having been asked to submit a video as to why i think techhub would be a great idea, i decided that it would be a good topic for this week’s video…

in all seriousness, i’m so proud to be a part of the uk tech scene – often forgotten for the valley… there are some great things going on here! the techhub would be an awesome place for all of that talent to come together in one place… and it would make an awesome back drop for some of my videos

happy new year to you all, i hope that 2010 is treating you well… i’m having an operation next week and so it’s unlikely that i’ll be doing a video, but be warned, i’ll be back and kicking in no time, so don’t forget me!

love and hugs,

m xox

i had the pleasure of being asked to host a workshop for the students of the multi platform writing course held in cardiff by cyfle last week. the writers participating on the scheme were some of the best BAFTA award winning television writers in wales, who have credits for doctor who, torchwood and casualty. i felt very insignificant in comparison

the writers came together to launch an online drama series – each have vast experience of writing for different platforms but wanted to learn more about harnessing social media to build a community around the project and to try new tools and techniques to “spread the word” and “gain some love”.

the project that they’re working on is really interesting and turns the traditional drama/film model on it’s head. the concept of the project is that each of the writers comes up with a character, the thread that all pulls them together? a self-help group run by the guru. each of the characters has real world facebook, twitter, myspace accounts and blogs etc. the characters are gaining real world friends and holding conversations – taking the story into real life.

it was really interesting for me to get involved with a project that is challenging the boundaries and merging the lines between online and real world experiences. i drew upon head trauma as a case study for the course which integrates real world gaming, interactive and film. the lead up to the film involved secret screenings, participants had to await tips on twitter, facebook, myspace etc.

the project can be seen at www.breakfree2009.co.uk where each of the new episodes will be posted a couple of times per week. i know that i’ll be eagerly watching to see what happens with the development of the project. thanks to rhys and the guys for making the workshop so enjoyable!

i’ll be posting my slides below, but i’m afraid they’re mainly images, so might not teach you that much… it’s just how i roll

for those of you who haven’t had a chance to listen to it yet, the lovely paul boag of boagworld invited me to talk to him about social media and marketing on last week’s podcast.

if you’ve got 20 minutes to spare and fancy hearing my voice for a change, you can check it out here.

thanks to paul for inviting me, i was honoured to be the first interview on marketing… had a blast

everyone’s had it happen to them at some point, whether it’s that homework that the school bully copied or the css being stolen from your site, we’ve all experienced having our hard graft stolen and other people taking the credit for it. infuriating doesn’t even begin to explain the emotions involved when you experience this for the first time, infact come to think of it, at any time.

however what happens when your ideas are stolen when you’re pitching for work? how much should you give away? before now, the focus has been on code that some cheeky blighters have copied and pasted but what about when you’re consulting for strategies and marketing?

you obviously want to go in there prepared, to show that you’ve given THAT specific company thought and attention and that your recommendations are tailored to their needs. but, what happens when you give away lots of your ideas (i.e. specifics that you’d implement and ideas for viral activity) and then they choose not to hire you but implement your ideas themselves?

go in to the pitch with high level ideas and no specifics and you risk looking “fluffy” and without giving any indication of what they’d actually be getting for their money, so where’s the happy balance?

the answer is that i’m still trying to establish this – i want to give good value for money, to show that i know my stuff and to prove that they’ll be getting the personal attention with me that they wouldn’t with a big agency. i guess you just have to accept that you might run in to some rotten apples along the way but it’s all a learning experience and they aren’t the type of people you’d want to be working with anyway.

in my eyes, the most effective projects are those where the company and the consultant are singing from the same hymn sheet… i know for sure that i wouldn’t just put my name to just anything, i work with ethics and i want to work with companies that have ethics too… it’s just such a shame when you give it your heart and soul.

i’d love to get your thoughts…

i’m never happier than when i’m blogging. it’s where i get my fire, it’s what inspires me and it’s what connects me to you fine folk.

it’s been known to happen on more than one occassion that i’ve been on holiday or waiting for a friend in a bar (i try to ensure that doesn’t happen too often) and you’ll find me scrabbling around in my bag to jot down an idea that i’ve had for a blog post or video.

you can understand therefore my sadness when yesterday on the train to london, i settled down with the latest copy of wired ready to geek out only to be faced with the news that blogging is dead. i was sad primarily because not only do i not agree but the article was encouraging people to quit blogging.

if you read the article it refers to jason calacanis stopping his blog earlier this year as he had said that the blogosphere had become too big and impersonal. this can be demonstrated by taking a look at some of the most popular blogs out there at the moment – techcrunch, engadget, treehugger etc. this can mean that the personal blogs that previously had been high google rankers are now being relegated by these sites that can afford to pay professionals to blog mutliple times a day – something the average blogger with a full time job can’t afford the luxury of doing.

however, there’s the thing (and this is just my opinion), those bloggers that are out there maintaining their personal blogs are doing it for their love of writing, for the need to share, to connect with those with similar interests – not for the top google ranking on a topic or internet fame.

the personal blogs that have become popular will more often have not got there because of their passion in the topic and therefore their continued commitment to research and article writing. someone starting a blog in the hope of getting noticed (and for that reason only) will be in for a surprise because it takes a while to get a following and if you’re not really passionate about what you’re writing about, your readers will be able to tell.

the article argues that if you’re looking to express yourself, you can do so using less effort and time with tools such as flickr, twitter and facebook. this assumes however that you’re blogging for recognition or creative output. i would argue that it’s a completely different medium and serves a totally different purpose. whilst they say a picture can speak a thousand words, nothing can replace a well crafted piece of writing (and from a personal point of view – pressing publish when you’ve spent time writing).

on a different note, it’s worth considering company/development blogs too. still to this day when developing community strategies, blogs form a critical part of that strategy. the reason? it’s one of the simplest ways of communicating with your users, of getting feedback, giving a voice to your brand and creating an ongoing conversation (often meaning that you can address current issues immediately rather than the length of time it can often take to update the website etc).

so, mr paul boutin, you wired cynic, this gal may never be a famous blogger, she may never rank number one on google when you search “community“, but she’ll continue to write from the heart, she’ll always be passionate and will always have a genuine connection with her readers that a flickr picture of facebook status could never provide. so there.

fancy joining in? there’s a “random” gift up for grabs and the odd few smiles along the way too…

don’t forget to submit your answers, whether that’s in the comments below (ideally), by twitter (twitter.com/melkirk) or email (melkirk1 at gmail.com)

hope you’re having a splendid thursday!

over and out!

xox

the title of this post is a bit misleading, i’ll admit to that now – i believe the complete opposite, but it got your attention didn’t it?

bear with me as i write as i think, probably a little out of order and lots of personal views, often too strong, maybe too passionate… but this stuff makes me tick, so i’m hoping you’ll make allowances…

i was having a conversation with a friend yesterday and it struck me that far too many people think anyone can successfully build a community – there’s not too much to it right? interact on facebook and you’re most the way there? you couldn’t be further from the truth. think of it in wallpapering terms (i warned you this was random) – for a smooth effect there’s a hell of a lot of preparation that needs to go into it… you can’t just slap it up and hope it sticks. what do i mean? well funny you should ask…

research

research, research and research some more. i can’t stress how important this is. you need to know your offering inside out, know the community inside out and don’t be afraid to think big.

sure, everyone needs to be realistic at some point, but don’t be afraid to dream… don’t restrict yourself to creating something that’s achievable – why settle for something that’s okay when it could be amazing. the web is a fabulous place but in order for it to keep getting better, we need people to push the boundaries, to question existing standards and to reach for more. be one of those people.

think about what might be possible, who might be interested, where those people communicate and how, what tools are currently offered and what could be improved, what reach do you have, who could help, what do your community value, what can you provide that is different, fresh and new?

testing, testing, 1, 2, 3

in a world where beta is often just a get out clause for a product or service that’s already finished and shiny, this is still incredibly important. of course, it wouldn’t be sensible for you to put yourself out there in a totally unfinished state, but to the same extent, i can’t stress how important it is to build in user feedback to your product. by listening to your users and incorporating their suggestions and recommendations, you’re giving ownership and allowing them buy-in.

asking for feedback is pretty pointless if you never get together with the team to review – infact this can be more detrimental than not asking for feedback in the first place. communities mean handing over power to your users and if you’re not comfortable with doing that, i hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you’re not ready for a community yet.

not all feedback will be a quick fix and plenty won’t always be welcome (especially if it’s costly) but you need to remind yourself that the site/product is for them and not you. it’s your responsibility to give your users what they want.

fuzzy warmness

set yourself goals. so often i hear social media described as fluffy and, well, quite frankly it makes me boil a little inside. no you might not be able to set financial goals against each of your actions, but there are plenty of things that you can measure. for example:-

• site traffic
• comments
• user behaviour (are they interacting in a positive manner)
• referrals to friends
• number of mentions in the webosphere (on other blogs etc)
• feedback. if you’re not getting any feedback, it doesn’t mean that you’re perfect, it’s more likely to mean that people don’t care – and you definitely don’t want that!

it’s time to step up, to bring something to the web, to look after your community – after all, as soon as you have one set of eyeballs reading your blog – you have a community and it’s your responsibility to look after them?

food for thought? i hope so…

as an experienced conference organiser, i’d like to think that i’m in a good position to tell whether an event was good or not… and dConstruct rocked! i always love tech events, who wouldn’t… you’re amongst your own and able to geek out til your heart’s content. therefore the social aspect is never under question… there’s going to be free beer and you’re going to be a little merry.

dConstruct had plenty of social, with the pre-party dinner at Gourmet Burger Kitchen, the pre-event party hosted by Chi.mp at Po Na Na and the post-party at Above Audio. all round awesomeness. one of the highlights for me was talking the hind legs off a donkey to the Chi.mp guys, Tony Haile and Rob Farrow… both really inspirational. if you haven’t already checked out Chi.mp, it’s well worth a look – one personal domain from which you can manage all of your online life.

but this event was different – i learned something from every single presentation that i’m planning to implement to my current project, 4mations.

my favourite presentations would have to be those of Joshua Porter and my good friend Daniel Burka. Joshua went into some depth about heuristics and how features and even copy can have great influence over communities and users.

a prime example that Joshua focussed in on was framing something as a loss as opposed to a potential gain… for example in sign ups…. rather than:-

“sign up here to be kept up to date with the latest news and releases”

a simple text change to:-

“sign up here to avoid missing out on the lastest news and releases”

could have much more of an effect. it’s a simple strategy but it’s quite clear the influence that this should have. another aspect that Joshua looked at and Daniel picked up on was letting your users take ownership to encourage them to sign up and keep them coming back for more. the example that Joshua gave here was enabling users to do basic functions on a site before having to go through the full sign-up process.

Daniel picked up on this point and cited Geni as being a great example of how this can be done…

using Geni as an example, by the time that you’ve entered your first name, last name and email address, you’ve started your family tree! genius! you’re more likely at that stage to go through signup having already made some level of commitment to it.

ownership can also be created through the copy alone… Flickr do this incredibly well with the use of “my photos”, “my sets” etc and are fab with the informal tone that they use.

Daniel also talked about the importance of encouraging users at points when they’re likely to drop out – for example when waiting for a file to upload… by simply popping in some friendly text to help entertain them and let them know you empathise with them will break any tension points that may otherwise have occured.

another feature which Daniel discussed which i will be looking into some more at 4mations, is attaching recent behaviours to personal profiles to encourage positive behaviour. i thought that this was a really interesting points and takes it a step further than purely avoiding anonymity.

presentations and mp3s will be available on the dconstruct site and i would highly recommend checking them out – not only did i have a ball, meet some amazing people and hang out with friends, i learned a whole bunch too – making me one happy geekette!

i’d love to be able to list a ten step guide to building a successful community, the problem with that is that if you followed it step by step, you’d probably fail because it’s about taking each situation on it’s own individual merit and adapting your approach to suit each.

however, there are some key considerations that you should always remember…

DECIDE YOUR TARGET MARKET

trying to appeal to a mass market is always going to be a tough challenge and not one that many can succeed at. find your niche and stick to it. think LOLCATS – a specific phenomenon with a huge effect – heck my mum even emailed me in lol language the other day (that or she was in a rush and just not very good at spelling). have a clear idea before launching or re-branding of who it is that you want to use your product or service and why they would want to. have a friend that knows nothing about the web ask you all about it and if you can explain it clearly and with conviction, that’s always a good sign!

RESEARCH THE MARKET

find out where your target audience is communicating, what they’re talking about and the tools that they’re using. by listening and contributing to these conversations, you’re more likely to pick up on something that they feel is missing in the market which enables you to provide that niche product that everyone’s been waiting for.

you can’t build a site or service and just expect people to come to you – you have to be prepared to interact with the community members in a place that’s convenient for them. above all else, you have to be genuine about wanting to be in the chatter, contributing something of value and not just posting a link as a thread in a forum.

LOOK AT YOUR SITE

i know how ridiculous that sounds, but so many people build their site to please their desires rather than what their users actually want. build tools that encourage the behaviour that you want to see on your site – think instant messaging facilities, rating, sharing etc.

MONITOR FEEDBACK, MONITOR FEEDBACK, MONITOR FEEDBACK

whenever and wherever possible, open the floor up to your users – whether that’s through emails, feedback boxes, surveys or whatever, just make sure you’re doing it as much as you possibly can. getting the feedback is just the first part though, if you don’t do anything with that feedback, it’s a pointless exercise and you’re community won’t feel listened to.

if you can, incorporate the feedback at each release that you can. if there’s a reason that you don’t want to include some feedback or can’t, don’t be afraid to say that – whether that’s to the individual or on your blog. people will understand if they know that they’ve recognised their feedback.

if people give you feedback, they’re buying into your product/service – they want you to succeed and in return they’ll become your best advocates with a much further reach than you could ever hope for on your own.

THE FUTURE’S BRIGHT

of course, there’s a lot more to it… and it is time consuming but the rewards can be huge – i’m not talking financially, but bringing people together and watching them interact – what can be more satisfying than that? if you don’t have time to do this stuff, then at the very least pay someone to do it. the effects can be just as great as that of a really good pr firm but the loyalty will be much greater and longer lasting. communities rock!