"All staff members changed their e-mail signature line to promote the ASCA SCENE Groupsite. We put it in red text so it would really be noticed. We also publish news on ASCA SCENE ahead of other communication methods."
-- Kathleen Rakestraw, American School Counselor Association
The American School Counselor Association started using a Groupsite in August 2008. In fewer than 5 months, nearly 1,700 members joined and discussions flourished. Here's the complete article with Kathleen Rakestraw's Managers' Tips:
"When the American School Counselor Association
(http://www.schoolcounselor.org/)
started using a Groupsite back in August 2008, we weren't sure it was going to
fly with our members. For the most part, school counselors aren't terribly
technologically savvy. We'd had message boards for years that didn't get much
traffic, and very few members even knew we had a blog -- let alone read it.
However, we've had great success with ASCA SCENE Groupsite. In
just a few short months we've had nearly 1,700 members join the SCENE, and we
get new discussion posts about every 30 minutes on many days.
What's
led to our initial success? I'm not entirely sure, but here are 5 tips we think
are making a difference:
1.
An email-signature promoting our Groupsite. All staff
members changed their e-mail signature line to promote the ASCA SCENE Groupsite.
And, we put it in red text so it would
really be noticed.
2.
Having a Champion. We sold our board president on the new tool, and he's
become a SCENE "champion." He posts regularly, writes blogs, comments
on other people's blogs and frequently sends messages to our few remaining
listservs encouraging them to join the SCENE. I think it means more to our
members to get an invitation from "one of their own" rather than just
another message from staff.
3.
We think "SCENE" first. For example, we have a new promotion
for a special deal on our conference registration fee. We posted the
information to the SCENE a week before sending it out via our more traditional
marketing methods. We believe the more we do this type of activity, the more
our members will realize that if they want to get the news first, they need to
be on the SCENE.
4.
Promotion in our monthly newsletter. Each month when we send
our e-newsletter, we promote something new on the SCENE.
5.
Set goals and reward achievement. Perhaps our most successful way
of increasing the number of members who join the SCENE and actively participate
is a deal I made with my boss: if we broke the 2,000-member mark by the
end of the 2008, I earn a reward. It keeps the SCENE at the forefront of
my mind and helps me remember to promote it and use it as a communication tool
as much as possible."
Thanks for sharing, Kathleen!
Related posts: Managers Tip - Gaining Visibility for Your Groupsite