Hello, I’m Gez, and I’m interested in connecting people with information, and information with people.
My work online
I’ve worked in the field of ‘e-democracy’ or online engagement and consultation for the last 10 years or so, for both the public and private sectors.
I started off by studying Philosophy and Politics at Bristol University, UK and Rutgers University, USA, before taking a Masters in Politics back at Bristol University once more.
After interning at a few think tanks, I worked in research and consultation at Bristol City Council, then for the council on the Government’s 2004 ‘National Project for Local e-Democracy’, probably the start of the the UK public sector moving towards engaging with people online.
From that, I moved on to have an awesome time for 6 years working at Delib Ltd, advising on and designing some of the most important and successful online consultation and engagement projects of the last decade. I worked with clients like 10 Downing Street, The Cabinet Office, Department of Health, The BBC Trust, NHS London and tons of Local Authorities amongst many others.
Some of my work involved training clients directly in online engagement, and for a few years I was a regular speaker at Consultation Institute training events as well. My last work at Delib was working directly with 15 UK Government Departments to design the UK’s first open source online engagement platform, which is still going strong. You can read more about the work I’ve done here.
Me in the media
I’ve always enjoyed working with the media, ever since I was photographed for my local paper alongside the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles when I was 11.
Since then, I’ve featured in every single national UK newspaper, have appeared on radio stations such as Radio 1, Radio 5 Live, Radio 4, even co-hosting with Lauren Laverne on BBC 6 Music. TV wise, you may have seen me on Channel 4 News, the BBC Daily Politics, ITV and my crowning glory, Bargain Hunt with David Dickinson.
Me in politics
You can’t study politics for 5 years without giving it a try, and I gave it a go for a few years with the Liberal Democrats. I learned a lot, and ended up elected as the national chair of the party’s youth wing, running an organisation of 3,000 volunteers, and was also appointed as a deputy president of the party nationally.
I moved on though, and realised I could achieve more of what I believed in through my work online. So, I left the party in 2006, and have been genuinely politically neutral ever since, working with all three major UK parties at one time or another.
In 2007 I was also appointed by the Government to its National e-Democracy Working Group, chaired by The Rt Hon Hazel Blears MP, a top group that was sadly brought down by politics elsewhere. I’ve been back since though, advising the new government on its approach to SME’s in the IT Industry and so forth.
Me outside of all of this
I live online pretty much, and have done for years, but I like to keep busy at the same time. I started blogging back in 2002, and for a couple of years recently I setup and ran one of the best read blogs in the UK on Graffiti and Street Art. More recently, I’ve been volunteering for Worthy FM, the onsite radio station of Glastonbury Festival, building their website and social media strategy, as well as presenting a few shows during the festival itself.
