This is my first post as part of the #weeklyblogclub – a group of people working in local government and with voluntary organisations that have come together to blog (loosely) on similar topics and themes.

In case you’ve found me through the #weeklyblogclub then a bit of background. Until the end of March last year I worked at the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) leading on their work in supporting voluntary organisations to use technology. When I was made redundant I decided to carry on in the same field as a freelancer.

As it’s my first proper day back at work in 2012 I wanted to think about how I might be using technology over the next 12 months, not the usual new year technology predictions, but how I think my personal technology use will evolve and change.

Community reporting

I’m lucky enough to do some work with People’s Voice Media and the fabulous network of community reporters. Seeing (and hearing and reading) their community reporting content always inspires me and makes me want to capture my own stories. I’ve now got a mobile phone that takes fairly decent photos and video so along with using Audioboo to capture audio I’ve got all of the technology in my pocket I need to be a community reporter.

Something I definitely want to capture are the stories from my fellow room guides at the National Trust property I volunteer at. I’m really keen to hear about what they get from being a volunteer and also capture some of their stories about the beautiful rooms we get to tell visitors about every weekend.

Collaborative tools

Now that I’m working with multiple organisations I need to be a bit cleverer in the way I share, collaborate and work on documents. I do it pretty well at the moment using free tools such as Google Docs and Dropbox but I’m sure there are ways of using them more effectively, meaning I’m making better use of my time. One of the areas I’d like to look at particularly is how I make better use of travelling time (except when I’m on my bike of course).

Location apps

I’m quite a fan of location services, particulary Foursquare, probably more because it feels like doing a big treasure hunt than for anything business related. One of the reasons I haven’t made more use of them in the past has been the rubbishness of my phone but now I have my new shiney I’m hoping I’ll be able to discover more new places – and people? – when I’m out and about.

So, that’s me. How do you think you’ll be using technology differently over the coming year?