501derful.org
I was privileged to present, alongside Stowe Boyd and others, to the recent AMA Hot Topic event titled
Getting Ahead of the Curve. The attendees were a fantastic mix of
diverse and outgoing people. As part of my presentation I directed our
group in the construction of a very rough, and I do mean rough, Social
Network Articulation. We used paper and pens and they focused on shared
activities and experiences, and what they came up with was much more
intense than I expected.
The superficial value in the activity
was engaging the audience with each other and forming some connections.
However I feel it set the stage for me to make a stronger case for the
importance of understanding consumers in the context of their personal
networks. The attendees were able to see how they were all
interconnected and that certain sets of activities bound niche groups.
I feel this helped me that each of them, in their own special way acts
as a boundary spanner, a connector, and a peripheral player in their
own social circles.
Where is the value to a large Voluntary health association? Employing these kinds on analytics can uncover a wealth of information regarding the communication networks of a distributed agency. In addition you can view into the networking efficiency of your volunteer base. Both of these applications can yield improved efficiencies in communication, activism, and volunteer mobilization.
