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Columbus + WOSU + COSI = Social Media Cafe

Note: This thread is not about COSI Toledo's financial situation nor about saving COSI Toledo.


On Oct 29, 2007, jdmsbyrd asked : "Anyone want to plan an Open Space conference like this in Toledo? I will be glad to help plan an event."

This idea in Columbus looks like an interesting method for supporting community activism.

Via seriouslymedia, a Nov 28, 2007 Bivings Report blog posting titled The Columbus Social Media Cafe :

Public broadcaster WOSU and COSI, an area science museum, in Columbus are now hosting the Columbus Social Media Cafe group in their WOSU@COSI center.

According to the Columbus Social Media Cafe blog, the mission of this group centers around the following question that WOSU and COSI asked themselves :

What if we — your local public broadcaster and science museum — and those of you who are the local blogging experts got together and learned how to use Social Media to bring back that great American tradition of the community taking charge of its own problems?

What I find interesting about this group is how much they're using social media. They have a blog, a mini social network (ning based), and use Twitter. However, they rely [on] these tools to complement interaction in the real world. We'll see if this collaboration between a traditional news organization, museum, and area residents will indeed usher in a better community through the help of social media.


They used the Open Space Unconference meeting format like BarCamp type gatherings, which uses a self-structuring agenda.

Nov 16, 2007 Columbus Social Media Cafe blog posting

WOSU and COSI hosted its first blogger meet-up this evening at WOSU@COSI. It truly was a fascinating evening.

Using the Open Space meeting format, this community of very passionate people discussed a wide range of topics addressing the Question: What can we do together that we cannot do alone to change this community using social media tools?

For a headline summary of the topics, you can visit our Twitter page. See some additional photos in our Flickr group.

We also took video that we’ll have posted on You Tube and Facebook as well as this blog.


A few of the many YouTube videos related to the Columbus Social Media Cafe :

Tuesday describes Open Space

Using Social Tech

Bloggers share thoughts on the Columbus Social Media Cafe


Embedding the Columbus Social Media Cafe's Twitter feed, so you can get an idea of what issues they're thinking about.

Twitter / SocialMediaCafe
SocialMediaCafe: Don't forget the next Columbus Social Media Cafe is Tuesday night at 6:30 pm at Tech Columbus - http://www.techcolumbus.org/en/cms/?31 - Mon, 23 Jun 2008 15:38:46 +0000
SocialMediaCafe: Columbus Social Media Cafe Meetup TONITE at the Merion Village Center - 1330 S. Fourth Street 43206 6:30pm see http://tinyurl.com/5fhjn9 - Tue, 27 May 2008 13:52:54 +0000
SocialMediaCafe: Thanks to @davidhnet - Listen to last night's Social Media Cafe http://tinyurl.com/5l7vfy - Wed, 30 Apr 2008 19:46:31 +0000
SocialMediaCafe: Looking forward to tonight's Columbus Social Media Cafe: 6:30 pm at oCLC in Dublin - Tue, 29 Apr 2008 20:53:08 +0000
SocialMediaCafe: Thanks to http://www.thiswomanswork.com/ and @chivespa1 for already writing about last night's Columbus Social Media Cafe - Wed, 19 Mar 2008 16:57:33 +0000
SocialMediaCafe: We're getting ready for the next Columbus Social Media Cafe on Tuesday, March 18th at 6:30 pm at WOSU@COSI - http://tinyurl.com/yo9c8p - Mon, 17 Mar 2008 19:05:12 +0000
SocialMediaCafe: The first example of bringing the bloggers to WOSU: http://tinyurl.com/39dose - Tue, 12 Feb 2008 02:47:14 +0000
SocialMediaCafe: We'll be watching the weather tonight during the Social Media Cafe to make sure everyone attending gets home safely - Thu, 31 Jan 2008 22:15:19 +0000
SocialMediaCafe: Getting ready for the next Columbus Social Media Cafe -- Thursday night at 6:30 PM at WOSU@COSI... see you there! - Wed, 30 Jan 2008 22:51:42 +0000
SocialMediaCafe: Next Columbus Social Media Cafe … A Tasty Place to Start - Blog post at http://tinyurl.com/27rp5h - Thu, 17 Jan 2008 02:31:44 +0000
SocialMediaCafe: Looks who ranks 8th in the U.S. in Blogging: http://tinyurl.com/yusjjc - Tue, 18 Dec 2007 03:11:55 +0000
SocialMediaCafe: Thanks to Jeff at Urban In-Fill for a great post as well - http://tinyurl.com/27lzuv - Thu, 13 Dec 2007 03:21:43 +0000
SocialMediaCafe: Blog post from Monday night's cafe at http://tinyurl.com/28pyho - Thu, 13 Dec 2007 03:21:01 +0000
SocialMediaCafe: See videos from Monday's cafe at http://tinyurl.com/24jbva - Thu, 13 Dec 2007 03:19:34 +0000
SocialMediaCafe: Another good session of the Cafe... we'll meet again in January! - Tue, 11 Dec 2007 01:36:58 +0000
SocialMediaCafe: Columbus Underground has been a catalyst to engage "people" in the city - Tue, 11 Dec 2007 01:08:25 +0000
SocialMediaCafe: Walker Evans: More voices will help build Columbus - Tue, 11 Dec 2007 01:07:28 +0000
SocialMediaCafe: Changes in ethnicity in our community... how can we teach those individuals about social media tools... - Tue, 11 Dec 2007 01:06:49 +0000
SocialMediaCafe: Many young people are determined to make Columbus a better community... - Tue, 11 Dec 2007 01:05:11 +0000
SocialMediaCafe: Huge demographic of young people who want to help Columbus overcome it's "identity crisis"... maybe it inevitable that we are going forward - Tue, 11 Dec 2007 01:04:09 +0000


At the top of this page, I said this had nothing to do with preserving COSI Toledo. Well, what if some kind of social media cafe was created in Toledo/Lucas County, and the first activist project was to create a plan to make private funding a sustainable way to keep a hands-on science museum in the Toledo area?

The pathetic, feeble-minded way to solve a problem is to run to the taxpayers, begging for money with a levy. Surely, metro Toledo has more intellectual talent than that. I'd like to think so, anyway. But apathy is probably a major obstacle to finding reasonable solutions to a problem. If this area wants to be a leader in biotechnology and/or alternative energy, then where's the intelligence to solve problems without the #1 solution being to raise taxes?

created by jr on Nov 28, 2007 at 09:25:45 pm
updated by jr on Nov 28, 2007 at 11:09:18 pm     Comments: 10

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tags: technology   media   activism   CitizenJournalism   SocialMedia   

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Comments ... #

blah, blah, blah,

lots of talk, post some youtube videos, lots of links, everyone feels good, but no real action taken, no problems solved.

blah, blah, blah....

posted by tomtom on Nov 28, 2007 at 11:25:42 pm     #



I'm sure margie thubber will enlighten us on some astounding facts about socialism on this one as well....

posted by tomtom on Nov 28, 2007 at 11:27:55 pm     #



How in the world is that Socialism? Govt. isn't involved.

One more time:
Socialism: Leadership from the political & Govt. sector.

Free Market Society(Capitalism): Leadership from the private sector.

I applaud the Columbus initiative. They are "taking back the night"(and the day also).

posted by lew on Nov 29, 2007 at 08:44:20 am     #



Did you actually read where jr said "[what if]the first activist project was to create a plan to make private funding a sustainable way to keep a hands-on science museum in the Toledo area?"

And

"If this area wants to be a leader in biotechnology and/or alternative energy, then where's the intelligence to solve problems without the #1 solution being to raise taxes?"

Where's the socialism in those comments?

posted by billy on Nov 29, 2007 at 09:35:58 am     #



yeah billy!!

It is not socialism, its idea sharing and creation.

My offer still stands to help plan an "unconference" of this magnitude. I personally want to plan an independent media unconference as well.

"The pathetic, feeble-minded way to solve a problem is to run to the taxpayers, begging for money with a levy. Surely, metro Toledo has more intellectual talent than that. I'd like to think so, anyway. But apathy is probably a major obstacle to finding reasonable solutions to a problem"--- can I get an amen.

posted by jdmsbyrd on Nov 29, 2007 at 10:35:51 am     #



tomtom - shame on you!

This isn't about socialism simply because the word 'social' shows up in the discussion.

I think it's interesting. The issue isn't getting everyone together to share ideas, though...it's getting the commitment from people to actually follow through and dedicate time and energy to IMPLEMENTING the ideas. That's where such efforts tend to fall apart.

I like the two topics that jr has suggested and would participate as time and my other commitments allow.

posted by MaggieThurber on Nov 29, 2007 at 11:06:20 am     #



This is really interesting!!!! We have two possibilities: WGTE and WBGU. If we do both, we're regional right from the start. And, The Center for Regional Development is housed at BGSU. What's the next step?

posted by lew on Nov 29, 2007 at 04:02:49 pm     #



I know an IT guy at WGTE.

posted by jr on Nov 29, 2007 at 04:14:31 pm     #



The next Columbus Social Media Cafe meeting hosted by WOSU and COSI is Dec 10.

November 15, 2007 session topics :

posted by jr on Dec 10, 2007 at 02:48:34 pm     #



Dec 18, 2007 Columbus Social Media Cafe blog posting that pointed to a Dec 13, 2007 San Francisco Chronicle article about the top U.S. cities for blogging. :

Here’s the Top 10 list from Nielsen Media Research:

1. Austin, TX (15% of adults going on the Web to read or contribute to a blog in the past 30 days)
2. Portland, OR (14%)
3. San Francisco Bay Area (13%)
4. Seattle (13%)
5. Honolulu
6. San Diego
7. Dallas-Fort Worth, TX
8. Columbus, OH
9. Nashville, TN
10. Colorado Springs, CO

posted by jr on Dec 18, 2007 at 02:21:27 pm     #