Over the past few months, Nick Booth has been busying himself with a website to bring together elements of work he's been doing for the last 18 months or so. Social Media Surgery Plus is a website that helps people find groups of people who can help them understand how the social web can affect and improve their not-for-profit organisation.
Last year I cast away my usual shyness - yes, I am shy - and became a "surgeon" for a night, at an early event held at the BVSC in Digbeth. Mostly I just chatted to some people from Kings Heath, but I had a good time and completely understood the valur of the event. For months, the surgeries lived online at Paradise Circus, but now they have their own dedicated home, built by Josh Hart.
If you're unsure, a social media surgery is a relatively informal way of sitting down with someone who can help you understand anything from how to filter spam comments on a blog, to developing a Twitter strategy. Anyone, as long as they represent a not-for-profit or public sector organisation, is welcome. SMS+ is a really easy way to find these events.
It's still in beta, but the signup process works (it's really friendly too), and finding surgeries to attend is a doddle.
Well done to Nick, Andrew and Josh, and also a big "yay" to Claire Hartley at Substrakt who created the SMS+ brand!