community engagement strategy

Proprietary // Confidential // BYO consulting LLC 2011!

American Architectural Foundation!Constituent Engagement Strategy !BYO consulting!

BACKGROUND !Project summary and info about BYO consulting!!PROCESS!Description of our bespoke audience centered design process!!SAMPLE DISCOVERY TOOLS!Description of our bespoke audience centered design process!!WHAT WE LEARNED!Key learnings from the discovery and refinement phases of the project!!FINAL STRATEGY!Description of the final design concept!!IMPLEMENTATION !Implementation of final strategy!!

Table of Contents. !

Background!


Established in 1943 and headquartered in Washington, D.C., the American Architectural Foundation is a national 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that educates the public about the power of architecture to improve lives and transform communities. !!Each year AAF is on the ground in more than 75 cities across the country, helping local leaders use design as a catalyst for innovation and action.!

Project Goal: Develop a range of engagement strategies that will strengthen community and raise the profile of !!Project Process: BYO ran a strategy design process to develop a set of delightful social communications strategies that engage audiences, and fit AAFʼs organizational style and capacity. !!Project Timeline: Strategy (January-February 2011) Implementation (April 2011)!!!!!!!!!!!

AAF hired BYO to create a constituent engagement strategy.!

We solve public problems through digital innovation. !BYO was chosen to lead this project because of our strong background in government technology and our focus on solving public problems through human-centered digital strategy and design. !!We focus on the user. !Working across the government and non-profit sectors, we help our clients leverage social technology for the greater good by understanding their audiences and crafting impactful digital strategies, products and services that meet their needs. !!We understand government and social change. !We have deep expertise in government and social sectors, and our clients span a variety of sectors; from arts administration to aerospace, the media to the military, and architectural design to education reform – we speak our clients language. We understand their motivations. We feel their challenges. And we take great delight in crafting innovative solutions that solve their problems in meaningful and engaging ways. !!We develop creative yet appropriate//practical solutions!Creativity is important, and we are constantly creating ideas for cutting edge campaigns. However, we will never propose something that does not match our clientʼs brand or organizational goals. !!

Why they chose BYO. !


We design strategies and products…!•  Online Communications // Marketing // Engagement!•  Digital Technology Product Requirements !•  Public Services !•  Social Media Engagement!•  Community Building!•  Organizational Development!•  Training and Curriculum!!

…using human-centered research and design techniques: !•  Interviews !•  Field Observations!•  Focus Groups !•  Surveys !•  Design Charrettes !•  Ideation Sessions and Workshops !•  Desktop Studies !•  Literature Reviews!•  Quantitative // Qualitative Data Analysis!

What we do.!


Engagement Strategy Design Process!

We use an audience-centered model !to design engagement strategies!

Audience!

Products // Services!

Organizations!

Eco-System!

What does our community care about? What are their motivations? How can we

engage them while meeting their needs?!

How can we ensure that the strategy meets our

intended policy goals while engaging our audience?!

How can we leverage the expertise and resources from the organization to support

this project? !What are our funding and

sustainability constraints?!

Who are the stakeholders that we should involve in this

project? How can we help them, and what do we need

from them?!

!We believe that the most effective products, services, and strategies are those that tap into the needs, desires, behaviors, and motivations of their intended audience.!!However, in the government / social sector, the funding, policy and political ecosystem, organizational constraints, and project capacities are all important factors to include in the analysis. !


The Core: this group is your creative heart. They are your content creators and key evangelists that energize the campaign. They need to be the center of attention and incentivized to drive engagement.!

Moderates: this group is your megaphone. They help you get the word out, blog about your cause, mash up and distribute existing content, comment on videos and promote the work of the core. Look after them and they will spread the word far and wide.!

Passives: The largest group are your consumers. They eat up the work of the core and the moderates, watch the content, and share it throughout their network.!


Itʼs important to consider the range of audiences when developing engagement strategies.!

Project Kick-off!

Discovery!

Design Sign-off!

Refinement!

Our design process starts with participatory ideation and ends with focused user input!

HOW IT WORKS - We start by collecting data and running ideation sessions with stakeholders to develop a large solution set. Then we test those potential solutions with our core users through design

charrettes, site visits, and focus groups to refine and select the most meaningful solution. !

Discovery: desktop studies, user surveys, and expert interviews

Refinement: design charrettes, site visits, focus groups

Most meaningful solution Proprietary // Confidential // BYO

consulting LLC 2011!

Design!Synthesis!

1 4!2! 3 6!

We applied our processes to AAFʼs project needs:!


5!

Discovery!

Weeks!

7+!

Implementation Support!

-Kick-off meeting!!

-Initial Discovery!!

-‐Desktop Study

-‐Idea0on Session

-‐Staff Surveys

-‐Staff Interviews

-‐Stakeholder Interviews

-‐Audience Analysis

-‐Strategy Tes0ng -‐Review/Sign Off

-‐Presenta0on

-‐Training

-‐Final Report

Output: Project Plan! Output: Discover Readout ! Output: Draft Strategy! Output: Final Strategy! Output: Playbook!

-‐Launched campaigns at Na0onal Mayors Summit on City Design

Scoping!


Engagement Strategy: !Ideation Process!


BYO conducted a variety of discovery techniques to learn more about AAFʼs

mission, goals, and audiences.!!

Through this discovery phase, we uncovered AAFʼs identity and potential

for engagement. !

!BYO asked staff members to envision their constituent engagement goals. !

!We then synthesized the responses into clear-cut goals for AAF to prioritize. !

Consistent Engagement:!!Maintain consistent engagement with constituents and implement consistent messaging across all content platforms. !

1!

These are the engagement goals that emerged:!

Connect + Catalyze:!!Be a respected connector and catalyst. Grow the community and acknowledge our sponsors. Create new opportunities for engagement. !

Expand Knowledge:!!Expand the knowledge base for constituents. Provide more access to high quality resources and information. !

2! 3!

Proprietary // Confidential // BYO consulting LLC 2011 !

These goals provided the framework for the rest of our work together. !

!We also personas based on each of their most important audience categories. !

Understanding Your Audience!

!We then mapped out different ways of communicating with these audiences!

Understanding Your Audience!


!Funders: they give us the jet fuel that makes things work. !

City Leaders: Mayors K-12 Leaders, and other decision makers!

Resource Team Members: Architects, planners and other design professionals!!!These groups all have different needs and required !different engagement strategies (see design section) !

!

AAF Identified three audience categories.!


Everyone LOVES what AAF does. AAF touches a lot of smart people and holds a lot of social capital. People see it as

part of their professional network.!!

“AAF helps us stay on top of the game!”!!!

Programs: The Sustainable Cities Design Academy, Great Schools by Design, The Mayors Institute on

City Design, Architecture + Design Education Network, Accent on Architecture Gala, and more! !

!AAF staff members then mapped out where AAF stands in their ecosystem, including 1. groups who share the space, !2. partners, and 3. competitors. !


AAF resides within an ecosystem of robust organizations who come to AAF

for its design and architectural expertise. !!

BAR!

CIRCUS!

LIBRARY!

LAUNCHPAD!

SCHOOL!

BUFFET!

SQUARE!

!STORE!MARKET!

Understanding Your Organization!

!We then asked staff, “If AAF were a place, what would it be?” These were the places they listed. !

Understanding Your Organization!

!In subsequent meetings, we discussed the significance of these places and how they relate to each other and to AAF !


AAF is a platform for engagement and action based on their goals, the places they identify with, and the way that people describe them.!

“We provide professionals with the space and time to think about the issues that constrain them and the solutions that will provide them with opportunity.”!!“With so many partnerships that are crucial for us, making and keeping connections and acting as a roundtable is important.”!!“Weʼre a convener. We connect people to resources and other people.”!!!“AAF connects audiences and convenes key stakeholders. They facilitate the process of mission critical dialogue – that results in decision makers making better decisions.”!!!


The bottom line is, AAF had all the right ingredients – they just needed to be put

together in the right way.!!!

People want consistent and ongoing connections. They want an active online

presence. !!


Final Strategy!


!

AAF AS A PLATFORM!


AAF is a platform for engagement and action based on their goals, the places they identify with, and the way that people describe them.!

!“AAF is like a great airport. Always unique, but performing an important function of bringing people together, giving them what they need, and then sending them off to where they need to be.”!!!

!Operating like a platform allows for an open and simple yet robust infrastructure that exposes and celebrates their community. AAF should act like a marketplace or a bazaar for ideas and as an enabler of change.!


The good news? Theyʼre already doing it.!

By recognizing and owning that, itʼs possible to build the communications infrastructure and processes to support it.!!…which leads to the ability to: Engage. Aggregate. Amplify.! !!

!We suggested the following:!!!!1. Be ROBUST: Be intentional, invest in flexible infrastructure, !act !as a service provider, set standard process!

!!2. Be SIMPLE: Build a simple system and let it evolve, start small !and build on success, watch and respond to patterns of use, learn to !love the unexpected.!

!!3. Be OPEN: Give your community a voice, set your defaults, !provide opportunities for connecting, sharing and cross pollination !!of ideas.!

!!4. Be DATA DRIVEN: Collect data about everything, set targets and !metrics to measure, review and respond accordingly.!

So how can AAF build on that and become even more like a platform?!

Consistent Engagement:!!Maintain consistent engagement with constituents and implement consistent messaging across all content platforms. !

1!

34!

Being a platform helps meet the engagement goals.!

Connect + Catalyze:!!Be a respected connector and catalyst. Grow the community and acknowledge our sponsors. Create new opportunities for engagement. !

Expand Knowledge:!!Expand the knowledge base for constituents. Provide more access to high quality resources and information. !

2! 3!

Proprietary // Confidential // BYO consulting LLC 2011 !


Based on our analysis, the critical areas for communication were:!

Website! Content!Events!

Social Media!Email!


Implementation!

!!www.archfoundation.org!

Goals:!- The web becomes the heart and soul of the AAF community!- Showcase programs, work, resource team members!- Celebrate the success of program participants and partners/founders!- Break down barriers between programs!

Implementation Plan:!-Develop a monthly content plan to provide structure!-Curate content streams to allow the community to have a voice!-Share posting responsibilities between individual programs!-Develop a robust tagging vocabulary, allowing for cross-indexing and social sharing of content !-Invest in training for staff that will be updating the site!

!

!!Twitter – @aafdesign !

Goals:!- Use Twitter as a megaphone for announcements to increase awareness about AAF and to reach people in existing online communities!

Implementation Plan:!-Establish a content plan that is linked with the website content strategy!-Find partners/community and follow them, retweet them, and link to their content in tweets!-Reach out to a broader range of constituents by using relevant hashtags!-Use tweets to announce project/program updates!

!!Video!

High quality, engaging video will become a major pillar of content offered by AAF. !!Goals:!- Build up a library of content from site visits, events, and interviews!- Make video library searchable and systematized!- Distribute video on the web using Youtube and Vimeo, live stream using Ustream.!!Implementation Plan:!-Staff should bring a fully charged flipcam to every site visit, and shoot short (<5 min.) clips to allow for easy editing in the future!-Use descriptive titles with dates, locations, and interview subject names, and tag the videos using the dedicated tagging vocabulary!-Post on Youtube, Vimeo, and elsewhere online with AAF branding!


Campaign: Video!

Site Visit Scavenger Hunt:!- Develop a checklist of items to film on every site visit, such as a busy main street, children playing, a bus stop, bike riders, a residential street, etc.!!Community Interviews:!- Collect short conversational interviews with relevant AAF community members (mayors, funders, resource team members)!- Create a list of standard questions to ask each participant that can be used in short and long form videos. !


Campaign: National Mayors Summit on City Design !

Campaign Goals:!- Extend online impact of the National Mayors Summit on City Design !- Celebrate the voice of our community !- Gather content that aligns to strategic goals !-Elevate AAFʼs status as content curation experts !- Raise AAFs profile (credibility by association and affiliation) !- Launch AAFs Social Media Efforts !

Strategies/Methods:!-iPad interviews!-Flipcam interviews!-Twitter!-Photography!


NMSCD: goals/strategies for interviews!

iPad Interviews:!- Demonstrate AAF as a platform who AGGREGATES, AMPLIFIES, and ENGAGES its community by collecting and sharing their thoughts, expertise, and opinions. !- Ask a simple, non-intrusive question pertaining to city design.!

Flipcam Interviews:!- Ask everyone the same ONE question to encourage interest in comparing responses!- Ask reflection questions, allowing people to feel connected to the event and to AAF.!- Ask questions connected to the content of the event, that extend beyond its reach. This creates a great resource for future ideas.!


NMSCD: goals/strategies for twitter!

@AAFdesign:!- Develop AAFdesignʼs voice, which is all about AGGREGATING, AMPLIFYING, and ENGAGING!- Use hashtags, retweets, mentions, lists, and direct messages !

!@ronbogle:!- Ron should tweet using his own personality, to begin to develop his voice on twitter!- Should interject personal beliefs, ideas, and feelings into stream !- Respond to peopleʼs ideas, tweets, and comments !- Aggregate, amplify and engage, with the focus on the face of AAF !

community engagement strategy

Business

project process

architectural design

design techniques

design charrettes

digital strategy

social media engagement

localleaders use design

nal design concept