Slides from a webinar presentation hosted by the National Schools Public Relations Association.

1. High Tech Meets High Touch: Using Social Networking to Build Powerful School-Community Engagement Steven Clift Executive Director E-Democracy.org

2. Introduction 30+ Issues Forums serve 15 communities in 3 countries Ford Foundation funded Inclusive Social Media effort focuses on lower income, high immigrant neighborhood forums. http://e-democracy.org/p3 Ashoka Fellow Hi, I am Steven Clift Executive Director, E-Democracy.orghttp://e-democracy.orghttp://stevenclift.com Created world’s first election information website in 1994 Spoken across30 countries

4. Tools?Not widgets. Approaches.Good online “community engagement” practices can be applied on your own website, Facebook, Twitter, local online news sites … anywhere the public in your local community is gathering online.

5. First Secret It is not about technology. It is not about waiting for the new new idea. It is about desire, outreach, and execution If you have the desire, with community and relationship building intent, then your technology choices will matter.

6. Schools and Community Online Presentation NOT about schools using social media to communicate one-way to community Facebook, Twitter, YouTube – Surplus of advice available, shortage of risk-taking by most institutions Schools engaging the local community online Host – Facilitator – Own site, Facebook Pages, etc. Participant – As Local Institution Professional Visitor – Fact Corrector Community Builder – Community Service Role Lessons from decade+ of LOCAL online community building

7. Part One Lessons from online community “Issues Forums”

9. Local Online News Commenting Most people see, expect public conflict.Sharp contrast with private social networking.

10. Unlocking community … Connecting people who live near one another.

11. Dear Neighbors … This month the Southside Star Community Garden opened! 3.0 - Community collaboration, problem-solving Opening “organic” hot topic on Standish Ericsson Neighbors Forum in Dec. 2008: http://e-democracy.org/se Dear Neighbors, My name is Michael and I'm interested in establishing a community garden in our neighborhood. Dozens of messages, offers to help, and a call for a meeting. 500 members, 10%+ of households in May 2010

12. Growing community… Opening “organic” hot topic on Standish Ericsson Neighbors Forum in Dec. 2008: http://e-democracy.org/se Dear Neighbors, My name is Michael and I'm interested in establishing a community garden in our neighborhood. Dozens of messages, offers to help, and a call for a meeting. Radical idea!? Local people online can meet in-person. 675 members, 15%+ of households in Feb 2011 Last spring the Southside Star Community Garden opened!

13. Pew Internet and American Life Project Neighbors Online27% of American adult Internet users use “digital tools to talk to their neighbors and keep informed about community issues.” – Released June ‘10That’s 20% adults overall.

14. Neighbor Issues Forums Stories More Stories from our Neighbor Issues Forum Somali community – 20 missing youth to crosswalks Which elementary school? Responding to crime Leech Lake Native American majority rural forum Inclusion evaluation in progress:http://e-democracy.org/inclusion

15. Secret Sauce Key Lessons Civility and real names builds trust, real community Outreach matters – Use paper!, build e-mail contact base Real inclusion is “work” Multi-tech - Reach people where they are online – E-mail, web, FB, Twitter – we syndicate content E-mail “reply” publishing is key to inclusion

16. Secret Sauce 2 Key Lessons Facebook increasingly used by immigrant communities Elected officials participate with their voters People LOVE neighbor forums 37+ Blog posts sharing Lessons Missing gap at block/building/township level? – http://beneighbors.org opportunity

17. Part Two Applying lessons across social media tools

18. Shortage of Voices? Big Need: Active Listening Conversation Balanced Responsiveness

19. Necessity Helps – Disaster Response Use of Twitter during San Bruno gas fire in California #sanbrunofire Tweeting assisted by nearby San Carlos gov that used Twitter actively More: http://www.socialtimes.com/2010/09/san-bruno-fire/

20. Facebook Pages Facebook Pages Publicizing “private life” is NOT building “public life” online Pages offering “public life” opportunity Useful “gov” reports:http://bit.ly/socmedgovreal names giving governments confidence to host interactivity Janesville, WI – 31 comments about school closure due to teacher absences – civil back and forth with diverse perspectives

21. Why does St. Paul have more fans? Also on YouTube 5857 Mpls, 6700 St. Paul What is a “Liker” worth?

22. Representation – Mayor Rybak Official site, blog – why so boring? Very active on Twitter and Facebook Appears to be “personal” use. Not officially linked.

23. Engagement Superintendent blogs -“superintendent blog" school 25K search results PTA E-mail Lists, Facebook Groups Budget balancers School survey – Mounds View MN Structured Input, Valued Output “e-consultation” field

24. Online Engagement - Lessons Ongoing v. time-limited Recruit, recruit, recruit Expectations - Describe space accurately – who is LISTENING Facilitate – First person is best “Seed and Weed” – Actively share information and address problems in dialogue Comment policy clear and accessible - “limited public forum” – lawyers need to be educated

25. Do you want to live in an engaged local community?Schools can lead the way.

26. Advice for Community Builders Don’t wait - technology and models will NEVER stabilize – constant evolution and opportunity to learn Real inclusion will NOT happen without initiative Connect interactive “builders” across different schools/communities to exchange lessons Community service opportunity –classes/students promoting local online spaces for participation in their town

27. Further Information Steven Clift clift@e-democracy.org @democracy on Twitter 612-234-7072 Join Locals Online: http://e-democracy.org/locals More Links http://blog.e-democracy.org http://e-democracy.org/nf http://e-democracy.org/p3 http://stevenclift.com Slides also available from: http://www.slideshare.net/netclift Schools and Social Media Links – Raw Materials http://e-democracy.org/schools

28. Extra Slides

29. Many Purposes Reflections Meet Communicate Socialize Share Information, Contacts, Advice Support Neighbors Exchange Opinions Community News Announce/Invite Organize Collaborate Problem-solving Building bridges/Inclusion

30. Engagement - Public Input Santa Cruz – UserVoice Kings County, WA Manor “Labs” Texas

31. Representation – Mayor Rybak Uses mix of social tools. Official blog. Why must official sites be boring?

32. “Digital Embassies” - Edelman Reaching people “where they are” via third party social media tools versus websites you ”own”

33. Pick a tool, any tool Source: Jeffery Levy, EPA

35. Advice for Community Builders Promote online community building idea Find and encourage good local examples, counter terrible online news commenting trend Convene and seed new efforts Get lessons to local “hosts” – increase success rate Real inclusion will NOT happen without initiative