The fortnight in Fellowship [somewhat squared]: news, events, networks aggregated…

July 9, 2012 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Fellowship 

#TheRSA student design winners receiving their awards from @clivegrinyer and Dinah CassonHere at the RSA and across the 101 countries where we have Fellows there is always something interesting going on.

Just one example is tonight’s Student Design Awards, now in their 88th year – making for the world’s longest running competition for emerging design talent – alumni of which includes Sir Jonathan Ive of Apple fame and others.

Next year it is kicking off in a localised version in the US – part of the growing internationalization of the RSA’s work thanks to the leadership of our US board (and a bit of help from Catalyst – and there’ll be more about going global from my colleague Josef Lentsch in a future post).

It can be difficult to keep track of it all. You may find part of the solution here…

Our head of technology, Clive Holdsworth, is leading a stream of work – involving the Fellowship Council’s Digital Engagement Group as well as Fellows in general – mapping out how digital tools might help solve some of those problems over time. One of the key recommendations to emerge from this so far (and from the Fellowship Survey earlier in the year) is the perhaps not surprising requirement in this LinkedIn / Facebook / Twitter-driven age: provide Fellows with an activity stream-based place that aggregates activity – news and updates on events, networks and projects – that is relevant to them together in one place… Our hard working Online Community Manager Matthew Mezey built a basic prototype as part of his 7 ways to become an online RSA Fellow. There is much more to be done though.

We’ll invite Clive to guest blog here in the near future to talk more about how this work is in progressing, but in the short term I’d like to plug the gap with a simple hand-assembled approach – looking at what happened in the last two weeks – and the two weeks ahead. The fortnight in Fellowship; somewhat squared.

I actively invite you to help make it better over time by adding your comments to this post / putting the word out about it on your favourite social platform so other Fellows, and those inspired by Fellowship activities, can find it.

The fornight in Fellowship [somewhat squared]

Top of the agenda at the moment is the elections for the Fellowship Council which includes vacancies for Regional / National Chairs, Regional Councillors and a number of At-Large Councillors – Adam Lent made a compelling call to action earlier on today over on his RSA blog, mixing Marvell and Murray (highly topical at the time of writing). The deadline is this Friday so get the vote out if you haven’t already.

The elections are RSA Fellows’ chance to decide who will shape the future of their region and the future of Fellowship itself.

Those elected will take office in September – with the first Fellowship Council of the session being the 20th of September. After the Trustee board has reviewed the latest Fellowship Council Impact Report we’ll be updating this post with a link to it (and if you subscribe to the RSS feed or via email and you won’t miss a thing).

The seed-bed: a selection of lectures, events and networks leading to new connections and collaborations

The following are just a few of the events that took place in the last two weeks and are coming up in the next two – to see the full list of what’s just passed and crucially, what is coming up in London, around the country and around the world, check out the Google Calendar on the where you are pages on our website.

Coming up!

There’ll be Twitter-reporting from tomorrow’s fully booked public lecture with cutting-edge behavioural economist Dan Ariely – it is titled Free beer: The truth about dishonesty and will be worth watching live online – and if you want to to ask a question at the Q+A please start your tweet ‘Q and be sure to include the hashtag #RSAdishonesty too.

In the next couple of weeks, RSA Fellows are set to meet in Cambridge, Glasgow, Manchester and many more cities – and linking to tonight’s event in the Vaults here at the RSA with Esther Rantzen talking about philanthropy and the value of older people, Fellows in Surrey will be exploring ‘some of the critical and increasingly significant issues of an aging population and the impact of changes to financial support through the Supporting People programme and other welfare reforms’ – check out the Google Calendar on the where you are pages on our website for further details for that and other Fellow-led events.

Slightly further out than two weeks but worth mentioning is a workshop in Wales with Catalyst Programme Manager Alex Watson. The RSA set up Catalyst to support new, innovative ideas to tackle social problems. We provide grants and staff help to mobilise Fellows to support ideas helping people become more engaged, resourceful and pro-social, whether through new technology, the arts or social enterprise – and this is a good opportunity to come along and learn more.

Just completed – check out the social coverage and discover new connections

You can find the latest summaries compiled by Fellows and staff by searching for #TheRSA on Storify – and you can of course also add your own – and indeed share pictures from RSA public lectures, Fellowship events and other undertakings by adding them to our growing group on Flickr or by adding #TheRSA to your Twitter / Instagram / other social posts.

Last but not least, the latest on the Fellowship blog in case you missed it earlier:

  1. Project Engagement Manager Sam Thomas interviews Catalyst project winners Laura Billings and Carmel McConnel about an initiative providing free breakfast in 200 primary schools in Central heating for kids, community learning for everyone
  2. Director of Education Joe Hallgarten kicks off a Fellowship guest blog with “One of the unwritten conventions of working at the RSA is that, if a Fellow calls…” – read more in the unusually titled: Mental health, hidden wealth… of cabbies?
  3. Regional Programme Manager Alice Dyke shares her insights from her first 100 days at the RSA – hopefully useful for the interviewing kicking off tomorrow in order to grow the Regional team further

That’s it for this round – check back in two weeks for more – and if I missed something out or you think the above could be improved, let me know through the comments – or perhaps a timely heckle on Twitter.

Michael Ambjorn is Head of Fellowship – Follow @michaelambjorn

 

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Got questions about the upcoming Fellowship Council elections?

May 24, 2012 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Fellowship 

Over the next few months there will be a number of opportunities for Fellows who would like to become more engaged on a voluntary basis in the way the RSA is run – and today we’ve invited Brinda Sittapah, the RSA’s Governance Manager to stop by for a quick Q&A around what is happening and what the opportunities are:

Q) What are the available posts?
A) We’re looking for three types of hands-on leaders to collaborate with other Fellows and at times staff to help the Society meet its charitable goals – or ‘undertakings for publick good’ as our founder William Shipley would have put it. In practice that means:

A Fellowship Councillor for each Region/Nation
An elected Fellowship Councillor to represent each of the 14 Regions/Nations in the UK and Ireland – and working as an integral part of a hands-on Regional / National Team.

 “At large” Fellowship Councillors based on skills
Seven elected “at large” Fellowship Councillors to be elected by Fellows across all 14 Regions/Nations in the UK and Ireland. It is expected that candidates for these positions will stand on the basis of their experience, interests and skills.

A Regional/National Chair for each Region/Nation
An elected Regional/National Chair to represent each of the 14 Regions/Nations in the UK and Ireland – again, a hands-on role as part of a Regional/National Team.

Read the full call for nominations here.

Meanwhile, here are a few practical follow-on questions that have come in from the field which might help you in case you’re thinking of standing:

Q) What is the time commitment for the different roles?
A) There are at least three Fellowship Council meetings every year and Fellowship Councillors will also be on their Regional/National team which meets quite regularly to decide on the plan of activities for the Region/Nation.

Besides being on the Fellowship Council, the Chair will also be responsible for the Region/Nation. As such, you must have sufficient time to devote to the activities of the Region/Nation and to ensure the development plan is being implemented.

Q) How can Fellows who do not have contact with other Fellows have supporters?
A) Candidates interested can find events in their Region / Nation to attend on the Fellowship Where You Are pages of the RSA website.

Q) What if I am thinking of relocating in the near future:

A) If a candidate is relocating then we would not advise them to apply for the Region/Nation they are currently in. The Fellowship Councillor for the Region/Nation together with the Regional/National chair and the Regional Programme Manager are required to meet to devise a development plan for their area and ensure it is implemented.

Q) Will electronic signatures be accepted?

A) Yes

Q) Can signatures be scanned?

A) Yes

Q) Can supporters sign on different forms?

A) Yes

Q) Should Fellows supporting a candidate be in the same region/nation?

A) Yes, you must be known to at least 5 Fellows in your Region/Nation to be able to apply – the role is after all about leading those around you.

Q) Can a Fellow nominate more than one candidate?

A) Yes

Q) How can a Fellow based abroad get involved with the Fellowship Council
A) There are a number of seats on the Fellowship Council available for co-opted members – please express your interest using the same form. It should be noted that there is a requirement to attend Fellowship Council meetings in person and we do not have budget to reimburse more than the most basic travel expenses.

Please note: Just sending your interest via email without the candidate statement and nomination form will be void.

Candidates should submit their interest using the nomination form available on the RSA Governance pages at latest 12 noon GMT 30 May 2012.

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