Look, about that damn topless gnome…

“The greatest challenge to implementing social media within any organisation is the willingness for that organisation to accept the cultural change that will ultimately occur. And occur dramatically and at a rapid pace. Social media holds a mirror up to an organization from the external customers/clients/constituents that shows an authentic, and sometimes unexpected, face.”Nick Hodge

“I’d add that that face is almost always unexpected.”Mark Pesce (in private conversation)

Topless gnome Gnaomi, standing near the book The State of Africa by Martin Meredith, from the opening to Stilgherrian Live episode 48

Clearly I’m not going to get anything else written until I respond to The Gnome Situation. I’ve been reading the comments and mulling possible responses for days. It’s getting in the way of actual, productive work. So here we go.

No. I will not be removing Gnaomi from my desk.

Discussing an issue as important as rape through the proxy of an anthropomorphised piece of clay seems, to me, a poor tactic. Nor will I compromise the actual or perceived independence of my media output, no matter how worthy the cause.

There’ll probably be people at ActionAid who won’t like or understand that outcome, so here’s the long explanation…

Continue reading “Look, about that damn topless gnome…”

Clothe the Gnome?

Photograph of Gnaomi the topless garden gnome

There have been objections to the presence in my video diary of Gnaomi the Gnome.

Gnaomi is topless and, it is alleged, this is symbolic of the degradation of women — inappropriate given what ActionAid stands for.

I will consider my response and post it in due course. However you may wish to join the fascinating discussion, as opinions differ.

Please post your comments over on the original thread so everything’s in the one place.

[Update 28 May 2008: I have now responded, in a post called Look, about that damn topless gnome… Do feel free to continue the conversation.]

Vaccinations, diarrhoea and social media

Flowchart diagram for treating diarrhoea

Yesterday I was given a, erm, flowchart for diarrhoea, if you’ll excuse the phrase. I’d never realised that diarrhoea needed an instruction manual.

I was also given my vaccinations, as foreshadowed. And it’s all on video, to be published later.

Speaking of video, my diary entry is rather subdued today. Yes, vaccinations do make one feel crap. But I manage to talk about diarrhoea, and about how the online conversation about this project is already taking on a life of it own.

I’ll get that video online as soon as Viddler stops spitting the dummy.

ActionAid face an interesting challenge in taking on this project.

Their message is no longer being delivered through what the estimable Bronwyn Clune calls control media or what I usually call industrial-age media. They’re now participants in a social media conversation. Everyone in that conversation is a free agent, capable of saying what they wish — including myself.

ActionAid will have to overcome the fear of losing control.

Of course, as I explained in The Importance of Authenticity, they’ve never had control over what other people might say. It’s just that now all those ephemeral conversations are visible to everyone on the Internet. It’ll be interesting to see how a traditionally-structured organisation like ActionAid handles this new environment.

Pincushion Day!

The plans for Tanzania are coming together slowly. Meanwhile I’ve been told to get my vaccinations sorted.

This afternoon I’m off to The Travel Doctor to get vaccinations for Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, Typhoid, Rabies, Cholera, Malaria, Yellow Fever, Tetanus and Influenza. And I just get told about Dengue Fever, because there’s no vaccine.

(If the video doesn’t work, try over at Viddler.)

’Pong is filming the whole process in glorious HD TV, so we’ll be able to post some of that footage down the track.

Meanwhile, let’s all be thankful for western medicine!