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The online community ripple effect
Are you poised on the edge of your new online community, ready to launch? Does it feel like a daunting prospect? Relax. This is the time to put a plan into action that maximises your community’s engagement while minimising your individual role in advocacy. Harness the Ripple Effect: you may still be the main party…
Read MoreSafety in digital skepticism
#opParis In the wake of the Paris attacks last week, hacker group Anonymous declared war on the perpetrators – IS, ISIL, ISIS, Daesh, whatever you like to call them. This morning, it was reported that the group have taken down 20,000 Twitter accounts that were spreading propaganda across the ether. The fact that Anonymous have…
Read MoreA community approach to franchise management
Ambix is a tool for associate communities, and as part of the team I have been looking at a number of different areas where community can help to achieve business goals. Following on from research into alumni engagement earlier this year, I interviewed a number of UK franchise professionals and conducted a short survey into franchise communications.…
Read MoreTrick or treat? Get the party started!
So you’ve set up the software, built the initial content, and invited your associates to join the community. Now, you’re on tenterhooks waiting for the interactions to start. Does this have a familiar ring to it? Do you remember planning parties, inviting all your friends, decorating the apartment, laying out the snacks and drinks, and…
Read MoreSave money and build value: ROI on associate communities
One of the biggest challenges for community professionals is proving the return on investment (ROI) of the community they are forming. Requests for support and investment that don’t demonstrate a return can be shot down in flames by the big gun at the top. ROI is traditionally tricky to measure in a community setting –…
Read MoreKeeping flexible working real in a virtual world
Today saw an excellent event at the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art exploring the ins and outs of flexible working. Some great speakers were brought together by the team at Newcastle’s ForFusion to expose the technical, practical, and personal challenges and opportunities faced by 21st Century businesses and their Millennial employees. Speakers tackled the technical: Paessler’s network…
Read MoreFrom Big Data to Big Insights
Ever had the feeling you’re being swamped with information? Ask a simple question and you get a simple answer. With a spread of a few dozen responses, you can extrapolate and act on the trends you see. However, as your network of contributors grows, you get lots of simple answers. Eventually, you hit a point…
Read MoreIs your community ready to spread its wings?
Community is the natural evolution of business communication. Marketing has moved along the spectrum of interaction from “we’ll tell you how it is” to “we’re listening”. The communications caterpillar has crawled from billboard and print advertising to direct mail, clambered onto the digital express to deliver the same messages in a different medium, and evolved…
Read MoreNavigating the new industrial revolution
We’ve been living in an increasingly digital world for twenty years: it’s almost impossible to live a life anywhere that is not somehow impacted by “digital”. As Bill Gates said :”The advance of technology is based on making it fit in so that you don’t really even notice it, so it’s part of everyday life.”…
Read MoreWhy I’ll be Thinking Digital in 2016
We’re living through one of the fastest changing environments in human history. In our lifetimes, use of computers has moved from simulation – using new technology to model world events – through communication – from 1980s bulletin boards to seamless social platforms – and towards embodiment, as digital tools pervade our everyday life. As the…
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