Reading Roars!

I was pretty stunned to read that Network Rail bosses are to receive six-figure bonuses.  I don’t like seeing executives rewarded for failure anyway, but this really stung.  The UK rail travel experience is often unpleasant and horrendously expensive.

Fortunately, if you feel similarly frustrated, you can have your say this coming Tuesday evening, as Network Rail and First Great Western’s managing director will be in Reading and taking questions from the public.  The event is a Reading Borough Council Scrutiny Panel meeting, held at 7pm in the Council Chamber, Civic Offices.  

What might FGW and NR expect?  Here are just 5 issues (emboldened), taken from Twitter (and no, I didn’t write these):

• My #fgw train looks like it’s going to be 30 mins late. Which means two train-loads of passengers in one train. Joy!
• The #FGW website sucks balls. Oh and so does the CrossCountry one. It’s amazing how difficult it is to buy train tickets.
• #fgw providing another filthy overcrowded service from Reading (17:57). Sitting in 1st class with a cattle-class ticket as revenge.
• Oh God no AC on train D: Worst Late Western I hate you. #fgw #firstgreatwestern #worstlatewestern

It’s worth stressing that these opportunities don’t happen very often.  The last scrutiny meeting with FGW was almost exactly one year ago.  FGW then gave us buzzword-heavy presentations and passionate words were spoken from the audience. 

Whether you feel angry about FGW services or simply love a good game of bullshit bingo, Tuesday night promises to be special.

Like Reading’s blogosphere, the town’s Twitterverse is flourishing. 

I believe we now have what can be described as a legitimate Reading identity (or strands of identity) on Twitter, shaped by 4 key developments:

1. #rdg was created
2. #rdgtweetup event and corresponding hashtag were created
3. Journalists from getreading/Reading Post and Reading Chronicle joined Twitter
4. Reading Chronicle and getreading/Reading Post began using #rdgnews to publish news, following advice from the Twitter community

The #rdg hashtag has really taken off; Twitterers are increasingly adopting it in their messages (though one or two Twitter users have been lambasted for using it inappropriately). 

Similarly, #rdgtweetup (described by influential Twitterer Amy Kate as an event “about fun, socializing and networking”) continues to grow. 

I attended #rdgtweetup for the first time last Wednesday evening at the Pitcher & Piano (the event takes place at the same location every two weeks).  There were about 16 people in attendance, divided into what appeared to be two camps.  Conversation wasn’t restricted to all things geeky and there were few gadgets in sight. 

If leading influencers such as local press people and councillors join #rdgtweetup in future, exciting things might happen.  I don’t think we’re far off.

The recent emergence of Reading Chronicle and getreading/Reading Post journalists on Twitter trumped in significance (in my mind, anyway) changes introduced lately such as 60 Second News.  They are now engaging with their readers on the realtime web. 

Last week, a discussion unfolded about the use of the #rdg hashtag (conventionally used for Reading-themed conversations) for disseminating local news, resulting in the birth of #rdgnews.  Read the following exchanges (in reverse chronological order, with the newest tweet top):

JimAnning: @getreading Ta - pleased that theres now a great one-stop-shop for local #rdg news at #rdgnews - looking forward to seeing how it develops 

getreading: Happy to use #rdgnews from now on for general getreading feeds. We will only use #rdg for breaking news and big events listings. Happy? 

JimAnning: @getreading had gd conv with @rdgchronicle - they’ve moved their feed to #rdgnews - keeping #rdg for other stuff + urgent breaking news

getreading: @JimAnning We feed stories which we think will interest people in #rdg We don’t put everything up - v. interested in feedback 

getreading: #Rdg West MP Martin Salter ‘texting’ during debate http://bit.ly/IGmEZ (expand) 

amykate: people of #rdg do you all use tweettabs to track #rdg #rdgnews and #rdgtweetup? http://tweettabs.com/ - try it, works great 

JimAnning: Top marks to @rdgchronicle for engaging with the #rdg twitter community and moving their newsfeed to #rdgnews

craigyd: Am actually a lil annoyed with @rdgchronicle suddenly hijacking the #rdg tag…. If I want the news i’ll follow you. Thats what you do…

JimAnning: Glad to see @rdgchronicle engaging in debate on how to best use #rdg hashtag: @getreading - whats your view?

rdgchronicle: Hmmm. #rdg hashtag debate slightly academic at the mo actually as, erm, Twitterfeed appears to have fallen over. It wasn’t us. Probably.

akamike: @rdgchronicle As @TheSourceress suggested perhaps an #rdgnews tag would be better, #rdg for breaking news only (like @JimAnning’s example)

akamike: @davidjohnpowell I think in that case it is fine to use #rdg, as long as it isn’t a constant barrage of self-promotion.

getreading: #Rdg West MP Martin Salter deep in thought during the debate to choose the new Speaker of the Commons… http://tinyurl.com/mf2zv2 (expand)

rdgchronicle: #rdg hashtag debate then. Would ppl prefer us to keep it off our Twitterfeed stuff and keep it for pure breaking news risking duplication?

akamike: @TheSourceress @JimAnning I suppose. While #rdg doesn’t get a huge amount of use now, it could expand. #rdgnews sounds good to me!

TheSourceress: @JimAnning Careful Jim - don’t start a panic! #rdg

davidjohnpowell: @JimAnning @TheSourceress @akamike What if you want to publicise somthing in #rdg?

JimAnning: @TheSourceress @akamike agree - perhaps keep #rdg for more personal stuff - or for urgent breaking news - like ‘entire town on fire’

akamike: @TheSourceress Fair enough they are sharing a lot of links to their site but they are related to #rdg. No where near as bad as @HabitatUK

akamike: @TheSourceress I may be missing something here but isn’t the #rdg tag for that use? Information/news for Reading? I don’t see how it is spam

TheSourceress: Loving the way that @rdgchronical ignores us all and continues to spam the #rdg hashtag via twitterfeed - very classy!

The prolific political blogger Oranjepan has published an interesting (and unique, I believe) analysis of the Berkshire blogosphere.

Oranjepan compiled a list of most influential Berkshire blogs in June 2009 (based on Wikio rankings), with John Redwood’s Diary in top position. The other titles in the top 5 were listed as Boulton & Co., Mark Reckons, Richard Willis’s Blog and Redlands Libdems. Oranjepan’s own blog (Reading List) occupied 6th place. 

Other influential blogs such as Scary Duck, MuckspReading (now discontinued) and Jane’s the one (now moved) were mentioned in the analysis, and Oranjepan concluded by summing up the local political blog landscape as follows:

In total Reading List records 9 Conservative bloggers, 8 Liberal Democrat, 5 Green Party, 2 Libertarian, 1 Liberty & Solidarity Party, 1 Common Sense Party and 1 Independent blogger in addition to the 4 ‘celebrity’, 4 ‘comedy’ and other unaffiliated, non-partisan sites. Reading List also claims two national journalist sites which fit the description of a blog.

Workhouse Coffee’s Greg Costello is going from strength to strength.

Tomorrow he’s flying to Dublin to sit an exam that will certify him as a SCAE Gold Cup Brewmaster and then, next week, he’s off to Cologne “to look at more coffee rig stuff”.

Finally, Workhouse Coffee will undergo a makeover in July (please don’t lose the map, Greg!).

Keen observers of this blog will notice that there are 5 tweets displayed in the sidebar.

These entries are the latest results based on a Twitter search for #rdg, a popular hashtag used to group Reading tweets together.

Still on the microblogging theme, Reading Post journalists now have a Twitter presence:

• Reading Post: @getreading
• Leigh Mencarini : @LeMencs
• Jonny Fordham: @JonnyFordham

Stuck for pub ideas on a rainy Saturday afternoon in Oxford, I turned to Twitter and received two replies:

tempted to try a third Oxford pub. On my own, so a bit sad, no?
3:01 PM Jun 6th from mobile web

@mattbrady Suggest the Royal Blenheim on St Ebbes. Best real ale pub in Oxford, sloe gin, mean chilli con carne
3:08 PM Jun 6th from mobile web

@mattbrady Gloucester Arms!
Jun 6th from mobile web

Might this blend of Twitter and tourism be called… Twourism?

One of Reading’s most entertaining and popular blogs, the highly satirical MuckspReading, has moved on to the digital other side.  It is disappointing to see its passing, though the decision to discontinue the project is understandable.

There is a need for satire (especially as local politics can feel a little dry) and I’m hoping that a new blog, independently managed, will emerge to fulfill this important role. 

As MuckspReading’s Mick Spreader (which may or may not be the author’s real name) wrote:

Since muckspReading was set up, Reading now has a burgeoning local blog network so hopefully someone else will take up the mantle of poking fun at the pompous, the smug and the jobsworths of Reading and continue to expose lies and hypocrisy where they see it. Don’t leave it to the press!

Would anyone have an old picture or two of town centre pub Blagrave Arms that they could share with me (please)?

The reason I ask is because an email arrived in my inbox from somebody in the US, who shares the Blagrave name, requesting information on the history of the pub.

European champions Barcelona will be training for a week in late July at Bisham Abbey, near Reading, before taking part in the Wembley Cup tournament, writes the Telegraph.

A few days later, Barça’s old nemesis Chelsea, now managed by Carlo Ancelotti, will meet Reading at the Madejski for a pre-season friendly, according to the Reading Post.