It's NTEN appreciation month and I can think of no better way than to say thank you to all the NTEN members (and non-members) who have contributed to the WeAreMedia project. It is time for the community to write the Hollywood ending!
I am honored to have facilitated this project with NTEN over the past 18 months on the WeAreMedia: Nonprofit and Social Media Starter Kit. Then the project first launched, we invited the community to help us build the curriculum on a wiki. We facilitated over 200 nonprofit techies (editoral advisory group, subject matter experts, and wiki members) who contributed ideas, writing, copy-editing, lesson plans, presentations, and knowledge to build an impressive social media knowledge resource for the community.
I think one of my favorite community curriculum building efforts was the toolbox - a community curated selection of how-tos, tips, and information about social media tools. We even gave away WeAreMedia t-shirts to contributors. I was also delighted to contribute a WeAreMedia version of the social media game.
But we didn't stop there. Together, NTEN members and other nonprofit techies/trainers, developed and delivered workshops and webinars based on the community-generated content.
- A Two-Day Face-to-Face Intensive Workshop that looked at strategy and tactics and co-taught by contributors to the wiki.
- A series of short-tactical workshops at the 09NTC that included: Blogging, Podcasting, Video, LiveStreaming, and Flickr Bootcamp
- WeAreMedia Choose Your Own Adventure Webinar where we look at strategy maps and took deep dives into tactics like listening/engagement, spreading buzz, storytelling, and social networking.
One important design concept for this project is creative commons licensing - which allowed the community to remix, reuse, or repurpose the content. We've been able to track some of the remixes - that is those who kindly let us know about it and gave us attribution.
When we started this project, there were only a handful of instructional resources geared for nonprofits on how to use social media strategically. For the next stage of the We Are Media Project we're focusing on nonprofit technology practitioners from organizations that have integrated social media into their external communications strategies for at least a year. We're developing resources for practitioners looking to integrate social media into program delivery, and scale their efforts so the entire organization becomes more social.
This three part discussion series includes: Social Programs, Deep Engagement, and Getting To Scale. More on each topic:- Social Programs: The most common application of social media is for fundraising and marketing. But what about using social media as part of your volunteer or board recruitment strategy, outreach or educational program delivery, crowdsourcing ideas for program development, professional development or integrated in other areas of your nonprofit's work? What are the best emerging examples and early lessons learned? (November 1-15th)
- Deep Engagement and Social Content Strategies: Ongoing deep engagement and building relationships is the heart and soul of social media success. This is different from a campaign mentality where you flip an on or off switch. What are the different strategies for engagement? But having a conversation with your supporters is only half the job. You also need social content. This is partly what your organization creates as part its web presence, but it is also content created by your supporters that they share or that you repurpose and remix. What is a social content strategy? What are some tips and techniques? #WAMdeep (November 15th - 30th)
- Getting to Scale: What does it take for everyone in the organization to embrace social media? How do you scale? What are the challenges? How do you overcome them? What exactly does a staff person, whether full or part-time do on behalf of their organization? How do they balance "social productivity" with other tasks? What are the qualities or experience you need to look for? (November 30th- December 7th)
Over the next few weeks, we hope to inspire guest posts on these topics from nonprofit professionals that have been around the social media block and get your ideas, examples, and pointers to resources collected on the WeAreMedia as we march towards a Hollywood Ending for this project.
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