Suw Charman
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| Suw Charman | |
|---|---|
 Suw Charman |
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| Born | April 15, 1971 Bournemouth, Dorset, UK |
| Occupation | Journalist, Writer, Consultant |
| Nationality | UK |
| Spouse(s) | Kevin Anderson (journalist) (2008-present) |
Suw Charman is the former Executive Director of the Open Rights Group, a campaign group based in London. She is also a journalist, social software consultant, blogger and public speaker[1]. On February 15th, 2008 she married Kevin Anderson (journalist).
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[edit] Early career
Charman's journalism career began whilst studying at Cardiff University, working on both student newspaper Gair Rhydd and Geology department newsletter Jollyologist [2]. After graduating with a BSc in Geology, Charman's career headed toward writing and research. Early jobs involved assisting editorial for the Current Biology publishing house, whilst spending her spare time producing a fanzine for the then popular band Radiohead. This led to two years at the music magazine Melody Maker, working freelance, contributing features for the Music-Geek section, The Works, on topics as diverse as A&R, gear and the inner legal workings of the industry. It was this work that led her to pen features for trade magazines such as Total Production and Pro Sound News.
By the end of 1998, Charman found herself caught up in the Dot-com bubble, building websites for local businesses, focusing on content production, design and construction of the sites. This quickly led to a 9 month project within PriceWaterhouseCoopers, working in an in-house studio, contributing to an internal e-business awareness project entitled "Enlighten". She then moved to work with Hutchinson 3G within the Internal Communications and E-learning Teams, working on improving help and information within the business.
[edit] Welsh projects
Charman's work with Wales continues today. By April 1998 she had learnt Welsh, prompting her to start Clwb Malu Cachu three years later, in April 2001. In August 2002 she founded Y Ffynhonnell Ltd, her Get Fluent business providing Welsh learning materials to subscribers via email. This continued to good success till the end of 2003, where, with development funding difficult to secure, she returned to professional writing.
Her love for Welsh projects continues in her free time, with Clwb Malu Cachu an active presence on the Welsh language scene.
[edit] Social media
Charman has her own personal weblog, Chocolate and Vodka, started in June 2002. This name grew from her love of both vices, however topics quickly surpassed these, with commentary on the Blogosphere, social issues and politics growing her audience. Since then, she added a professional blog under the Corante label in July 2004, named Strange Attractor. She still edits and posts to both, the latter with her husband Kevin.
Her success as a blogger led her to a Social Software consulting business, including producing the BlogOn Conference in New York City, in 2005. She has worked for companies such as MSN, BUPA, Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, Socialtext, Jackie Cooper PR, De Montfort University and the BBC News Interactive service, performing a variety of tasks from training to consulting. She often talks about blogging for business[3].
Her work can be found in print, in the Uses of Blogs book, published in June 2006 and as a section in the Blog Marketing book by Jeremy Wright[4].
[edit] Activism
Her work online has led her to explore the issues surrounding rights and responsibilities online, which she has frequently written about. Most notably, she penned an article for The Guardian in 2004 exploring the truth behind file sharing and the music industry[5]. She also has written for Linux User and Developer discussing digital rights[6].
In 2005, she co-founded the Open Rights Group[7], leading the project as Executive Director within its infancy. As a founder of ORG, she has commented on a wide variety of issues dealing with ownership and new media[8][9].
[edit] References
- ^ Jack of all trades, master of the ORG, Information World Review, 2006-11-13
- ^ Career Summary, suw.org.uk, March 2007
- ^ MSN Blogging Report, suw.org.uk, November 2005
- ^ Blog Marketing, amazon.com, 2007-08-20
- ^ Listen to the flip side, The Guardian, 2004-07-22
- ^ Linux-User columns, suw.org.uk, Summer 2006
- ^ UK Digital Rights Group sets up, BBC News Online, 2005-09-09
- ^ MPs in digital downloads warning, BBC News Online, June, 2006
- ^ Phone Co's and rights activists round on Clark, The Register, 9-9-2005
