Social Signal Archives - Page 44 of 56

Clay Shirky on crowds, the web and success through failure at NTEN

by Rob Cottingham | Apr 27, 2009 | Social Media, Social Signal

Here Comes Everybody author Clay Shirky manages to jam in more ideas, pithy quotes and gripping stories in one half-hour keynote than some speakers could manage in a week… but still ties it all together in a compelling narrative.

His presentation this morning at the NTEN Non-profit Technology Conference looked at how the web has broken the monopoly that organizations used to have on organized activity… and how profound the resulting change can be.

One particularly memorable bit came when he explained how moving to New York City from the midwest changed his perspective, because of the idea of a population large enough that you could sell pizza by the slice… which meant pizzas were being made before knowing who they were for.

I can’t do it justice in a single blog post. But maybe my notes can give you just a bit of the flavour of his presentation. (That one doodle doesn’t look a thing like him, by the way.)

The Big Wild: a community for sharing wilderness experiences… and ensuring there are more of them

by Rob Cottingham | Apr 22, 2009 | Social Signal

Some of my fondest memories involve wilderness – whether it’s a campfire with my parents, a hike with Alex to a glacial lake, or watching my children gape in awe at a sunflower sea star in a Cortes Island tidal pool.

Now wonder, then, that one of our favourite projects in quite a while is The Big Wild: an online community where people can share stories, photos and video of their wilderness experiences, connect with others who share their passion for Canada’s big wild spaces, and take action to preserve those places for future generations.

It’s a partnership between the Mountain Equipment Co-op and the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society. That marriage that makes a lot of sense: Canada’s premiere retailer of gear for enjoying the wilderness (and a huge membership-based organization), together with one of the country’s leading voices for protecting it.

MEC and CPAWS brought us in because, while the site was winning them a lot of praise and attention, it wasn’t getting the participation they knew it could.

We helped them simplify and clarify the workflow on the site, and put the focus squarely on community-contributed content by giving it pride of place on the front page. The Big Wild’s team upgraded the site late this winter, with FCV Technologies moving them to Drupal (and adding or improving some welcome features like RSS feeds, full-site search and tagging). It’s still early days, but things are definitely picking up.

We’d love to know what you think. If you enjoy getting out into the wilderness, then take a short hike over to The Big Wild. Add your voice to support the Big Wild vision of protecting at least half of Canada’s public spaces as wilderness forever. And while you’re at it, join the Big Wild Facebook page.

And then why not enter The Big Wild’s latest contest? You could win a truly amazing Gore-Tex jacket by sharing your story of a rain-soaked wilderness excursion.

Don’t let your blog’s comments turn into an arena for bashing your organization

by Rob Cottingham | Apr 22, 2009 | Blogging, Social Signal

Asked on LinkedIn: “Blogs are a very good tool for consumers to evaluate prospective product or service providers. However, how can a business use blogs to its commercial advantage (i.e. gain valuable insight into customer behavior and satisfaction levels) while minimizing the risk of being unduly smeared by a minority of disgruntled customers or even competitor attacks?”

First, draw a line in your own mind between smears and legitimate criticism – and err on the side of generosity. A big part of the power of blogging comes from conversations and the relationships that flow from them… and those conversations can’t happen if your readers don’t feel they can be honest about you, warts and all.

In that vein, recognize that the commercial advantage of blogging isn’t exclusively, or even primarily, the window it gives you into your customers’ heads. It’s your ability to engage with your audience. Blogging’s ROI comes in many other forms: as a crisis communications channel, a way to tell stories that don’t work in other media, a training platform and more. (I’m up to part 8 of a series on blogging ROI you might find useful.)

All of that said, how do you reduce the risk of actual smears? Here are a few ways:

First, set out your expectations clearly and explicitly in an introductory blog post, and on your blog’s About page. Explain your intentions (and motives – transparency counts), and let people know how they can contribute. And make it clear what is and isn’t in-bounds, and why (that is, because you want to have an open and productive conversation).
Second, solicit the kind of contributions you want to see. Ask questions in blog posts that focus the conversation. Join relevant conversations on other blogs – either in their comment fields, or via trackback – to encourage more participation on yours.
Third, respond to the comments people leave. Most of your conversation should be with the folks leaving productive comments. If you do get comments that verge on flames, remind the commenters of the purpose of the blog – but address whatever good-faith points they’ve made.
Fourth, welcome your supporters… but also your critics. The fact that your blog includes voices that clash with yours lends the ring of authenticity to the conversation – especially when your supporters jump into the fray, as they will. You may find that your biggest challenge isn’t to deal with critics, but to moderate the vehemence of your allies.
Fifth, know when to cut and run from a bad conversation. It doesn’t serve you or your readers for you to be getting into a slanging match with someone who doesn’t want to hear you. There’s nothing wrong with agreeing to disagree (even if the “agreement” is purely unilateral).
And sixth, remember that what you think of as smearing, a disgruntled customer – and *their* audience – may well think of as a legitimate point. There are ways of engaging even harsh critics in ways that defuse conflict and dampen down the flames. David Eaves has some superb advice on dealing with conflict in blogging, and it’s well worth checking out.

10 ways to maximize your blog’s ROI: Part 8, skills development

by Rob Cottingham | Apr 20, 2009 | Blogging, Social Media, Social Signal

Social media should be a no-brainer. After all, it’s all about conversation and relationships – and in fact our conversational instincts can serve us well in blogging, podcasting, social networking and other social media channels.

Instinct alone, however, won’t suffice. You need skills, knowledge and experience to succeed in social media – from tech chops, to the unique demands of various social media venues, to the social nuances of dealing with conflict between online antagonists.

You can develop those social media muscles with training (self-directed or with a teacher), by watching others and – most important – through practice.

And “practice” in more than one sense: learning involves making mistakes, sometimes big ones. Those can be hard enough to swallow if you’re communicating as an individual, although you’ll find a lot of people willing to cut some slack for teh n00bs.

But when you’re out there on behalf of your organization, there may be more at stake. People are less forgiving of institutions than individuals, and depending on your organization’s profile, the damage to its reputation could be significant.

That’s where your blog comes in. Smaller in scale, more manageable in scope and simpler in concept than more ambitious social media projects, your blog can be the perfect place to build your skills and experience – and those of your embryonic social media team.

Here are some of the ways you can make your blog serve as a training platform as well as a conversational communications channel:

Go in prepared. Yes, it’s a training ground – but it’s also happening in the full light of day. So before you begin, give yourself a grounding in blogging by reading other blogs, commenting on them, and seeing what appeals to you and what doesn’t. Consider blogging behind closed doors for a little while before going public, and you’ll not only start settling into a consistent voice, but you’ll have a solid body of posts to show the world.
The same applies to team members. They don’t have to be seasoned hands, but be sure they know some of the basics before you give them the keys. (And by “the basics”, I mean about blogging generally … but also about your blog’s goals, tone, policies and culture.)
Assemble your blogging team with some thought to the future. Choose folks you’d like to develop as potential social media team members, and let them try on different roles – from writers to community animators to editorial managers – and discover their strengths. And if you’d like to try someone on for size and see how they adapt, bring them on as a guest blogger for a little while.
Set learning goals and milestones for yourself and your team, and take them seriously. Plan a curriculum that includes self-guided study, practical experience and – if you have the budget – formal training. And think strategically. What skills do you need not just as a blogger, but as a manager and strategist? Learn about analytics, conversions and calls to action.
Look to the future: what kind of social media initiative will your organization likely want to pursue? Draft your blog’s roadmap in a way that will take you in helpful directions, anticipating and honing the skills that will serve you well when the time comes – by adding the odd video or audio clip if a podcast is in your future, for instance.
Look for overlap. Think about your organization’s training needs; where do they map onto some of the skills you and your team members can develop through the blog?
Build a peer social network on Twitter, LinkedIn or other services, and ask questions. There’s a strong sense of community among social media types, and asking for help with a technical issue or a pointer to a resource will almost always get you – if not the definitive answer – a solid starting point.
Share what you learn among your team, and broaden it to your organization. Holding lunch and learns, lightning sessions or monthly seminars can help spread the knowledge about tools and strategies. Alternatively, social bookmarking, a wiki or an internal blog can let you organize your collective expertise and share that blog or podcast you just discovered.
Offer training opportunities to the rest of your organization. An internal internship on your blog could help a customer care rep learn more about engagement, a marketing manager get a handle on social media culture, or your ED’s speechwriter brush up her conversational chops.

Here’s how you’ll know you’re creating a high-value training platform:

You have a clear picture in your head of exactly what skills and knowledge your team has, where you need to improve, and where individual members’ strengths lie.
Blogging, blog monitoring and other social media activities are faster and easier, because they’re becoming second nature.
Team members’ performance assessments show improvements in areas related to their social media activities, such as facilitation, collaboration and communication.
You and your team members start trying out new skills, because you’ve mastered the old ones.
You’ve developed a network of people – peers, mentors, prospective new hires – you can count on for sharing ideas, knowledge and support.

Catch Rob at two of the leading nptech conferences in April and May

by Rob Cottingham | Apr 20, 2009 | Conferences and workshops, Social Signal

Spring’s starting to look better and better, with two great events landing on my calendar.

First up is NTEN’s Non-Profit Technology Conference next week in San Francisco. Thousands of non-profit tech types will converge on the Hilton from April 26-28. The programme looks amazing, and I’ll be helping to kick off the now-legendary NTC after-party with a set of standup comedy.
Then, a month later, it’s back to the Bay Area for the annual NetSquared conference from May 26-27, where I’ll be one of the featured speakers. This year’s focus is squarely on mobile, and promises to be the most exciting conference yet. It’s a sort of homecoming, because Social Signal has been proud to be involved with NetSquared from the beginning – one of our very first engagements was building the online community that supported the conference (and then became one of the premiere hubs for non-profit organizations aiming to make the most of online tools).

I’m looking forward to catching up with old friends, making new ones and seeing the amazing work being done by some of the most innovative organizations and individuals on the web today. See you there!