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Hyperlocal in the UK

Middlesbrough, we came, we saw & we loved it. #TAL13

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I’m not sure if you heard or not but #TAL13 took place on Saturday at the stunning Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art, or MIMA as it is known to its friends.

MIMA

#TAL13 had a very different feel for me compared to previous unconferences. It was a lot smaller, we had around 55 people turn up on the day and it was a nice mix of some of the regulars from the Hyperlocal scene, Ray from Hedon, Simon & Sally from On The Wight, (which celebrated its eighth birthday on Saturday), Steph & James from WV11 & many others and lots of new faces from around the Tees Valley, around a 50/50 split of old and new.

Because of the new faces there was a level of excitement and chatter over the usual meeting up with people you haven’t seen since the last unconference. Almost everyone who hadn’t been to a previous #TAL event also hadn’t been to an unconference either so they were pleasantly surprised if a little confused that there were no big PowerPoint presentations or reams of literature to take away and recycle. Everyone I spoke to from the new crowd said they loved it, had made new connections and would come to another of our events.

The pitched sessions for the day were:

  • Oral History
  • Building a national survey of hyperlocal producers
  • Getting your blogging mojo back
  • Can local websites help sustain local economies
  • Help! 48 hours in Teesside
  • Other social media, how Facebook & Twitter work with your site
  • Out Of Hours Hyperlocal, what is it?
  • Taking Hyperlocal Offline
  • Harnessing the crowds online to make a living
  • Asset mapping the ideal hyperlocal

Lunch

  • With all this hyperlocal activity, why do people think the north is desolate
  • Funding
  • What do we know about our audiences
  • What can the Evening Gazette do for you
  • Hyperlocal & public arts consultation
  • App Happy
  • News and how to find it
  • Good life online sustainability
  • Real world anchoring
  • Walking tour

If anyone blogs about any of the sessions or the day in general let me know and I’ll add links to the posts here.

As is tradition, the day ended with the presentation of the glittering unAwards which will feature in a post all of their own shortly.

 

I’ve embedded a fist full of #TAL13 tweets below and you can see my pictures from the day here on Flickr.

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