenda?
Lorna Parsons
Practice Manager