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  ~C4Chaos : (hyper)linker

Tip: How to Make Your Groups More Awesome

~C4Chaos said Aug 22, 2006, 7:07 AM:
 

Groups! Groups everywhere! Gaia Groups for everything! How can I make my Group the best it can be? How can I make mine stand out?

You might have some questions like this–which is understandable! That's understandable. Groups are some of are the busiest places here on Gaia, and it's just natural to know how to get people interested in yours.

And this is great! The more people in the Group, the more discussions they generate, the more wisdom is shared, and the more our whole community grows. And as community grows, change accelerates!

So here are some suggestions on how to compassionately make your Groups the best they can be.

Instead of Divide and Conquer, Try Join and Prosper

Before starting another Group, search for an already existing Group which you can JOIN. Only create a Group if you can't find a similar Group with the topic of your choice. This is crucial. Redundancy is a good thing, but when there are hundreds of pods on the same topics we defeat the purpose of networking and integration.

See also: FAQ: I'm Overwhelmed With Groups! What Do I Do!? What Do I Do!?

Organize Your Group Well

Plan ahead when creating your Group. Make sure to have an informative description, a photo to associate your Group with, and well-structured Rooms.

Rooms are important if you want to organize your stuff in your Groups. So make sure to create those Rooms even before Group members start posting.

It's up to the cultivators and members to decide how best to structure these Rooms. But here are some basic boards that you might want to include:

What is <name of your Group>?
This is where you can explain the vision and mission of the Group. It's also a Room where you can put the any important guidelines or rules of engagement. You can also then link to these from your Group description

Introductions
This is where people can make introductions and get familiar with other members.

Discussions
This is where the majority of your posting will happen: here's where people can dive into the topic you've chosen to arrange your Group around. You might want to have a few of these if your topic is a big one, but try not to spread things out too thin.

Bulletin Board
This is where members can post announcements and updates.

Group Cafe
This is where people can chat in a more relaxed fashion.

And of course, feel free to add Rooms for topics unique or specific to your Group. Rooms help ensure that members of the Group post in appropriate places. But it's up to the Group moderators to be creative in guiding the members.

Bring in Others

Once you've got your Groups organized nicely, here are some effective ways to promote your Group.

HINT: You don't need to mass mail your friends. A far better approach is inviting those who you genuinely think might be interested, or whose input you'd deeply welcome.

– Invite Your Gaia Friends Over
As much as possible, only invite your friends who you think will be interested on the topic of the pod. So get to know your “friends” beforehand. Mass invite is not the best way to do it. Targeted invitations are more effective in the long run. You should always shoot for the quality of members rather than quantity.

– Invite Other Friends Over
Use the Invite Members link to email friends who might not yet be Gaia members, letting them know about your new Group and inviting them to come participate.

– Blog about It
Blogging it the most effective way of spreading the word about your Group. It makes your Group more visible on Google, within Gaia, and on the internet as a whole.  So blog, blog, blog about your Group when you have a relevant topic. Make sure to use tags.

See also: How to Bodhi-Blog

– Link to your Group
Link to your pod when commenting or posting on other Groups or on other blogs.

However, please make sure that what you link to is relevant on the subject, otherwise you'll look like a spammer. The keyword here is relevance. Also, be sensitive: you wouldn't want someone coming to fill your Group with promotions for theirs. :)

– Tag Your Group
Be sure to tag your Group so people can easily find them.

Be Creative!

Start discussions with a question–preferably one that invites dialog and discussion, not just a string of replies. Post audios and videos. Link to other areas within Gaia. Link to places outside of Gaia. Groups are a little like plants: while you can't force them to grow, you can help them by planting them in soil rich with with good intentions, warming them with the sunshine of plenty of love and attention, and watering them with posts and appreciation. Creativity is an infinite pool, so we'll live the rest for you to fill in.

If you have additional suggestions and ideas, post away your thoughts on this thread!

 

Re: Tip: How to Make Your Groups More Awesome

Peggy J [no longer around] said Dec 2, 2006, 7:45 PM:
 

Suggestion - for keeping the Group discussions active:  Select one or two of your faithful contributors & invite them into Co-Administration. This creates a wonderful atmosphere of a variety of voices keeping discussions lively.

They both bring a warmth and awareness that keeps these pods active and growing.

Peace,
PJ
 

Re: Tip: How to Make Your Groups More Awesome

Barry [no longer around] said Feb 10, 2007, 6:54 AM:
 

I dislike tremendously the thought of starting up a redundant Group when one already exists. Efforts are far better combined…. but as James Luther Adams (Unitarian Universalist theologist) put it, “if you don't incarnate, you will dissipate”.

Given the sea change in concerns about health care and health care reform in the United States, it's a world change whose time has come and is certainly worth talking about here - and it is the major point of my own advocacy.

There is already a Group on topic here - but it was started almost 6 months ago and has been quiet for almost as long. I am about ready to start up a second Group, and am trying to reach the original person who started the Group….. so far without success.  If I can't reach him and get him either to reactivate or to (say) allow me to be an administrator so I can jump-start it, I don't think I have much choice except to start a second Group to replace the one that's withered away. Any other ideas?

Barry