Holiday post: Book review - "Naked Conversations" by Scoble and Israel

I'm away from Inverness on holiday and without much access to the internet at the moment at so this is the second of a number of 'pre-prepared' posts during this holiday period...




Relax. This is not a new policy initiative. As such...

People who have read my past blogs will have seen me musing in the past on whether it is possible to blog as a party activist. To a degree there is an element of self-censorship, particularly in an election period when loyalty and toeing the party line is at a premium.

However, the message from this book is that blogging requires authenticity. Company or party hacks doling out press releases convince no-one that their product or policy is worth bothering with.

'Naked Conversations' is a book about the benefits and drawbacks of blogging as a business. It does this through a number of case studies and shows includes examples of companies that have got it right as well as those that fell on their faces. In many cases, blogging is viewed as a more personal medium and, as such, enables a disillusioned public to re-engage with a companies.

Being a slightly techie book, some of the major examples are tech companies such as Microsoft that were seen as damaged good by their community. Yes, they had market share but no-one actually liked them...Blogging allowed them to reconnect to their community, learn from them and improve. They also found that they developed an army of unpaid advocates who would fight on their behalf when unfair accusations where made against them.

Which leads me back to the issue of whether this works for politics...

Companies like Microsoft have an audience that are tech-savvy. Politics, on the other hand, needs to speak to a broader audience and one that isn't necessarily that concerned about engaging online. In my mind, this still means that the authentic voice required in a blog can be spun out of context by a political opponent to inflict damage in, say, The Inverness Courier and for the impact to be considerable.

I think this situation will change overtime as more people come online but there are still risks enough of misquoting and false-outrage from opponents (and yes, I know, all parties do it) to impose a degree of restraint or censorship on the blog author. Which is a pity because I think it is a great medium for not sounding like a drone or press-release and more like a real person which I think is what electors are crying out for.

For those of you not wanting to shell out money on the book, flavours of the arguement can be found in two recent arrticles in Wired (here and here). Otherwise click on the link below:

Book review - 'Conservative Revival' by Chris Phillip et al

A remarkable book for those of you interested in why David Cameron is doing what he's doing and what this means for the Conservative Party.

The central thesis is, "Britain has changed, so must the Conservative Party if it wishes to be in power again." That might not come as a surprise to many of you but even to those of you who might consider yourselves to be modern and not part of the old guard (like myself) the depth of change required comes as quite an eye-opener.

However, this is a handbook about how to achieve power and not necessarily a book that proposes a better society. T E Utley once wrote something along the lines that the British want high public spending combined with low taxes and this is pretty much the insight of this book as well. However, the insight doesn't extend to dealing with how to avoid threatening letters from creditors when a plainly unsustainable situation of high spend/low tax unravels.

However, the book is brutally honest when dealing with the conservative brand and how to repair it. While some of this might seem a slap in the face for some readers, it also emphasises strategies to rebuild trust. These are not things that can happen overnight but it also demonstrates the importance of building an authentically caring local party representative of its community.

Highly recommended.

A local manifesto: Scotland in the World

Part 5 of the manifesto series.

The last election was dominated by questions about Scotland's place within the world.

While independence does not yet have majority support, few would wish to turn the clock back to a pre-devolution era. That said, it is clear that there is also support for reform of aspects of the current arrangement (as with all constitutional arrangements).

So the big questions include:

• Does Scotland need to engage more with the world and how does it do this?
• Is Scotland in Europe but outwith the UK ever a realistic option?
• What could be the role of the Scottish Conservatives in any future constitutional changes?
• Low tax low welfare Ireland or high-tax high welfare Scandanavia - which should Scotland aspire to?
  

I'm sure there are lots more issues - let me know what you think.

Manifesto Series
Click here to comment on 'Our wellbeing'
Click here to comment on 'Our modern transport system'
Click here to comment on 'Getting business booming'
Click here to comment on 'Creating successful communities'
Click here to comment on 'Scotland in the World'

A local manifesto: Creating successful communities

Part 4 of the manifesto series.

As prosperity has increased, people are increasingly concerned about their quality of life and the quality of the communities in which they live.

For some, this concern might be directed toward litter in their neighbourhood.

For some, they might be concerned about how best to encourage our young people to stay (or return) to the area.

For others, it's about how we engage with our environment or society as a whole.

As a conservative, I believe that strong communities are the bedrock of society. Strong communities offer support and protection in a way appropriate to their needs. However, like some people, some communities are disadvantaged or have lost their way. Some communities are preyed upon by the strong and need protecting. Others fear that outside influences will change the way they look and feel.

Are we wise to build suburb communities with little or no facilities forcing people to travel everywhere by car? Will the expansion of the city mean we become more fragmented? What is the role of voluntary organisations in building better communities and which ones are best placed to do this? How do you balance environmental concerns against the desire to lead a normal full life?

Let me know how you think communities can be regenerated, maintained or positively changed.

Manifesto Series
Click here to comment on 'Our wellbeing'
Click here to comment on 'Our modern transport system'
Click here to comment on 'Getting business booming'
Click here to comment on 'Creating successful communities'
Click here to comment on 'Scotland in the World'

A local manifesto: Getting business booming

Part 3 of the manifesto series.

Currently, Inverness has a bright future with investment from a good number of businesses setting up and expanding their bases here.

However, there are darker spots. The success of Inverness is seen as a drain on outlying areas. The success of retail parks within Inverness is seen as detrimental to the Old Town. There are fears that Inverness will be just another 'clone town' or 'Tescotown.'

Just to play devil's advocate, I think Tesco is a good thing. It provides employment and cheap food with choice. I know some of you will think that's not a price worth paying though so let me know how you think the world should be in this area.

A lot of companies either depend on the public sector for work or do a lot of their work for the public sector*. Is this a acceptable or is it just pushing money around the system and not generating any real change? Can you change it without causing hurt?

Where do you draw the line between helping businesses and propping up businesses that should fail? Is it better to prop up some businesses as the secondary benefits outweigh the costs of closure?

What role should the local economic agencies be playing? Are they doing it well or could they do better? My view is that HIE can only go so far in promoting a successful economy - business itself also needs to take risks and finish the job. Again, I know some people will disagree with that and have suggested ways to me in the past in which they thought the LECs could be helping companies more.

Let me know your ideas to get business booming locally!

Manifesto Series
Click here to comment on 'Our wellbeing'
Click here to comment on 'Our modern transport system'
Click here to comment on 'Getting business booming'
Click here to comment on 'Creating successful communities'
Click here to comment on 'Scotland in the World'

*This includes mine.

A local manifesto: Our modern transport system

Part 2 of the manifesto series.

Our Highland location means that transport is an issue vital to many of us.

Whether it be questions of the time it takes to deliver goods to the Central Belt, the danger of many of our local roads, the lack of cycle paths or the frequency of buses in rural areas, transport issues affect in many different ways.

There have been suggestions that people travelling on short haul in the UK should be taxed higher to dissuade them from damaging the environment. Do you think this is impractical in the Highlands or is it a price worth paying to protect the environment?

Does the establishment of suburb communities encourage people to use cars when they could walk?

Is it practical to expect the A9 to be dualled beyond, say, Dornoch? Is there anything else we could be doing to the A9 and A96 to make them safer in the meantime without driving motorists mad?

Given the terrain, is cycling ever a realistic option outwith the towns?

Let me know what you think are the issues and what you think should be done about them.

Manifesto Series
Click here to comment on 'Our wellbeing'
Click here to comment on 'Our modern transport system'
Click here to comment on 'Getting business booming'
Click here to comment on 'Creating successful communities'
Click here to comment on 'Scotland in the World'

A local manifesto: Our wellbeing

Part 1 of the manifesto series.

For this part of the manifesto, I'm interested in ideas that could improve our general everyday lives through the public services.

This might be ideas about how our schools or hospitals could work better. It could be highlighting something that happens already in our schools and hospitals that you think works and should be encouraged.

Or it might be something I haven't thought of.

Suggested areas are:

• Schools - what works well? What needs to be improved?
  
• Health - again, what works and what doesn't?
  
• Pensions - is society getting it right for those retiring now and in the future?
  
• Policing - where do you feel safe and where do you feel let down?
• The Council - is its priorities right? What areas need changing and where are they delivering good service or value for money?
  

I don't have experience of schools and hospitals recently but what I hear of them, they seem to serve people well but I have heard niggles from some people about their experiences. I think pensions is a thankless issue that needs tough decisions being made and so there is a conflict between the practical and the reasonable. Most people in Inverness feel safe at the moment but, as the town expands, will this always be so?

Transport, business and communities/environment are areas that are big enough to be dealt with separately and you'll be able to comment on them in other posts.

Anyway, let me know what you think. I would ask you to exercise a degree of discretion in your contributions though - if you think that a certain school is rubbish, I think it's better to mention your experiences here as general observation and not as an attack particular people!

Manifesto Series
Click here to comment on 'Our wellbeing'
Click here to comment on 'Our modern transport system'
Click here to comment on 'Getting business booming'
Click here to comment on 'Creating successful communities'
Click here to comment on 'Scotland in the World'

A Local Manifesto

While it is in the nature of a party activist to feel that their party has the compelling vision for Scotland, the truth is that for many people the Scottish Conservatives represent something they feel is irrelevant to their lives.

I would like to change this impression but I suspect a 'we know best' approach to priorities and solutions for Scotland will fail to move many people.

So, I would like to open the debate on what kind of policies are needed in our area and in Scotland and be told what we're doing right and what we're doing wrong. I want to understand where and whether these ideas can fit in to a conservative view of the world.

As such this is the introduction to a series of articles designed to provoke debate on the kinds of policies that could be adopted to really represent the views and aspirations of the people of the Highlands.

The forum is open to anyone. It is about policy and ideas, not presentation and organisation structures.

Put simply, I'm interested in hearing from people who are not party activists as well as those who who are. If you think the ideas are rubbish, tell me why. I might disagree with you but it would be good to know where you're coming from.

I am interested in fresh suggestions and ideas to deal with current and future challenges and having the opportunity to 'road-test' them to see if they stand up.

At its heart, this is about is establishing a set of coherent positions that:

• would make life better for people living in the area;
• have integrity; and
  
• stand up to public scrutiny.
  

The broad subject areas are

• Our well-being;
• Our modern transport system;
• Getting local business booming;
• Creating successful communities; and
• Scotland in the World.

The introduction to each will explain a little more about where I'm coming from for each (and I might play devil's advocate just to get things moving!) but I'm interested in hearing what you think needs to be done in each of these areas. I'll set a box aside on the right hand side of the page to collect the strands together so you don't have to hunt them down.

Click here to comment on 'Our wellbeing'
Click here to comment on 'Our modern transport system'
Click here to comment on 'Getting business booming'
Click here to comment on 'Creating successful communities'
Click here to comment on 'Scotland in the World'

As ever, I retain the right to edit ranting, swearing and libellous responses but I won't edit something just because I disagree with you.