We’re pleased to say that some of the mySociety team will be in Birmingham on Wednesday 6th August for the latest mySociety meet-up.

These meet-ups are for anyone who’s interested in what we do and in digital democracy and civic coding in general.

Even if you’re not interested, coming along to hear our fabulous speakers might get you interested, and we like that.

If you’d like to chat to our developers about using or contributing to the code that runs our websites, or you’d like to ask us about our current projects, then you’ll be coming to the right place – we’ll be happy to answer any questions.

This month, we’re really pleased to be joined by the following speakers:

Nick Booth: Nick is Managing Director of Podnosh, a former BBC political reporter and television and radio documentary maker.

Podnosh was established in 2005, initially to make to make the Grassroots Channel podcast for the Birmingham Community Empowerment Network. Podnosh’s mission is to change the way the public and the public sector talk to each other and has grown from a brand which makes podcasts to a business which understands and helps people use social media for social good, and is developing tools to help organsiations capture their impact.

Nick will speak about the Social Media Surgery movement he accidentally founded, which won a Big Society award in 2012.

Peter Hicks: Peter is the creator of OpenTrainTimes.com and is an open rail data pioneer.

Open Train Times displays real time arrival and departure information for each train company, helping passengers to plan their journeys. It also features track diagrams displaying the location of trains between signals.

Peter will talk about his experiences using railway data feeds and the significance of National Rail Enquiries’ opening up of their real-time platform.

Zarino Zappia: Our very own Zarino (one of our Designer superheroes) will talk about some of mySociety’s current design priorities, including a redesign of TheyWorkForYou.com.

So come along to hear some fantastic speakers and to talk about civic tech in Birmingham and beyond. We hope to meet you there!

When: Wednesday 6th August, 6pm – 9pm
Where: The Wellington, Function Room on 1st Floor, 37 Bennett’s Hill, Birmingham, West Midlands B2 5SN
How: Add your name to the Lanyrd page: http://lanyrd.com/czbtf, so we know you’re coming.
Who: Anyone who fancies it.

NB: Look out for Gemma (who’ll be wearing a mySociety t-shirt) who will show you up to the function room.  Watch our Twitter stream on @mySociety to check for last minute advice if we have moved venues for unforseen reasons.

Photo by Neil Howard (CC)