I suppose it’s fitting for a project that’s about celebration that I’ve found Celebration 2.0 to be something of a rollercoaster ride, to use a terribly hackneyed cliché. From Roller Derbies to the launch of a Community Health project, I’ve been part of some really diverse events, helping to bring them to wider audiences through live video streaming and social media amplification. And, as the project nears its last lap, it’s pretty much time to reflect on some of the lessons I’ve learned so far.
I am extremely pleased, and not a little proud, to announce the launch of a new project. Celebration 2.0 is funded by the Nominet Trust, and I will be delivering the project in collaboration with Talk About Local.
The genesis of Celebration 2.0 was the #twicket inititiative that I ran on Easter Monday 2011 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twicket). There were three very important lessons that came out of #twicket:
"Fun" events can achieve large scale, global audiences online and attract mainstream media attention;
People who previously had seen no use for new technologies in their lives radically changed their attitudes as a result of being involved in an event that was enhanced by technology;
Serious messages can be conveyed to large audiences engaged by their interest in the fun nature of the event.
