Almost the last blog of the year, methinks, so a round-up of all the news and views from the past couple of weeks in the world of social enterprise and entrepreneurship….and general affiliated stuff. Long overdue, through a combination of ill health, deadlines and travel, so here goes:

– I was at SSE Liverpool last Thursday, and it was great to see the progress the students have made, and that the SSE itself is making, under the guidance of Sylvia Pearson and Claire Dove at Blackburne House. And, of course, I must report the news that Claire is the new Chair of the Social Enterprise Coalition: great news, and a real signal of intent from SEC.

– 5 tips for socially responsible start-ups includes "Don’t let your mission cloud your vision", although being the Xmas season, there’s probably a few other things clouding the vision right now…

– Rod Schwartz has some interesting reflections from Catalyst’s latest conference for Social Business CEOs

– Can’t remember if I mentioned this before, but Barack Obama called for a "social entrepreneur agency to make sure that small non-profits have the same kind of support that we give small businesses" in a recent speech; see you in Washington

– Bill Drayton of Ashoka is named one of America’s top 25 leaders, along with Oprah, of course

– Stifle that yawn: the quest to be the new Facebook / MySpace / LinkedIn / social network of this sector/movement continues; see this article on Razoo, this article on MyCharityPage (the sector’s Facebook apparently, although if the site was up and running, it might be easier to judge…) and UnLtdWorld, which is now opening up; reviews to follow in the New Year.

– Jeff Trexler is always readable, wherever he’s blogging, and his post on Social Enterprise and the Recency Illusion is well worth your time: "What is new…is not so much the underlying structure as our awareness of the metaphor itself". Quite.

– Rob Greenland has kicked up a debate about bottom-up (in communities) vs. top-down (outside of communities) regeneration via a post on Ernesto Sirolli. Check out the comments….

– The Council for Social Action met for the first time….

And finally, for all those working with a miserable colleague this winter (i.e. anyone working with me this past week), check out Work Happy: 25 tips to improve your mood when people around you are miserable