Using events to build engagement

Engagement depends not only on aligning objectives and providing an attractive service, but also on building relationships with all the people involved. That’s best done sociably ... and the best possible way is to run an event. That could be through an online conference – like those run by IDeA – but even better is meeting face-to-face.

Well-facilitated events help your target users feel involved, and give them a chance to get to know you and what you’re trying to do. Get people together in a real space, and let them talk. Guide their conversations so that they understand the objectives and limitations. You can make sure that diverse groups of people are excited about being actively involved in a process, engage people who don’t necessarily go online as well as those that live and breathe it, and ensure what you build matches everyone’s needs and abilities.

Events can also provide a good way for people to explore social technologies. Starting a simple blog for an event, and then engaging people with video and other tools can be a good way to show the power of these tools. This approach worked well for Digital Unite at their Silver Surfer Awards Day. The blog generated a lot of commenting and content from people outside the core team, and follow-up work and events towards a European online community of practice also led to the development of this social reporting toolkit. Online tools work much better if some of the people engaging via technology have met each other in the flesh, otherwise you can create a community of strangers.

The community development toolkit Xchangelab.org uses a combination of open source Drupal tools and face-to-face techniques to engage users with the technology as it is developed. They used this methodology successfully on Talk2Croydon, RSA Networks and New Media Exchange to gather input from users, prototype concepts cheaply, and get people using social tools in the project development process itself to show them how they work.

Another way to help a group think through their choice of tools and specify what they need from technology is by ‘paper prototyping’ a possible system using a workshop ‘game’. The Social Media Game, developed in 2006, uses cards and scenarios to get groups thinking about their technology options. Ruralnetonline used this game in their collaborative design process. We’ve evolved a longer version based on this handbook, the Social by Social Game, which brings marketing, user engagement and business factors into the mix too.