* The Debatewise Blog
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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Peaking through the iron curtain
Amsterdam was good. It was good to walk past coffeeshops, it was good to do a long run in a new city for the first time and it was really good to meet more people from IDEA.Until very recently I had no knowledge of Eastern Europe, but I did have preconceptions. Oh boy did I have preconceptions. Everywhere was cold, the people were unfriendly, the food was inedible and the shops were empty.
Hmmm. Not so much. Thanks to IDEA I’ve now met people from Bulgaria, Romania, Russia, Macedonia, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Albania and Bosnia. And can I just publicly say, sorry. I had no idea. I was completely wrong.
I blame TV. Well it’s easier than blaming myself.
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Nosy? Yes. Neighbour? Well, who can afford detached housing these days…
A new spate of 'why didnt anyone do anything?' complaints reared their heads after the Baby P calamity unravelled and the case of the Sheffield father who raped his two dughters for 25 years emerged. The world is still recovering from the horrific abuse doled out by Joseph Fritzel but this is all the more frightening. None of these people had underground cells where they locked their victims. It all went on under people's noses. So perhaps we should have used them..I live in London in a rented room in a house of three. I speak to my housemates because i'm quite sociable, but I know similar situations in which people who live together dont even speak, let alone to the neighbours. After getting back from holiday a while back I found myself completely locked out. My housemates were at work and had thier phones off and it was 8.15 am on a freezing cold November morning. After attempting to break into the house with some nearby builders (we couldn't, but it is again worrying that no-one tried to stop me!) I rang the doorbell of the people that live above us. I've never met them, or even seen them go in or out of the house, but thankfully they were in and offered me coffee, consolation and storage for my cases while I whiled away the time until my housemates got back. We both said how stupid it was that we never met up, and we should definitely do something together soon and get to know each other. We do share bricks and mortar for goodness sake. Then I never saw her again. A shame, you might think, but people do lead busy lives. It's not like anything will have happened to her. We would have noticed, I mean we hear their tumble dryer. Still, i'll be inviting her to our Christmas Party and I do hope she comes along. It might be a small step towards a community of sorts. Or at least mean i'm not so embarrassed when I next lose my key...
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Legalise it
We’re off to Amsterdam tomorrow for an IDEA sponsored conference on debate. For a long time I thought there was only one reason to go to Amsterdam – and it wasn’t the Van Gough museum. So it will be strange to go now I no longer smoke.Before Debatewise I spent four years quite heavily involved in the campaign to legalise cannabis. Two of those years were spent trying to open a coffeeshop. I spent a week in Haarlem learning how to run one, I found a great venue on Brick Lane, had the promise of £180,000 investment, developed a fully worked out business plan and had come up with a way we’d get round the complete illegality of the place. But then the government announced it would ban all smoking in public places and I knew we couldn’t continue.
Ultimately this was a good thing. Debatewise is a much better project, much more solid idea and is much less likely to be raided. But I still believe passionately in legalisation and think Britain needs coffeeshops, or legalisation at least.
My view on drugs is quite simple. People have always used them and will continue to do so regardless of laws or other threats of harm. The only power we have is to create an environment where their drug taking causes least harm for them and society. This means we need control over who makes, sells and buys drugs and the only way we can get that is through legalisation.
People think legalisers want to legalise drugs because they’re safe. We don’t. We want to legalise drugs because they’re harmful. The great irony of prohibition is that it gives us no control whatsoever over drugs. All control is handed over to those willing to take the risk to sell them. The more prohibition is enforced the more money these people can make and the more dangerous the type of people who’ll get involved.
In my view legalisation is an inevitability. The disastrous war on drugs, a war that has met not a single objective set for it (drugs are cheaper, stronger and more prevalent than ever before) simply cannot continue for ever. The only question is when will it end.
Oh and for the record, Holland, despite having the most lenient view of cannabis in the world, isn’t in the top 50 cannabis consuming countries in the world.
Drugs should be legalised.
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Dear Ms.Blears
I must have passed by your comment Ms.Blears. You know, the comment you made on 5th November about how political blogging has produced a "spreading corrosive cynicism" among the electorate. A disengagement. But do you know how this 'politically disengaged' citizen eventually discovered your comment? On a blog.So let's get this straight, you spoke about how, essentially, blogging promotes apathy and disengagement, and yet the blogosphere responded. What is this if not engagement? Democracy is elected representatives being held to account by their electors, no? The rest of your statement would seem to show you do not hold the same definition of 'Democracy' as I do:
"commentators are viewed by some as every bit as important as elected politicians, with views as valid as cabinet ministers" - the views of bloggers (the electorate) are not as valid as the views of those they have elected to represent these views. Uh-huh.
"The commentariat operates without scrutiny or redress. They cannot be held to account for their views, even when they perform the most athletic and acrobatic of flip-flops in the space of a few weeks." - Right so we bloggers aren't being held to account? OK. That's probably because we aren't running the country.
I shall continue to blog, Ms. Blears. Despite the fact you don't think I should because I have not been elected, and my views are therefore less valid than yours. This site allows people to voice their opinions, and we dont hold elections. Perhaps you would like us to stop? I don't think so.
On a lighter note I love the way political commentary can be easily slipped into other web phenomenon, such as this combination of http://icanhascheezburger.com/, and the recent controversy over the leaked BNP membership list --> genius.
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