Building Online Professional Networks: Three Stages to Success, 5 Years Later
In 2004, I wrote an article entitled “Building Online Professional Networks: Three Stages to Success” with my colleague Jim Cashel, a Forum One founders. At the time, we were co-managing a prominent online network for economists, policy makers and researchers focused on the economic and policy issues surrounding the global HIV/AIDS pandemic, called the IAEN. Our community was very active, serving some 20,000 regular visitors and about 14,000 subscribers to our email list, and offline events complemented online activities well. It remains one of my favorite professional initiatives/accomplishments, and looking back, it was before its time.
This year, I have worked on the strategic planning efforts for two very similar and equally interesting professional networks in global health, with the World Bank and Save the Children. These opportunities lead me to think that now, five years later, our community of people who work in global health and international development are far more ready to embrace the notion that we can benefit from professional networking and community sharing online. I look forward to sharing links to these new networks soon.
Technologies have improved drastically, but the key factor in a network is its people—and I'd say people have changed more than technologies. We’re more willing to give online strategies a try, and we're willing to be creative about how to integrate professional networking tools into our daily work. We are also increasingly willing to commit the necessary resources, staff time, and expertise to develop and manage networks, because we’ve proven to ourselves that the idea of people being able to share knowledge, resources, ideas, thoughts, and their own expertise can be very powerful. Additionally, I notice a general acceptance that successful initiatives must be nurtured over time.
While we’ve overcome some of the hurdles and changed our mindsets, we do need to consider the technology landscape going into 2010. Some technologies make our jobs as network managers and participants easier, like the excellent array of content management systems that allow our users to participate, comment, rank, share with friends, etc. But the reality is that now, instead of one ‘web site’ to manage, we need to manage and leverage our entire online presence—e.g. Facebook, Twitter, GovLoop, LinkedIn, intranets, email….and the list goes on. It's more important than ever to think through our strategy and understand who we're trying to reach, where they 'hang out' online--and then target outreach to them accordingly. The days of owning the 'one-stop shop' for all information on a given topic are gone, but our ability to draw people into professional networks and provide meaningful exchange in a variety of ways is stronger than ever.
I recently came across this most appropriate quote in my Twitter stream, posted by @jamesbt at JHPIEGO, that summarizes to me why professional networks are relevant and important: "All of us are smarter than each of us." -Bob Skinner, Director of Corporate Relations, JHPIEGO.
This year, I have worked on the strategic planning efforts for two very similar and equally interesting professional networks in global health, with the World Bank and Save the Children. These opportunities lead me to think that now, five years later, our community of people who work in global health and international development are far more ready to embrace the notion that we can benefit from professional networking and community sharing online. I look forward to sharing links to these new networks soon.
Technologies have improved drastically, but the key factor in a network is its people—and I'd say people have changed more than technologies. We’re more willing to give online strategies a try, and we're willing to be creative about how to integrate professional networking tools into our daily work. We are also increasingly willing to commit the necessary resources, staff time, and expertise to develop and manage networks, because we’ve proven to ourselves that the idea of people being able to share knowledge, resources, ideas, thoughts, and their own expertise can be very powerful. Additionally, I notice a general acceptance that successful initiatives must be nurtured over time.
While we’ve overcome some of the hurdles and changed our mindsets, we do need to consider the technology landscape going into 2010. Some technologies make our jobs as network managers and participants easier, like the excellent array of content management systems that allow our users to participate, comment, rank, share with friends, etc. But the reality is that now, instead of one ‘web site’ to manage, we need to manage and leverage our entire online presence—e.g. Facebook, Twitter, GovLoop, LinkedIn, intranets, email….and the list goes on. It's more important than ever to think through our strategy and understand who we're trying to reach, where they 'hang out' online--and then target outreach to them accordingly. The days of owning the 'one-stop shop' for all information on a given topic are gone, but our ability to draw people into professional networks and provide meaningful exchange in a variety of ways is stronger than ever.
I recently came across this most appropriate quote in my Twitter stream, posted by @jamesbt at JHPIEGO, that summarizes to me why professional networks are relevant and important: "All of us are smarter than each of us." -Bob Skinner, Director of Corporate Relations, JHPIEGO.
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Suzanne grew up in Littleton, Colorado, with a view of the Rockies and the wide open skies that she still misses. But her mother placed a globe in their kitchen, which inspired her to imagine...
