So it was a busy October for the WebsEdge team.  After producing SOLACE TV in Edinburgh for local authority chief executives we were off to Washington DC to produce AMIA TV in healthcare informatics and then to Chicago for IACP TV – the International Association of Police Chiefs.

Each of these organisations is facing radical change. In the UK local authorities have borne the brunt of government spending cuts. More for less has become a popular mantra. 2011 is the pivotal year for health informatics in the US as the Obama health care reforms take centre stage. For the International Association of Police Chiefs the ever evolving threats to national security are the order of the day in law enforcement.

And there lies an interesting paradox. These are complex issues and are becoming ever more so. Lets look at law enforcement for example. Local policemen all round the world are no longer just fighting local crime. The bobby on the beat may be central to community policing but just as important they’re also seen as the front line of attack combating international terrorism.

But these complex issues need broad communications. All the organisations involved not only need to reach large numbers of people – they also need to break these issues down so we can all understand and act on them. We might not be able to untangle the federal budget but we’re all going to need to know what electronic payment records mean to us.

So our job in October has been working with a number of different stakeholders – local authorities, charities, hospitals, police forces etc – to help them use video and specialised video channels to reach their audiences. For example, how can people help transport police in the US stop home grown terrorism in its tracks?

By definition this isn’t easy. But I think we’ve seen real progress. A growing realisation that content needs to be accessible and audiences need to be reached – even if both of those things can be a messy process.

WebsEdge/Government is in Edinburgh this week for the newly revamped SOLACE Summit 2011. SOLACE has decided to do things differently this year and are holding what some have coined an ‘un-conference’. They are hosting five work-streams which are running in parallel and will address some of the key issues facing local government today. Each work-stream is designed to encourage debate and generate ideas and suggestions for the future of local government in the UK.

As always, WebsEdge/Government is at the heart of the action and will be producing SOLACE TV at the event. SOLACE TV will be a mix of interviews and coverage of the Summit keeping participants (the new term for delegates) informed about how each workstream is developing.

We’ve worked with WRVS and Bracknell Forest Council this year to produce two excellent films related to two of the propositions. Read about the propositions here.



You can watch the films, and all of our content on the Local Government Channel, on the SOLACE website, or on the new SOLACE TV YouTube channel. Enjoy!

You can follow the action, too. Just follow @websedge_gov on Twitter and we’ll keep you up-to-date with developments as they happen. 

Stay tuned, and as always, let us know what you think.

The WebsEdge Team

It’s a beautiful day here in Washington D.C. And an exciting one too. Because it’s the start of a packed digital mission organized by Chinwag. And WebsEdge is very proud to be coming along.

It’s quite an agenda. We’re meeting with government bodies at both a local and federal level to find out a little more about what their challenges are. And hopefully what we can do to help.

Now given we have an office here – in beautiful Georgetown – I’ve been thinking a little about government communications on both sides of the ‘pond’. At WebsEdge we’ve worked with about a hundred city governments here in the US – both large and small – and a similar number of local authorities back in England.

On the surface there are quite some differences. Just look at the funding mechanisms. But I’ve really been drawn to the similarities as well. On both sides of the Atlantic local government suffers from an image problem.  And the reality is that it’s getting worse. Whilst people value the services offered they don’t always rate the service provider very highly.

Which is a shame. Because the reality is that towns and cities are providing excellent public services that also provide good value for money. And those are the stories WebsEdge has helped to tell through The Local Government Channel, ICMA tv and now IAFC tv as well.

So we’re all set for a busy week. Lots to learn, new people to meet and, who knows, the odd cold beer along the way!

Follow all the action on Twitter:

@digitalmission

@stephenjhorn

@WebsEdgeTV

#dm2dc

The excitement is rising here at WebsEdge as we get ready for one of our favorite events of the year – the Global Health Council’s annual conference.  The theme this year is Securing a Healthier Future in a Changing World and as usual it takes place at the Omni Shoreham hotel in Washington DC.

We’ve been covering the Council’s annual event as Global Health TV now for six years. It’s always a really interesting mix of speakers and networking sessions and I’m sure this year will be no exception. But the theme this year is different. It takes a look at the challenges facing health systems in developing countries as population’s age.

It’s an issue we’re all only too familiar with in our own countries. But when resources are truly scarce the problem is a lot more acute.  It’s hard enough keeping people alive when faced with diseases such as AIDS and Malaria. But it’s a whole different set of challenges when you need to deal with non-communicable diseases such as cancer and kidney disease. And it has a whole set of implications for health spending and capacity building.

As always we’re not going to Washington empty handed. Whilst I can’t wait to meet and interview old friends and new I also take great delight in showing the case study films we’ve made from literally all over the world. And this year is no exception with organizations represented as diverse as the World Bank Foundation and the Aga Khan Network. And countries visited including South Africa, Afghanistan and Mali.

One thing that I have noticed change over the years is the audience. The conference itself has always drawn a devout following of doctors, aid agencies, NGO’s and other global health professionals. But the rise of social media has meant an ever-engaged population. This year, for example, the number of people following our progress on The Lancet has risen to over 300, 000 a month. It used to be you couldn’t get an audience for your global health message – but that’s  changed. We’re no longer preaching to the choir.

So it is time to pack our bags. We’re going somewhere very familiar but to an event that in many ways has changed out of all recognition since six years ago.

Follow us on Twitter @GlobalHealth_TV and watch our films and reports on www.globalhealthtv.com

So the WebsEdge team is recently back from Toronto. And I have to say the warm weather we’re enjoying in London is most welcome after the minus 15 degrees we endured there.

But Toronto is of course a great city and we had a good week. We were there to provide television for Alzheimer’s Disease International’s (ADI’s) annual conference. It’s an event that brings Alzheimer’s societies together from all over the world. Eminent research scientists share the podium with people living with the disease in many different countries. Each plenary session is packed to the rafters – very unusual in this type of event – as everyone strains to hear the latest developments.

Our programmes brought together case studies of best practice both from research institutes and care homes doing their best to cope with the disease as well as interviews with prominent scientists talking at the conference. It was a rare opportunity to see so much of the good work that’s currently going on.

And it soon became clear to us that something quite different was happening. People were stopping to watch the programmes but they also wanted to participate in them. They wanted to take part in the discussions but they also wanted to use the materials to promote debate at their own events.

Why such an interest? Partly because everybody there was in some way or other effected by the disease. But also because of all the research work currently being done to ultimately look for a cure for the disease. That means people are very keen to try and keep themselves up to date with the latest developments.

And it gives on-line video an important role.  Partly as a way of keeping people up to date on what’s going on globally but perhaps more importantly by spreading a little hope for some very brave people who need it the most.

Watch our content from ADI 2011 here.

Well we get around don’t we! WebsEdge is producing television programmes at seven different conferences this month including the world’s biggest law enforcement event in Orlando, Europe’s leading social services event in Manchester and the Canadian Society for International Health conference in Ottawa. I guess some 40, 000 people will attend these events and another 250, 000 will view our content through the various on-line channels.

Another of those conferences is the International City and County Managers Association event in San Jose California. And it isn’t just the fact that I’m 35, 000 feet up in the air, connected to the internet, that makes me think of innovation. No, it’s the fact that the WebsEdge team has spent the last week in the heart of Silicon Valley.

And we’ve learnt so much. The ICMA conference attracts a few thousand city managers from all over the United States as well as some from international communities. And whilst some might put a different gloss on it they’re all working through the same problems. In fact it’s one problem – how do you grow a community in the current economic climate?

There were many excellent sessions looking to address this question ranging from prominent economists to leading on-line gaming theorists. But the standout session for me was led by three Silicon Valley CEO’s. They explained eloquently that this was now a global battleground and that companies would simply go where they could prosper the most. But that if a community could attract them the company would repay that through community engagement which would be beneficial for both citizens and employees.

So far so good. But this disguises a major disconnect at the heart of modern economic and social policy throughout the developed world. Consumers  and shareholders are driven by the same thing. The ability to sell goods cheaply whilst making high profits. Nothing wrong with that you may say. But the problem is that our communities need jobs. In fact the unemployment rate in Silicon Valley is 12.5% and that isn’t going to even start to come down until we can use innovation to create jobs and not just raise productivity.

It’s the lull before the storm this week at WebsEdge. We’re dusting down equipment, checking our visas and packing our suitcases ready for our big October roadshow. It’s eight events across three continents ranging from Nursing Management in Dallas, Social Services in Manchester to Sustainability in Hong Kong.

Two projects I’m particularly looking forward to are the International City Managers Association and the International Association of Police Chiefs. And it’s not just the chance to go to San Jose and Orlando. Great as that will be! No, it’s the chance to catch up with old friends and see how their year has been.

I’m particularly keen to find out how they’ve faced up to the challenge of delivering excellent public services in such trying economic times. These community leaders find themselves caught between two increasing pressures – the need to cut costs and the ever-greater demands of the communities they serve.

Ahead of this years events we’ve filmed in literally scores of towns and cities throughout the United States. And despite the challenges we’ve found a spirit of optimism that at first is quite surprising.  What we’ve also found is real innovation. People have understood that cutting budgets alone just won’t do it. You’ve actually got to re-think the whole way you pay for and deliver public services.

And away from the newspaper columns and television cameras you’ll find something else emerging. A new sense of leadership. Men and women who’s only interest is the community they serve. And maybe in the aftermath of these recessions their time has come.

January can be a tough month can’t it? At the best of times temperatures fall, work mounts up, and those credit card bills come tumbling in.

But as we all know these aren’t the best of times are they? We’re now officially in recession and some forecasters think it could be the worst since the Second World War. And with our biggest banks reduced to penny shares these are economic times like no others.

And it’s hard to see a way out. Nobody knows how long or deep this recession is going to be. And one of the biggest casualties in times like these is confidence. And without momentum everything seems harder.

But there is a ray of hope and a lead from New President Barack Obama. A realisation of what needs to be done and the scale of the problem we face but also an unshakeable belief in our ability to get the job done.

And it’s the same for us here at WebsEdge. We started the year off in style in New York producing Historians TV, another great brand to add to our roster. And however tough 2009 and 2010 become we’re going to carry on producing great TV for our vertical audiences. I hope the President is proud of us!

So the summer holidays are finally over and we’re all back. The trains and buses are full again and it’s time to get back to business.

And it’s a really busy time for us here at WebsEdge. We’re covering some 20 conferences and events over the next three months on subjects as diverse as education, health and water consumption. We’re also installing a brand new television studio to cope with the demand for our regular local government, global health and education channels.

What makes this year even more interesting is the geographical spread of our work. We’ve grown up here in the UK but our markets are ever expanding. We’re opening an office right now in Washington DC and the US represents nearly 40% of everything we do.

But the really exciting news is that we’re just getting started in China. We have two big projects in the Fall – one in Mining and another in Vaccines – which we’re really looking forward to. And what’s interesting is that the issues – motivation, engagement, social cohesion – are the same ones you find anywhere. Sure the scale is daunting and the cultural barriers challenging but at the end of the day it’s about people and their aspirations.

So as you can see it’s an exciting few months for us here at WebsEdge. But to tell you the truth the event I’m most looking forward to is happening close to home. Our very good friends Sisters Heidi and Monica are visiting us from South Africa. You may remember that we play a small part in helping these two remarkable ladies to look after children living with the consequences to them and their families of AIDS in South Africa’s Eastern Cape. They’re coming in October to join in with harvest celebrations here and we’re hoping to share with them some of the filming we did earlier in the year in Malawi and South Africa..

Their Isibindi project looks after some 1600 children now across three sites and it’s incredible to see the progress they’re making. But there’s so much still to do. And if we enjoy global opportunity – which we do – then we share the same global responsibility. And that’s a message close to our hearts. For if we’re not playing our part using web based television to help the least advantaged in our global society the rest of what we do pales into insignificance.