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October 2007 event
First OpenRSA event
Our first meeting will be at the RSA in John Adam Street, from 12 noon -
5pm in the Tavern Room on Monday October 1 . There’s room for about 50
people, and to attend you need to register here on
Eventbrite. That’s
even if you signed up on Facebook, so we have confirmed numbers.
Cost: we’ll be asking for a contribution of £15 on the day. RSA are
subsidising but we need to cover some of the room hire, and tea
Lunch: sandwiches from 12 noon, thanks to the RSA
Format: see below.
Comments and ideas: use the discussion tab above, and/or join in
discussion on the Google group
here.
Easy sign-up box here.
Summary
The aim of the event is to explore our experience of the RSA so far, and the potential for networking and creating projects in order to make a practical contribution to Matthew Taylor’s vision for the RSA as a “network for civic innovation”. One idea is to use some of the event to simulate development of the sort of projects that Matthew and Fellows might hope to see develop.
The idea of the event
Currently Open RSA has some 300 members in Facebook, with a mix of Fellows and others just interested in the future of RSA. Facebook is proving a good way to get people together - but not to discuss or do anything. The general feeling among those contributing to the group is that we want to make a positive contribution to RSA development, while also making new friends and getting insights into the role of social media in organisations and networks. There’s acknowledgement that this involves a mix of online and face-to-face. The October 1 event is a way of getting started, and feeding directly into the 360 programme. See About OpenRSA.
Context
The RSA is planning a 360 event on November 22 to involve Fellows in development of Matthew Taylor’s vision for the RSA as a “network for civic innovation”. They will appoint staff within the next few months to work on the programme, which will have local projects at its core. Matthew’s vision here.
Agenda
12.00 Arrival and networking
Meet other Fellows and sign up to the ‘Who’s Here ?’ board, with your
particular interests/questions for today.
The RSA is kindly providing us with a sandwich lunch
12.45 Welcome and Introduction
Welcome from convenors of Open RSA. Origins of Open RSA, summary of
story so far, purpose of today’s meeting (5-10 minutes)
Process and style of this meeting – brief walk through agenda.
1.00 Opening conversations
Table discussions between Fellows – with some prepared questions for discussion. Talk about your experiences of contact and connection with other Fellows, and any examples of seeding projects or participating in projects locally/nationally. If new Fellow, or not yet joined, what would you hope for in finding connections/contributing to projects? What have you found particularly useful in making these connections productive? (20 minutes)
Feedback from each table on main themes from discussions – not a formal presentation, but more facilitated conversation across tables in plenary – ‘what did we talk about and how does that connect to what you talked about?’
1.30 Creating networks in RSA
Reflections on the Facebook experiment and the relationship between offline/online networking
What has been your experience of participating on Open RSA in Facebook? What’s been useful and should be carried forward, what’s been limiting. What insight are you gaining about the relationship between offline/online networking?
2.00 Introduction to the scenario building activity
A brief explanation of the scenario activity and a chance to think about possible scenarios for further exploration later on.
2.15 Matthew Taylor Chief Executive RSA
Matthew joins meeting to outline his vision for RSA as a “network for civic innovation” and his latest thinking on social networking and Fellowship engagement.
2.45 TEA
3.05 Scenario building activity
Developing 3- 4 scenarios for the social model that would support RSA’s vision as a network for civic innovation. We will mix up the tables so you join the scenario that most interests you, work it through, and present back. We could also build into this scenario exercise an invitation to consider what technology would support the social model envisaged in this scenario.
4.30 Review
Another opportunity to work with people you haven’t worked with so far. What have we learned from the conversations/activities so far? What 3 recommendations would we like to make to Council meeting? How can we support the RSA in its work and help it to move forward? What is the most constructive way to develop Open RSA? Feedback to whole group.
5.00 CLOSE - followed by drinks in bar.
Fiona Coffey/David Wilcox
29 September 2007
