The 5 things I am proud of this week 20/02/2009
Well here are the 5 things each of us are proud of this week;David S
1) New ideas in meetings, extending to our online presence on Facebook.
2) Inviting my friends and people I know into the Facebook group 'Debatewise'.
3) Helping create 'Debate Wise' which is a he, the new face of Debatewise!
4) Finishing compiling the Uni Society contacts list, including some good feedback.
5) Compiling the 2400+ strong Uni professors list (with a lot of help from Outlook haha)
Betony
1) Ideas for the new 'Revise
2) Bea-uu-tiful leaflets for said campaign
3) Wrote two academic debates as exemplars for it.
4) Blog entry (see below). I spent ages writing it and then the session timed out. grr. But I did it again...
5) Increased Facebook presence (88 freinds of Debate Wise and 23 more members of the group)
David C
Didn't actually finish much this week, but lots of things moved forward. The five I feel most good about are:
1) The funding pitches
2) A new Twitter app
3) Our charitable status
4) The World Online Debating Championships
5) Site development
Alex Helling
1) Wrote two sample debates for revisewise –self determination (International Law), Concert of Europe (International relations)
2) Researched citations – how we can include them and what academic material is available online (free and subscribe able)
3) Wrote up the ideas for an internal universities debatewise
4) Wrote up the ideas for a bibliography debatewise
5) Searching for the contact details of debating organisations/societies worldwide (not finished)
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New government warning - don’t breathe, it’s bad for your health
Which of the following statements is true:1) Facebook gives you cancer (Daily Mail)
2) Eggs give you salmonella (Edwina Currie)
3) The Royal Mail gives you cancer (amusing blogger)
4) Everything is bad for us nowadays...*
I've only ever had 'eggy soldiers' once because my mother stopped feeding me them after Edwina and I never wanted them again. The same will not be happening with facebook. We now have a Debatewise fan page, group, and even a profile for a Mr. Debate Wise!
There are two problems which people generally have with fb - 1 that it's a waste of time, and 2 that we give them too much personal information. The second one has been the topic of controversy recently as fb people changed the Terms of Service, seemingly to imply that they had legal rights over any content we posted, *forever*. Personally, unless it got to the stage where the priest asked if there's any reason why I couldn't marry Prince William, and Mark Zuckerburg stood up brandishing fb photos, I don't really mind. But a good few thousand did and they have since withdrawn the TOS until further notice.
It's probably just a big publicity stunt. In fact, the Daily Mail article could have been a warped PR exercise. Judging from the fact that at least four fb groups have sprung up about how it will give us cancer I don't think anyone is taking a blind bit of notice!
* Answers in the form of a facebook group please...
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The Recession Depression Scheme
I am afraid that I have no interesting insights on anything uplifting to offer. It seems the only thing that people can talk about these days consists in complaining. If you look at the recent debates, it is all about our economic downturn, knife crime, technology encroaching our law and our intelligence and to top it off the overwhelming threat of terrorism. What benefit does this moaning have? People are becoming depressed! We are suffering from a "recession depression" now that is a depressing state of affairs.We cannot even seek light relief via reading or watching or listening to various forms of media like music or film without finding some overarching legal issue or social deprivation at stake. Romeo and Juliet ancouraging knife crime? What a load of baloney!
Maybe this is just a way that the nanny state is operating deliberately to get us to submit all power to them. They first of all make us depressed, by giving grave sounding names to the time we live in, they then tell us that we cannot read certain material, they then raise university fees so that people cannot afford to be educated - surely the next step in this evil plan is to put us all on opium and have a docile workforce just to increase those in power's stature.
So how can we beat this cycle? How can we beat the "recession depression"? My advise, get educated and cop on! The economy; what is this but a mere number system? Read what you like, listen to what you like, watch what you like. Most importantly, spend what you like and borrow what you like, because those numbers are not worth your emotional happiness.
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Economic crisis and graduates
With Debatewise now more focused towards students and young people I hope we can not only encourage debate but also play some role in persuading younger people that politics is worth paying attention to. Debates involved in politics do not just affect some faraway place called the ‘Westminster village’ but has a major influence on everyone’s lives. This is unfortunately all the more true with the economy in nose dive as it is graduates who are feeling the pinch as unemployment is growing fastest among 18-24 year olds http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2009/jan/10/graduate-employment-crisis-rescue-package many seem to think that it is time to head back to education with large increases in applications for postgraduate degrees this year. All this seems particularly relevent to me as I will at some stage no longer be a debatewise intern and will need to find some paid employment, I do not think my telephone interview this morning for the NGDP (a pooled local government authorities in England and Wales graduate program) went particularly well, not really a surprise given my dislike of telephones.On the positive side this should mean what we are doing, particularly with the census, should go down well. It is all very well to be disinterested and not have a voice in the good times but in the bad its best to have as many ways of showing what your views are to the government as possible.
As part of this shift in focus Betony has Debatewise tweeting on twitter and from today ‘Debate Wise’ is looking for friends on facebook! This is probably the most ‘bottom up’ approach to gaining participation in the site possible, much more so even than contacting students unions and societies. I hope it meets with success.
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If Google does it…
Can’t remember where now, but I read somewhere that Google asks all employees to write five things they’re proud of that they’ve done that week. So on the basis that ideas should be stolen freely from Google here goes ours:Dave C, in no particular order:
1. Written leaflet for the "Give us your revision notes" campaign
2. Wrote a blog post (finally!)
3. Signed forms so we can become a charity
4. Found two new board members
5. Had a meeting with the Lord Speaker at the House of Lords
David Song
1: Good ideas of involving students more in the meetings, which are very productive.
2: Compiling a nearly finished list of Uni society contacts (in conjunction with Terence).
3: Thought of some new good debates.
4: Some good research on ideas we have had.
5: Helping with pitches/writing.
Alex Helling: - only getting 4 from me... how unproductive
1, contribution to WiseRevision (or whatever we ultimately call it)
2, an internal debatewise for academics – I will get round to writing this out in full next week (promise!)
3, odds and ends – small ideas for the site such as a link to census on registering for standard site
4, list of contact details for student unions - *phew* felt like it took forever
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Step by step
Just got back from a meeting at our lawyers, Skadden Arps. Can’t tell you how good it feels to be signing legal forms on the 21st floor of a very posh office in Docklands; not least because they’re doing all the work pro bono. Don’t know how much those guys charge but I’d love to be earning enough to afford them.Other than that, progress this week revolves around our new marketing strategy to focus on students. Students have the time and inclination to create debates and the resources to ensure they’re of great quality. Plus it turns out that trying to market to everyone on a budget of nothing is not very effective. Strange as that might seem.
Momentum is definitely building. The new idea has got everyone at HQ excited, as has the messages of support from people like Tony Benn and Boris Johnson. And yesterday we had a meeting with the Speaker of the House of Lords about possible ways of working together. They’re very keen to encourage more young people to participate in politics and we think the best way to do this is through the mechanism of debate. Nothing has been signed yet but early indications are promising.
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Students
New strategy, STUDENTS.But how? What do we want? What do we like? Why are we hooked?
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I don’t mean to be patronizing but…
We’re always on the lookout for supporters here at Debatewise. People interested in debate, people with influence, and people our visitors will trust. If people see eminent public figures advocating and using the site, they are more likely to trust us, and ultimately, come to us when they want to make up their minds!For this reason we have been scouring the country for suitable patrons. Well known people with an interest in debate. We have been to the House of Lords (and are going again on Tuesday– they do a lovely cuppa :p), and have contacted past members of Oxford, Cambridge and Durham Union Societies.
We have had some lovely words in support of the site from Tony Benn, Clare Balding, and Lord Smith of Finsbury. We also have a BRAND NEW PATRON - the renowned sports broadcast journalist GABBY LOGAN
Yay!
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Standstill!
Well, despite Alex's surprisingly good journey this morning (hope getting home was as smooth for you!) it does appear London is a bit bewildered by all this white stuff. Buses not operating, underground very restricted service, and few cars on the streets. One of my housemates texted me this morning as he walked to the tube station,to say how bizarre it was outside. The roads hadnt been cleared by then so there was silence except for 'the sound of people trudging'.That may have been the noise made by stressed communters, but those taking a 'snow day' and staying at home had a much better time. My road was filled with laughing children, strangers were talking, and my neighbour (who i've spoken to once since I moved in six months ago) lent me her shovel for the steps. Since I moved to London I have never been smiled at by so many passers by as I was on my breif foray this morning. One of my housemates came home at 3 because there were only ten people in out of an office of 100. Apparently the city was like a ghost town.
I know Britain grinds to a halt with a few inches of snow, but to be honest, as long as it doesnt happen regularly perhaps that's not necessarily a bad thing. London seemed a very cheerful place to be today.
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Snow!
A good morning to everyone, I hope that all the cold and disruption is not causing too many problems... at the moment I seem to be the only one here at debatewise, everyone else must be stuck in the snow or else decided with London buses, half of London Underground not working and the other half with severe delays and limited service that it was not worth while.As for me I reached Reading Station this morning to find that my usual train was literally the only train on the whole Great Western network that was on time so I thought I would give it a go despite betony having called me to say I did not need to bother. I normally just get out a book or plug into my ipod on my way to and from the office but it’s so much more fun to be looking out the window while you travel when its snowy as the landscape is totally different from what it usually is!
I may have got here only about 45 mins late but I dread trying to get home as there is supposedly more snow on the way, but with so many possible combinations of underground to get to Paddington... and surely they won’t close the whole of Great Western! If there is anything heading west at all from London I should be able to make it home, wish me luck at 5.
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Marley and me
Just finished reading Scott Adams (Mr Dilbert) blog about having his cat put down. Blimey. Think I might need to update the 'When did you last cry' question.It's the idea of holding your pet's head in your hands as the vet administers the lethal injection that really gets me. Looking at his face for the last time, desperately hoping you've made the right decision, knowing just how big a hole he'll leave.
One commenter quoted Richard Dawkins saying: "If you don't think a pet could be loved as much as human being, you don't know what love is.". I'm not entirely sure that's true, but I do know I love my Marley.
Now if you'll excuse me I think I need to go give him a big hug.
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David - New intern
Hi everyone, well whoever is reading this.I am David one of the new interns. Good to be working for Debatewise! Only working two and a half maybe 3 days a week however. But it’s good to have an internship in the competitive world which is Politics and especially internet Politics!
If you are thinking, what is he actually doing? Well, I am contacting names you may know in Politics (MPs to be more specific) to subscribe to the site or to simply send out the details of what we are trying to do with the census to members of their sites, or to their members/activists. Some people are extremely interested in the site, however some just do not respond, which is rather annoying. However I suppose it depends on how nice they are… Or they could just not be interested! Hmm.
I have however been quite entertained by one MPs site news, take a look;
Whale tail pose
Brightened up my day a little!
Dave
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O.
Across the globe on Tuesday millions tuned in to watch the first African American President of the United States be sworn in to office. There are claims it was the most watched inauguration in history. It was certainly the first inauguration where social media played such a big part, with sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Flickr all experiencing huge levels of traffic. Myspace, however, fared slightly worse - people were encouraged to leave a message for the President but it seems (apart from the celebrities paid to do so) absolutely no-one did.Offline, however, there was a resounding message of support for the President, rippling out from a global epicenter as the hundreds of thousands in the national mall chanted ‘Oh-Bah-Mah’ over and over again. The effect was primitive, as the staccato syllables punctuated a sky rife with expectation. Because that’s exactly what we’re feeling now – expectation. With his campaign slogan of ‘change’ Obama has promised us a way out, and we’re all waiting. Undoubtedly under him things will change. He’s already planning the closure of Guantanamo bay, but this, like other changes, isn’t something he can effect immediately. Despite the positive media attention at the inauguration, the hardened hacks have already pounced on his blunder during the swearing in, and even his social life was left unscathed as The Times critiqued his dancing at the inauguration balls inviting strictly come dancing judges to score him. Clearly in Brtain at least, we are still abiding by the ‘build ‘em up, knock ‘em down’ mantra of celebrity culture, but perhaps we should hold off for a while. Obama will need to alter his message from the campaign-successful ‘change now!’ to the longer term strategy of ‘change carefully, and change correctly’ and we need to give him space to do so. Good luck President O, there’s a lot of people watching you.
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Integral Interns and office gossip…
The office has been really busy today. We share an office with some other companies, so there are always people coming and going, but today we're practically full to the brim with interesting people. Firstly there's our new interns, Alex and David (and Terence who's in tomorrow). They're helping us set up the Debatewise Census and are making themselves very useful by researching things like the best way to make a polling group representative, and collating contact details of people we're going to ask to spread the word.And, for the gossip lovers amongst you, we have also discovered we have celebrities in our midst. Steve, who shares the open plan office with us, has been keeping it secret that he once was a chart topping artist across the Mediterranean, and one of the smaller rooms adjacent to ours has just been rented out today by an Eastenders star! Whilst I know this is not really news, I am inexplicably excited by this, and i'm not the only one. People have been talking of office social events and I suspect this is not merely because they feel like a curry.
The thing is, though, I know I should not be particularly star struck by this state of affairs. I mean loads of people need offices and celebrities really are just people. I don't even watch Eastenders, and didn't know him from Adam until someone said something and I looked him up on Wikipedia. Which I think he noticed me doing :s Is celebrity culture to blame for all this silliness? Is there anyone I could be justifiably excited about sharing an office with? Or are we fundamentally all just individuals with jobs to do?
Hmm. Rickaaaay?!
*cue Eastenders credits music*
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The cost of war
Truly extraordinary and moving footage of a Palestinian doctor talking to an Israeli TV news anchor just after his children had been killed by a rocket. Don't forget to turn on the subtitles (bottom right corner, second icon up).http://frgdr.com/blog/2009/01/17/israeli-tv-airs-gaza-doctors-desperate-pleas/
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The sun has got his hat on
It might be the running that’s making me high, but I’ve started the year in a very good mood. The fact I can lope along for an hour and a quarter and cover 12k without stopping is thrill enough in itself, let alone having all those endorphins course through my body.Another thing that’s really working is progress with the site. We’re moving forward with Version 2 (more bells and whistles, open sourced so we can give it away). We’re going to create the World Online Debating Championships (of which more later) and we’ve got lots more people helping out.
Three new interns start tomorrow and our Rapid Response Team now comprises 35, clearly brilliant, people. In order to celebrate their wonderfulness I’ve created a new page with profiles of some of them on. More will be added as they come in. You can even see Betony and I, in case you were wondering.
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When finally I am killed, it will be the government that kills me.
Sorry to put a sombre glaze over the sheen of this usually upbeat blog, but it is a rare occasion that I read something in the newspapers so chilling it sends shivers down my spine. You think you get immune to it all, poverty, famine, war, but then something like this article pops up. These are the words of a man who truly believes in people's right to know both sides of an argument. He died telling the lesser known story. In fact, so great was his insight, he even predicted and told the story of his own death to draw attention to his publication, and it's freethinking content. I could write a really long post about this, but i'd rather you read the article.And if you take away anything from it, I hope it is a profound sense of gratitude that you are able to access and research more than one 'official' point of view.
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Happy New Year
Gyms love Januarys. It’s probable their business model is dependent upon New Year’s resolutions and the fact they’re not kept for very long. New Year’s resolutions are like that though aren’t they. They’re born from guilt and good intentions but there’s little solid to keep you going after the first flush of enthusiasm has worn off.Having made and then abandoned quite a few resolutions I’m not keen on making any more. I prefer goals. Goals aren’t promises they’re objectives. They’re not I wont do x any longer but rather I want to do y by z. There are lots of good reasons why goals are more powerful than resolutions but the one I like the most is the value of stating them publicly in the belief this makes you work harder to achieve them.
So on that basis, here are my goals for Debatewise in 2009:
- Secure £150,000 of funding by the end of the year, with at least £100,000 committed by the end of June.
- Get the Debatewise Census up and running with at least 1,000 members by the end of April.
- Establish by the end of May an internship programme where a major law firm offers placements to the best debaters on the Rapid Response Team.
- Get 1,000 visitors a day by July and 6,000 a day by the end of the year
- Have fifteen new debates a week by June and thirty by the end of the year
- Get ten positive mentions in the UK national press by December.
- For the home page to have a Google Page Rank of 6 by the end of the year (funnily enough, our page rank went up from 4 to 5 today).
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Festive Frolicks
So, Santa is almost upon us! (For those of you wondering why i'm here I have been 'discharged' from jury service - bloomin waste of time!) Im never really one to go over the top with Christmas but I am feeling pretty festive this year. I had a Christmas houseparty which (unfortunately) coincided with the Xfactor final so we 'had' to watch that. Despite being furious about the terrible renditions of Hallelujah we put on the Slade and other Christmas cheese, and even broke out the crackers and party hats The economy has made this a rather bizarre Christmas season though, as all the sales have started really early and presents are cheaper than ever. I have admittedly spent more than I usually would, partly because (as my mother often reminds me) now im in full-time employment I can finally buy decent presents! Also because it just seems so tempting with the sales. Should we be splurging out? It could be saving the economy but we'll definitely feel it in January...and is gratuitous spending really what Christmas all about anyway?
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Monday Monday….your honour.
Monday morning in the office like any other. Well, for some. I've been called up for jury service so will not be in for the next week. I wonder if jury service will remind me a bit of making my mind up on a debate? I mean, you listen carefully to both sides of an argument, weigh up the strengths and weaknesses of the cases, and then make a decision. Unfortunately it might be a little more harrowing than the debates we have on Debatewise. I may be shown images which would be censored if they were on wikipedia. But still, as with any debating, it has an important part to play in democracy. I wont be listening to my iPod under my hat , don't worry. I'm hoping it will be an interesting, perhaps even educational, experience, and hopefully not all too unpleasant.But anyway, it does mean that I will be away from Debatewise (oficially anyway, I will undoubtedly check in occaisionally) until 2009! So merry Christmas and Happy New year to everyone. In the tradition of all great new year countdown TV rubbish I will list some of my high points from this year:
1. The Speaker's corner event in October.
Although there were some scary hitches it all went well in the end and a good, and informative, time was had by all
2. The Rapid Response Team.
It's been great setting up and working with such a great team of content writers, and hope we'll be expanding this in the New Year
3. The Pre Budget report
As you can probably tell I really enjyed the coverage of this. I liked being at the forefront of debates as they emerged, and the result was pretty comprehensive coverage on the site and (i'll say it again
) a mention on Sky News! We have a few things in the pipeline for 2009 as well, including a polling team to provide us with stats, and also a competition to WIN A PLACEMENT AT A LAW FIRM. Watch this space and Merry Christmas! Ho Ho ho *exit Santa*
Betony x
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