This document provides information about Elastic Messaging for the organization Byte Back. It includes:
1) An Elastic Messaging Platform that outlines Byte Back's mission and main message, along with supporting themes and proof points about digital inclusion, workforce development, and economic opportunity.
2) A Theory of Change section explaining how Byte Back addresses barriers like lack of access to education, technology and skilled jobs through its courses and job readiness programs.
3) Suggestions for conducting effective internal messaging workshops on a quarterly basis to discuss challenges and ensure consistent messaging across the organization and communication channels.
Formed in 2011, The Infotention Network, LLC focuses on developing courses, tools, and the learning networks required to enable the fullest participation of an informed citizenry and the development of a sustainable capable and confident workforce.
Why Developing Technology Skills is Essential for NonprofitsTechSoup
As the pace of change accelerates and technology continues to evolve, organizations across all industries are struggling to keep up — and the nonprofit sector is no exception. Technology skills are critical to building the solutions that solve the greatest challenges for nonprofits. But developing technology skills starts by creating a culture of lifelong learners. For enterprise organizations and nimble nonprofits alike, learning is an indispensable element of success.
Join us for this 60-minute webinar with Lindsey Kneuven, head of social impact of Pluralsight, who will cover how you can accelerate the ability to achieve your nonprofit’s mission and give your teams the opportunity to have more meaningful impact.
This paper is being republished in 2012. It was originally released in 2001. The content is surprisingly relevant to today. This paper provides 5 characteristics of the emerging learning environment from a functional perspective versus a technological diatribe. The reader might want to plan for some quiet time and have a sketch or notepad at the ready along with a spot of tea.
Formed in 2011, The Infotention Network, LLC focuses on developing courses, tools, and the learning networks required to enable the fullest participation of an informed citizenry and the development of a sustainable capable and confident workforce.
Why Developing Technology Skills is Essential for NonprofitsTechSoup
As the pace of change accelerates and technology continues to evolve, organizations across all industries are struggling to keep up — and the nonprofit sector is no exception. Technology skills are critical to building the solutions that solve the greatest challenges for nonprofits. But developing technology skills starts by creating a culture of lifelong learners. For enterprise organizations and nimble nonprofits alike, learning is an indispensable element of success.
Join us for this 60-minute webinar with Lindsey Kneuven, head of social impact of Pluralsight, who will cover how you can accelerate the ability to achieve your nonprofit’s mission and give your teams the opportunity to have more meaningful impact.
This paper is being republished in 2012. It was originally released in 2001. The content is surprisingly relevant to today. This paper provides 5 characteristics of the emerging learning environment from a functional perspective versus a technological diatribe. The reader might want to plan for some quiet time and have a sketch or notepad at the ready along with a spot of tea.
These slides were presented at a BCE (Business and Community Engagement) event to show some of the issues raised from a previous workshop involving those external to further and higher education. The focus was on effective partnerships.
The Universal Service Program for Schools and Libraries, most often known as the “E-Rate” program, was established to bring needed modern communications technology to schools and libraries in communities across the country. I developed quotes in support of AT&T's E-RATE efforts for a few seasons.
2020 EDUCAUSE Horizon Report ™
Teaching and Learning Edition .
Anticipating the future is human nature. As anyone
who has tried meditation knows, staying in the present
is surprisingly difficult because our minds spend so
much time reflecting on the past or anticipating the future.
Humans are planners, worriers, and dreamers, and those plans,
worries, and dreams are rooted in our mental constructs of the
future. For sixteen years, the Horizon Report has provided
a construct of the future of educational technology in higher
education, based on a structure of three time horizons.
Anticipating the future is risky. As any science fiction reader or
future-enthusiast knows, extricating present-state experience
from visions of the future is very difficult.1
The track record
of predictions—whether about the stock market, the World
Series, world events, or technology—is generally so poor that
it’s a wonder anyone dares to make them. With technology in
particular, we tend to overestimate its short-term impact and
underestimate its long-term impact.2
The Horizon Report has
provided ample documentation of predictions, from educational
technology experts, of the future impact of educational
technology on teaching, learning, and creative inquiry.
Unfortunately, its track record has been described as fair to
middling.3
Why would EDUCAUSE bother to continue this
publication if its level of accuracy is so low?
DIGCOMP: Hacia un nuevo marco de formación en Competencias Digitales - 20/03/2017 - Sesión informativa en la Biblioteca María Moliner (Universidad de Zaragoza) - Stephanie Carretero Gómez, Scientific Officer, European Commission Joint Research Centre, Sevilla. "DigComp: Marco Europeo de Competencias Digitales para la ciudadanía" (Videoconferencia).
Embedding Employability Survey - Graduates
This instrument was developed from our Focus Group Consultation. It is a new survey tool, with important differences observed between stakeholders (employer, DkIT Staff, DkIT Students, DkIT Graduates). Please review each and you are welcome to modify and use for your own surveys at your own institution.
Knowledge Management Australia 2016
2-4 August 2016, Rydges Melbourne
Two-Day Connected Congress, 6 Pre-Forum Workshops, 2 World Cafes and 1 KM Clinic
www.kmaustralia.com #kmaus
The Leaders for KM Australia 2016 who will deliver Case Studies, Innovative Practical Strategies and Processes:
Dreamworks – USA(former Head of Training)
NASA – USA
Irish Defence Force - Ireland
Australian Renewable Energy Agency
Singapore Power
BUPA
Telstra
Unispace
Social Media Navigator
University of Wollongong
Australian Health Services
Research Institute
AcKnowledge Consulting
Anecdote
Intelligent Answers
Microsoft
Goodman
Department of Human Services
Xero
Melbourne University
KM Australia LinkedIn Group
http://www.linkedin.com/groups/KM-Australia-77236/about
Twitter: follow the hashtags #kmaus - over 2500 tweets last year and the year before during the event
@KMAustralia
https://twitter.com/KMAustralia
Depending on the goal and industry sector a knowledge strategy can be defined taking different angles into account. At the end we give some archetypes for implementing your knowledge strategy.
Read the latest Product Deck for the SkillsLive LMS. SkillsLive is a learner-centric Learning Management System (LMS) and Learning Record Store (LRS) that is designed to help organisations increase learning engagement while enhancing an individual’s learning outcomes and improved organisational performance.
Knowledge Management Australia 2015: The Discovery and Re-Discovery of Knowledge
4-6 August 2015, Rydges Melbourne
Two-day Connected Congress and Six Post-Forum Workshops
http://www.kmaustralia.com
The New Face of Knowledge Management
Leaders for KM Australia 2015
Cirque De Soleil - Canada
Bill and Vieve Gore School of Business,
Westminister College – USA
Bill Kaplan, Founder and Principal,
Working KnowledgeCSP LLC – USA
Department of Economic Development, Jobs,
Transport and Resources
Birchip Cropping Group
Intelligent Answers
Innosis
University of Southern Queensland
Karingal
Australian Securities & Investment Commission
Institute of Public Administration Australia
ANZ Bank
Social Media Navigator
Microsoft
State Trustees
Woods Bagot
University of Melbourne
JLT Australia
These slides were presented at a BCE (Business and Community Engagement) event to show some of the issues raised from a previous workshop involving those external to further and higher education. The focus was on effective partnerships.
The Universal Service Program for Schools and Libraries, most often known as the “E-Rate” program, was established to bring needed modern communications technology to schools and libraries in communities across the country. I developed quotes in support of AT&T's E-RATE efforts for a few seasons.
2020 EDUCAUSE Horizon Report ™
Teaching and Learning Edition .
Anticipating the future is human nature. As anyone
who has tried meditation knows, staying in the present
is surprisingly difficult because our minds spend so
much time reflecting on the past or anticipating the future.
Humans are planners, worriers, and dreamers, and those plans,
worries, and dreams are rooted in our mental constructs of the
future. For sixteen years, the Horizon Report has provided
a construct of the future of educational technology in higher
education, based on a structure of three time horizons.
Anticipating the future is risky. As any science fiction reader or
future-enthusiast knows, extricating present-state experience
from visions of the future is very difficult.1
The track record
of predictions—whether about the stock market, the World
Series, world events, or technology—is generally so poor that
it’s a wonder anyone dares to make them. With technology in
particular, we tend to overestimate its short-term impact and
underestimate its long-term impact.2
The Horizon Report has
provided ample documentation of predictions, from educational
technology experts, of the future impact of educational
technology on teaching, learning, and creative inquiry.
Unfortunately, its track record has been described as fair to
middling.3
Why would EDUCAUSE bother to continue this
publication if its level of accuracy is so low?
DIGCOMP: Hacia un nuevo marco de formación en Competencias Digitales - 20/03/2017 - Sesión informativa en la Biblioteca María Moliner (Universidad de Zaragoza) - Stephanie Carretero Gómez, Scientific Officer, European Commission Joint Research Centre, Sevilla. "DigComp: Marco Europeo de Competencias Digitales para la ciudadanía" (Videoconferencia).
Embedding Employability Survey - Graduates
This instrument was developed from our Focus Group Consultation. It is a new survey tool, with important differences observed between stakeholders (employer, DkIT Staff, DkIT Students, DkIT Graduates). Please review each and you are welcome to modify and use for your own surveys at your own institution.
Knowledge Management Australia 2016
2-4 August 2016, Rydges Melbourne
Two-Day Connected Congress, 6 Pre-Forum Workshops, 2 World Cafes and 1 KM Clinic
www.kmaustralia.com #kmaus
The Leaders for KM Australia 2016 who will deliver Case Studies, Innovative Practical Strategies and Processes:
Dreamworks – USA(former Head of Training)
NASA – USA
Irish Defence Force - Ireland
Australian Renewable Energy Agency
Singapore Power
BUPA
Telstra
Unispace
Social Media Navigator
University of Wollongong
Australian Health Services
Research Institute
AcKnowledge Consulting
Anecdote
Intelligent Answers
Microsoft
Goodman
Department of Human Services
Xero
Melbourne University
KM Australia LinkedIn Group
http://www.linkedin.com/groups/KM-Australia-77236/about
Twitter: follow the hashtags #kmaus - over 2500 tweets last year and the year before during the event
@KMAustralia
https://twitter.com/KMAustralia
Depending on the goal and industry sector a knowledge strategy can be defined taking different angles into account. At the end we give some archetypes for implementing your knowledge strategy.
Read the latest Product Deck for the SkillsLive LMS. SkillsLive is a learner-centric Learning Management System (LMS) and Learning Record Store (LRS) that is designed to help organisations increase learning engagement while enhancing an individual’s learning outcomes and improved organisational performance.
Knowledge Management Australia 2015: The Discovery and Re-Discovery of Knowledge
4-6 August 2015, Rydges Melbourne
Two-day Connected Congress and Six Post-Forum Workshops
http://www.kmaustralia.com
The New Face of Knowledge Management
Leaders for KM Australia 2015
Cirque De Soleil - Canada
Bill and Vieve Gore School of Business,
Westminister College – USA
Bill Kaplan, Founder and Principal,
Working KnowledgeCSP LLC – USA
Department of Economic Development, Jobs,
Transport and Resources
Birchip Cropping Group
Intelligent Answers
Innosis
University of Southern Queensland
Karingal
Australian Securities & Investment Commission
Institute of Public Administration Australia
ANZ Bank
Social Media Navigator
Microsoft
State Trustees
Woods Bagot
University of Melbourne
JLT Australia
Shortlisted submission for 2016 CEB Internal Communications Awards in the Innovations in Digital, Social and Mobile category. Winner to be announced November, 2016.
A different kind of IT leadership is required in the digital age. New leadership styles and maybe even new leadership capabilities are needed to capture the business advantages of cloud, mobile, social, analytics and the InterNet of Things. This is now a team game, that cannot be won by individual star players alone. We will discuss how to lead multiple influencing networks and how to collaborate and challenge orthodoxies across organisational boundaries. Don’t ask if you need a CDO, ask if you have the right existing CxOs and if they are working together as digital leaders.”
Veteran Founded. Located in San Jose California.
Johnny Lee Clarke is the founder of CityLab, my team leads vocational training development for jobs that are projected to be in high demand, in fact, McKinsey Global Institute research supports that belief, estimating that the impact of the Internet of Things on the global economy might be as high as $6.2 trillion by 2025.
#DWCAU 2018 The importance of Digital Literacy on the Digital Workplace in Of...Tracy Van der Schyff
Just in the last 5 years, technology has evolved so fast that most people are struggling to keep up. Simply sending your users the Office.com URL won't cut it either. In this session I'll cover:
Literacy statistics and ROI on training
How Office 365 supports and grows digital literacy skills
Some of the amazing features released in the last couple of years in Office (that you most probably didn’t even know about)
Where and how to keep up to date with new features and releases
How IT, End User & Training roles should change
Realizing the value that Office 365 brings you will not only enable your users, but also help with changing company cultures into flourishing, creative and collaborative places to work.
Why Read This Green Paper
The demand by your students, parents, business leaders and community to ensure that digital communications are safe, effortless and effective is complicated by the ever changing and accelerating speed of social media. As social media continues to evolve, how can your district keep pace?
In this green paper, get more insight into how school administrators and career and technical education leaders can embrace social media to improve student safety, employability, soft skills and college and career readiness. From an operations standpoint, this paper also outlines a proven method to decrease the amount of time required for and the accuracy of annual state CTE reporting.
Key questions addressed include:
• What is the role of social media in education?
• How can social media be employed to meet the needs of your intended audiences -students, parents, teachers, business leaders and community?
• How can schools effectively engage and employ social media to achieve results?
• How can CTE administrators and educators more effectively report state results?
Why Read This Green Paper
The demand by your students, parents, business leaders and community to ensure that digital communications are safe, effortless and effective is complicated by the ever changing and accelerating speed of social media. As social media continues to evolve, how can your district keep pace?
In this green paper, get more insight into how school administrators and career and technical education leaders can embrace social media to improve student safety, employability, soft skills and college and career readiness. From an operations standpoint, this paper also outlines a proven method to decrease the amount of time required for and the accuracy of annual state CTE reporting.
Key questions addressed include:
• What is the role of social media in education?
• How can social media be employed to meet the needs of your intended audiences -students, parents, teachers, business leaders and community?
• How can schools effectively engage and employ social media to achieve results?
• How can CTE administrators and educators more effectively report state results?
UCISA Digital Futures Programme Presentation.pptxucisa
The Digital Futures Programme offers support and opportunities for people starting out in their IT careers.
It enables them to develop worthwhile learning opportunities that will hopefully lead to full time permanent employment either with their current or other employers.
David Mauro-VP: Enrollment Digital Academy ProposalDavid Mauro
Proposal for Enrollment Digital Academy for any school in the US and Canada. Any online content can be used. We drive enrollment through market analysis, creative digital platform and print design and strategic planning. Proven results for several clients dramatically boosting enrollment.
Transform K12 Education through managed services, technology consulting, strategic planning, enrollment services, digital academies and professional development. We work with over a hundreds schools and districts throughout the country providing leadership, planning and consulting for education technology services, couple with the right blend of onsite and remote support, PD, training and online academies that offer anytime anywhere learning.
2. 2
Table of Contents
Introduction into Elastic Messaging ..................................................................................................... 3
Elastic Messaging Platform ................................................................................................................... 4
Theory of Change .................................................................................................................................. 5
An Interactive Guide for Elastic Messaging ....................................................................................... 8
Conducting an effective workshop ............................................................................................... 8
Facilitation Minutes...................................................................................................................... 9
3. 3
Introduction into Elastic Messaging
What is a message?
o Messages are a set of statements that prompt targeted audiences to take a desired action.
o Messages are ‘other’ focused. They are simple and break through clutter.
o They find the mutuality between the audience and the organization.
What is an elastic message?
o The elastic main message articulates the organization and its ultimate purpose – who,
what and why of the organization – to all audiences.
o Elastic supporting message themes are unifying buckets that answer how the
organization brings to life its main message.
o Each theme is further supported by compelling proof-points.
What is the challenge of elastic messaging?
o The elastic message needs to convey a broad range of work without losing the
organization’s unique identity.
Why bother with messaging that addresses all audiences? Shouldn’t messaging always be
tailored to a single audience?
o The elastic message serves as the “North Star” of messaging for all audiences. Think of
it as the logical starting point for all communications – especially those that are
distributed through channels consumed by multiple audiences.
o Even in audience-specific messaging, the elastic messaging platform sets the tone and
broad direction before customization to a particular audience.
Elastic main
message
• Who
• What
• Why
Supporting
themes
• Brings main
message to
life
Proof-points
• Compelling
proof for
each theme
4. 4
Elastic Messaging Platform
Elastic Main Message: Byte Back’s mission is to improve economic opportunity for low-income
Washington, D.C. residents by providing digital instruction, access to technology and employment
readiness skills. Our goal is to alleviate poverty and pursue social justice through digital inclusion and
workforce development. Byte Back plays a vital role in helping those most vulnerable attain economic
independence and stability.
Digital Inclusion Workforce Development Economic Opportunity
Digital inclusion: Byte Back provides digital literacy instruction and technology
certification that qualifies students for jobs which pay a living wage.
•Our programming includes digital literacy classes, industry-recognized certification, and job
readiness support.
•By combining free classes with personalized attention, Byte Back ensures graduates gain professional
skills, experience greater self-confidence and launch new careers.
•Each year we prepare 160 students for jobs requiring technology certification and provide Microsoft
Office Track classes to another 275 students.
•Graduates of our certification programs now work for employers such as the US Departments of
Labor, Defense and Homeland Security as well as leading private sector organizations such as Booz
Allen Hamilton, earning $30,000-80,000 per annum with benefits.
Removing barriers: Byte Back helps vulnerable populations overcome barriers to success.
•Our students face multiple barriers to employment. They identified themselves with the following
groups: single parent (33%), disabled (27%), veteran (6%) and returning citizen (11%).
•We use a hands-on and project based empowerment model of training. Students experience success
early and often during learning.
•Byte Back's office track and certification courses include training for workforce preparedness.
•In FY 15, by the time of our 6 and 12 month follow-up, 72% of Certification students, 71% of OT
students, and 58% of PCB students were employed.
Community access: Byte Back works to increase access to technology within local
communities.
•Our First Time Technology Program repurposes used technology as valuable resources for our
students.
•In FY15 student interns from Byte Back's A+ certification program refurbished 576 computers.
•The interns learned new skills in refurbishing, troubleshooting, repairing and networking. This
enabled them to pass industry recognized certification exams, to excel in interviews and to begin
successful careers in Information Technology.
•126 computers were given free of charge to low-income graduates of Byte Back courses. The rest
were sold below cost to low-income families and to nonprofit organizations that serve them.
5. 5
Theory of Change
Two of the root causes of poverty are inequitable access to employment and education. Most residents
of underserved areas, such as Wards Five, Seven and Eight of Washington, D.C., possess a high school
diploma or a lower level of educational accomplishment. Compounding this gap in education is a
corresponding gap in digital inclusion. Only 74% of those earning less than $30,000 per annum use the
Internet. Black and Hispanic adults make up the biggest groups of Americans who do not use the
Internet.
Our computer and digital skills training, combined with providing access to technology and an
emphasis on job readiness, opens employment options to earn a living wage without requiring a
college degree. This eliminates the twin obstacles of lack of education and lack of digital literacy that
economically vulnerable populations face.
Poverty
Unequal
access to
education
Lack of
access to
technology
Gap in
digital skills
Unequal
access to
skilled
employment
Quality courses
• Digital literacy
• Advanced certification
• Industry recognition
Job readiness
• Application portfolio
• Interview prep
• Job-search techniques
Access
• Hard and soft skills
• Technology (PCs)
• Living wage jobs
6. 6
Workforce development is not a linear process. Byte Back’s students often face significant barriers to
learning and employment, including homelessness, single parenthood, disabilities and returning citizen
status. Specialized skill in providing safe spaces to learn, support and positive reinforcement is
required. Our methodology encourages students to share newly acquired digital skills and knowledge
with others in their poverty-stricken communities. We have observed that success in the Byte Back
curriculum fosters a life-long love of learning, and students who complete a course often go on to
pursue additional educational opportunities.
Over the past six years, Byte Back's success has led to a tenfold increase in our income and a
corresponding expansion of our programs.
In FY15, we enrolled 184 students in certification courses.
To date, outcome results are trending toward 75% completion and 75% pass rate.
A+ graduates have found federal jobs as IT Specialists and Help Desk staff.
Microsoft Technology Associate (MTA) graduates have found jobs as administrative and
technical support at local companies.
We are a two-time finalist for the Washington Post Award for Excellence in Non-profit
Management (2010 & 2012).
We were selected by the Catalogue for Philanthropy in 2010 and 2015 as one of the District’s
Best Nonprofits.
7. 7
An Interactive Guide for Elastic Messaging
Conducting an Effective Workshop
Having an effective messaging platform is an essential first step, but the second is to consider how to
use messaging effectively in current operational contexts. We recommend conducting one-hour
internal messaging workshops at a quarterly frequency to brainstorm and discuss solutions to current
messaging challenges.
The following questions have been framed to capture important considerations in the use of messaging.
1. How can messaging be used consistently across the organization and all channels through
which it communicates? What processes ensure consistency both internally and externally?
2. Is there a key consideration that affects messaging across all audiences? What is it?
3. Are the messages current? What processes exist to ensure alignment with key audiences?
4. How will messaging be used as a content creation prompt?
5. How can messaging be used to engage audiences on social media?
6. How will marketing materials distributed to multiple audiences maintain message consistency?
7. How can supporting themes and proof points of elastic messaging be placed in stories (for
media placement or other use)?
8. How is messaging currently customized to each key audience? Does that need to change?
9. Student word-of-mouth is among Byte Back’s most important channels of communication.
Through what means can Byte Back control the message propagated by word of mouth?
10. Bottom-line: Is our communication simple, clear and easy to understand? Are we placing
messages in the right channels to reach our key audiences?
It is neither time-efficient nor necessary to go through every question during a single workshop. We
suggest prioritization of questions before commencing facilitation.
Some other guidelines for an effective workshop are:
Involve everybody who communicates Byte Back’s message. The workshop should invite
anybody who contacts key audiences in any capacity. For example, a program administrator
interacts with students and is thus a vital participant in messaging. The Executive Director
determines whether Byte Back ‘walks the talk.’ Messaging should not be seen as a
communications or marketing concern. It is an organization-wide imperative
8. 8
Distribute an agenda. A simple agenda for facilitation is:
o Introduce messaging and its aims.
o Briefly communicate the elastic message and its themes.
o Invite participants to share concerns, problems and pain-points with messaging.
o Guide the collaboration, using prioritized questions as a guide.
o Close by thanking participants. Tell them how the output of the workshop will be used.
Appoint a facilitator. This can be an external consultant, if one is currently engaged, or a
facilitator chosen from your personnel.
Appoint a note-taker. We recommend against recording the session so participants can ideate
freely.
Document the output, capturing ideas, suggestions and best practices. Circulate the output
organization-wide to generate buy-in for the action items generated.
Consider maintaining and circulating a list of ‘don’t dos’ i.e. ideas that have been
previously rejected as ineffective uses of messaging.
Have the previous workshop’s output in hand. Ask whether the previous workshop’s output
was implemented. If so, to what gain? If not, why not?
9. 9
Facilitation Minutes – November 6, 2015
We included the minutes of our facilitation on November 6, 2015 at Byte Back headquarters. The
active involvement of participants ensured the conversation was fluid and free-flowing, touching on
connected priorities.
A Q&A format is used here to organize the output. For certain questions, we have included ideas
generated by the Trifecta team, even if due to time constraints they were not discussed in the
workshop.
Ensuring Consistency
How can the messaging be used consistently?
Marianne, Yvette, and others involved in messaging will ensure there is a shared set of materials that
drive the use of one language by the team. They will keep the shared set of materials updated.
What is one key point for implementation in messaging across audiences?
Use simple language that makes sense and resonates with each audience. It makes a difference to talk
about digital inclusion in terms that the audience can relate to. For example, “Imagine living a day
without your computer, or your smartphone. Imagine a life without Internet. Without Word and Google
Maps.”
How can you ensure the messages stay current and consistent?
The messaging platform should be used as a guide to create consistency across all channels and should
be shared with all Byte Back staff. Conducting messaging training and creating phone scripts or
‘elevator pitch’ scripts can help staff communicate consistently.
Getting feedback from target audiences could also help Byte Back validate whether the messages are
current and are being received as intended.
What are some current challenges you are experiencing in messaging?
People do not understand why Byte Back’s role is important to the community, which might be due to
a lack of understanding of digital inclusion. We need to emphasize that our goal is to address poverty
alleviation and social injustice through digital inclusion.
Another challenge is talking to multiple audiences through the same channel. For example, should the
phrase ‘low-income’ be used while talking to a former student who is currently a volunteer? The
challenge is to be consistent with messaging while ensuring that key audiences do not experience
negative feelings or memories.
Creating Content
10. 10
How will you ensure messaging content will be included in grant applications and thought
leadership talking points, etc.?
Make sure that the individual preparing the document always has access to a current and shared
version of the messaging platform. If it is on a shared drive the team can keep it updated and ensure
each person has the same copy. This can be used to guide creation of fact sheets and talking points
documents.
Digital Content: Social media / e-newsletter/ website
How can messaging be used to engage audiences on social media?
Byte Back should create a Question & Answer document with the most common questions and most
common answers. This aids consistency in the messaging no matter who is posting or tweeting on
behalf of the organization.
In addition, messaging acts as a content creation prompt. Each content creator should ask "What has
Byte Back done in the last two weeks that conveys this message to our audience?"
Hardcopy Marketing Materials
How will you ensure documents such as the brochure apply to all audiences while communicating a
consistent message?
Byte Back should refer to the messaging platform and use the main message and its supporting themes.
Ask, "How does each theme answer the needs of key stakeholders?" If the messages do not answer the
needs of a key stakeholder, Byte Back will know it is time to update the platform so it retains mutuality
between the organization and its stakeholders.
Media
How can you use the main message and its themes to pitch stories and create angles?
It is easiest to show this with an example. “Workforce development is not a linear process.” This
excerpt from the Theory of Change provides a range of compelling and unique feature story hooks.
Byte Back could use each of the barriers its students face, whether they are veterans, single parents or
homeless, as stories of achievement against the odds.
These stories could be placed in a local media outlet. Example: When a homeless, or previously
homeless, individual is hired after graduating from a Byte Back class, Byte Back can pitch the story to
a local news outlet with circulation in areas with high homelessness rates.
Speeches
How can you tailor each message to resonate with the audience you are addressing?
The elastic main message, if current and updated, usually does not require further customization.
However, parts of it could be emphasized based on what resonates with key audiences. For example,
11. 11
poverty alleviation is a priority for the CSR programs of the aspirational audience of technology and IT
companies. Stressing poverty alleviation is Byte Back’s goal would be a strategic use of messaging.
Similarly, the elastic messaging themes should be prioritized based on the audience being addressed.
For example, local government might be most interested in addressing barriers to employment, since
these barriers often lead to welfare claims.
Word of Mouth
Most Byte Back students are persuaded to join through word of mouth. How do you spread positive
word of mouth given how diverse your audience is? How do you control the word of mouth
message?
Use messaging to develop a creed that students agree to when they sign up. From the point of joining
the Byte Back community, students are influenced by a core message, which may in turn inspire them
to achieve their aspirations.
One key question to ask is, ‘When do students need to discuss the Byte Back story coherently?’ The
answer is, during job interviews. To help students tell their story in the most compelling manner
possible, Byte Back can create pocket interview guides designed for students preparing for job
interviews. Students can use the guide as a starting point to expand on their personal experience with
Byte Back. This accomplishes twin objectives: it helps Byte Back control word of mouth messaging
and also helps its students prepare for job interviews.