Monday 12 November 2007
10:00 AM to 4:00 PM
Main Boardroom, University of Westminster, 115 New Cavendish Street, London, W1W 6UW
Price: £175 (concessions £125)

Booking: At present, bookings must be made via email to ingrid.fiszpan@nmk.co.uk, who will contact you for further details, or by phone to +44 (0)20 7915 5412.

This one-day course will provide a thorough introduction to the business and practice of running a community or social network online.

The tutor is Lizzie Jackson, who created and ran BBC Communities. She is now a consultant for Online Communities at Children’s’ BBC. Lizzie will take you through the major issues, challenges and opportunities in managing an online community. Lizzie was voted ‘One of the 100 Innovators of the UK Internet Decade’ in an October 2004 poll conducted by NOP World and e-consultancy.com.

The Topics:
• What is an online community or network?
• You already have a community!
• What are message boards, live chats and chatrooms and how are they different from each other?
• What’s the difference between a social network and an online commercial social environment?
• How might your organisation benefit from its community?
• CRM
• Return visits - what makes a community ’sticky’?
• Analysis of your ‘people’
• Content! (and user-content)
• A more equal relationship
• Ideas and customer feedback
• Development ‘Partners’ - the community helps shape the organisation?

How to Build a Community
• Start simple - newsletters, email, publishing html pages, voting, and blogs.

• Getting a dialogue going and building a relationship - what shall we talk about?

• Message boards, live chat - when to begin to bother with the big stuff/expense and how best to implement it.

• Responsibilities to your community - moderation and hosting/internet safety.

• Case studies for best practice

The Practical:
After lunch, the group will be challenged with a practical exercise bringing together all aspects of creating an online community for an existing website, breaking down the stages of the process into edible chunks. This is then followed by an interactive session where any specific questions you may have about managing an online community can be answered.

Lunch and refreshments are provided with this course.

Past participants have said:

• "Loved it! Thanks!" - Daniel Carpenter, Voluntary Arts Network.
• "A good sized group - easy to add in and ask questions. Has given me lots to think about." - Brigid Martin, Creative Lewisham Agency.
• "Lizzie was excellent. A really strong and practical understanding of online communities." - Emily Kelley - LBi UK Limited.
• "Everything I needed was covered." - Glynis Morgan, KnowingU.
• "A good introduction to the mechanics of starting and running such sites." - Phil Clark, Builder Group.