Monica Tailor

Facebook Edgerank Infographic

Sat, 27 Apr 2013 05:27:11 -0400

Facebook Edgerank Infographic:

Love the batman theming.

London calling: some reflections on the digital games

Mon, 20 Aug 2012 09:17:28 -0400

London calling: some reflections on the digital games

Big Society Award for Social Media Surgeries

Wed, 11 Jul 2012 10:41:34 -0400

Big Society Award for Social Media Surgeries:

This time a post not by me but about me (and Social Media Surgeries).

Go Compares latest 'guerilla' campaign

Tue, 03 Jul 2012 07:51:44 -0400

Go Compares latest 'guerilla' campaign:

I blogged about Go Compares latest billboard campaign which looks like their billboards have been vandalised. Have you seen one?

Meeting the Prime Minister at the Big Society Awards Reception...

Thu, 28 Jun 2012 17:17:31 -0400

Meeting the Prime Minister at the Big Society Awards Reception at 10 Downing Street last week for Social Media Surgeries.

Left to right, John Popham, David Cameron, Me, Nick Booth

Being socially devoted to your customer care increases ROI

Sun, 24 Jun 2012 05:43:22 -0400

Being socially devoted to your customer care increases ROI

I was invited to collect an award for Social Media Surgeries at...

Thu, 21 Jun 2012 13:08:00 -0400

I was invited to collect an award for Social Media Surgeries at #bigsocietyawards yesterday along with John Popham and Nick Booth. And we were the first ever live tweeters inside Downing Street. Blog about the day will be up later but in the meantime here’s a pic of the pack winners reception (Taken with Instagram at 10 Downing Street)

TEDx Sheffield

Tue, 19 Jun 2012 08:56:08 -0400

Last week we (that’s Matt and I) went along to TEDx Sheffield. This was unusual in as much as Matt and I are never seen out together - at least 4 people commented on this as soon as we walked through the door.

I like TEDx events, they help to uncover some great local speakers and TEDx Sheffield did this brilliantly. It didn’t have a theme so it offered an eclectic mix of speakers on different subjects. I thought it did a great job of pushing the TED brand; diverse thought provoking talks delivered by excellent speakers.

I managed to do some doodling during the day too.

First up were the BBC Radio 4 Listening Project team. We all ventured into the Crucible Studio a little apprehensively as we’d been given eye masks to wear during the talk. If you’ve not heard of the listening project check it out here. They’re looking for people to have conversations.

James Jeffries and Leila Johnston - both Technologist in Residence at Site Gallery as part of the Happenstance project. I’d never heard the term ‘Technologist in Residence’ but it sounds fun and I could see why Leila and James were so enthusiatic about their project.

Giuseppe Ballaglia - Beppe is the Chair of Synthetic Biology at Sheffield Hallam. His talk was about nano technology in the delivery of drugs - at least that’s what I’ve decided it was. It was much more complicated and much more fascinating.

Erica Packington posed an interesting thought ‘Roller Derby saved my soul’. I know an enthusiatic Roller Derbier (is that what they’re called) but I hadn’t realised how much this tribe engendered enthusiam and community in its followers.

David Cotterall was the last speaker in this session and talked about his work as a war artist in Afganhistan. The audience sat enthralled and his conclusion managed to tie the whole talk up brilliant. I would really like to experience David’s work so I’m going to seek it out.

The speakers after the break Steve Coulson and Chella Quint both presented on some life experiences in a funny way. Unfortunately Matt and I had to get back to Leeds and we left before the end.

For more information about the speakers or TEDxSheffield visit www.tedxsheffield.com.

This blog post was first published over on kilo75.com

Back in February I chaired a Q&A with LeAnn Erickson, the...

Mon, 18 Jun 2012 04:42:10 -0400

Back in February I chaired a Q&A with LeAnn Erickson, the director of Top Secret Rosies which we showed at February’s Leeds Girl Geek Dinner. It was a great story so I urge you to watch the interview as it also includes part of the trailer.

For Online Shoppers, Just How Important Is Free Shipping?

Thu, 14 Jun 2012 08:15:16 -0400

For Online Shoppers, Just How Important Is Free Shipping?:

Interesting factors that are important to online shoppers - unsurprising but useful reassurance and a good stat from the middle of the article “57% of respondents said they had added items to their cart not to buy them, but to figure out what the total purchase cost would be with shipping included.”

Thinking Digital - Notes from Wednesday

Thu, 31 May 2012 18:17:00 -0400

Apologies in advance for the length of this post but it’s got some pretty pictures so it’s worth sticking with it.

I went along to Thinking Digital in Gateshead yesterday (Wednesday 30th May). It was a great day, I didn’t tweet my way through the talks, instead I chose to sit, listen and take notes. I didn’t take notes of every talk either so the pages of notes I liked have been recorded in this blog post along with some brief notes of my thoughts and how you find out more about each speaker.

Given that the conference is called Thinking Digital there was more ‘Thinking’ than ‘Digital’ but that was definitely a good thing in my book. I really enjoyed the opportunity and time looking at other sectors and see some disruptive ideas.

There are already lots of blogs about Thinking Digital springing up and if you want to find out more the conference then the Thinking Digital twitter stream is a really good place to start

Tom Chatfield

Tom touched on a growing trend I’m seeing to ‘unplug’. He didn’t prescribe how or when but he did talk about how we should become more discerning in our choice of technology and tools. Tom has a book out right now called How to Thrive in the Digital Age. He posed the question ‘Is Email Evil’ which everyone found amusing but it got a resounding ‘Yes’ from the audience.

Sebastian Seung

This was the only talk where the word ‘Gamification’ was used and you can’t knock it when it’s used alongside the word Neuroscience! So Sebastian is looking to leverage our love of gaming to help map the wiring in the brain. Check out eyewire.org and get involved.

Mikko Hypponen

Mikko was able to talk about cyber crime and security and make it really understandable and interesting - a talented man! My notes sum up Mikko’s talk pretty well but you can find links to Mikko on his site here http://mikko.hypponen.com.

Pam Warhurst

Pam talked about Incredible Edible which started in Todmorden. They’ve started a revolution and she gave a rousing talk which was all about getting on and doing.

You can find out about what Incredible Edible is all about in case you can’t figure it out from my notes http://www.incredible-edible-todmorden.co.uk.

Zach Lieberman

I had the privelege of having dinner with Zach and sharing stories and experiences. He has some brilliant and awe-inspiring projects and I urge you check them out. He’s currently working on a cultural olympiad project along Hadrian’s Wall - it sounds like it’s going to be amazing.

You can find out more about Zach’s work http://thesystemis.com/.

Sugata Mitra

Sugata talked about learning, an area I’m really interested in because I have children in primary school. He was witty and very very smart. I tested out his ‘teaching’ method of saying ‘I don’t know’ and walking away today but my 5 year old ran after me with iPad as I walked away.

Sugata blogs at http://www.sugatam.blogspot.co.uk.

Robert Archard Biscuits. Tiny keepsake boxes - actual biscuit...

Sat, 26 May 2012 10:55:38 -0400

Robert Archard Biscuits. Tiny keepsake boxes - actual biscuit size. Lovely! (Taken with Instagram at Yorkshire Sculpture Park)

All Hands on Deck for #leedssms

Fri, 11 May 2012 09:11:00 -0400

Photo Credit: John Popham

For the past two and a half years I’ve been running Leeds Social Media Surgeries. The definition of a social media surgery is:

“A social media surgery is an informal gathering of people who want to learn how to use the web to communicate, campaign or collaborate. Surgeries are deliberately relaxed. No presentations, no jargon, noone telling people what they think they should know.”

There’s a more complete description over here.

Over this time we’ve had loads and loads of surgeons (people who can offer help) and even more patients (people looking for help) through the doors at Round Foundry Media Centre. We think we’ve helped almost 400 organisations.

After this week’s surgery, John Popham (my fellow organiser) and I had a quick catch up as we usually do to assess where things are. The demand has been lower this year than previously and we’ve had days where we’ve really struggled to get enough volunteers to come and offer their advice. That conversation has led me to write this blog post - to ask for your help.

Without surgeons the model is unsustainable. Without patients we have no one to help. So if you can help us get the word out and reach more charities and community groups please get in touch.

Or if you’re interested in helping out at a surgery please get in touch and say hello. You don’t need to be a social media ‘expert’, if you’re happy and comfortable using social media and can share knowledge with others then your experience will be valuable to those that are looking for help.

We don’t need any long term commitment but if you can spare two hours a month now and again then get in touch with me at monicatailor@gmail.com.

Our next social media surgery is on Wednesday 13th June from 6-8pm. You can sign up to come along here:

http://socialmediasurgery.com/surgeries/leeds

Alec Finlay Bee Library - 1 of 24 (Taken with Instagram at...

Mon, 07 May 2012 10:27:37 -0400

Alec Finlay Bee Library - 1 of 24 (Taken with Instagram at Yorkshire Sculpture Park)

Arc-O-Matic, an Arduino-Controlled Art Bot

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 08:47:30 -0400

Arc-O-Matic, an Arduino-Controlled Art Bot:

I’d quite like to have a go at making this … it looks like a beginner-arduino addict like me could manage it. I’ll let you know how I get on.

Effective Design in the North - DBA Event

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 07:13:49 -0400

Today I went along to this DBA event in Leeds. In case you don’t know anything about the DBA, they’re a trade association for design consultancies and clients, you can find out more about them on www.dba.org.uk.

They don’t run a lot of local events, most are down in London so it was nice to be able to go along to something more design focused locally.

This one was a case study event looking at two local DBA Effectiveness winners. It was really nice to see an all ladies panel. The first speaker was Justine Jackson from Asda who spoke about the re branding of their mid range own brand, Chosen by You. They won a Gold DBA Effectiveness Award for the work.

The second speaker, Isabel Hunt from The University of Leeds spoke about their me+you health and safety campaign for which they won a Silver DBA Effectiveness award.

As with so many events of this type the most interesting bit came in the Q&A afterwards. Much of the discussion was about measuring success and how to do that and when.

I’ve posted my sketch notes above to give you a feel for the things I took away from the event.

Leeds Girl Geek Dinner 11 (Taken with Instagram at Radisson SAS...

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 12:31:01 -0400

Leeds Girl Geek Dinner 11 (Taken with Instagram at Radisson SAS Hotel)

Arduino Blink - my first Arduino experiment

Fri, 13 Apr 2012 17:17:14 -0400

Arduino Blink - my first Arduino experiment

Leeds Girl Geek Dinner 11

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 14:12:00 -0400

This April I’m really excited to be welcoming Dr Sue Black to Leeds. She’s coming to speak at Leeds Girl Geek Dinner on Thursday 19th April at The Raddison Blu.

I’ve been involved with Girl Geek Dinners since they started in Leeds and we’ve had some great speakers over the past few years but even we’re super excited about hearing from Dr Black. Sue Black won the Pepsico Women’s Inspiration Award and has written a great blog post. If you can spare 5 minutes you should read it ‘If I can do it, so can you …’ it’s certainly inspired me.

There are still tickets for Girl Geek Dinner available over on Eventbrite. http://leedsgirlgeeks11-eorg.eventbrite.co.uk/

Notes from Made North Conference

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 13:53:47 -0400

Notes from Made North Conference