manager for an existing forum that
The reason our Issues Forum model is really low cost to sustain is
that ONCE you get a critical mass of participants and people tied to
groups that produce local announcements/information they seem to
self-generate content.
However, critical mass seems to be 10% of households at our
neighborhood level (10-20K population areas) and if people with
content to share are not part of that mix, the egg will never become a
chicken. Even with those folks in as members, the proclivity to share
is hit or miss and some think just posting to their Facebook Page is
good enough and people can come to them. I do think there is just more
than luck involved with having active two-way announcement sharing
that works.
So, when you are attempting to ramp up distributed content sharing
there is a bridge period where the Forum Manager is absolutely vital
to modeling the sharing behavior (finding and sharing announcements
proactively) and there are forum revitalization periods where if the
Forum Manager doesn't post an announcement on a quiet week, other
participants forget the forum is there for them to use.
...
To get a sense of what these forums can be with greater numbers of
participants see:
http://e-democracy.org/se
http://e-democracy.org/seward
http://e-democracy.org/poho
In terms of building the "exchange" in addition to getting everyday
folks to join, the forums would really hum if in addition to Kathy
posting stuff on behalf of the district council, more public and
community institutions would join and post stuff.
In an ideal world every organization we fund with our local taxes
would engage us because _it makes sense and is time-efficient_:
1. Parks - Events announced - great example:
Ryan Vossen, Lake Hiawatha Park Director
http://forums.e-democracy.org/p/2bF4IEHURYTPyJXr0qMa20
Ryan claims the forum is his most effective way to reach people now
(it helps that we have 700 members surrounding him).
2. Crime Prevention
While some city crime prevention staff have posted, most announcements
from official sources are forwarded by forum participants who act like
a "connector." We've unfortunately found crime prevention staff
hesitant to post directly despite the high demand for their
information but OK with having their notes forwarded for them by other
participants. With all public staff there is a legitimate concern
about the time any _potential_ back and forth with take.
3. Elected Officials - Occasional, but regular posting:
Council Member Colvin Roy:
http://forums.e-democracy.org/p/sandracolvinroy
Her staff person, posts regularly for the office - excellent:
http://forums.e-democracy.org/p/lorenolson1
We encourage state legislators, county board members, etc. to post
their e-mail newsletters to the forum within their district.
4. Local Schools
Roosevelt High's school liaison posts:
http://forums.e-democracy.org/p/jimhoskyn
We've had elementary school principals reply via a parent to forum discussions.
5. Local Library
While librarians are members, we'd like to see local libraries not
only post about special events, but also chime in with a link or
reference to material on the shelf about a topic being discussed on
the forum. Rain gardens? We have a new book on that ...
In addition to public institutions, we love event announcements from:
1. Community and cultural groups (events should be within neighborhood
or next door)
2. Places of worships - special events, calls to help someone in need, etc.
3. Cafes and Businesses - free small scale events like live music,
community fundraisers, etc
The easiest way for use to get to more announcement sharing is to
simply get the right folks from these institutions on our forums as
members in the coming months. Some of them will naturally just post
things motivated by the growing reach of the forum. We can also
emulate the behavior by finding and forwarding such announcements for
a limited time and then ask the group to keep doing it themselves. At
some point activity will motivate ongoing posting, but during quiet
times as Forum Manager, you can fill the space with a couple
announcements to get the forum back in "the minds eye." The three
forums above are now large enough that they essentially self-generate
exchange. That will be the goal with all of our newer and smaller
forums as we seek big growth this year.
Cheers,
Steve
Steven Clift - http://stevenclift.com
Β Executive Director - http://E-Democracy.Org
Β Follow me - http://twitter.com/democracy
Β New Tel: +1.612.234.7072