A presentation I gave at the recent Scottish Health Council event on e-participation and how we are engaging our residents through social media and new technology.

1. Engaging Communities
through
Social Media
Saturday, 16 February 2013

2. Introductions
Graham Budd
South West N’hood Twitter & Facebook
@TheBuddster
Satvinder Kaur
West N’hood Twitter
@saty_kaur
Saturday, 16 February 2013

3. New technology
Saturday, 16 February 2013

4. New Technology
“Everything that can be invented has been
invented.”
- US Patents Office, 1899
“Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?!”
- H M Warner, 1927
“There is no reason anyone would want a
computer in their home.”
- Ken Olson, President & founder of Digital, 1977
Saturday, 16 February 2013

5. Quiz!!!
How many adults in the UK own a mobile phone?
92% of adults in the UK
27% of adults own a smartphone
47% of teenagers own a smartphone
Saturday, 16 February 2013

6. Social Media Today
Today 50% of UK adults use it at home
330, 000+ active Facebook users in
Edinburgh
6.5% of Edinburgh-ers use Twitter
5% cycle to work
Less than 10% read the Evening News
Saturday, 16 February 2013

7. Edinburgh Council’s
Social Media
@Edinburgh_CC - 17, 600+ followers
Edinburgh Council Facebook - 1, 900+ fans
@Edintravel - 10, 800+ followers
@southwest_team - 600+ followers
South West Facebook - 200+ fans
@west_team - 600+ followers
Saturday, 16 February 2013

8. Edinburgh Council’s
Social Media
Consulting our residents
Reporting issues with services
Promoting events and service changes
Saturday, 16 February 2013

9. Providing and sourcing
information in real time
Saturday, 16 February 2013

10. Edintravel
Launched in May 2010
“to provide accurate and relevant
information on traffic delays and to
pre-publicise major roadworks”
Currently followed by over 9,000 people
Crowd-sourcing using #edintravel
Saturday, 16 February 2013

11. July 4th 2012
“Road completely flooded under the railway bridge at Holyrood.
#edintravel”
Saturday, 16 February 2013

12. Example
54 people re-tweeted it to their followers
More than 33, 700 people
Including Lothian Buses, STV &
Evening News
50 new people began following the account
Saturday, 16 February 2013

13. Stopping complaints before they happen:
Mr Grumpy vs Mr Happy
Saturday, 16 February 2013

14. “My advice: Don't pay
Edinburgh Council tax
online; payment failed and
got a penalty charge”
Saturday, 16 February 2013

15. “Kudos to City of Edinburgh
Council for sorting out the
issue I tweeted about
yesterday within 24 hours”
Saturday, 16 February 2013

16. Making our services more
visible & humanising them
Saturday, 16 February 2013

17. Saturday, 16 February 2013

18. Meet Diana
Saturday, 16 February 2013

19. A little personality
Saturday, 16 February 2013

20. Accidental Success
11,759 people reached by #edinwarden
STV posted 2 articles
22 new followers
19 clicks on our links
Cllr Burns blog
Saturday, 16 February 2013

21. Saturday, 16 February 2013

22. Other Projects
Citywide campaign to promote Spring Cleans
(#edinclean)
Followed the Olympic Torch live through
Edinburgh
Live Q&A sessions with the Leader of the
Council and various Police Inspectors
Twitter24 - 24hrs of interacting with Council
services and facilities
Saturday, 16 February 2013

23. If we start using social media
the world will end because;
People will say bad things about us!
People will ask us questions we can’t
answer right away.
People will expect us to be in 24hrs
Staff will say bad things.
We don’t have enough time to do this.
What we do isn’t interesting.
Saturday, 16 February 2013

24. Thanks for listening
Questions/Discussion
Saturday, 16 February 2013