Meetups the One Digital way

I’m very excited about the new phase of free One Digital meetups coming in September. As my colleague Eilidh mentioned in her last blog, the One Digital team are hitting the road again this autumn to reunite our Digital Champions and bring in new enthusiasts. If you're new to One Digital but would like to get involved in the meetups do get in touch.

What is a meetup?

Meetups are informal meetings or gatherings. They provide a safe space where people with shared interests can get together. One Digital meetups are for anyone in the third sector who has an interest in digital. There are lots of different meetups happening all over Scotland which you can see on the meetups portal. The beauty is in its strength to unify local people with a common interest, to create communities and ultimately take ownership. As the activist Helen Keller said, 'alone we can do so little; together we can do so much'.

What's the meetup structure?

Thanks to those of you who filled out our recent survey, we now have a good picture of what you want local meetups to focus on. When it comes to structure, simple is beautiful. The meetups will generally last no longer than three hours and will:

• Feature guest speakers sharing their own honest experiences, sweet and sour, of achieving digital change. You'll get tips, knowledge and learning from others who can really help you.
• Facilitate group discussion and networking. This is the jewel of every meetup, when you can can ask questions, chat and bounce ideas off to set digital goals of all shapes and sizes.
• Provide you with food. I’m not sure whether I need to go into the positives of this one. Rest assured, whichever One Digital meetup you decide to attend, some tasty beverages and morsels will be on hand to keep the ideas flowing!

What will we talk about?

We had a wonderful response to our meetup survey. The results have directly influenced our choice of meetup speakers, the topics for discussion and even the time of day when the events will be held, all based on your location. What’s great too is the high proportion of respondents who left additional comments and thoughts, all of which will continue to shape One Digital’s direction. Three top priorities were found: communicating, creating and managing information. One Digital meetups will explore how to increase communication with your supporters via social media, creating websites and newsletters, and how to get the most out of cloud storage and Office 365. Our Making Digital Everyday participants noted some different priorities, choosing hooks (how to get your learners online), confidence and creating on equal ground as their top asks. To address this, One Digital meetups will explore how the internet can reduce isolation, how to keep your learners safe and how your learners can get the most from social media.

How do I sign up?

With only a few weeks to go until our meetups kick off, it’s time for you to get involved! To find out where your closest One Digital meetup is taking place and how to sign up, please explore our One Digital meetup page. These events form part of an amazing global network called NetSquared, compirsed of volunteer-run meetups dedicated to building technology skills in more than 70 cities around the world. Sign up now to become part of an inspirational network of change makers! If you know anyone who might like to join you in becoming part of the One Digital movement, then please share this with them.