Monkeys with typewriters

A sneak preview of TFL's new cycle fleet!

We walked past this flashy new docking station on St.Chad's Place, WC1, this morning, on the way to Tuttle. As we were checking out the computerised bollards, a group of guys from TFL turned up, "test-riding" some of the bikes.

The public bicycle sharing scheme goes live on 30 July.

How lovely.

Who can argue with anything that has "sharing" in the title?

It was great to see a fab bunch of people turn out for the Monkeys Tweetup last Friday as part of London Social Media Week. The Drunken Monkey did us proud with decent Dim Sum and beer. And the weather was unseasonably gorgeous, enabling a hearty group of us to brave the 40 minute walk from Tuttle Club in Kings Cross to deepest darkest Shoreditch, with only a handful getting *lost* on the way.

The idea behind the Tweetup was to have an informal discussion around one of the themes of Monkeys with Typewriters: the ‘anthropology’ of social media – its impact on people, society and culture.

In true swot style, I’d prepared ten open-ended questions or pointers for debate the night before. But the acoustics were dire and at first there were far too many people - around 25 or so – to have a single, structured, conversation.

So I started off posting the questions on Twitter so that people could chat in small groups. Hmmm. That was sort of successful. Then - luckily - the free bar ran out. Random people politely made their excuses and left. The dedicated hardcore remained!

I'd love to post the lively, convoluted discussion that commenced. Unfortunately my note-taking was non-existent and it being a Friday afternoon, the weekend and toddler have intervened and it’s only now (Weds) that I’m trying to recall exactly what happened.

A few points stuck in my mind: Nic Butler made a lovely one all about (cultural) memes - social networks accelerate communication and therefore social development/ evolution. Re changing values, Alison Wheeler said it used to be the haves and the have nots, now we’re seeing people relate in terms of the dos and the do nots. Love that!

Keri Hudson said she felt people around her age (20) are much more into sharing everything than previous generations (partly as a result of social tools). There was one Angry Young Man who made some great acerbic observations but left (Angrily) before I got his name.

My fave humourous exchange was between FJ van Wingerde and Patrick Hadfield:

FJ: All these CCTV cameras have ruined public sex!

Patrick: But surely they’ve enhanced public sex?

He he.

Great big thanks to everyone who came along. And a special thanks to those above, plus Anke Holst, Documentally, Ben Walker, James Governor, Bill Reyn and the others whose names I didn’t get, for staying long after the free beer had gone. And last but not least Kat McMann for brightening my day after a long time no see!

It's tough getting decent work done on a Friday, so what better way to spend the last day of Social Media Week hanging out with interesting people: collaborating, networking, drinking, eating, philosophizing or whatever else takes your fancy?

Tuttle Club will be taking place from 10am – midday at The Centre for Creative Collaboration near Kings Cross. If you’ve never been, you really should: this week will be a good ‘un. Lloyd Davis, Tuttle’s lovely founder, is now working as Social Artist in Residence at the CCC, and I’m sure he’ll be talking a bit about that new role, as well as doing his usual – meeting and greeting the Tuttle newbies and generally ensuring everyone who attends has a good time and at least one cup of decent coffee.

Whether you fancy a bite of lunch after Tuttle or whether you’ve worked hard all morning and reckon it’s time for a break,  on Friday afternoon, from 1pm – 4 (ish), there’ll be a Monkeys Tweetup at The Drunken Monkey in Shoreditch. With free beer for the early birds. And delicious Dim Sum for everyone who wants it.  The aim is to chat about the anthropology of social media: I see this as a kind of holistic look at the long-term social and cultural impact of social media (if any!), but please bring your own ideas and input.

Linking the two events, a 40 minute walk through the wondrous zone that is (or was?) Silicon Roundabout. [Update: just saw this Wired article indicating that Silicon Roundabout is very much alive and kicking] Why tube it when you can take your time and marvel at the myriad offices of so many tech start-ups? Last FM, Poke, IDEO, Moo, Trampoline, Dopplr and many more have all made their homes between Goswell Road and Brick Lane. Maybe some of these brilliant people will even join us for a drink :)

London’s Social Media Week got off to a roaring start on Monday night with a drinks reception deep in the bowels of Adam Street, just off The Strand. Sponsors Meebo kindly bought the beer, wine and snacks and then kept a low profile, which is how everyone likes it.

As far as I know, no-one made a speech, but then I was so late I could have missed it. By the time I arrived people were a bit merry. It was nice to get a bear hug from @jonbains who told me I was a deeply empathetic person, before disappearing to the Adam Street members bar – chances are it’ll be another three years and possibly more children (on his side) before I see him again.

Another blast from the past was @Williamhigham who has also just written a book so we had a cosy chat about how useless publishers are at promoting anything. Then I felt for William so I went onto Amazon and bought his book.

It was good to see lots of other friendly and familiar faces, including @robingrant (above, with friends) @anniemole @freecloud @andrewgerrard @utku @whatleydude @kathryncorrick and of course Mr London Social Media Week himself @toodlepip.

It was also nice to hook up with a smattering of new people. I’ve never met @donaghkebab before but I liked his attitude and his hair (especially the way it matched the art), plus @havefundogood (aka Jack) who was confusingly wearing an @tweetminster t-shirt but confessed to have nothing at all to do with them. He said he wore @tweetminster to get attention, which is weird as @havefundogood sounds more sexy, doesn’t it?

Congrats to the Chinwag crew for organising a fantastic-looking week at incredibly short notice. There’s a whole heap of events: check out the Social Media Week London schedule. There’ll even be a Monkeys Tweetup on Friday with free drinks for early birds – watch this space for more info!