Ask the Exerts - AI Ethics, Principles and Governance.pdf
Ambassador Program - OCTribe
1. Finding, Embracing and Engaging
your Biggest Fans
Bea Dominguez
Online Community Curator
bea@techsoupglobal.org
@trichetriche
2. Today’s Agenda
• TechSoup’s Forum Royalty – How forums
helped inspire our own Ambassador Program
• Lessons Learned - Steps to Build and Manage
and Ambassador Program
• Open Forum – Moderated Discussion and
Q&A
3. TechSoup Forums
• TechSoup forums background
• How we first engaged an identified
the first forum leaders and stars
• Where are we now? What the
TechSoup forums look like today
4. Why Should You Build an
Ambassador Program?
To create an active & passionate community of
followers that can talk about your organization
and can help activate other community
members
5. Building and Managing an
Ambassador Program
1. Make Time, Give it Time
2. Know your Community: Identify Potential
Ambassadors
3. Start Small, Grow Big
4. Communicate & Define Guidelines
5. Recognize your Ambassadors
6. Make Time, Give it Time
Turning active community members into loyal
promoters and evangelists is a focused effort
that will take time. Not only staff time during
the planning and research stage, but also time
to “get going”. An ambassador program takes
time to build momentum and create results, so
be willing to give it the time to reach its full
potential.
7. Know Your Community:
Identify Potential Ambassadors
Chances are you already have people who love
your organization and brand. This inner circle of
super fans are already active and connected.
Who are they? What do they have in common?
What do they need/want?
8. Start Small, Grow Big
You don’t have to have a million members in
your ambassador program. In fact, it is better to
have 10 truly passionate community
ambassadors than 10,000 “meh” members.
However, always think about how you can best
engage those “mehmbers” and move them up
the ladder of engagement.
9. Talk the Talk: Communicate
Effectively with Ambassadors
• Give your ambassadors the tools to
communicate your message effectively
and give them the freedom to make the
message their own.
• Give guidelines, but don’t restrict.
10. Recognize your Ambassadors
• Help them build their network: Connect them
with advocates and leaders, and create ways
for them to connect with each other
• Create exclusive ambassador experiences &
perks
• Encourage/further their learning
• Recognize their leadership. Feature them on
spotlights and thank them often
Editor's Notes
One of the first tools TechSoup used to engage and activate community were the TechSoup forums, Susan Tenby, our forum pioneer, and Michael DeLong will give some background on our forums and will about how the forum community helped inspire our current effort to build and further formalize an ambassador program. I’ll walk you though the lessons learned and talk a bit about the steps we’ve taken towards building and formalizing the TechSoup Community Ambassador ProgramFinally, we will have an open forum discussion, where I’ll seed some questions to you so that you can share your experience with an existing program and/or your desire to build one. This is also an opportunity for you to ask some questions to us and to each other.
We are all community managers, so we understand that in today’s hyper connected world, building an active community of followers is essential. If done right, an ambassador program will help you get and keep the best kind of people – dedicated fans not only loyal to your organization, but who also become evangelists that do outreach for you. Tap into an incredibly passionate community to build a movement
These are some steps you’ll need to take and consider when putting together your organization’s ambassador program.
A successful Community Ambassador program requires a long-term commitment to the program itself, as well as to empowering the ambassadors to spread your message on their terms and in their space. Give your ambassadors the freedom to take your message and make it their own. An ambassador program takes time to build momentum and create results, so be willing to give it the time to reach its full potential.
Do some research. We interviewed potential ambassadors to identify their needs, concerns and expectations. This human capital will help us shape the program.
If you start small and select those that are truly passionate about your organization or mission, the growth will come organically as these passionate people will help you identify others just like them.
Make ambassadors knowledgeable and empower them, createtoolkits, and trainings, make them understand your organization, that way they will be able to stay on message. Create talking points and check in points. Remind, but don’t restrict. Be positive, rather than saying don’t do this, tell them what they are able to do and how they are expected to behave. Also remember: The two way dialogue is the hallmark of every Ambassador program Remember you will be empowering ambassadors to speak on your behalf and maybe to recruit others. So they must be clear.
Rewards are more than money. Look at perks and rewards that are achievable within your budget and since you know your ambassadors best, you will be able to match those things with your rewards. Be real about what you are able to give ambassadors. Here are some simple and general ways to recognize ambassador. There are easy way to recognize ambassadors! You can highlight them on twitter, blog about the wonderful work they are doing, for example we have a community newsletter on kontribune where we do community spotlights
I have some questions for you, but I am sure you also have questions for me and others. So lets open it up!