July 2008 News
The latest economic forecast
Every day it seems there is a new story about the credit crunch and its latest victims in the press. Many VCOs already operate in some of the most challenging economic circumstances and with some of the most disadvantaged communities. However, the majority of the VCS has experienced a period of growth over the last decade so I think it’s fair to say that everyone is starting to get a little concerned or at least wondering what the consequences of a slowdown or even a recession might be for...
The Future Face of Enterprise
Anyone else ready to jump on the enterprise bandwagon? Dragons Den is trying to make entrepreneurs of everyone, enterprise has now entered the national curriculum, and everywhere I turn, it seems that organisations within the sector are embracing enterprise with a gusto usually reserved for voting on Britain’s got Talent. The capacitybuilders programme has recently announced a £6million investment in social enterprise, and Gordon Brown aims that ‘enterprise is truly open for all’’.
Rela...
The future of museums
Museums are not normally something people necessarily think about as being part of the VCS but there are actually 1, 118 independent museums in the UK which are registered charities according to this year’s Civil Society Almanac. That’s why this blog post by Andrew Curry from the Henley Centre Headlight Vision on the future of museums caught my eye. The current model of the museum itself, he points out is:
“…about 150 years old [and] basically consists of a building with some stuff in it,...
Is social networking right for your organisation?
In the last year and a half social networking sites such as Facebook and Myspace have being hyped as the panacea to solve all ills but how do you know if social networking is right for your organisation? Online networks particularly appeal to the VCS because of their potential to reach larger communities. Organisations hope social networking sites will assist them in widening their campaigns, recruiting volunteers, involving their users or more supporters in how their organisation is run,...
Links for 9 July 2008
Here are the links we found interesting today:
Demos | Publications | The Future Face of Enterprise
Collection of essays articulating some of the key features of the future face of enterprise. Progressing this thinking into ideas for action is now the next challenge.
Demos | Publications | Making the most of collaboration
Discussion paper reporting on findings of recent research regarding collaboration, and setting out the...
Changing life cycles…
I went to a fascinating event run by the Tomorrow Project last week, looking at people’s changing life cycles and how these affect and are affected by business. A group of employers, employees, academics and futurists spent the day examining three stages of life (early, middle and older), identifying future drivers in each of the life stages, and discussing how business can influence these. The event was held to inform a new book being published next year; however, it made me think about ...
Annual Conference - NCVO/VSSN Researching the Voluntary Sector
Date: 9-10 September 2008
Venue: University of Warwick
This conference runs over two-days providing academics, researchers and practitioners within voluntary and community organisations with a unique opportunity to share and discuss ideas. The conference will include thought-provoking plenary lectures and a wide-ranging set of parallel sessions to allow maximum opportunity for debate and learning.
This year’s conference will be exploring a wide range of topics such as:
- the voluntary sector’s...
