Archive for the ‘Experimentation’ Category

Oct

2011

10

Category:

Experimentation

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3 Comments

Will the Virtual Summit Replace Face-to-Face Guest Post By Kari Dunn Saratovsky

Note from Beth: Last June, I live blogged the virtual Millennial Donor Summit and it was an interesting experience. So I was very interested to hear about the lessons learned report  about the virtual summit and Kari agreed to write a guest post.    Hosting engaging online events and learning experiences has been of interest to me over the past ten years and the question of whether or not virtual events replace the face-to-face or how to best blend together.

 

 

Will the Virtual Summit Replace Face-to-Face? New Report Details How to Plan and Execute a Successful Online Convening, Guest Post by Kari Dunn Saratovsky

After triple checking to ensure you have your iPad, mobile phone, laptop, and all of your respective chargers in tow — you board a flight, land in a new city, and head straight for the convention center.  For the next three days you shuffle around an air-conditioned hall and hop between plenary sessions and breakouts. If you’re lucky (and the conference budget hasn’t been completely slashed) you may even find the joy in a lovely rubber chicken plate lunch. Sound familiar? This scenario plays out time and again in cities across the country. But in these tough economic times, new advances in technology are making virtual events an interesting and compelling alternative to the traditional in-person conference.

This past June, the Case Foundation, Achieve, and JGA teamed up for a little virtual experiment of our own. We convened the 2011 Millennial Donor Summit (MDS11)  as a way to build a more engaged conversation around the Millennial Donor Survey conducted earlier in the year. But, rather than having 1,000 people come to us, we took the plenaries, breakouts, and exhibit hall to them through the technology of a virtual summit. The summit was an opportunity to spotlight the unique characteristics of the rising generation and to help nonprofit executives attract and engage Millennials in their work – and we couldn’t think of a better topic on which to convene than through this new medium.

The Summit was an experiment for us as conveners – but also for the speakers and participants since for the most part no one had participated in this kind of convening before. In the past month, we shared some of our biggest takeaways and lessons learned through a four-part blog series on the Case Foundation site. Today these findings, tips, and tricks for conducting a successful online convening are now all available in the report, “Your Virtual Seat Awaits.” .  We hope the report will offer some practical tips for individuals and organizations who are interested in experimenting with new approaches to the traditional conference from the perspective of the conveners.

While some will argue that an online convening could never replace the value of the relationships built and the networking opportunities that stem from being in the same physical location at the same time – there is a strong argument to be made for keeping costs and travel expenses at a minimum and involving individuals from a wide spectrum of backgrounds and industries who may not be able to otherwise participate.

What’s more, the shortfalls of the traditional meeting model, with an on-stage presenter talking to a passive audience, is replaced by a much more interactive and dynamic exchange that allows for dialogue not only between speakers and participants but between participants themselves. The Twitter conversations were so robust during MDS11, that a group even spun out their own weekly #MillennialChat group where they take on a different topic each week related to millennial engagement.    The chat on Tuesday, October 11th will focus on the “Your Virtual Seat Awaits” report, and anyone can join the discussion.

 

While the report goes into much greater detail, here are five of the key takeaways we found while planning the Millennial Donor Summit:

1. Solid planning and execution: Virtual conferences need good planning and execution. It takes time and effort to get this right, and without appropriate planning on the front end you risk losing control of your participants in a bigger way than if you were trying to troubleshoot in person.

2. Trusted technology provider: Streaming and live video is wonderful in concept, but it needs to have a solid technology foundation so it will work no matter what the participant’s environment happens to be. Just because the technology works on your side doesn’t mean the users aren’t running into difficulty with their own firewalls, connection speeds, etc.

3.  High energy, informative, and interactive sessions: Just like an in-person convening, without these elements, a conference can fall flat and disappoint those who have set aside the time and paid to come together to be inspired. The same holds true in a virtual setting, but getting that right can be more of a challenge.

4. Rockstar panelists: To create interaction, presenters need to be creative, well-prepared, and have a plan for engaging the audience in the Q&A process. Engagement cannot be left up to chance, and is vital to the success of a session. Suddenly in a virtual format, participants have easier access to speakers—if the speaker is responsive to comments and questions from audience members the session will be much more engaging for all.

5. Strong visual appeal: Just like an in-person conference, the appearance of a virtual conference requires attention as well. When our site was initially set up, it featured a bunch of white men in business suits hanging around the main entrance—and that was not the look and feel we were going for so we worked to diversify the crowd. Signage is also important so participants know exactly where to go and how to navigate to the various venues, be it the discussion lounges, registration, expo hall, etc.
Perhaps some of the above mentioned sound like common sense, but the small details can make a world of difference in a virtual setting. Have you participated in or presented at a virtual meeting? If so, what might you add as your biggest takeaways? Do you think there will be a time when the virtual summit replaces the in-person conference, or will a hybrid of the two eventually become the norm?

 

Kari Dunn Saratovsky (@socialcitizen) is Senior Advisor to the Case Foundation. With experiences in both the government and nonprofit sectors, she finds her favorite role is that of a connector — connecting passionate people, good ideas, and new approaches in an effort to address social problems.

 

 

Aug

2011

02

Category:

Experimentation, Google

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8 Comments

Google + for Social Change Activists: Dive in Early or Wait?

Last week, I helped launch a peer exchange Webinar for  Packard Foundation for Children’s Health Insurance grantees with Spitfire Communications (creators of the SMART chart).  The focus is how to effectively integrate social media channels and measure and learn.   Two grantees that work on Children’s Healthcare  at the national level and have experience using social media as part of an integrated campaign were co-presenters.   Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner co-founder of Momsrising and Bruce Lesley, President,  of First Focus.    (I learned so much that I enough material for several blog posts, my first post is here – it is about content curation.)

While this Peer Exchange  starts off with best practices on Facebook, it is a means to a higher end:  how to apply and integrate those principles into the organization’s broader children’s health communications strategies.   Organizations can get comfortable with implementing one channel and expand to other channels as part of their maturity of practice model.     Capacity building that takes an  incremental approach and is a balance of strategy and action leads to capacity building that sticks.

We launched this project just as Google + open its doors to a limited field testing and was being touted as a  Facebook or Twitter killer by early adopter geeks and Silicon Valley insiders.     No surprise that Principle #1:  Avoid being seduced by Shiny Object Syndrome generated great insights.    My colleague Geoff Livingston says that “Shiny Object Syndrome”  makes nonprofits and individuals to adopt the latest  cool social tool based on peer pressure, buzz, or a strange desire to be one of the first.

I’m not recommending that all nonprofits should immediately just say no  (or yes) to the latest technology tool that is capturing the imagination (and time) of geeks.    But, it is important to have a framework like  Gartner Technology Hype Cycle to think it through.     There are three choices:

Early Move: Willing to combine risk taking with an understanding that risky investments don’t always pay off.
Moderate Approach: Understand the argument for an early investment but will also insist on a sound cost/benefit analysis when new ways of doing things are not yet fully proven.
Wait for maturation? If there are too many unanswered questions about the impact of the technology platform,  better to wait until others have been able to deliver tangible value.

During the Webinar, I polled the  group’s general approach.   Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner co-founder of Momsrising and Bruce Lesley, President,  of First Focus share their approaches.

Momsrising is an early adopter of online tools currently exploring the Google +  platform and discussing it in team meetings.   However, as Kristin points out “we use a cost/benefit analysis as we go along.”   They have several staff persons testing the connectivity to other people and trying to understand the potential, mostly as individuals talking about their professional work.     Kristin notes that they ask staff members to carefully track their time.   “This type of exploration should not become a time suck or get in the way of established organizational priorities.”

It is easier for Momsrising to explore  new platforms because they’ve already established a strong presence on many social media platforms and are using mobile.    Kristin says,  “If Momsrising haven’t already built strong networks on platforms like Facebook or Twitter – which are known to work for nonprofits – we’d be focusing our time and energy there first.”

Bruce Lesley said his organization takes a moderate approach with new platforms as an organization.     Bruce notes,  “I was one of those people who said, not too long ago, that we’d never be on Twitter.   But I decided to become a leader, not a barrier.”      Bruce’s  individual participation and organizational presence on social media is part of an  integrated strategy that has brought value, particularly in reaching influencers.   In general,  they tend to wait until the kinks in the platform are worked out and there is less risk involved investing staff time.

Right now Google + is still in the very early stages of development and has potential to add a social layer to the Web as David Armano points out.     The early adopter love fest has given way to some rants about the platform and what isn’t working.   People are also discovering what the social etiquette is around “circling” people, the  google + way of friending people.    But, it is important to point out that the Google + team is listening and improving features – with its “Feedback Friday” so the landscape is changing rapidly.

Can Google + be a good platform for social change activists?   Short answer:  too early to tell.

I’ve been noticing that I tend to get more engagement on technology posts than social engagement posts, although when I worked hard at stirring the pot, there have been a few productive  conversations.    The problem with Google + as it stands right now (and it will be changing) is that lack of community features and mainstream adoption.   The community features – open circle lists – allows activists to sustain conversations which is important to organizing and to the serendipity to discover new people who may have interest in your cause.    (A few early adopters have hacked some tools for us social activists and nptechers reminding me of the early hacks  that people did on Twitter before they launched Twitter Lists.)

Jeremiah Owyang has a good analysis of what features Google + needs to go mainstream.  He talks about the importance of Google implementing  brand pages.

What are the potential uses for nonprofits?  Ivan Booth is doing a meet up and live stream for the Philly Netsquared meet up on August 2nd at 6:00 PM EST about Google +.   You can find the information for the meet up in my collection of Google + and Nonprofit Links.

Just for giggles, I started a thread on Google + to do an interview with nonprofits and social activists exploring Google + as part of some preparation for an interview with Alison Fine for the Social Good Podcast.   The following is framed with one disclaimer:   We’re in the days and this could all change.

What struck me most about the conversation is that consultants, early adopter nonprofits, and free agents all agree that the platform is evolving fast and there is still too much uncertainty for nonprofits to invest a lot of time and resources in Google +.   Nedra Weinreich says, “Until we know whether G+ is going to attract more than just us social media types, I’m hesitant to recommend that any organizations invest too much time in it. I think pulling people off Facebook is going to be a challenge.”   Shawn Ahmed, a free agent fundraiser, concurs, “We don’t know what the space will be for social change activists.”

Nonprofit organizations that have been early adopters of social media are exploring, like Momsrising, carefully.  Danielle Bridiga, from the NWF, says “I’m still not sure if it’s going to hold out and join Twitter and Facebook but I think it’s certainly kept my attention a bit longer than other flash in the pan platforms.”    NWF  is in the “imaging” stage of what the potential is for the platform.   Manny Hernandez from the Diabetes Hands Foundation shares that he is listening and playing, but adds similar advice to Kristin from Momsrising, “If my nonprofit wasn’t an early adopter, I would not start here too much territory to explore yet and too many intangibles still.”   As Marc Pittman and others note, many nonprofits are overwhelmed or set in their ways on Facebook to energize to change habits.

Here’s quick summary of points from the discussion:

  • Nonprofit folks are exploring Google + as individuals and talking about their organization’s work and building relationships with influencers like technologists and journalist early adopters on the platform.
  • They are eager for the platform to gain critical mass so the promise of Google + for social activism can be realized
  • A few activists for privacy rights have had active conversations.  Take for example the conversations Jillian York is having on the platform.
  • The Google Hangout (Group video chat) has some potential to be useful for learning.   I’ve experimented using it bring in a couple of remote experts to join the conversation.  It could also be used at conferences.  I also did a hangout with my 90 year old dad who said it was more entertaining than watching Jeopardy.
  • The privacy features allows organizations to have conversations with specific groups of people.  This could be useful for donor cultivation or working with small groups – much like some organizations have used “secret Facebook” groups to interact with brand or issue ambassadors.
  • Some have seen some early benefits of getting web site traffic

I’m not ignoring it, but I’m carefully establishing efficient habits.   I’m using a combination short blog posts, participating on other people’s threads, and using it as a source for curating information.     The best of the best about the platform and nonprofits, I’m adding to my curated list in Scoop.it, because the platform lacks bookmarking and filtering features.   I’m not abandoning my other networks on Twitter, Facebook, or SlideShare, but looking at how to best build relationships and conversational bridges between communities and people I interact with on the different platforms.  I am avoiding spamming all three networks with cut and paste streams.   I am also experimenting with techniques for network weaving across platforms and curating content related to effective practice of networked nonprofits.

Update:   Will You Leave Facebook for Google+? – Brian Solis provides an analysis of its users and growth.

Have you been exploring the potential of Google+ for your nonprofit or social activism?    What do you think?

Jul

2011

12

Category:

Content, Experimentation, Strategy

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5 Comments

Can You Experiment Your Way Out of the Filter Bubble?

The Filter Bubble by Eli Pariser

One of the books in my summer reading pile is Eli Pariser’s  The Filter Bubble:  What the Internet is Hiding From You.      Last week, my Networked Nonprofit co-author Alison Fine recently interviewed the author on her monthly  Chroncile of Philanthropy podcast.   She helps us understand exactly what a filter bubble is – and why it is potentially a big problem for activists.   Her thoughts:

It’s a great book, but the idea of filter bubbles is crushing for those of us who believe that an open web is a vital part of a democratic society. The filter bubble is the personalization of the web for users done by companies like Facebook and Google to sell us more stuff. They use enormous amounts of our own data to bring us searches and news feeds they think we want with ads specifically geared towards those interests. Here’s how Eli describes it in his book:    “More and more, your computer monitor is a kind of one-way mirror, reflecting your own interest while algorithmic observers watch what you click.”

What I didn’t know, what floored me, was that they are only bringing us information in our searches and news feeds they think we want. It is not an open, unfiltered search for “environmental justice” it is a search based on my past searches and interests. Again, in Eli’s words, this means, “You can get stuck in a static, ever-narrowing version of yourself-an endless you-loop.” This is depressing news for advocates and their causes, which need to broaden their networks to new networks to be successful. Much of the network building that happens online is not even intentional, it’s the online serendipity that is similar to what happens when you meet someone online at the supermarket or sit next to them on an airplane. But the filter bubble reduces the opportunities for online serendipity, we just keep bumping into the people, organizations, ideas that we already know.

He also points out in the interview he explains that as the Internet is rewards being  “likable,” he notes.   He also points out that unpopular causes may not get reader’s attention.  For example, a campaign about a push to reduce prison penalties in California to reduce the budget might not get a reader’s attention as a more “likeable” cause.

One question raised is how does a nonprofit working on issues that might not be popular find a way to rally activists?

It made me wonder how online activists and nonprofits might use some of  online ads on Facebook (and possibly Google + if brand presence goes in that direction) which is a form of personalization on the web to broaden their networks and be open to serendipity?  It takes having an organizational mindset that is open to experimentation.

In an odd moment of serendipity,  I found this post from e-politics that included a case study on how Facebook ads defeated a Florida Ballot Initiative.  The “Vote NO on 8” campaign sought to defeat a November 2010 ballot proposition that would have led to larger K-12 class sizes in Florida public schools.   The campaign focused on the importance of small classes in children’s learning and teacher effectiveness.

The campaign had a very small budget and needed to maximize the effectiveness of its marketing to persuade voters to vote no on the proposition. The backers also knew at the outset that they wanted to find a new model for voter communication. The first goal of the Facebook Ads campaign was to use Facebook as a market research tool to hone the messages identified by a baseline poll specifically for each micro-audience of targeted voters in Florida and for each demographic group. The learnings from this market research would be used across all other media buys. The second goal was to saturate Facebook users in Florida with targeted messages in the month prior to the election. The third, and most important goal, was to measure the impact of the online ad program to assess its viability as a new model for voter persuasion.

The case study explains the different ways they tested messaging and visuals – and used the feedback loops to refine their messages.   The results:  they served up 75 million impressions and they won the initiative.

Some nonprofits have experimented with social advertising as part  their communications strategy and Google AdWords.    A while back I did a blog post about the Ocean Conservancy experiment with Facebook Ads.  Recently, I also heard reports of nonprofits using Facebook ads as part of their page recruitment, promote offline events, and social fundraising campaigns.

All of these approaches take an organizational mindset that embraces experimentation.     So a few best practices here for experiments that work for testing social platform ads or any other low-risk experiment in social media for that matter:

  • Design experiments so they involve some incremental changes of existing work routines
  • Design experiments so they are not a time suck
  • Try as much as possible to avoid having experiments be “extra credit,” but a part of the work flow
  • Articulate learning questions on the front end, identify metrics/data to collect to answer questions
  • Spend time extracting lessons learned and design principles at the end
  • Incorporate ‘rinse and repeat” of experiments over time

Has your organization experimented with online ads?  How did you design your pilot?  What did you learn?

Nov

2010

21

Category:

Civil Society 2.0, Experimentation, Networked Nonprofit, Training Design, Transparency

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14 Comments

The Networked Nonprofit in Kenya

Ushahidi Board Meeting at iHub in Kenya

I’ve just spent the last couple of days in  Nairobi, Kenya because I’m a board member of an NGO based here, Ushahidi, an organization that builds tools for democratizing information and increasing transparency.  I decided to stay a few extra days and facilitate a workshop on the Networked Nonprofit for local NGOs.   This blog post includes some reflections about my first visit to Africa, the importance of face-to-face meetings and building relationships, and some thoughts about how some of the ideas in the Networked Nonprofit transcend  boundaries.

Ushahidi has had impressive growth over the past 18 months and most visible was its work with Haiti.  What started as an ad hoc group of volunteers is growing into an impressive organization building out a platform that can be deployed for different purposes, from election monitoring to disaster relief.    (Even in unintended and surprising ways). I also learned more about crowdmap, a hosted version of the  Ushahidi code – in other words you don’t have to install it on your own web server.

I’ve had the honor of serving on the Ushahidi board for almost a year and have known two of Ushahidi’s co-founders, Ory Okolloh and Erik Hersman, for several years. Ushahidi’s board, like its staff, work together virtually across many time zones using different online tools for meetings and collaborative work. While virtual tools make it possible for a far-flung team to work with or for an organization that has global impact, I am reminded about the importance of “face time” for effectiveness – there is simply no other way to build relationships.   One of the things I like best about being on the Ushahidi board is that it was acceptable for us be also on our laptops and smart phones – and even tweet during the meeting.    Ethan Zuckerman, fellow board members, shares his impressions here.

iHub one of the best ever co-working technology spaces I've been in ...

The meeting and the workshop I facilitated took place in iHub, an open innovation space.  The space is available to any tech person in Nairobi to use once they become a green member.    With over 1900 members, the space offers a connection point and co-working space for the community, a fast Internet connection, lots of light, great views, and fantastic latte!    I thought I had died and gone to heaven.   I need to find a space like this in Silicon Valley for 2011.

Jessica Colaco places books in the iHub Community Library

In addition to the Networked Nonprofit,  I brought copies of books from colleagues that might be of interest to local NGOs. This includes:   Mary Joyce’s Digital Activism,  Charlene Li’s Open Leadership,  Jennifer Aaker’s DragonFly Effect, and  Carol Cone’s Breakthrough Nonprofit Branding.   Jessica Colaco who is the manager poses for a photo.

Just to illustrate how spaces like iHub act as connectors, while I was setting up for the workshop, Tiffany von Emmel, a colleague from San Francisco was in the room!  She kindly live tweeted the workshop and took some photos.

Photo by Tiffany von Emmel - MissionFish

I facilitated a workshop on the Networked Nonprofit, covering the concepts of social culture, simplicity, and transparency.  I also hung out at the iHub and held “office hours” for folks who wanted to work one-on-one and go into more technical depth in using the tools.     I was curious if these concepts were adaptable or relevant for NGOs in Kenya as it was my first time presenting these ideas in Africa.   When I work outside of the US, my process is to listen and observe as much as possible.     I also do not over prepare so I can be more flexible in the delivery and spark conversations around what is relevant or what isn’t.

The Networked Nonprofit In Kenya

View more presentations from Beth Kanter.

It is always eye-opening to work on the social web from developing countries and realized just how spoiled we are in the US with fast and plentiful bandwidth.    It requires a different way of working.  I was most surprised how many online applications that I use daily in the US were slow loading and impossible to use.  I was also surprised that Facebook loaded easily, even posting photos.

I did a lot of adjusting in real time and was very transparent with the group about this idea might get “lost in translation” or “not be relevant” and that’s okay.    I designed share pair exercises that incorporated reflective questions about translation.   A few learnings:

  • Just Mibli (2)Words:  I have been using an icebreaker called “Just Two Words.” I ask people to share what is top of mind when they think about social media and their NGO.   I asked for the words in English or Swahili.    The themes that emerged were identical to what I hear in the US, generally falling into these three themes:  community, connections and concerns.  Privacy and security were brought up, but I also heard the phrase “time .”   I asked for clarification and the person indicated that social media takes a lot of time.  I mentioned that in the US, we use the phrase “time suck” this was met with laughter.    The idea of social media potentially being a huge time waster if not done effectively resonated with the group.
  • Cultural Norms Around Instructional Delivery: I had learned that instructional delivery in Kenya tends to be very formal, mostly the “sage on the stage” lecture approach.  I don’t teach that way.  I favor a participatory approach with full room discussion.   I had a wireless mic that was passed and included share pairs with reflective exercises.   I felt some discomfort in the room at first, some hesitancy to speak up – there were some long silent pauses.    Some of this also might have to do with gender roles.   But after a couple of share pairs, the group warmed up and several folks took the mic and shared their ideas    Needless to say I learned an enormous amount.
  • What Surprised Me: On top of a concern that some of the ideas/content might not be relevant, I was worried that a lot of my verbal and visual humor might not translate either.  And, terrified that I might inadvertently be insulting or appear rude.   Humor  is a natural part of my presentation style – so it came out.   I surprised that people laughed at the some of the same  jokes that they do in the US.   Some concepts and ways of expressing them can be universal.   While I didn’t do this on purpose,  people thought my creative pronunciation of Kenyan names  and understanding Kenyan accents was funny.

Translating Networked Nonprofits Ideas Into A Kenyan Context

  • Learning from Mistakes: I talk a lot about the importance of learning from failing and rapid experimentation of small pilots using social media.  I noticed that this resonated really, particularly the MomsRising approach of using  “Joyful Funerals.“  I set up the idea using the “I Can Make Better Choices Chair” photo that my son’s kindergarten class teacher used to teach the children self-reflection.     I guess the idea of children needing to learn reflective practice is a universal because there was a lot of laughter in the room.     Later, in the market,  I saw this beautiful brass chair necklace (which I purchased).
  • Fortress and Sponge: We use these metaphors in the book to discuss different approaches to transparency – with the fortress being less transparent.   The image I used is one of a Russian fort.   I asked the group if anyone worked for a fortress (some people raised their hands) and I also asked if those NGOs were ones from the US or new ones created in Kenya.  (Response was laughter).   The sponge metaphor was not quite right because I realized we were pretty fair from the Ocean.  Nonetheless, this ideas prompted an interesting discussion about social media policy for NGOs.
  • Simplicity: The concept of not having to do everything and focusing on what you do best and network the rest resonated.  I learned later that simplicity is a very African concept.    When I asked folks what they could do less of,  I heard what I usually hear in the US: meetings.    Perhaps there should be a global law to ban meetings in NGOs of more than 30 minutes!    One participant’s takeaway was a wonderful translation of the simplicity concept:  “Do less of the unnecessary to do more of the necessary.”

@inspireharvest one of the book winners

Book Giveaways

International travel has some restrictions on the weight of your suitcase, so I only could pack 10 books to giveaway (I was not able to find a sponsor to cover the luggage fees to bring a case of books) and I wanted to leave some room to bring books from colleagues.   As part of the book raffle,   I had people write down something they could put into practice on an index card and we did a drawing.  Here’s a couple of the takeaways:

  • Share more about what we’re doing on social networks to become less of fortress
  • Identify specific, measurable outcomes for how we want to use social media to support our mission
  • Have our organization become more like a Sponge
  • Create a “I Can Make Better Decisions” chair for our office
  • Identify conversation starters with our audience to engage them more on social networks
  • Encourage our audience to share their stories, not just tell people what we do

Shoulder-to-Shoulder Learning

After the formal part of the workshop,  I just hung out at iHub and engaged in a little “shoulder-to-shoulder” learning.  Huddled around our laptops,  I answered some nitty gritty questions about tools, shared resources (like the local TechSoup Global partner) and got to learn quite a bit about some NGOS in Kenya are putting social media strategies into practice – their successes and challenges.  I find this quiet observation of how people interact with social networking sites one of the best ways to learn about how different cultures approach social media.    I made some good friends like Zawadi Nyongo, a feminist social justice consultant and Kamau Sammy, who is starting an NGO to work with kids in Kenyan slums.


In this video, Wambui Gicheru and Njern Wangethi from African Woman and Children Feature Service and Ephraim Muchleau of the Media Council of Kenya talk about using Twitter for the organizations.

All in all, I loved my time in Kenya.  I did get to spend an afternoon seeing some of the local sites, including the Elephant orphanage and Giraffe reserve where I got a warm welcome from one of the residents.  I  hope to return and spend more time here.

Nov

2010

19

Category:

Experimentation, Guest Post

Tags:

5 Comments

Blogging to Support Policy Goals: MomsRising Shares Lessons Learned

Flickr Photo by Vox Photo

Note from Beth: Last spring,  I had the pleasure of meeting Ashley Boyd,Campaign Director, for MomsRising.org who told me about Joyful Funerals.    Ashley and her colleague Anita – as well as the whole team at Momsrising does a fantastic job of reflecting after each campaign on how it could be improved.  They recently held a blog carnival and are sharing some reflections.

Guest Post:  A Virtual Party with a Purpose by Anita Jackson & Ashley Boyd, MomsRising.org

Regardless of the tool we’re using, the team at MomsRising is committed to deepening and broadening the conversation around public policy issues that impact families in our country.  Our website’s blog – which now has over 280 bloggers who publish up to 25 posts per week – has been a powerful tool in our work to create cultural and political change on a range of topics related to family-friendly policies, flexible work and parenting.

With our blog firmly established as a valuable source of content, we are now developing strategies to further leverage our blog to support our policy goals.  Over the last six months, we have begun to use the “blog carnival” tool as a way to highlight content within the context of a specific policy campaign.  Blog carnivals have provided a way to focus attention on an issue at a strategic moment and provide a resource that can frame an issue for policymakers, advocates and the media.

In September, we held a blog carnival to highlight the new consumer protections rolling out that month as part of health reform.  At a time when some elected officials and candidates for office have threatened to block or overturn health reform, we are working to highlight the positive impact health reform has already had on American families.  Because research reveals that many Americans continue to know little about reform but their opinion about it improves dramatically after learning more, we decided a blog carnival highlighting facts and personal story would be an ideal tool in our campaign.

Below is a brief outline of our blog carnival effort, including the questions that we are exploring as we move forward.  As we continue to use this tool, we are eager to hear from our colleagues about what lessons you have learned about how to plan and execute a blog carnival or similar effort.

MomsRising Health Reform Blog Carnival – September 2010

MomsRising planned a blog carnival and social media bonanza to mark the 6 month anniversary of health reform and to celebrate the new consumer protections rolling out. Our way of doing blog carnivals includes not only links to external posts but also individual cross posts in full on our own blog, which are also linked in the carnival. This way, we can spotlight voices on our blog and give policy partners multiple outlets for their articles; get many conversations going on individual posts on our site; and encourage folks to stay on our blog to learn more.

Goals

  • To increase positive messaging about health reform from diverse voices
  • To build capacity for social media in policy partners
  • To inspire parents to inform their communities about health reform through their blogs, Facebook pages, Twitter and one-on-one communication
  • To reach out to bloggers in the health care field
  • To grow our membership

Key Strategies

  • Tweet about the carnival to traditional media
  • Tweet it to Members of Congress
  • Tweet each individual post/cross post as well
  • Tweetchat with high profile person (Fran Drescher)
  • Retweet high profile tweets
  • Post about it on Facebook
  • Traditional media release on the blog carnival
  • Publish a post about the blog carnival on the Huffington Post and other top blogs/outlets
  • Share about the blog carnival and its resources in the comments section on dozens of individual blogs
  • Personal outreach to Latina mom bloggers to request posts

What Worked

Published 25 full cross-posts on the MomsRising blog from policy analysts and mom bloggers, including on high-traffic sites such as the Huffington Post and Daily Kos []

Posted 32 links to blog posts and articles raging from policy analysis to personal stories

Strengthened social media ties and internal relationships with policy partners, including eight full cross posts and several tweets and retweets from those partners

Added a couple dozen new bloggers to the MomsRising blog, including policy partners with whom we regularly work and whose voices would be welcomed on our blog

Spread the word through comments sections of online news stories; these comments became major referring source to our website for that week

Increased the diversity of voices on our blog through direct outreach specifically seeking their voices to blog; added10 new Latina/o bloggers with well-established Twitter and blog followers

Many new diverse Twitter followers– also meant new folks in our comments section.

Took the time to educate new bloggers about our issues; writing blogs on the topic revealed some of their own gaps in knowledge (great because it also reflects the likely gaps in knowledge of their audiences, who can now be educated)

Continuing to leverage the great content by reposting the links in separate blog posts covering the various categories in the carnival (eg, a separate post highlighting links on children’s coverage; a separate post highlighting immediate changes in healthcare; etc)

What Needs More Work & Strategic Thought

Still haven’t figured out how to properly “cold call” external bloggers who write on related issues but haven’t engaged on the specific topic yet. What’s too much info? Too little?

What are the ways to get our members to share the blog carnival as a valuable resource on a topic?

How can we maintain the new bloggers (engaged through the blog carnival) in an ongoing way?

How and to whom can we continue to promote the blog carnival information as an “evergreen” resource?

How can we measure the “results” of a blog carnival, particularly it’s ability to influence key audiences like policymakers, media and other advocates not focused on the issue?

Ashley Boyd is a Campaign Director with MomsRising.org and has spent more than ten years experimenting with different ways to engage the grassroots in discussions about public policy

Anita Sarah Jackson is the Director of Social Media and Blogging for MomsRising.org.
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