As mentioned in an earlyer post, danish companies are just about to discover corporate blogging as a coomunication tool with many purposes. However, the picture is slightly different when you consider the danish music business. Every band with worth mentioning has a profile on Myspace, and here blogging is a very central feature. Bands of all kinds use blogging to reach their audience and to make the audience feel like a part of the bandlife. It has become one of the most important ways to mobilize an audience and to create a hype in the music business. More important than the website itself. And no wonder! It's the perfect way to communicate with fans, giving them a chance to see what is going on when the band is not on stage. And in the long process of making a record, it's a perfect way to remain contact with the audience.

For example I have a friend who plays in the danish band Entakt. They are just about to to finish their debut album, and that's what takes most of his time right now. But I feel like i'm allmost with him and the rest of the band during the proces, as I follow them on their weblog. Through their many activities on different blogs, they have created a great interest in their product before it's even finished. Not bad. Not bad at all. I think we could all learn something...

Under et foredrag for en gruppe efterskoleforstandere i sidste uge, var dagens tema efterskolernes fremtidige udfordringer. Diskussionen kom selvfølgelig også til at handle om den politiske situation og den uvished, landets efterskoler må forholde sig til lige nu. Hvad skal der ske med 10. klasse? Og bliver der i fremtiden stillet nye undervisningskrav til elever i 9. klasse? Og hvilke konsekvenser kan det få for efterskolernes undervisningstilbud i fremtiden?

I rapporten "Hvorfor efterskole - og hvorfor ikke?" kan vi blandt andet konkludere at mange unge ikke ved hvad det vil sige at gå på efterskole, og derfor i mange tilfælde anser det som spild af tid. Det samme må gøre sig gældende for de politikere, der ser det som deres fornemmeste opgave at få sluset de unge igennem uddannelsessystemet hurtigst muligt. Fælles for dem er at de ikke ser nogen værdi i det ekstra år, unge tilbringer på en efterskole. Modningsprocessen, de sociale konpetencer, udvinklingen af evnen til at indgå relationer, forståelsen for andre mennesker. Det er svært at måle og veje værdien af et efterskoleophold, og heri ligger også en udfordring for  efterskolerne i fremtiden.

Spørgsmålet efterskolerne skal stille sig selv er det samme som alle organisationer skal stille sig selv: Hvorfor er denne organisation sat i verden? Hvad er det vi kan, som gør en forskel? Hvad er det der gør os uundværlige? Med andre ord: Hvad er vores eksistensberettigelse? Og vigtigere endnu - svaret skal ud over rampen! Der ligger tydeligvis en udfordring i at få både politikere og potentielle efterskoleelever/forældre til at se efterskolernes eksistensberettigelse i fremtiden. 

Efterskolerne har brug for et fælles projekt. Et projekt der i praksis viser at efterskolerne går en forskel. Både for enkelte elev, men især på samfundsplan. Et muligt projekt, som også kort var oppe ogvend under foredraget, er at efterskolerne gør en samlet og koordineret indsats for at fremme integrationen af unge med anden etninsk baggrund. Højskolerne har netop fået tildelt økononmiske midler til at løfte en del af opgaven. Det viser at projektet har politisk opbakning og hjælper til at løse et problem, der har politikernes bevågenhed, og det kan hjælpe til at ændre fokus fra hvordan efterskoler står i vejen for uddannelsespolitiske målsætninger til hvordan efterskoler kan hjælpe bidrage til løsningen af integrationsproblematikker.

Projektet har alle muligheder for at få efterskolerne på både politikernes og mediernes dagsorden. Det er netop hvad efterskolerne har brug for nu for at få en styrket position i den politiske debat. Projektet kan have mange former og formål. Det vigtige er at efterskolerne bliver enige om et fælles projekt, der konkretiserer skoleformens eksistensberettigelse i samfundet i dag. Engang var én af efterskolens store opgaver at give de unge på landet en sidste dannelsesrejse inden de begyndte deres arbejdsliv i landbruget. Hvad er efterskolernes fornnemmeste opgave i dag?   

These helmets seem to be girls biggest protest against scooters. Now that I have tried these things on several times, I think it's time to introduce some light and shade into the helmet discussion.

- Yes, helmets are not suitable for any hairstyle! But as long as you keep it simple, it's not like your hair is all messed up, wet and greasy or anything.

- No, the shop assistents don't laugh at you when you go into a store, wearing your helmet (at least not to you face). I have been to several shops, wearing my helmet, just to see if they would collapse in laughter. They didn't.

- Yes, it's quite difficult to say hello to an old friend, unless you can get off with a handshake. Kisses on the cheeks are out of the question - I've tried.

- No, I don't take my helmet off very often, once it's on! I sometimes forget that I'm wearing a helmet, untill other people point out that I look a bit funny. So...

- Yes, I look funny wearing a helmet, but I don't mind. I probably made someones day...

As a part of an target group research carried out for a scooter supplier, we now have four scooters here at Stagis. And I can say for sure, it's a big hit among the girls here at the bureau.

Personally, I had my first scooter expererience the other night when I was going to a restaurant in another part of town, where I was supposed to meet my boyfriend and his parents. So I went there on a scooter.

I think I actually laughed all the way through town that evening. I can't explain why driving a scooter is so much fun, but it is. A bit scary at first - I think that I'm not the only girl who has a potential fear of things with a motor - but after a couple of minutes I was familiar with the simple scooter features, and was actually able to enjoy the ride.

I got to the restaurant so fast that I ended up arriving just in time, even though I thought I was late. Parked my scooter right in front of the restaurant (no problems finding a parking space with this little baby), removed the helmet and went into the restaurant. Part of my mission was to see if it was possible to arrive at the restaurant in a reasonably condition. I think it went well. Mission accomplished. I managed to wear a dress (that only blow up a couple of times!!!). My hair was not as flat as I was afraid of. But tjeck out the before and after pictures and see for your self.

More pictures are on their way!

The other day I was looking for a specific jeans brand on the google website, but in stead of the official brand website, I enterede a lot of chatrooms, personal weblogs and so on. And that was when I realised a couple of things. First of all I didn't allways understand the language that was used in these different forums and weblogs. It's quite funny to get an insight in the teenage language usage, like 'Det var bare ace at være i Tivoli' - oh, I sound like my parents right now! But anyway, it made me think about communicating with young people, which is very much on my mind right now with the report being published and all. Not that I have to adopt the language (that wouldn't be very authentic, right?) but at least I think I need to understand this language to really understand the young people today. What they think, how they communicate with each other and so on.

That day I discovered a brand new world to me: duscussion forums, where young girls exchange opinions and experiences about almost everything. In this specific case it was all about fashion and trends. In stead of asking their friends about tips and tricks, they use these large networks to explore the world of fashion, for example. I think there are many good reaons to tjeck out these sites. You get to know what is going on in teenagers lives (in case you forgot). You get a pretty good indication of what is hot and what is not seen from a teenage perspective. And you get to see how they communicate and use each other in new netbased networks. You can even intervene in the debate, if you wish. No matter what, I think you should go on this trip to a different world - starting with the links above. It's quite fun!

Beslutningen om at tage på efterskole bliver ikke taget fra den ene dag til den anden. Der ligger mange overvejelser bag, og i den proces er det især efterskolernes hjemmesider der står for skud. Det er her både elever og forældre søger hen for at få et indtryk af de enkelte skoler.

Det betyder også at efterskolernes hjemmeside udgør den vigtigste kontakt med omverdenen. Spørgsmålet er om hjemmesidernes potentiale bliver udnyttet fuldt ud?

Den traditionelle hjemmeside indeholder en præsentation af efterskolen og dens undervisningstilbud. Hvis de kommende elever eller nysgeerige forældre vil vide mere, kan de ringe, skrive eller besøge skolen. Hvad mange glemmer er at hjemmesiden indeholder muligheden for at komme i dialog med de besøgende.

En måde at få skabt rammer for dialog på skolens hjemmeside er ved at oprette en weblog. Webloggen er en selvstændig hjemmeside, hvor elever og skolens ansatte kan skrive indlæg om skolelivets små og store oplevelser. Her er det så også muligt for interesserede udefra at få et godt indblik i skolelivet, samtidig med at de selv har mulighed for at stille spørgsmål eller komme med kommentarer.

Webloggen er efterskolernes mulighed for at holde fingeren på pulsen. Hvad tænker de kommende efterskoleelever? Og hvad tænker deres forældre? Hvordan bliver skolen opfattet af andre udefra? Og så er det samtidig chancen for at give hjemmesidens besøgende en oplevelse af hvad det vil sige at være på efterskole. Hvordan ser der ud? Hvad laver eleverne i løbet af dagen? Hvad bliver der serveret til aftensmad? Hvad synes eleverne om at være på efterskole, og har de hjemve?

One of the main conclusions in the new Stagis report "Hvorfor efterskole - og hvorfor ikke?" is that the main condition for choosing the continuation school life is that you know what this kind of life is all about. What's it like to live far away from your parents? What activities is offered? And what's the food like? This kind of knowledge is difficult to pass on through masscommunication channels like brochures, standard websites etc. This will not make young people feel the unique atmosphere of the school or smell the room that belongs to two teenage boys.

Far from all young people have a family member or a close friend that has been to a continuation school, but it's possible to get ALMOST the same experience through other kinds of communication channels. It's all about creating a space for relations between continuation school students and potential students. A weblog is an obvious example. Here present students can write about all aspects of the everyday life, and potential students can get an authentic impression of the school in question. What better way to tell about the school than through the present students?

To pick up on the headline on this post, I think that both masscommunication channels and interpersonal communication channels have their advantages and limitations. Mass communication channels are suitable for general messages that needs to get through to a big audience, but when it comes to influence or change opinions about something, interpersonal communication channels are much more effective. Blogging is not what is normally associated with interpersonal communication, but the idea is to get as close to the face-to-face communication as possible. And I think this can be considered pretty close. Close enough to make a more qualified choise of whether or not to go to a continuation school.

It's obvious that wearing a helmet is a big deal. But I think it's all about the haircut. I don't see Sinead O'Connor having any trouble.
It's only a matter of time untill Bree Van De Kamp is seen on one of these up and coming things - even a helmet wouldn't mess up her her flawless look. If Bree can wear a helmet, everyone can.

Some people don't even need helmets.

Scooters are not that bad, if you choose the right hair to go with it. Maybe hairdressers are the key to overcome the fact that girls fear to get their hair messed up. Perhaps we should make them invent some hairdos that are suitable for helmets.

Finally!!! Just this morning, we put the finishing touches to the book. The report concerning continuation schools (efterskoler) is ready for press. It took us all night (but what a funny, strange, inspirering and absurd night), I still havn't closed my eyes and I bump into everything. In return I think it has been worth the trouble. The man at the printing house was very impressed about our work, when he recieved the prints this morning. But then again, he was facing two giggling girls who hadn't had a sleep for over 24 hours and who didn't seem able to even write a greating card. But we did, and I think it went well, actually. And this comes from a person, who had a score of 0(!!!), when the Stagis employees took an optimism test together a couple of weeks ago. Unfortunately, I'm too tired to write about the main points at this moment, but if there's any questions...

I once came across the american author Robert Putnam in my early studies at Roskilde University Center. In his book 'Bowling alone' he is talking about how the americans are no longer doing anything together - they are even bowling alone! And this, he says, is a problem because the face-to-face interaction between people is the one thing that makes everything work - also on a higher institutional level. So a couple of weeks ago when I was asked to arrange a lets-get-together-and-get-to-know-each-other evening, the first thing I thought of was: What better way to shake people together and create these interpersonal relations than to go bowling? Of course in the danish version with beers, ugly shoes and everything. So now you all know, Stagis people. Really, you participated in a social experiment that night, but what do you think of the result? Beside the fact that we had a great time!!!