View Courtney Hunt's profile
The growth and direction of the SMinOrgs Community is primarily the responsibility of SMinOrgs' founder, Courtney Hunt, and SMinOrgs Community Managers. Because it is a 2.0 community, however, any and all members can influence its future.
We are excited by the ever-increasing involvement of SMinOrgs members, and we love to see more people get engaged. There are lots of opportunities to learn and grow by being an active SMinOrgs Community member, and many people for you to meet and get to know.
Listed below are different ways folks can get involved, ranging from the simplest to the most complex. Scroll down to learn more and get started!
- Contribute to the Dialogue
- Spread the Word
- Share SMinOrgs Content
- Invite People to Join the Community
- Identify and Invite Sponsors and Partners
- Create Content
- Create/Edit a News Digest
- Be a Guest Blogger
- Become an SMinOrgs White Paper (Co)Author and/or (Co)Researcher
- Become a Community Manager
- Ning
CONTRIBUTE TO THE DIALOGUE
Probably the simplest way to become more involved in the SMinOrgs Community is to share relevant blog posts (including your own), news items, white papers, webinars, research reports, videos, presentations, and other resources through one of the following means:
- LinkedIn: If you’re a member of the SMinOrgs LI group, use the share feature on the webpage where you found the item. If the share feature doesn’t allow sharing to LI groups, copy the url and start a discussion by clicking on the “Attach a Link” link on the SMinOrgs LI group discussion page.
- Twitter: Add @SMinOrgs to a tweet with a link to the item.
- Facebook: Post a link to the wall of the SMinOrgs FB page.
- Email: Send a link to news@sminorgs.net.
You can also
- Ask questions and initiate conversations through the LinkedIn group.
- Comment on items shared by others on LinkedIn and Facebook.
- Comment on SMinOrgs S.M.A.R.T. Blog posts and News Digests.
If you have trouble doing any of the above, please send a message to help@sminorgs.net and we’ll help you troubleshoot.
SPREAD THE WORD
SHARE SMINORGS CONTENT
In addition to sharing items from other sources with the SMinOrgs Community, you can share SMinOrgs content with others as well. You can, for example, share SMinOrgs S.M.A.R.T. Blog posts and News Digests through the following means:
- SMinOrgs website: Use the “ShareThis” link in the upper right-hand column to share the item via email or on the social networking platform of your choice (e.g., LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook). You can also “like” the item on Facebook, tweet it to your followers, and/or reblog/trackback to it using the buttons at the bottom of a post.
- LinkedIn: Click on the “More” button for the Discussion item, then “Share Link.” You can then redistribute the item by posting it to your updates, sharing it with one or more LI groups of which you’re a member, and/or sending it to specific individuals in your LI network.
- Twitter: Retweet items from the SMinOrgs Twitter stream, or add @SMinOrgs to your own tweet.
- Facebook: Click on the “Share” link under an item to share it on your own profile and/or message it to people in your FB network.
- Email: Send a link to individuals you’re connected to and/or groups you’re a part of (e.g., Yahoo and Google groups, discussion forums).
You can also help promote SMinOrgs’ offerings by recommending one or more of them via our LinkedIn products page. You can give each product you use a “thumbs up” and perhaps say a few words about the value you derive from it.
If you have trouble doing any of the above, please send a message to help@sminorgs.net and we’ll help you troubleshoot.
INVITE PEOPLE TO JOIN THE COMMUNITY
Another great way to spread the word is to help us recruit new members. First, of course, you may have to connect with SMinOrgs on one or more of our platforms. Once you've done that, you can:
- LinkedIn: Click on the “Invite Others” link on the right-hand side of the main group page and follow the directions to invite folks both inside and outside of your LI network.
- Twitter: Add @SMinOrgs to the Lists you follow and give us a public shout out to your followers.
- Facebook: Click on the “Suggest to Friends” link in the left-hand column of our FB page and invite people from your FB network to like the page.
- Email: Send a link to our website to individuals you’re connected to and/or groups you’re a part of (e.g., Yahoo and Google groups, discussion forums), and/or forward one of our email blasts.
Having more great people join the Community means more ideas and potential resources, as well as more and richer conversations, and more opportunities to network with like-minded professionals. And all of that will help us climb our social media learning curves more efficiently and effectively and provide stronger leadership in our organizations. Plus, though we are already an impressive, diverse group (see the About Us page for details), it would be great to have us become even more impressive and diverse by adding more members from outside the US, more folks from functional areas like knowledge management and IT, and more leaders from organizations of all kinds.
If you have trouble doing any of the above, please send a message to help@sminorgs.net and we’ll help you troubleshoot.
IDENTIFY AND INVITE SPONSORS AND PARTNERS
As indicated on the Sponsors and Partners page, SMinOrgs is actively seeking financial and other support in 2011 to achieve its goals.
If you know someone at a firm that would be a good fit as a Corporate Sponsor, please let them know about us or send their name/address to sponsor@sminorgs.net and we will send them a sponsorship prospectus.
Similarly, if you have a contact at an academic institution that could serve as a good thought leadership and/or research partner for our various projects and initiatives (see details in the next section), please let them know about us or send their name/address to partner@sminorgs.net and we will send them a partnership prospectus.
CREATE CONTENT
If you love to read, write, research, and think, there are plenty of opportunities for you to apply your interests and skills in by working on SMinOrgs features and projects. Here are some of the ways in which you can become engaged as an editor, author, and/or researcher.
CREATE/EDIT A NEWS DIGEST
As discussed on the S.M.A.R.T. News Digest page, SMinOrgs regularly shares news items of all types with its members via LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook. We welcome help creating and editing our News Digests, including:
- Compiling and editing a general digest based on items shared via other Community members (see the November 24, 2010 News Digest for a sample).
- Compiling a general digest using a variety of items recently shared in the digital press.
- Creating a focused digest on a trending topic (see the Social Leadership I News Digest for a sample).
If you’d like to pursue one or more of these possibilities, send a message to digest@sminorgs.net, and we’ll follow up. Read this blog post to learn more about the kind of help we're looking for.
BE A GUEST BLOGGER
We'd love to have folks serve as guest bloggers on the SMinOrgs S.M.A.R.T. Blog. Are you an expert who'd like to share your insights? Do you have a great case study or personal experience with the organizational implications of social media? Do you want the opportunity to reflect on what social media means for your organization or career?
You can create blog content uniquely for SMinOrgs and/or share content you’ve already created with a new audience. Send your post and/or post ideas to blog@sminorgs.net, and we’ll follow up. Read this blog post to learn more about the kind of help we're looking for.
BECOME AN SMINORGS WHITE PAPER (CO)AUTHOR AND/OR (CO)RESEARCHER
As described on the S.M.A.R.T. Resources page, SMinOrgs began producing white papers in late 2010. In addition to expanding the Social Media Primer, there are multiple white papers queued for development in 2011, and we have identified several research projects to initiate. Here are some of the papers and projects with which we could use help:
- Providing guiding principles and rules of engagement that will enhance social media success.
- Identifying the legal and policy issues organizations will need to address, and assessing them from a business perspective.
- Addressing the social media “ownership” question, as well as governance and human resource allocation issues.
- Identifying training needs and the best means for educating both employees and managers about how to leverage new technologies in appropriate ways.
- Determining the best approaches to creating and developing communities and increasing engagement among community members.
- Creating examples and case studies to demonstrate how digital technologies can enhance organizational efficiency and effectiveness.
On the Sponsors and Partners page we indicate we are actively seeking academic partnerships in 2011; however, you do not need to be a faculty member or even affiliated with an academic institution to become an SMinOrgs author or researcher. Please read this blog post to learn more about the kind of help we're looking for and email author@sminorgs.net to indicate your interest in this opportunity.
BECOME A COMMUNITY MANAGER
If you are an ambitious self-starter who has the interest, skills, discipline and capacity to assume a leadership role in the SMinOrgs Community, we can certainly use your help!
Are you passionate about LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and/or Ning? Would you like the opportunity to further develop and manage one of these platforms on SMinOrgs’ behalf? Though we can’t promise direct compensation for your efforts (yet), becoming a Community Manager can help you develop your skills and achieve longer term professional objectives.
Listed below are brief descriptions of the ways in which you can help develop and manage one of SMinOrgs’ platforms. If you'd like to explore this possibility further, please contact Courtney Hunt at cshunt@sminorgs.net.
As the largest and most established SMinOrgs platform, the LinkedIn group needs only a moderate amount of ongoing maintenance. More ambitious tasks involve increasing engagement from existing members and growing the group by recruiting new members through a targeted campaign. Community Manager activities would include:
- Moderating new items to ensure they conform to the group’s posting rules
- Adding comments and encouraging comments from others
- Managing the group profile and templates
- Recruiting new members
Even with a Hubspot grade of 96 and over 700 followers, there is much more we can do to leverage the SMinOrgs Twitter page as a communication and engagement channel. Community Manager activities would include:
- Finding and following individuals who discuss related topics
- Reviewing and retweeting content shared by others
- Engaging in dialogue with others
- Developing and managing the #SMinOrgs hashtag
- Recruiting new followers
- Tracking analytics and responding accordingly
We have over 300 fans, but we have a basic page set up and virtually all of the activity comes from SMinOrgs. There are many opportunities to enhance the SMinOrgs Facebook page as a communication channel, including:
- Customizing the page and adding new features
- Expanding the fan base
- Creating opportunities to promote and increase engagement from members
NING
We started the SMinOrgs Ning community in beta last spring, but put it on hold when Ning announced significant changes to their product offering and pricing model. Although 60 folks have already joined, and we would like to develop this platform into SMinOrgs’ home base, limited resources have forced us to put those efforts on hold. Here are some of the things a Community Manager could help us do:
- Customizing the platform, designing the community, and adding new features
- Creating opportunities to promote and increase engagement from members
- Expand the membership
- Monitor and manage the group’s activity
- Create a communication plan to update members on group activity and encourage them to visit the site
