Employee Co-operatives Council

So, even though I’m relatively new to a lot of the Co-operative movement having only been running Co-op Web for the last 3 years with a small stint in Midcounties / OSG for a couple of years before that, I’ve decided to put myself forward for election to the Employee Co-operative Council (ECC).   ECC is a group that meets to discuss issues & policy affecting worker co-operatives / employee owned businesses as part of Co-operatives UK which is the apex organisation for Co-operatives in the UK. 

I very interested in bringing some new ideas to the council and at the same time I realise that I still have things to learn about the wider Co-operative movement.  One of the things that seems simple and obvious to me is that there is a wealth of technology out there that could be used to better connect Co-operatives with their members.  Twitter is a great example for getting ideas on opinion, and creating dialogue between people in a fairly instant way.  Blogs, wiki’s, facebook, linkedin…  The list goes on & from what I’ve seen there is less take-up of these kinds of things within the Co-operative movement than I think there should be. 

It’s not just connecting with members either.  When we started Co-operative Web it was with the ideals of there being a better & fairer way to run an IT business.  Part of doing that was so that I could shout about Co-operatives and the principles to hopefully educate more people about what a co-operative actually is (see my post on how a lot people view us as a Co-operative as an example) and why it is better.  Again, technology is a great way of doing this and reaching out to a wide audience.  I realise technology isn’t always the answer, but something that can be operated in tandem with other initiatives to get more of the message out there.

I’m not sure I expect to get in on my first attempt as there are a number of names on there which I (and a lot of the general Co-operative movement) will recognise & vote for.  Rightly so as some of them have done some really good work for the movement in general as well as their own co-operative endeavours.   But it’s a step for me personally in the right direction as I try and get more involved with a movement that I feel passionately about.

If you are a Co-operatives UK member, and would like to vote for me then I thank you for your support.  If you have any questions that would help you make up your mind then feel free to email me (ed.russell at web.coop) or find me on twitter (@edrussell).