To Blog or Not To Blog Debate Videos

This is the full set of the speech videos kindly recorded by Peter Black.

The event itself provided the answer to the question in the title, when the agenda was partly changed due to "advanced feedback" after a debate on the blogs (especially here).

You can read my reflections, and also find a list of articles about the event, in my previous article about the "To Blog or Not to Blog" event.

Introduction

Part 1: Daran Hill, of Positif Politics (and the first bit of Peter Black).



Part 2: Peter Black, and the first part of Eleanor Burnham AM.



Part 3: The rest of Eleanor Burnham AM and Betsan Powys, BBC Reporter and Blogger.



Part 4: More Betsan Powys and the first part of Annabelle Harle of the Electoral Reform Society.



Part 5: More Annabelle Harle of the Electoral Reform Society, and the first part of Matt Wardman



Part 6: More Matt Wardman

and Victoria Winckler, of the Bevan Foundation.

Senedd Blogging Debate Updated Programme

After some kerfuffle last week around the debate on the usefulness (or not) of political blogs organised by the Bevan Foundation, I've been invited to join the panel to give a blogger perspective.

This is the new agenda quoted from the Bevan Foundation website:

To Blog or Not to Blog? !!!! NEW PROGRAMME !!!!

6.00pm to 7.30pm on Tuesday 21st October 2008

Conference Rooms C&D, Ty Hywel, National Assembly for Wales

The line up now is enthusiastic bloggers Peter Black AM, Matt Wardman and Betsan Powys, Political Editor of BBC Wales, along with scepticism and commentary from Eleanor Burnham AM, Annabelle Harle from the Electoral Reform Society, and Victoria Winckler, Director of the Bevan Foundation. The discussion will be chaired by Daran Hill, MD of Positif Politics.

This event is being held in the Assembly with the support of Peter Black AM. Refreshments are provided with the support of Positif Politics. We are trying also to get the discussion streamed.

All welcome - please confirm your attendance can you email Daran Hill on daran@positifpolitics.co.uk

I'll be going down for early afternoon on Tuesday on the train. If anyone is going to be around drop me a line on mattwardman AT gmail DOT com and we can meet up for a coffee.

During the afternoon I may make a couple of videos around the Bay area. If you see someone holding a balloon at arms' length in protective gloves, that will be me trying to find out whether it is a threat to life and limb as reported by Betsan Powys back in the Spring. (*)

I'm also hoping to get cameo interviews with as many Welsh bloggers as possible, and I'll be looking for recommendations of Welsh Blogs that us uncivilised oiks on the other side of Offa's Dyke should be reading for self-improvement purposes.

Unfortunately it is a steam powered video recorder which records to a small 1Gb hard disk. So I won't be attempting to record the debate itself, as I hope that somebody else will be doing that.

In the debate I'll be focusing on specific examples where blogs have achieved things that would not have been possible - or at least would have been very difficult - if they did not exist.

I am told that bookings are OK to give a decent debate, but there is still some room left for more.

(*) For the record, Latex allergy is a problem worth taking very seriously but banning children's balloons is totally wrong-headed in my view, unless you are going to ban a whole lot of other things as well - including stress balls, rubber keyboards on calculators/computers, bananas and the wrong sort of carpet underlay.

The debate started before the Cardiff Blogging Debate began

I'm pleased to hear that from the uproar in the comments section that was caused by my good friend's post discussing the future 'Cardiff Blogging Debate', Matt Wardman has now been invited to join the pro-blogging panel.

It goes to show that a small amount of constructive criticism goes a long way in blogging.

Update: It says a lot about the Welsh economic downturn when we have to import English bloggers due to our home-grown being too expensive [laugh].

Cardiff Political Blogging Debate misses the point

A day after writing a piece about the Slugger Awards celebrating blogs as a tool for creating a greater involvement in politics by ordinary people, I have run across an example that is in the opposite direction.

There will be a debate about the value of political blogging organised by the Bevan Foundation in the Senedd on Tuesday 21st October:

To Blog or Not to Blog?

6.00pm to 7.30pm on Tuesday 21st October 2008
Conference Rooms C&D, Ty Hywel, National Assembly for Wales

You are invited to attend a debate on the value of political blogging.

Speakers are Peter Black AM and Betsan Powys, Political Editor of BBC Wales, and Eleanor Burnham AM and Annabelle Harle from the Electoral Reform Society. In the Chair is Victoria Winckler, Director of the Bevan Foundation. This event is being held in the Assembly with the support of Peter Black AM. Refreshments are provided with the support of Positif Politics.

I think that that list of names for this debate, comprising two professional politicians, a specialist in the political process and a big media journalist, misses the point. It is also a symbol that the most important aspect of political blogging - the potential for engagement in the political conversation by those who would not do it otherwise - may not yet been sufficiently absorbed.

I can't help asking why Valleys Mam (for example) - or somebody (anybody!) using a political blog to comment on politics from below - is not speaking in this debate? It may be that the focus is "the value of political blogging for politicians", in which case the focus itself is in the wrong place.

I'm not trying to show disrespect for the participants - all of whom are excellent in their own right - but it is the wrong group of people.

My suggestion is that there is still a week to go, so why not add a couple of political bloggers into the debate? I'd also invite Mick Fealty to give a 20 minute address + 20 minutes of questions afterwards about what can be done.

Getting on or off your modern soapbox

Not being sure whether this is a public event or selective gathering within the Senedd, Peter Black brings to our attention, the not-so-well-publicized interesting debate [to bloggers anyway] that is taking place on 21 October 2008.

Just a pity that we're not all invited. We could watch, listen, possibly ask questions, raise important points, and most importantly - guess which person in the audience matches their blog persona.

Could be the biggest Welsh public outing this year since the last one was cancelled.

Peter Black AM's To blog or not to blog?

The Bevan Foundation and Positif Politics is to stage a debate in the Assembly from 6pm to 7.30pm on Tuesday 21 October 2008 on the value of political blogging.

Speaking in favour are myself and BBC blogger Betsan Powys. Opposed are Eleanor Burnham AM and Annabelle Harlle from the Electoral Reform Society. In the chair is Victoria Winckler, who is Director of the Bevan Foundation.