Location: Washington DC

Topic: Build and Nurture Global Online Communities

Description: Is creating a global online community important to reaching and engaging with your association’s constituents or members? Are you interested in using an online tool, but have yet to try it yourself? This session will explore why several associations have chosen to use virtual options for building their international communities and what they have learned. Learn how virtual options will help your organization engage internationally, and discover some of the available tools and partnerships for building communities. You’ll also take part in an open discussion to learn what fellow attendees have experienced.

Related Links:

• ASAE International
• Presentation slides

As a community organizer and network weaver myself, I am incredibly excited by the #OccupyWallStreet movement that started in New York just over three months ago now (on September 17th) in response to a failing federal economy and political process that impact local, national, and international markets. In less than a month, over 1,700 other cities started Occupy events – both in solidarity to the thousands protesting around the clock in New York’s financial district, and with a loud voice that these issues are not unique to the US. The “leaderless” organizing of the Occupy Wall Street movement has helped avoid strategic arrests or censorship but has also prompted a powerful use of social technologies.

Online Homebase

Over the past few years, the use of social technologies during disaster response has become a central component to news and information delivery. One key element is the use of an online homebase. We are now seeing this put to great use with #OWS. There are many free online website and content creation tools available. Creating a space where you can collect and aggregate the news, content, and updates of your movement is important for people to better understand, follow, and join you. It doesn’t have to be fancy (remember: less is more) – it just needs to pull all the pieces together for your community.

Brought to you Live

The power of “now” is what makes something go from news, to breaking news. Thankfully for members of #OWS, there are various tools to livestream events, just from your mobile phone. The livestream – whether it’s video, audio, or just text – can be embedded in your online homebase and shared across social networks. The updates and first-hand accounts bring attention to a movement and generate more participation.

Personalize It

The most successful fundraising campaigns, advocacy efforts, and even personal experiences center on one person, one animal, one story, especially when trying to support a huge, faceless issue. #OWS has made the economy and political process a personal issue, inviting people around the US and the world to put their story on paper and share a photo of themselves with the story online. This level of personal connection inspires sharing and participation by those on the ground, and those following remotely.

How To: Use Tech to Organize Today

1. Build your online homebase with a wiki, a website (like WordPress.com or Google Sites), or a blog (like Tumblr or Posterous).

2. Keep people connected to live video (like Livestream or Vimeo), regular audio updates (like CinchCast or Audioboo), or live feeds of text from a Twitter hashtag or an open chat like CoverItLive.

3. Invite everyone to join the movement by sharing pictures, stories, and signs to spread your message (try Flickr or Tumblr).

Get the full archive here!

Some of the highlights discussed for engaging your community included:

• In terms of participation from community, we welcome posts and mentions with positive affirmations. Thank you’s and encouragement.
• It is also important to not the difference between goals and norms of participating. The trick is in trying to keep them synced up.
• @FNHC is doing it with their hub initiates, in my opinion anyways. Its messier and more time consuming but worth in in end
• I find that its critical to step back and help the community let itself emerge. Even the language used to enage has to be carefully crafted to avoid priming and group think
• I think that every community needs goals. Yes, think about the Starbucks communities. You know they want to sell coffee at the end of the day but they do much more than that.

Read the full transcript from the June event, and check out previous CommBuild Chats – hope to have you participate and share next month!

Join the next #CommBuild chat:

• Date: Thursday, July 21st
• Time: 4 pm EST (1 hour)
• Topic: Community Building, of course!
• Location: Launch the chat here (not live until the chat starts)

About the CommBuild Chat:

These monthly chats originated out of the #4Change network and are open to anyone interested in learning and sharing about building community, on and offline, with the use of social media or other technology tools. If you have a topic or question you’d like to explore in an upcoming chat, feel free to let me know anytime!

Hope to have you join us in July!

Review the full chat transcript!

Questions in the November chat:

1. Is it important to discern/clarify what a community expects to get from their participation in the community? Or is it OK if everyone is in it for different reasons? (From Laura Norvig)
2. What are examples of, best practices for, or learnings from engaging community members around various kinds of media, like videos and pictures instead of text? (From Mazarine Tryez)
3. What are online communities good for?

Community accountability:

Something I am really interested in is the way that we can support each other in growing and improving by being open about what we want to do and holding each other accountable as a community to be better all the time. At the end of today’s chat, I asked participants what they will share or do because of the chat and I’m sharing those highlights here:

• Laura Norvig: Storing up some ideas in my toolbox for future launch of online discussion boards. Posting more video to Facebook.
• Shalena Broadnax: Echoing Green is operating in a relatively new space for us—deepening our online community engagement. Setting expectations with our community will be key in the development of our new platform.
• Bonnie Koenig: The need to make discussions about technology to all members of the community.
• Ash Shepherd: I really liked the discussion around intentionally building flexibility into community expectations.

And as for me? I’m hoping to be more intentional and thoughtful in planning, promoting and executing the chats to build on the successful and rich conversations so far to make these community activities as positive as can be! I hope you’ll help me

Join the December Chat!

For details of the December 16th chat and for full archives of previous chats, visit the CommBuild chat page.

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Lately, I’m thinking about the topic of cross-platform community building. I’ve written about it, submitted a session proposal with colleague Debra Askanase to the 2011 NTC, and recently had the opportunity to start a conversation on the topic of engaging your community across platforms in a GroupVine message (more information about my use of the tool at the bottom of this post).  One idea that has emerged for me through this way of exploring the topic is that of temporary versus permanent networks.

Temporary versus Permanent Networks

Whether you are working on a campaign, a program or a service; whether it is online or offline (though I would argue it should probably touch both!); whether you are a small team or a huge office, your work requires engagement. And engagement requires people.

People are networked.

It goes without saying then that no matter what our work or our sector or our cause, we need to get better at recognizing the power in networks and become the nodes that connect networks, conversations, and people. Connecting conversations and people means cross-pollinating or jumping across platforms to share messages or actions from one to the next. In this back and forth, we encounter both temporary and permanent networks – and identifying each from the other can make a huge difference!

Individuals define networks.

The tricky part about identifying a network as either temporary or permanent is that each individual defines his or her participation/contribution as temporary or permanent, and that definition mainly impacts only him or her.  So, because one user wants to visit your forum and leave a comment only one time, creating only a temporary connection, that doesn’t mean that other users do not visit it and get/give value to that forum in a long-term way.

Individuals influence networks.

Network definitions and participation are also influenced by the user’s desire to create professional or personal connections. These kinds of preferences by users can dramatically influence a network and community. My level of activity will certainly impact the network, but so does how I act when I connect. Engagement acts as a ripple effect so if a few people present responses or communications using their organizational profile, for example, it can set the precedent for others to follow profesionally.  And likewise with a personal side.  The personal and professional sides can influence temporary and permanent network status as well – as often it is easier to maintain connections to a network that you are personally invested in, opposed to professionally (especially if the connection is via an organizational presence).

Feet drive permanence.

As I mentioned in an aside above, I have yet to come across an example of programs, services, campaigns, or other efforts that don’t benefit from being accessible online and off.  I also have a ton of experiential proof that joining people together offline, at the same time – whether it’s for an fun event, a conference, or anything else – can dramatically increase the uptake in online community engagement and the permanence of that network.

We need them both.

I really do not believe that permanent networks are “better” or more valuable than temporary networks. Look at the power of temporary collaboration, for example, in times of crisis response or large scale crowdsourcing. But, that doesn’t mean recognizing how people are treating and engaging with various networks is not important. You can more strategically engage, communication and inspire actions from one network to the next, as you operate as the node connecting one group with another, when you know why people are there and how they see that space. The more aligned our actions and messages are with the other members of the network means we are truly another member – and not an admin, or manager, or eavesdropper.

Once again, I guess the lesson is to keep being human!

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Notes on GroupVine:

GroupVine is a new application for interactive email. They have gathered a good-sized list of people working in nonprofit technology, communications, and engagement, and, well, gotten us engaged! It is a test group, essentially, but with the kinds of people who may help make the tool better and/or use it in their work. It was just the group I wanted to share questions and ideas with as far as cross-platform community building.

GroupVine is a clearly a work-in-progress, and it’s fun getting to be on the “inside” of development at this stage. But, it would still have been much preferred to have a few bits of functionality in place to position a conversation like the one I was after for success, including;

• Multiple responses per field – so that users could really comment back and forth
• Randomizing responses – so that I see the responses of many different users instead of only the person who responded directly before me
• Including media – when talking about examples, tools and case studies it would be helpful to be able to include a picture/screen shot, embed a video, or more easily share links

Thanks again to the GroupVine team for giving me the opportunity to explore the tool!

August 2010 – Community Builder Chat Wrap Up

Last night’s chat had a good turn out for being the very first one – thanks to everyone who lurked, joined in, and shared! The two main questions explored were:

• Why build online communities?
• How to increase engagement when dealing with limited functionality rights granted to members and members who are new to online media?

Get the full transcript from the chat here: Launch August Chat Transcript

September 2010 – Community Builder Chat Details

We already have two questions selected for the September chat generated in the August chat. (Thanks!) This time we’ll explore 1. migrating communities from one platform to another, and 2. tools and tactics that build a loop between offline and online activities.

• Date: September 16th
• Time: 4 pm Eastern, 9 pm UK (duration: 1 hour)
• Visit: Launch the Chat (not active until the 16th)

—–

If you couldn’t join the chat last night, you can still contribute! Share your ideas or responses in the comments here to keep the conversation going until the next chat. If you have any questions, feel free to post those as well. Looking forward to the 16th already!

In the future, these chats will have a topic and questions (generated from you!) posted ahead of time. As this is the very first one, I wanted to keep it open to focus on exploring what was most appropriate for this community in a few respects:

• Do we want to use a hashtag other than #4change?
• Does this time work or should the time shift (perhaps two times, so every other month it is time 1 or 2)?
• Who’s here and what are your passions?

Hopefully exploring those questions and responses leaves us with plenty of time to also ask questions that we are currently thinking about. So, join in!

We’ll be talking at 4 pm EST, 9 pm UK on August 19th, 2010. Use the link below to launch the chat!

#4Change Community Builder Chat – August 2010

Monthly Community Builder Chats

Why: In addition to the level of interest from people on this blog and from the #4change chats in the past, I’m looking forward to having a regular opportunity to connect with others working to build community on and offline, share ideas and tips, and really start creating a community of the community builders in a way that gets us all out of the various email lists or forums and into a more public forum.

The #4Change team that has managed/supported/hosted the monthly chats for over a year now has recently come to a very interesting transition phase – there are quite a few options on the table and many directions that we could take, including a partnership with Internet4Change. I’m really interested in what happens next, and not just because I am part of the team but also because I think we can be a case study in ourselves of the changing landscape and processes of online collaboration. I want to keep these chats associated with the #4change network so that more people can find and participate, we can more directly share across other topics, and these chats can stay bundled together with anything/everything else that comes next in the growth and evolution of #4change, whether as part of the larger Internet4Change or not. Exciting times!

When: Thursday, August 19, at 9-10 pm UK (1 pm Pacific, 4 pm Eastern)

I know that at this point it is just a matter of picking a time and making it happen. I’m willing to do just that, but want to note that I’m open to having rotating times or multiple chats to better accommodate the fact that we have a global community (and that we all need to sleep at some point!). I also think we can start with an hour-long slot and use it to stay on topic and drive conversation without people spending a long time with a chat.

Where: Click here for the live-chat (launched on the 19th)

I plan to continue exploring the best options for these chats, and welcome your feedback. For this first chat I want to use CoverItLive because 1. it’s a tool that I know works, 2. has twitter integration, 3. does not require installation for anyone to participate. The link above will work to join the chat on the 19th and will work to access the transcript when the chat closes.

What: Community Building Across Platforms

For this first chat, I wanted to go ahead and pick a topic so that we had something to drive with. In the future, I’d love to have others suggest topics that they working on or want to explore with the group.  Even though I’ve selected the topic for this first chat, I haven’t picked the questions that will guide our conversation! Please share the questions you’d like to explore by adding a comment here ahead of time and I’ll use those to feed our discussion.

Really looking forward to starting a monthly conversation on community building with you – feel free to use the #4change hashtag and if you’d like to suggest something else, go for it! Perhaps #4change.commbuild or something? Let me know

See you on the 19th!

When I start thinking about this, I come back to three main issues with the current way we build:

1. Not All Communities Can Be Treated Equally

Grassroots, hyper-local, nonprofit, and educational communities cannot be expected to operate in the same way as commercial or sponsored communities, online or off.  These kinds of groups can’t even be expected to fall in the same kinds of rubrics for use or application of tools between each other as they are inherently unique, every time.

2. Payment Is More Than Purchase

I truly believe that when it comes to the financial requirements for tools and services in the nonprofit and larger public sector, payment is far more than a purchase, it is an investment.  We are willing to buy in to something if we can be part of shaping what it is, how we can use it, how we can improve it.

3. Investment Is More Than Money

If investment was required to get a tool, I believe many groups would be willing to participate in evaluations, provide feedback, submit user stories and help in the development of the tool.  All things that take time, which is valuable. But not money.  Many groups would much rather have an impact and involvement in the shaping of the tools they use than pay for something that others control.

So, how do we build this marketplace?

When I wrote about this back in November, I closed my post with an invitation.  I’d like to repost that invitation here and then add a next step.

Your invitation:  Join this conversation.  Tell me what the recent Causes/ideablob announcements means for our sector and for you.  And share your ideas with your friends and colleagues to further the breadth of the conversation.  The more voices the better!  Here are some places to start:

• Evaluate your use of social media tools: do you encourage your supporters on other platforms to register on your website, ensuring you have their contact details?
• Evaluate your community: are you reaching a diverse community or operating in a silo?
• Evaluate your relationship with developers: are you using tools that allow you to surface suggestions, ideas, and useful functionality for development? Do you know what the plans are for the tools you are using?

I have already had creative, exciting conversations with others in this sector about how we could build a marketplace that:

1. allows end users surface ideas for tools or new functionality for existing tools
2. allows those ideas get support, gather feedback, get fleshed out by developers and users
3. allows funders (whether they are foundations, organizations, VCs, companies, etc.) identify tools to fund
4. allows developers to find work they know will be adopted and start working on tools with an active base of users
5. maintains an expectation that these tools will continue to be available for the people, by the people.

It is the last point that I think is the most important. It isn’t about having a crazy-liberal or Utopian version of the web.  It IS about adopting tools that we feel comfortable deploying to our communities and building on, knowing they won’t close or leave without notice.

I am going to continue having this conversation, examining how a marketplace could work, and what these events mean for our sector. Please join me. Share your ideas and your experiences. Let me know how you wish we built things.  Let’s start at the vision of how we want it to work, and then build towards it.