About Feltysurface
This is the personal blog for Michelle Tabet, freelance consultant in the realms of placemaking, leadership development and facilitation. My professional ambition is to support teams in delivering better built outcomes to contribute to a richer urban experience. Previous Director of Innovation and Change at Right Angle Studio and Senior Strategic Designer at Arup, my experience spans a wide range of urban regeneration projects in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and the US.
These are my personal thoughts that I am sharing with the world. Let me know what you think!
felty surface 
Great piece. Would like some more information on this project. At the OECD (www.oecd.org/edu/facilities and http://www.oecd.org/edu/imhe/regionaldevelopment ) we share some interest.
As soon as I detected this site I went on reddit to share some of the love with them.
I like the efforts you have put in this, appreciate it for all the great posts.
Thank you for a very interesting talk yesterday in Kinglake Central, Vic. As one of the pre-mobile phone (pre-computers even) generation, I struggle to convince myself that social media will remain powerful long term. I think it is useful and should be part of the mix, but dangerous (worrying) to think it could replace direct communication as it already seems to have done with many people.
I was the one who spoke to you of “OurSay” that worked so brilliantly in Daylesford (close to where I live), Mo Corbett
Hi Mo,
Thanks for taking the time to find my blog and to comment! You raise some interesting points and it is good to hear you’ve had a positive experience with some of the newer platforms that are being adopted by your council.
Regarding your comment that social media is fast replacing all other forms of communication, I have my doubts about how true that is. Research into social media and social networks shows that people use online platforms to connect better in real life. Others use it to create communities that could never exist physically, which is a positive in and of itself.
As I underlined during my presentation, my point of view is that social media is another layer of communication that creates that additional redundancy of communication channels. And sometimes the good old radio is more effective at that, especially in regions like king lake that have surprisingly bad 3G and 4G connectivity.
I am pleased that ‘Our Say’ has been such a positive experience for you. I think there is a lot of potential in that line of platform, my word of precaution would be around the ways in which expectations are managed through that kind of forum. Also, it cannot completely replace engagement in the physical world.
Thanks for your thoughts,
Michelle
In the context of bushfires when I heard you say ‘radio’ I thought CB radio, then realised you meant radio broadcasting. I agree that radio is essential to keep for communication, with the comment that during the bushfire season (and I live in a very vulnerable area) I can’t listen to the radio because they sensationalise any fire (I just want to facts), and require you to listen to sport (or mindless chatter) in between reports on fires. I would prefer a dedicated Bushfire radio station with triggers as to which days it would broadcast. Then all those great talks we heard yesterday could be aired in between reports .. keep it relevant…
Just a comment, no need to reply,
Thanks, Mo