This BBC article explains that Local Government Associations (LGAs) have banned the used of cliches and jargon in a effort to communicate more clearly with the public. Complete list of banned jargon.

A few quotes from LGA chairman Margaret Eaton:

"The public sector must not hide behind impenetrable jargon and phrases. ... Why do we have to have 'coterminous, stakeholder engagement' when we could just 'talk to people' instead?"

"If a council fails to explain what it does in plain English then
local people will fail to understand its relevance to them or why they
should bother to turn out and vote.

We, of course, love to see this kind of change in communication, especially at the governmental level. 

Episode #3: Online Communities and Fear

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Episode 3, about 30 minutes.

Today's Topic - Fear:

For this episode, we focused on a single topic:  "Business fear of connecting with communities online."  What is it that prevents businesses (especially, it seems, larger ones) from connecting with customers on line.  Is it cultural?  Legal?  Educational?  Our thoughts in here, would love to hear yours...

Episode #4: Recap of the CommunityNext Conference at Stanford

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Episode 4, about 30 minutes.

Today's Topic - CommunityNext:

Jake McKee and Lee LeFever were at the CommunityNext conference over the weekend, a conference focusing on"The Present and Future of Online Communities."  Here's what they saw and heard.  Chris acts as MC.

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  (tags: del.icio.us rss aggregation)
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• cybersoc.com: for sale - The Well
  The Well is for sale. I've been a member for a few months and I'm not surprised. More later.
  (tags: thewell onlinecommunity)
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  Evidence of the growing popularity of Drupal
  (tags: drupal onlinecommunity education cooltools)
• CogDogBlog Conversations: Tree People and Cave Dwellers
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  (tags: onlinecommunity socialdesign alanlevine)

• The September Project: What's your library doing on September 11?
  This is a good cause organized by local friends. More from me soon...
  (tags: library 9/11 activism local septemberproject)

• del.icio.us: tags for two
  We can now send another del.icio.us user bookmarks
  (tags: del.icio.us socialnetworking tagging bookmarking)
• Jon’s Thoughts On Everything: Introducing Flickr For Your Xbox Media Center
  Much like Flickr on TiVo, this is more proof web/tv convergence.
  (tags: flickr xbox convergence)