This is a place to share and discuss ways which people are building relationships across Dudley borough using social media or civic tech. Please do join in the conversation by adding comments and ideas and using the hashtag #DigitalDudley on twitter. If you’d like to guest post or become a regular contributor here please do get in touch.
The (slightly cropped) lovely image of the Andromeda Galaxy above is from the NASA Goddard Space Flight Centre, shared with a Creative Commons licence.
Hello!
I’m Lorna. I mostly wear jeans, and I like coffee, being outdoors and learning about all sorts of things. Since I started using twitter in 2010, and 
subsequently being trained by the brilliant Nick Booth and Gavin Wray in the basics of social reporting and hosting social media surgeries I’ve been fascinated by the ways which being active online facilitates all sorts of connections to be made.
My fab colleagues at Dudley CVS (Mel, Eileen and Becky) have been helping me to manage monthly social media surgeries across Dudley borough, and I regularly surgeon at the Central Birmingham social media surgery. It is the most fulfilling volunteering I’ve ever done and the most friendly – at every surgery I meet the most amazing people who are passionate about their community and/or causes close to their heart.
Thanks to thoroughly good people like Dan Slee, Si Whitehouse and Andy Mabbett I got involved in things like BrewCamp, HyperWM and CommsCamp. Which led to me finding people in Dudley to make things like BostinCamp happen. And supporting people in Dudley borough to start local blogs and become social reporters.
Something shifted in 2012-13. I no longer needed to look (or go) to Birmingham for great social media based networking related to my work. More and more people that I work with in Dudley borough were getting into social media to connect people and to connect offline and online to do good and fun things. Special mentions here for the fantastic Volunteering Counts blog managed by Eileen Fielding, Matt Bowsher of Dudley MBC who started the Social Care Curry Club (genius) and Laura Broster at Dudley CCG who really gets how public services should be using social media and is someone I learn a lot from. Also Tim Sunter who manages the Brierley Hill blog and has done some brilliant social reporting from meetings using twitter then sharing and archiving with Storify.
There are exciting new things developing all the time which contribute to a rich and growing online community of people who care about what goes on in Dudley borough. Digital Dudley is about sharing news of these things, highlight what’s going on and in a nutshell celebrate the ways that people are using social media to make Dudley an even better place. Join in the conversation using #digitaldudley, or add comments on this blog.
Guest bloggers are very welcome here, as is anyone who would like to share in content creation as a co-editor. You can find me on Twitter: @dosticen and on Facebook: lorna.dosticen and on Instragram: lornaprescott
Digital Dudley 