In the Healthy Families Community Network, I was successful in designing personalization algorithms that would first of all NOT badger the member (infrequent messaging) and ensured that the information shared was as relevant as possible given the known information about the member.
Considering the needs of the Sierra Nevada region, we plan to gradually enhance the profiles of our broad membership and use this data to perform targeted invitations to participate in specific public planning projects and other areas of interest. High value interactions can occur within a project specific environment and other online communication tools as needed.
In a similar manner, our anonymous registrants in the community health network profiled themselves with some of them indicating 'diabetes in the family' or 'asthma in the family'. This indication would be followed up gradually over time with condition specific information. Once a member indicated diagnosed diabetes then specific questions would be asked such as recent indicators of their diabetes health (ie - A1c blood sugar levels and how recent). Based on parameters set for the system we could then invite the person (via system messaging or a phone call from a program manager) to participate in an intensive management program focused primarily on self-care from home. We also became expert at communicating the value of this approach to the local physicians and increased their participation over time as compared to our baseline metrics.
Keeping in mind that there is a Give vs. Get ratio, we know to expect only infrequent updates and only after a person has received value from participating in the community. It's important to understand that this approach is a process rather than something that occurs during a moment in time. A dialogue based on trust and high value is required in order to develop communities.
- Give a Lot (as long as we can give the member a lot)
- Get a Little (some of them will be willing to give a little)
On a whim, I began development of the 2011 World Masters Athletics Championships independent coverage as a branch of my interest in promoting fitness, nutrition and running. The Masters micro-site idea happened during the first day of the 11-day event and went live the following day. The site incorporates Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, several integration plug-ins and Seesmic for simultaneous content publication. Some things worked well and others did not. It was an excellent testament however to how far these free tools have come and how important it is to establish your community as an integrated part of where people already spend their time. I also discovered that for this venue, Twitter was far better at engaging a community than Facebook. HD video interviews that I conducted were popular and stood out as some of the most compelling content from the event. The content captured from the 10 days of attendance will also have a very long lifespan given the interest that is sure to be there from friends and family members of the athletes.
Game Theory in Action
- We are able to change behavior and thus the interactions based on game theory. If we can create competition within the participation and dialogue, we can count on improved frequency and quality of the data collected and the vibrancy of the community. What follows are two examples of what's possible when you provide an exciting opportunity for member interactions:
Getaway Stockholm Example
What if we could figure out how to activate the Sierra Nevadas around the mission of the SBC in a similar way to how Mini Cooper activated consumers in Stockholm?
* Stripes Abstract
What if we could execute on vetted concepts like the one I developed for Healthy Families around connecting local consumers with local merchants?
* proposed
