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15 October 2005 Don't make me BWAFInteresting post by Andrew Denny about a BW employee's blog rapidly going offline. Exactly the same thing happened once before, while I was at Waterscape: Alison O'Neill, who was working at Warrington for a while, had her LiveJournal 'noticed' by her line manager. Though I don't think there were any repercussions, either actual or threatened, she (perhaps understandably) felt it was safest to restrict access to friends only. (Incidentally, the biggest tragedy of the botched BW reorganisation was the loss of people just like Alison - enthusiastic young people, not dyed-in-the-wool waterways types, but with a care for BW's wider 'heritage' responsibilities and the task of engaging local communities. A couple of others who spring to mind are Claire Chapman, who worked wonders on the Lancaster, and Lucy Unstead in Braunston, who did marvellous things with the Oxford Canal Walk, inter alia. I'm not sure BW has yet realised its loss.) As for a formal policy on employee blogs? Ha. Thanks largely to Eugene, BW has been making significant strides with its Openness & Accountability agenda. Minutes of many meetings are now being published on the web, albeit sometimes with a significant delay. And now there's the British Waterways Advisory Forum, a place for discussion of BW's recent actions and future priorities. Members include IWA, NABO, hNBOC, Sustrans, the National Federation of Anglers, the Steam-Boat Association, the British Horse Society, the International Forum of Duck-Grapplers and countless, countless others. It's not exactly an exclusive membership list. So I asked if the waterways press could come along in a strictly observer-only capacity (noted here). The Forum met last week. No, they decided, we wouldn't be welcome. Openness and accountability only stretches so far. Based on previous experience, then, what will happen is either (a) we'll hear a partial account of the proceedings from a user group with an axe to grind, or (b) you'll suddenly find that a few user group representatives on BWAF are magically doubling up as freelance waterway journalists. The sound you can hear is the sound of me hitting my head repeatedly against a 200-year old brick wall sealed with finest lime mortar. Comments | |
