Posted: December 12, 2011 | Author: Lorna Parsons | Filed under: Architecture & Design, Good Practice, Web2.0 & Social Media | Tags: architecture, practice, RSAW, stickyworld, web tools |
I delivered a workshop (of sorts…) to around 30 architects at RSAW’s annual conference at Chapter Arts in Cardiff on 9th December.
The idea behind the workshop was to firstly take a look interesting web-based projects. In doing so, I hoped to get delegates to see the internet as more than just email and practice websites. Amongst other things, I shared Mapumental, FixMyStreet, GoGenie, SuchTweetSorrow, Give Me Back My Broken Night, Tales of Things, and Substrakt’s BAApp.
You can view the slides for my presentation over on SlideShare.
I went on to explain how certain web tools are helping to enable community-led planning (based on the recent work I’ve been doing around Neighbourhood Planning) with Slider Studio. We looked at StickyWorld in more detail along with some other ideas that have come out of the study.
This was followed by an open discussion about technology in practice. A particularly hot topic was the idea of monitoring comments and feedback through web channels and how best to manage this. I would welcome any questions that we didn’t have time to cover in the session here. Use the comments box below.
Posted: November 18, 2011 | Author: Lorna Parsons | Filed under: Architecture & Design, Good Practice, Networking, Web2.0 & Social Media | Tags: architecture, conference, new media, practice, RSAW, workshop |
I’ll be running a workshop at the RSAW conference in Cardiff on 9th December 2011. The focus of the event is very much a response to the current economic climate and a broad array of speakers will address certain themes:
- As the recession continues to bite, how are emerging architects finding new approaches to winning and carrying out their work?
- How are the established players reacting to the new challenges?
- Are the old models for building architectural practices out of date?
- Do we need to look at new, more flexible ways of making design happen?
- Is collaboration the answer?
Having discussed with the organisers what delegates are hoping to get from the event, the focus of my session will be to look at new media and growth industries for ideas and inspiration for the future of architectural practice.
Through my afternoon breakout workshop, I’ll be showcasing some interesting and exciting projects from the creative and media industries to inspire delegates to think differently about their approach and service. I’ll be sharing my experience of using social media as a powerful communication tool and demonstrating practical examples of the ways that web-based tools can save money and add value to working practice.
If you’re an Architect or if you work in practice and would like a day of inspiration, I suggest you book yourself in. It should be a great day. All the details are over on RSAW’s regional page of RIBA.
Posted: October 27, 2011 | Author: Lorna Parsons | Filed under: Community, Web2.0 & Social Media | Tags: community, consultation, localism bill, neighbourhood planning, planning, stickyworld, web2.0, workshop |
Over the summer I was working with Slider Studio on a StickyWorld R&D project. The TSB funded a feasibility study to investigate how the web could enable Neighbourhood Planning as part of the new Localism Bill. We learned a huge amount about the tools that could help a community group develop a plan and it gave us chance to develop StickyWorld a little further. So now we’re at the point where we’re talking to local authorities, sharing our knowledge and looking for further support for web-enabled neighbourhood planning.
Last week I went along to an event organised by Urban Vision North Staffordshire and RIBA. They brought Architects together with four local community groups to talk about how to write and develop a Neighbourhood Plan. There were useful overviews of the current status of the localism bill and changes to the planning system, as well as a step-by-step guide to Neighbourhood Planning from Dave Chetwyn. I made some (very!) rough notes during the talks which can be found here. The afternoon session was a workshop with each of the community groups discussing their neighbourhood and sharing ideas and aspirations for how their area could be improved.
It was great to see StickyWorld and other web-based tools in action thanks to Rob Annable from Axis Design who led a workshop with representatives from Burslem. Although the session was a discussion based around a printed aerial photograph, Rob was keen to transfer the ideas and (real life) sticky notes to a virtual environment to enable the conversation to continue and develop after the event. Some of the results of that workshop can be found in this dedicated StickyRoom. Rob also made good use of Bookleteer’s Story Cubes to give the discussion some structure.
If you are part of a community group and are wondering how you can get some funding to develop a neighbourhood plan to improve your area, get in touch and I’ll point you in right direction. If you’ve no idea what Neighbourhood Planning is, have a look at this post that I wrote earlier this year.
Posted: March 21, 2011 | Author: Lorna Parsons | Filed under: Architecture & Design, Web2.0 & Social Media | Tags: architecture, Birmingham, John Madin, Lecture, twentieth century architects |
I went along with my video camera to the launch of Alan Clawley’s book dedicated to the work of Birmingham Architect John Madin. I also live blogged some of the event via MADE’s website.
To see a room of 150 people gather together to celebrate his life’s work is testament to the respect and admiration he has gathered over the years from his peers and those beyond the industry.
The book is available for purchase through RIBA Bookshop and Amazon
Twentieth Century Architects – John Madin from lorna parsons on Vimeo.
Posted: February 20, 2011 | Author: Lorna Parsons | Filed under: Web2.0 & Social Media |
I wrote a piece over on MADEs discussion board recently about QR codes. They have been used on some of MADEs promotional material and I thought they deserved a little more explanation:
Over the last few years you may have noticed barcodes like this one appearing on flyers, posters, leaflets, books, newspapers, some of the things you buy at your local shop and even on business cards.
They are QR codes (which stands for Quick Response) and they originated in Japan in the mid 90s, but they have become popular over recent years thanks to the prevalence of mobile phones, and in particular, Smartphones (for example Blackberry, iPhone, HTC etc).
If you own a Smartphone you can use an app (some phones have an app built-in, Blackberry’s Reader for example) to scan the barcode which will quickly and efficiently link you to relevant information on a website through the web-browser on your phone. If you don’t own a smartphone it’s still possible to scan a QR code via your computer’s webcam using dedicated software.
Read the rest of the piece here
QR codes are MASSIVE in Japan. They are on everything, every commercial product. They have formed part of life, but I wonder if they have a future over here in the UK. QR codes haven’t taken off quite as well as expected, and it’s safe to say that the assumption that everyone carries a smartphone may have something to do with this.
Perhaps they’re here to stay, but it’s just going to take a while for them to get going. Who knows…. Either way, if you use QR codes in your business, bear in mind that they can’t be used by everyone, and may need some explanation and guidance on how to use them.
Posted: February 8, 2011 | Author: Lorna Parsons | Filed under: Networking, Web2.0 & Social Media | Tags: linkedin, networking skills |
I did a little blog post for the fbe recently (the fbe are a national built environment networking organisation). They are making a concerted effort to use LinkedIn to support their networking events, but some of their members need a little encouragement in understanding the benefits.
….but why should I use LinkedIn?
I get asked this question a lot! All the people I work with agree that the most valuable business development is about having conversations with people you’d like to work with, so in a nutshell I use LinkedIn as a way to support the face-to-face networking I do and as a way to carry on those valuable conversations. Business development begins when you strike up a conversation with someone, it doesn’t end as soon as they’ve handed over their business card. We each have our own way of following up new contacts, but LinkedIn is a really useful and convenient step in that follow-up process.
The next question I’m usually asked is: how do you find the time? Well here’s the interesting thing, I don’t spend much time using it, but it looks like I do! I probably spend 10-15 minutes a day skimming through the headlines, seeing what people are up to, sharing a link If I have spotted something interesting, seeing if I can help anyone with anything and spotting possible new connections or interesting groups to join. That’s it. Ok, so it took a little longer to create a profile, but that’s the beauty of LinkedIn, once you’re signed up, it does much of the work for you.
You can read the full post along with some hints and tips on making sure your profile hits the mark on the fbe blog.
Posted: January 2, 2011 | Author: Lorna Parsons | Filed under: Web2.0 & Social Media |
The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health:
The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Fresher than ever.
Crunchy numbers
A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 2,400 times in 2010. That’s about 6 full 747s.
In 2010, there were 17 new posts, not bad for the first year! There were 22 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 15mb. That’s about 2 pictures per month.
The busiest day of the year was March 24th with 99 views. The most popular post that day was Ada Lovelace Day – 24th March 2010.
Where did they come from?
The top referring sites in 2010 were twitter.com, lmodules.com, hootsuite.com, linkedin.com, and ht.ly.
Some visitors came searching, mostly for lorna parsons, advice for architecture students, cathy ditchfield, lornaparsons, and “cathy ditchfield”.
Attractions in 2010
These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.
1
Ada Lovelace Day – 24th March 2010 March 2010
4 comments
2
About May 2009
3
Women In… November 2010
7 comments
4
Advice for Architecture Students March 2010
1 comment
5
What do you think about RIBA’s Website? July 2010
2 comments
Posted: September 27, 2010 | Author: Lorna Parsons | Filed under: Architecture & Design, Web2.0 & Social Media | Tags: architecture, Birmingham, John Madin, Pecha Kucha, web2.0 |
Thanks to some sterling work from Jo Hardy, Birmingham had its first Pecha Kucha night on 8th September at The Old Joint Stock. Along with 5 others, I volunteered to present at the event – a showcase of short and snappy presentations. Take a look at Birmingham Pecha Kucha Night’s Posterous blog for links and more info.
As the theme for the event was simply ‘Birmingham’, I chose to talk about Birmingham Architect John Madin. Click here to watch my presentation.
I’ve been promising to share as much as I can about the research project that formed my presentation so here goes:
The 1965 documentary, Six Men, formed a large basis of the presentation.
I also used the Birmingham Pevsner Guide – the latest version of which has been written by local Architectural Historian Andy Foster. If you like architecture and want to learn more about the buildings of the city, I urge you to buy a copy of this. (I also look forward to the day when Pevsner Guides are available in full online!)
In February 2007, Adrian Goldberg interviewed John Madin about Birmingham’s Central Library and its proposed demolition. Take a look here.
In my presentation, I also mentioned the marvellous Project Brutal – a project to celebrate Madin’s brutalist Central Library.
There’s also a facebook group dedicated to saving Central Library – join up if you are so inclined.
I need to give a big thank you to Matt Dobson, Head of West Midlands RIBA, and Frank Brophy of Brophy Riaz Architects for sharing their knowledge of John Madin and his work. Nothing more interesting or useful than talking to the people who know the man himself.
I should also thank my colleagues at Bryant Priest Newman along with other friends and family members for sharing their thoughts on Madin’s work.
If you missed the event, you can catch up by watching the behind the scenes video. You can also watch the individual presentations from Rob Weaver, Stuart Garlick, Rob Annable, Andy Mabbett and Jez Collins.
Oh and the next Birmingham Pecha Kucha night takes place on 3rd November. Jo is looking for speakers – if you’re interested, let her know.
Posted: August 24, 2010 | Author: Lorna Parsons | Filed under: Web2.0 & Social Media | Tags: Be2camp, web2.0 |
It’s taken me a while to get around to this (I’ve genuinely only just recovered) but Be2Camp Brum on 12th August 2010 was nothing short of a pleasure. Yes, it’s a lot of work to organise, and the day itself has a certain intensity that leads to a weird come-down for a day or so after, but to have so may people say so many wonderful things about the event made every ounce of effort worth it.
In the pub afterwards Paul Wilkinson kindly said that Rob Annable and I had raised the bar for future Be2Camp events (I don’t know how many pints of beer Paul had drunk at this point but I welcomed the compliment). I hope, in a rather egotistical way, that Paul is right because that indicates to me that Be2Camp is going places. The Be2Camp network and associated events have the potential to go from strength to strength, to grow and reach a wider audience, to get involved in industries on the perimeter of what can be classed as the Built Environment and beyond. The exciting introduction of the Be2s (the new Be2camp awards) will certainly help Paul, Martin and the other Be2camp founders to take the network and future events to lofty heights.
But if I may return back to the Brum event briefly, the one thing I didn’t do on the day was to ensure that Rob got a proper thank you. Yes I ordered some cakes, sent a few emails and tweaked a few websites but Rob found some amazing speakers, chaired the whole event like a pro, ran The Mother Ship to ensure that all the tech worked perfectly and worked the floor with the roving mic to ensure our audience made themselves heard. So on behalf of all our enthusiastic delegates, our super-talented speakers, our sponsors and the Be2Camp network, thanks Rob, you did a truly fantastic job!
Posted: July 29, 2010 | Author: Lorna Parsons | Filed under: Good Practice, Web2.0 & Social Media | Tags: accessibility, twitter, web2.0, website, writing |
Yesterday, whilst learning to use Expression Engine, I learned that creating links to open in a new window was a bad thing. No further explanation was given so I turned to Twitter with the question: Question about creating web content: why is opening a link in a new window considered bad in terms of accessibility? I had a whole heap of really insightful and helpful replies so seeing as I’m learning so much about web accessibility, I figured I might as well share it here.
http://twitter.com/Laura_Hatch
Web content answer c/o @MartinHatch [see below]:
1) Considered bad bcos blind/partially sighted users get disorientated…..when a new window opens as they lose the trail of where they have come from i.e. there’s no back/history in current window but
2) Opening a new window IS acceptable in terms of accessibility if you warn the user beforehand by putting “(opens in new window)” as part of the text for the link. However another downside is that it’s also sometimes confusing in less robust web environments such as on mobile phones where there’s not a clear interface for multiple windows / tabs.
http://twitter.com/MartinHatch
I was a technical architect on the RNIB Website, feel free to ping me any questions around accessibility
http://twitter.com/NajmC
I have never liked it, in terms of accessibility or otherwise. Hate having new windows/tabs opening everywhere & as I’m easily confused I _always_ try using the back button before I realise 
there was a time when it was said that opening a new window was used to keep visitors on your site but if I click a link it is because I want to visit that page and will go back to the original site if I want to. Usually have enough tabs open don’t need them being opened for me
http://twitter.com/since68
I think it becomes difficult for screen readers to follow what is going on. It also is a bit messy with all those open windows.
http://twitter.com/dracos
http://diveintoaccessibility.org/day_16_not_opening_new_windows.html might be of interest.
http://twitter.com/editorialgirl
Because ‘less savvy’ users don’t realise a new window has opened, then they get confused when the back button doesn’t work.
http://twitter.com/supercooljames
The user should be allowed to decide if they want to open in a new window. Forcing this removes the option
…and in response to James above Alison said:
http://twitter.com/alisonvsmith
Agree – did you know about @a11yLDN taking place @ City Uni on 20th September?
[at this point I did indeed book myself into the Accessibility London event on 21st September]
http://twitter.com/richpayne88
I think it’s because most screen readers rely on the ‘back’ button, so it leaves the visually impaired stranded. Though I should stress that’s an educated guess, rather than a concrete answer.
http://twitter.com/BookJo
contact @scope for advice
It was great to see StickyWorld and other web-based tools in action thanks to Rob Annable from Axis Design who led a workshop with representatives from Burslem. Although the session was a discussion based around a printed aerial photograph, Rob was keen to transfer the ideas and (real life) sticky notes to a virtual environment to enable the conversation to continue and develop after the event. Some of the results of that workshop can be found in this dedicated StickyRoom. Rob also made good use of Bookleteer’s Story Cubes to give the discussion some structure.
