Project Blue Sky: A Case Study Prepared by: Erin Carter, Alison Lundy, Zhiyong Lu & Steven Pugh

ISIS, ISIS, Sauder School of Business, UBC

THE UNIVERSITY OF BRIT ISH COLUMBIA

1

OneoftheInspirationsforProjectBlueSky…

“WhenIarrivedattheracecourseinBeijingandcouldn’tseefurtherthan

250 M down the 2000 M course, I was concerned about the long term

impactsthatthepollutioncouldhaveonmyhealth.Howwouldthisvenue

impactme4yearsdowntheroadatmynextOlympicgames?ThenIstarted

thinkingabouthowthepollutionwouldimpactmy5yearoldfortherestof

herlife.

Mychildren’sgenerationhasashorterlifeexpectancythanmyown.This

isthefirsttimeasubsequentgenerationhasbeeninthissituation;Ithinkof

obesity, I think of TV and video games, I think of the internet as

contributing factors. Butwhat about the health impacts on kids by their

physicalenvironment?SoIwantedtodosomethingaboutit.

TheCanadianOlympicCommittee’sAthletes’Council,onwhichIsit,along

withParalympicandotherhighperformanceathleteshaveteamedupwith

the Masters of Digital Media (MDM) students at Great NorthernWay to

createProjectBlueSky.

DavidCalder,CanadianOlympicRowerandSilverMedallist

2

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSManyindividualsandgroupssupportedProjectBlueSkyoverthecourseofitsdesign,developmentandimplementation.Wearegratefultoallthatbelievedinthevisionandhelpedmakeitarealityincluding:ProjectLeadsSusanArchibald,SudaSolutionsLtdDavidCalder,OlympicSilverMedallist&ProvinceofBCChrisKantowicz,ISIS,SauderSchoolofBusiness,UBCBradleyShende,Media2oGraduateStudentProjectTeamErinCarter,MA‐RoyalRoadsUniversityBrianFord,MastersofDigitalMedia‐CentreforDigitalMediaLukeJohnson,MastersofDigitalMedia‐CentreforDigitalMediaZhiyongLu,PhDCandidate‐ComputingScience,SimonFraserUniversityAlisonLundy,MBA‐SauderSchoolofBusiness,UBCStevenPugh,MastersofDigitalMedia‐CentreforDigitalMedia(TheGraduateResearchteamwasfundedbyOffsettersandagrantfromMITACS)Advisors,Contributors&SupportersGerriSinclair,CentreforDigitalMediaJeannetteKopak,CentreforDigitalMediaGraceBattiston,CentreforDigitalMediaPatrickPennefather,CentreforDigitalMediaCarlosAlejandro,originalMDMstudentprojectteamNadiaAly,originalMDMstudentprojectteamConradChan,originalMDMstudentprojectteamSamerEl‐Nashar,originalMDMstudentprojectteamRyanLeech,FeaturedAthlete&PresenterStephanieDixon,FeaturedAthlete&PresenterJamesTansey,OffsettersDonovanWoollard,OffsettersKariGrist,OffsettersLindaCoady,VANOCAnnDuffy,VANOCFionaKilburn,VANOCBrendaMetropolit,VANOCHollyStehr,VANOCLawrenceAlexander,ProvinceofBCRumonCarter,ProvinceofBCDeirdreLaframboise,CleanAirChampionsKariFerlatte,CleanAirChampions

3

JoannaRobinson,SocialMediaConsultantKrisKrug,SocialMediaConsultantPartnersOffsettersVANOCProvinceofBCBCHydroTheNatureTrustofBCCleanAirChampions2010LegaciesNow

4

TableofContents

I.EXECUTIVESUMMARY 6

II.BACKGROUNDINFO 7HISTORYOFPROJECTBLUESKY 7WHATWASTHEGOALOFPROJECTBLUESKY? 8STAKEHOLDERS 10WASPROJECTBLUESKYSUCCESSFUL? 11HOWOFTENDIDUSERSINTERACTWITHTHEWEBSITE? 13

III.THEWIDGET 14WIDGETFEATURES 14USERADOPTION 15AVERAGEACTIVEWIDGETUSER 16

IV.OUTREACH 17COMMUNITYOUTREACH(ATHLETES/PARTNERS) 17WHOWASENGAGEDINPROJECTBLUESKY? 17ATHLETEENGAGEMENT 18PARTNERENGAGEMENT 19YOUTHENGAGEMENT 21COMMUNITYOUTREACH–MEMBERS 22WHATBROUGHTPEOPLETOTHEWEBSITE? 23WHYDIDPEOPLEJOINPROJECTBLUESKY? 24WHATWORKED? 25WHATDIDN’TWORK? 25SUSTAINABILITY‐BARRIERSTOENGAGEMENT 26OUTREACHCHANNEL­SOCIALMEDIA 27WHATTWEETSWORKED? 28SOCIALMEDIAMEASUREMENT 29BLOG 31ATHLETECONTEST 32TORCHRELAY 32ADDITIONALPROMOTIONS: 35

V.STARTINGANEWWEBSITE 37ONLINETRENDS 39

VI.TECHNICAL(WEBSITE&PLATFORM) 41PLATFORMS 41DRUPAL 41WEB‐MININGTECHNIQUESANDPRIVACYPOLICIES 41

VII.FUTUREPLANS 44

5

APPENDIX1–SUMMARYOFRECOMMENDATIONS 45APPENDIX2:BECKYSCOTT’SPROFILEONATHLETESCROLLER 51APPENDIX3:PROJECTBLUESKYSCREENSHOTS 52APPENDIX4:PROJECTBLUESKYSPLASHPAGE 53APPENDIX5:SUCCESSMETRICS 56APPENDIX6:VANCOUVER2010LESSONPLAN 58APPENDIX7:WIDGETINSTRUCTIONS(ANDINITIALWIDGETDESIGNBELOW) 59APPENDIX8:WHATTWEETSWORKED? 60APPENDIX9­SURVEYQUESTIONS&DEMOGRAPHICS 61APPENDIX10:WHATUSERSTYPICALLYDOONASOCIALNETWORK 62

6

I.ExecutiveSummaryTheobjectiveofProjectBlueSkywastomobilizeOlympicandParalympicathletestotakealeadershiproleandtousetheVancouver2010OlympicandParalympicWinterGamestoshine a spotlight on climate change. To achieve this goal, spokespeople were identified,partnerships were formed, social media was activated, blog seeding was planned, anddifferentmediaoutletswereapproached.Thewebsiteattractedenvironmentally,socially,andhealthconsciousindividualsbecauseofitsinnovativeandoriginalconcept.Awebsiteneedstobeflexibleandgothroughmanyiterationsbeforeit’scomplete.Unfortunately,manyofthechangesthatwereappliedtotheProject Blue Sky website were not done early enough in order to make a substantialdifferencetowardsits1billionkilometregoal.ThisreportwilldiscussthemethodsthatProjectBlueSkyusedtoattractmemberstothewebsiteandwillalsodiscusswhatthebarrierstoengagementwere.Inaddition,thisreportwilldiscusshowthewebsitestarted,whowasinvolvedintheprojectandwhattheProjectBlue Sky team learned throughout the project. The team at Project Blue Sky hopes thisreportwillserveasatoolforfuturecommunityengagementprojects.Accordingtoareportfrom the David Suzuki Foundation, “(public engagement) is the category where VANOC(has)hadtheleastsuccess”i.Assuch,thisreportaimstounderstandhowengagement,orlack there of, contributed to the limited success of this project and will offerrecommendationsforfutureprojects.TherecommendationsfoundthroughoutthisreportaresummarizedinAppendix1.

7

II.BackgroundInfo

HistoryofProjectBlueSkyWhile the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter GamesbroughtgreatexposuretoVancouver,carbonemissionswereanunfortunateexternality.Thetotalcarbonemissions,whichwerepredictedforthe2010Games,wereestimatedatcloseto 300,000 tonnes; themajority coming from airline travel.Offsetterswas chosen as theOfficial CarbonOffset Supplierby the Vancouver 2010 Organizing Committee (VANOC) tooffset the110,000 tonnesofdirectCO2emissions related tothe games and also developed the 2010 Carbon PartnersProgram to work with Games partners, sponsors and

participantstooffsetthe190,000tonnesofindirectcarbonemissions.Inadditiontotheseefforts,VANOCbelievedthatanopportunityexistedforapublicengagementcampaigntofurther reduce the impact of its indirect carbon emissions. TheDavid Suzuki FoundationwascallingonVANOCtoseizetheopportunityaswell,statingthatthe“EnvironmentisoneofthethreepillarsoftheOlympicMovement,andtheOlympicGamesareanunparalleledopportunity to reach out to billions of people around the world and inspire them withsolutions toclimatechange”i. ProjectBlueSky (PBS)becameonesucheffort to leveragetheGamestoengagethepublicaroundtheseissues.With seed funding from the Province of BC, Project Blue Sky was designed andimplementedbyMastersofDigitalMediastudentsatGreatNorthernWaycampus,andwasofficiallylaunchedinJuly2009withthesupportofOffsettersandVANOC.

The Project Blue Sky website was designed as a socialnetworking hub where like‐minded users could chat inforums about climate change; upload inspirational videos;usethecustom‐designedwidgettoentertheirkilometresofwalking,bikingandtransituse;andchallengeoneanothertoreach carbon‐reducing goals. Users could also interactwithhighperformanceathleteson thesitewhowere inspired tohelpreducethecarbonimpactoftheWinterGames(seehowweincorporatedathletebiosonthewebsiteinAppendix2).

Recommendations: Whendesigninganewwebsite,besurethattheproperdomainnamesareavailable(i.e.

‐.caand.cometc)andthatthenameresonateswiththeprojectbutisnotgeneric.Inthecase of PBS, there were different versions of the name in active use by otherorganizations,including“BlueSkyProject.”Thismadesearchengineoptimizationmoredifficultandmadeitharderforpeopletofindthesite.

AccordingtotheDavidSuzukireportMeetingtheChallenge,“globalwarming(is)seenasaseriousthreatby73percentofCanadians”i.

Althoughtheintentionwasinteractionwiththeathletes,thatreallywasn’tthecase.Itwasmoreashowcaseofwhobelievedandendorsedtheproject.

8

Besurenottolaunchinapublicfashiontooearlybeforeyouronlinecomponentshavebeen properly tested. In this case, many key leaders in the sustainability field whoattendedthelaunchweredisappointedwhensomeoftheprogramcomponentsdidn’twork properly causing confusion and disappointment. Itwas hard towin them backonceversion2.0wasdeployed.

WhatwasthegoalofProjectBlueSky?ThegoalofthePBSwebsitewasthreefold:1. Toengageandencouragepeopletomakesustainabletransportationchoicesandthen

log the kilometres that they biked, walked or took transit on the PBS widget. ThiswidgetsatonthehomepageofthePBSwebsiteandaggregatedalloftheusers’entrieswhilekeepingtrackofusers’personalstats.ThisgaveuserstheabilitytoseehowfartheyhadtravelledandwhattheirCO2savingswereasaresult.Thewidgetandthetopwidgetcontributorsareshownbelowonthemostrecentversionofthehomepage(anearlierversioncanbeviewedinAppendix3).

2. Tocreateafunonlineenvironmentwherelike‐mindeduserscouldmeetandcompeteagainstotherindividualsandgroupsforthenumberofkilometresloggedonthewidget.

3. Touseathletestoinspirepeopletojointhesiteandmakechangesintheirlives.The over‐arching goal of the project was to collectively log 1 billion kilometres ofsustainabletravelbeforetheendoftheParalympicsinMarch2010.IfPBScouldencourageindividualstoavoiddrivingatotalof1billionkilometres,thiscarbonreductionwouldberoughly equivalent to the 190,000 tonnes of indirect carbon emissions produced by the2010WinterGames.Recommendations: Chooseyourmetricwisely.PBSusedkilometresasaproxyforCO2.Itwasbelievedthat

kilometreswouldbeaneasiermetric forpeopletorelateto,however, theconnectionbetween kilometres and CO2 wasn’t always clear to members. Using kilometres alsolimitedtheproject’sabilitytoincludenon‐travelrelatedactionsintothewidgetanditsdatabase.Forexample,cuttingemissionsbybringingyourownbagratherthangettinga plastic bag at a store is not an activity that lends itself to being measured inkilometres.

Break‐up largegoals intosmallerchunkssomembers feelas thoughtheycanmakeadifference (versus having such an overwhelmingly ambitious goal). Success engagespeoplesosmallwinsarebetterthannowins.

Chooseanachievable targetwithsomesolid thinkingbehindhowyouwillbeable toreach it. PBS was hampered by the expectation that it would reach the 1 billionkilometre mark and many pre‐judged its success based on this when many othersuccessesandlearningswereaccomplishedandshouldbecelebrated.

9

10

StakeholdersInthebeginning,relationshipswereformedasawaytogeneratefundingforthewebsite.Thepartnershipwith theCanadianOlympicCommitteealsoprovidedaccess toCanadianathletesandgavetheprojectcredibility.ThepartnershipsPBSdevelopedwillbediscussedinmoredetaillaterinthereport.Overall,money,timeandmanpowerwereallinshortsupply.DespitetheprojectbeinganofficialsupplieractivationofOffsettersandbeingofficiallysanctionedbyVANOC,resourceswereverylimited.Thismadeitchallengingandforcedtheteamtostickwithpromotionsthatcouldbeobtainedforfree.Inaddition,therewasaconflictintermsofimageinthattheprojecthadagrassrootsfeelbutitsclearassociationwithVANOCandotherpartnersbeliedthat.While partners lend credibility to the initiative, they increased the time it took tomakedecisionsandaddeda layerofbureaucracyascertain initiativesrequiredmanydifferentsign‐offs.ThePBSteamfoundthistobeextremelychallengingasthelengthyapprovaltimemeantthewebsitecouldnotchangeasquicklyastheneedarose.Lastly,VANOChadsomeconcernsregardingsponsorshipconflictssotherewassomefunctionalitythatPBSwasnotabletoimplement.Anotherbigchallengewas timeconstraints.Therewassimplynotenoughtimetogatherenoughuserstomakeabigenoughdentinthe1billionkilometregoalbeforetheWinterGamesin2010.Giventheresourcesavailabletothisproject,aswellasthetimelineandthefactthatonly15%ofviralmarketingprojectsarepassedonii,itisnosurprisethatProjectBlueSkyfacedchallenges.Recommendation: Chooseyourpartnerscarefully. Insomecases,PBShad tomakemanychanges to the

websitetosatisfyitspartnersbutthisoftenprovedadistractiontofocusingontheenduser.PBSwouldrecommendthatwhenapartnershipisformedthatfrankdiscussionsdelveintowhatprioritieseachgrouphave,whattheyhopetoachieveandalsohowthedecision‐makingwillbecarriedout(preferablybeforeworkbegins).

11

WasProjectBlueSkysuccessful?According to a user survey PBS conducted in March 2010, 43% of users indicated thatProjectBlueSkyhelpedthemtochangetheirdailyroutinetoincludemorecarbonreducingactivities. Specifically, 34%of users said theywere inspired to learnmore about carbonreducingactivities,28%saidtheywereinspiredtohelpothersmakechangestotheirlives

with regards to carbonreducing activities and26% said that it inspiredthemtothinkmoreaboutthe role of athletes insociety.On thewidget, therewasa button that asked, “Doyou normally drive thisroute?”Thiswasincludedto measure if PBS wasactually changingbehaviour (i.e. – thekilometres wereincremental) or if thekilometresenteredwouldhave happened anyway.Thisstatrevealedthatoutof the active entries,41.91%usuallydrovethisroute. This means that11,185kilometres(outof26,689)wereincremental.Sincetheprojectdidn’tlaunchuntilmid‐2009(8monthsbeforetheOlympics),therereallywasn’t time to engage enoughusers to accumulate 1 billion kilometres.Over 2.5millionkilometres a week would have been required to achieve this goal and with the limited

“43%ofusersindicatedthatProjectBlueSkyhelpedthemtochangetheirdailyroutine”

12

resourcesoftheprojectthiswasindeedambitious.Inaddition,considerationneedstobegiventothefactthatittakesalongtimeforpeopletochangetheirhabits.Belowisafigurethatshowsatypicallifecycleofanonlinecommunityiii.ProjectBlueSkywouldhavebeenin themid‐adolescencephase.Highermemberactivitywouldhavebroughtus“closer” toourgoal.

Recommendation: Remember that social networks don’t grow overnight. If there is a specific goal that

needs to be reached,make sure there is enough time allocated to properly devise astrategy,doresearchandlaunchthewebsite.Alsoconsiderwhetheryourgoalmatchesyourresourcesintermsoffinancialandhumancapital.

13

Howoftendidusersinteractwiththewebsite?Accordingtotheabove‐mentionedsurvey,49%oftheusersvisitedthewebsite2‐4times,12%oftheusersvisitedthewebsite30+timesand8%saidtheyonlyvisitedthewebsiteonce.

Recommendation: Beclearincommunicatingwhatyouwantfromusersandsendoutemailstoremind

themtovisityourwebsite.Inthesurvey,usersmentionedthattheywouldhavelikedreminderstoentertheirkilometresintothewidget.

14

III.TheWidgetWidgetFeaturesAccording to Forrester research, 64% of young socialnetworking site users currently use widgets, while 59% ofadultsocialnetworkingsiteusersusewidgets.Accordingtothe same article, widgets need to be simple, focused, andrelevant in order to provide incentive for people to sharethem and engage with them. In some cases, users can bemotivatedtosharethewidgetifitshowstheyareconnectedtoacertaincausexii.Thegoalwastomakethewidgetaseasytouseaspossibleinorder to provide a simple action that users could doregularly. The theory was that by encouraging logging ofkm’sandencouragingsustainabletransportationchoicesona daily basis, users would over time adjust their activitytowards these more sustainable choices. The widget(featured right) provided a way for users to see howeveryone'scombinedeffortsmadeadifference.Tousethewidget,userswouldsimply:

◊ Enterthedistancetravelled◊ Choosewhichmodeoftravelitwas(walking,biking,orpublictransit)◊ Choosewhetheritwasaroutetheywouldnormallytakebycarinstead◊ Entertheire‐mail(thiswouldbefilledinautomaticallyafterthefirsttime)◊ ClickSubmit!

Becausethewidgettracksusersbasedontheire‐mailaddress,thewidgetcouldbeusedwithoutsigningupforthePBSwebsite.Ifuserssignedupatalaterdate,theinformationwouldbereferencedanduserswouldhavetheabilitytolookuptheiroverallprogress(includingcumulativeCO2savingsandtotalkilometres).Recommendations: Keepinmindthattheviralnatureofwidgetsmeanstheycouldendupanywhere(blogs,

Facebook,etc).Thismeans it’s crucial that thewidgetcanstandaloneon theseotherwebsitesandcommunicateitspurposeinanintriguingwaytogetpeopletouseitandpassiton.

15

Complete user testing (with those in your targetmarket) to see if yourwebsite andwidgetareintuitiveandeasytonavigate.Inaddition,theseuserscanhelpinthedesignandimplementationphasesofthewebsite.ThePBSteamwasworkingsocloselywiththewidgetthattheyconsiderediteasytouseandveryintuitive.However,thefeedbackfromthesurveysuggeststhatpeoplefoundthewidgettobecomplexandconfusing.

UserAdoptionThewidgetwasseenasa‘risk‐free’waytoparticipateinProjectBlueSky.Throughoutthecourseoftheproject,memberentriesintothewidgetincreased(asshownabove).Infact,the statistics show that most people preferred engaging with the widget as an initialinvolvementbeforesigningupforanaccount. The figure on the rightshows that 66% of widget userseither waited at least a day beforesigningup for thesite,neversignedup at all or used the widgetexclusively to interact with ProjectBlueSky.Of the 30% that never signed up,10%wereveryactivewidgetusers1.Secondly, of the 36% of users thatusedthewidgetonly,manyof them

1Auserwasconsideredactivewhentheyenteredatleast3entriesintothewidget

16

wereusingthewidgetformonthsbeforetheysignedupforanaccount.Thishighlightsthatthewidgetdrew ina selectionofusers thatwere interested in themessage,butweren'twillingtosignupforthesocialnetworkingaspectofthesite.OnceusershadinvestedmoretimethinkingaboutProjectBlueSkyandtheirtravelhabits,theyweremorewillingtogetinvolvedandsignupforthesite.

AverageActiveWidgetUserThewidgetwaseffectiveatinitiallyengagingusers,however,PBSwasinterestedtoknowhoweffectiveitwasatengaginguserslongterm.Theaverageactiveuserwassplitintotwogroups:thosethatdidaboutfivetoeightentries(abouttwoweeksofactivity)orthosewhodidgreaterthantwentyentries(amonthormoreofactivity).Thefewwhomadetwentyormoretotalentrieswereconsistentwithtwopatternsofuse.Eitherauserwouldcreatelotsofentriesinashortperiodoftimeortheywouldenterafewconsistententriesoveralongperiodoftime.Generally,userswereactiveduringtheweekandinactiveontheweekend.Recommendations: Startwithfewerfeaturesandaddthemasnecessary.Thewidgetworkedtoprovide

userstheinteractivitythatgavethemownershipandwasthecatalysttogettheminvolvedintheproject.

Give something back to users. PBS reinforced people’s desire to add entries to thewidget by telling them how their CO2 savings affects them personally, such as theamountofmoneysavedbynotdrivingtheircar.

Don'thidethemainfeaturesbehindanotherwebpage(i.e.–splashpageorlanding

page)unlessitisrequiredforprivacyorsecurityreasons.Inourcase,stakeholdersmandatedalandingpage(seeAppendix4)asawaytosecurethesite,however,whenthiswaschangedtoadescriptivesplashpage,itwasunsuccessfulsinceitremovedaccesstothewidget.Asshownabove,manyuserswerenotwillingtosignupforthewebsite.Assuch,removingaccesstothewidgetcutoutalargegroupofusers.Ifyouhavestakeholdersthatwantinputonyourdesign,suchasrequiringatightlycontrolledlandingpagefornon‐users,findsomewaytoprovideinteractivitytotheuseronthatpageaswell.

Provide"somethingmore"forusersoncetheydecidetosignin.Information,activities,

andcontentareallimportanttokeepingusersoncetheyjointhewebsite.Manyteamsassumethatbecauseyouhaveaforumitwillbeused.However,forumsareeverywhereandusersneedsomethingtotalkaboutbeforetheywillparticipate.

17

IV.Outreach

CommunityOutreach(Athletes/Partners)Engagement isdefinedas the“meaningfulparticipationandsustainedparticipationofanactivityiv”.Unlike“involvement”,“participation”,and“volunteering”,thetermengagementsuggestsmoredepthandconnectiontotheactivity.Forexample,apersoncanparticipatebut not be engaged. In 2009, The Center of Excellence for Youth Engagement put out areport titled, “What is Youth Engagement?” The report highlights numerous waysengagementcanbeidentifiedamongyouth,butarguablythislistcanapplytomostgroupsofpeopleiv.

• Performstheactivityorspendstimewiththeorganizationfrequently• Talkstoothersabouttheactivity/organization• Initiatestheactivityhim/herself(ratherthanattheurgingofothers)• Participatesactivelyandregularly,withaspecificpurposeinmind• Bringsotherpeople to theactivity/organizationandseeksoutotherswithsimilar

interests• Leadsandorganizesotherswhoareinvolvedintheactivity/organization• Advocatesenergeticallyonbehalfoftheactivity/organization• Seeks adult support and structure when needed, acts independently when

appropriateThislistcanhelpserveasareminderofwhatitmeanstohaveengagedparticipantsintheproject. Additionally, for those looking to start a community engagement website, theabovelistcanhelpidentifysuccessmetrics.SeeAppendix5foradditionalmetrics.

WhowasengagedinProjectBlueSky?For thepurposeof thisreport,engagement isbrokenupinto three sections: athletes, partners, and youth. Thissection will discuss how PBS engaged these differentgroupsandsuggestareasforimprovement.Asevidencedbysocial change research, thisprojecthadalloftherightingredients.Ithadleaders(athletes),ithada cause (climate change), and it had a platform (the

Olympics). Another article suggests that a “shared purpose” (i.e.– common interest),“networked interactions” (relationships among community members), hosts ascontributors (active in the conversations and genuinely engaged in the project) and a“continuous and evolving approach” (basedon theneeds of themembers) are all key tobuildingastrongonlinecommunityv.Infact,accordingtothesamereport“activityamong

“Activityamongandthroughoutthenetworkisoneofthecharacteristicsthatcandistinguishasuccessfulcommunityfromastagnantone”v

18

andthroughoutthenetworkisoneofthecharacteristicsthatcandistinguishasuccessfulcommunityfromastagnantone”v.In2007,JunxioncreatedareporttitledSustainabilityAwareness+Action:BestPracticesandKey Lessons for the Vancouver Organizing Committee and Environment Canadavi. In thisreport, it states that sustainability, specifically, is better promoted through groups. Thereport goes on to explain that groups help to overcome “low agency” and that this is acommonproblemindividualsfacewithsustainabilityissues.Lowagencyreferstotheideathat people feel as though they cannot affect change on their ownvi. PBS aimed tocommunicatethefactthatonepersoncanmakeadifferencebutalargegroupofpeoplecanmakeanevenbiggerdifference.Researchhasargued thathavingkey influencers (leaders) is thebestway toexert socialnormsvi. Thus, PBS seemed like an ideal opportunity where athletes would have thespotlightandtheycouldusethisplatformtopromoteclimatechangeaction.Recommendations: “Changeismostlikelytooccurwherelevelsofcollectiveactioncanbeengaged”vi.This

is especially true when it comes to sustainability. People often feel as though theycannotmakeadifferenceby themselves.Therefore, ifyougetpeople intogroupsandgive them a strong leader, they are more likely to feel as though they can make adifference.

Common interests, relationships among community members and actively engagedhostsarekeytobuildingasuccessfulcommunity.

AthleteEngagementIt is imperativewhen trying topromoteanewcompanyor a new sustainability project like PBS that influencers(in this case Olympic athletes) help spread the word.According to one report, “influencers (typically) restrictthemselvestotalkingaboutonlythoseproductcategoriesthat were personally important to themvii”. This is whyPBS asked specific athletes, especially those alreadyinvolved with “Play It Cool” (an initiative of the DavidSuzukiFoundation)andCleanAirChampions tobecomeambassadorsforthesite.

Another challengewas trying to leverage the “star‐power” of theWinterGames athleteswithout asking for a lot of effort from them.Theathleteswereestablishedasoneof theoriginal focal points for users of thewebsite but it became increasingly clear that theirongoinginteractionwiththewebsitewasgoingtobelowtonon‐existent,especiallyintheleaduptotheOlympic&ParalympicGamesin2010.

“Celebritiescanbringvaluableprofileandcredibilitysolongastheyareauthenticandactivelymodelthebehaviourstheyarepromoting”vi

19

According to the Junxion report, “celebrities canbring valuableprofile and credibility solongastheyareauthenticandactivelymodelthebehaviourstheyarepromoting”vi.ThisiskeyassomeoftheathletesPBSbroughtonboardcouldnotevengettheirprofileupandrunning,letaloneusethewidgetortrytoencourageotherstodoso.DespiteagreatdealofeffortandapartnershipwiththeCanadianOlympicCommittee,notasmanyathletesengagedwiththeprojectasinitiallyexpected.Therewereafewathletesinthebeginningwhowereengaged–theyperformed,talked,participated,lead,advocated,and sought support. This support faded over time as these activities did not noticeablyimpactwebsite traffic.During the finaluser surveyand interviews,oneof thecommentsmadewasthatthereseemedtobenostrategyaroundengagingathletes.Peoplewantedtheathletestobemoreactive.Accordingtoonerespondent,theywouldhavelikedtoseemoreengagementonbehalfoftheathletesversusjust“lendingtheirname”totheproject.Recommendations: When considering Olympic athletes as Influencers, keep inmind that they aremore

likelytocommittoyourcauseif it issomethingtheyaretrulypassionateabout.Eventhen, they are busy individuals so it’s advisable to be realistic if forming an entireprogramaroundthem.

Ifit’sanonlineproject,it’sbesttoinvolveathletesthatarealreadyactivelyengagedinsocialmedia.Thiswillensuremoreexposureforyourproject,avoidthelearningcurveofgettingathletesuptospeedwiththetechnologyandengagethoseathletesthatarealreadycomfortablewithanactivepublicprofile.

Ensureengagementbyyour leaders.AlthoughPBShadathletesvoluntarily lend their

nameandprofiletothecause,mostwerenotactiveonthesitewhichmadeitdifficulttotap into theirnetworksandprovidea forum forotherparticipants toengagedirectlywiththeathletes,apromisethatwasmadeinthepromotionoftheprogram.

PartnerEngagementEarlyoninthecreationofProjectBlueSky,partnershipswereidentifiedasakeyvehicletoengagebroadaudiencesgiventheproject’slimitedresources.Itwasbelievedthatthroughthese partnerships, specific audiences could be targeted. This was further supported byresearch done by Junxion Strategy (asmentioned above). This report highlights the factthat a partnership model is highly effective and can “draw on the competencies, reach,credibility”ofpartnersfromavarietyofsectors(government,business,andnon‐profit)vi.Theprojectgainedafewearlypartners,suchasCleanAirChampions,theProvinceofBCandVANOC,whogeneratedsometraffictothewebsite.Thediagrambelowshowssomeoftheorganizationsand/orpeoplethatwerecontactedduringthesecondhalfoftheproject,

20

including: government agencies, non‐profit agencies, corporations,media and influentialindividuals.Whilethislistwassubstantialveryfewpartnerscameonboardinatrulyintegratedway.Later in theproject, PBSdeveloped strong relationshipswithCoca‐Cola,BCHydro, 2010Legacies Now and theNature Trust, some ofwhom had relevantexisting programs thatPBScouldconnectwith.Another strategy was tocontactallEnvironmentalNon‐GovernmentalOrganization’s (ENGO’s)that had supported theCopenhagen ClimateConference. PBS felt thatthese like‐mindedorganizations would bewilling to supportanother great cause.However, PBS foundquite the opposite to betrue. Organizations werehesitant to participatebecause of theenvironmental and socialcontroversies thataccompanymega‐eventssuchastheOlympics.Whilesomeorganizationslentsupport,likeCleanAirChampions, thehesitation inbeingassociatedwith theOlympicmovementwasdisappointing.While partnering with official Olympic suppliers and sponsors allowed the project toassociatewithanduse theOlympicbrand, itwasalsovery limitingwithregards towhatPBScouldandcouldn’tdo.Thereweremanyrulestofollowandsomeofthemprovedtobeobstaclestotrueuserengagement.WhenenteringintoapartnershipasPBSdid,itisveryimportanttoknowwhatyoucanandcan’tdosoasnottodevelopunrealisticexpectations.Recommendations: Bestrategic inwhoyouapproach tobeyourpartnerandhavecleargoals inmindof

whatyouwanttogetoutofthepartnership.Beasopenandhonestupfrontastowhatyou need from the partner as well as what your limitations are in terms of

21

reciprocating.Awritten“letterofunderstanding”(LOU)isadefiniteassetfromaclarityperspective.

Oneofthekeypartnershipsmissingfromthisprojectwasindustry.WhilePBSfocusedon environmental and sport orientated organizations, it failed to recognize thatindustry, specifically technology experts with experience in building social mediasoftware,couldhavebeenkeypartnersforthisproject.

Time was another factor in preventing partnerships with the corporate sector and

VANOCsponsorsinparticular.Althoughmanywerecontacted,theirGamestimeplanswerealreadywellestablishedwithnoadditionalresourcesoftime,moneyandhumancapitaltoadoptanotherprogramlikePBS.

YouthEngagementYouth,betweentheagesof13‐29,aresomeofthemostengagedcitizensinthecountryiv.This population is unique from other populations because they have grown up in thetechnologyera.OftenreferredtoasGenerationY,thispopulationishighlyproficientwithadvanced communications technology and fast paced decision‐making. Due to theirproficiency,theyhaveaccesstoinformationonalllevelsofscale,fromlocaltoglobal,andhavebecomemoreinvolved,moreinformed,andmoreengagedthanpreviousgenerations.In addition, it appears that the younger generation hasmore of an environmental focus.According to an interview conducted by eMarketer, US Internet users aged 18‐24 had agreater tendency to fully integrate green behaviour into their daily lives than did theirolder counterpartsviii. Specifically, ten percent claimed to “completely incorporateenvironmentalismintotheirlives”,comparedwith3‐5%ofothergroupsviii.Furthermore,asshowninthechartbelowfromarecentUSstudy,the18‐29demographicspendsmore“personal”timeonlinethananyotherdemographicgroupix.

22

InastudybyTheFrameworkFoundation(2006)itwasshownthatthethreemainbarrierstoyouthengagementis:nobodyasks,theyfeelasthoughtheydon’thavetime,theydon’tknowwheretofindmeaningfulvolunteeropportunitiesx.Thisisparticularlypertinentwithregards to environmental information. With the focus on climate change and globalwarming,youtharebombardedandcaneasilybecomedisengagedasaresult.While social networks like PBS are restricted to members over the age of 13, youthengagementwasatargetaudiencethatwasforthemostpartlargelymissed.Whiletherewas an effort late in the project to engage school‐aged youth, it was unsuccessful. It isimportant tonote that this targetaudienceneeds themost lead‐timetoreacheffectively.Schoolsshouldbecontactedmonthsoryearsbeforelaunchingaproject.Presentationstoschoolboards,writingtoprincipalsandcontactingteachernetworksareallwaystogetaproject like this into schools. The project should be presented as an easy and relevantaddition to the curriculum. For example, the 2010 Olympic Education Program offerscomprehensivelessonplansanddescribesitsprograminrelationtothedifferentschool‐agegroupsittargets(seeAppendix6fordetails).Thisprogramwasdevelopedovermanyyearsinadvanceofthe2010WinterGames.Recommendations: Forthistypeofproject,itisrecommendedtoconsideryouthasatargetbecauseoftheir

high levels of engagement, influence in families and because they are tech savvy.However,iftryingtoreachyouththroughschoolprograms,itisimportanttoallowforconsiderable lead‐time. In addition, the closer you can tie the program to the coursecurriculum,thebetteritwillbereceived.

It is imperativetohaveaclearcommunicationstrategywithclearmessagingonwhattheprojectisabout.

Insomecases, it iseasytoassumethatyourwebsiteappealstoeveryone.However,a

websitethattriestoappealtoeveryoneendsupappealingtonoone!Takethetimetodetermine the correct target market for your program. The dollars you spend onmarketingandpromotionswillgomuchfurther.

CommunityOutreach–MembersThereweremanywaysthatPBStriedtoreachouttocommunitymembersandgetthemexcited about the project. However, the member community was not as active as PBSwouldhaveliked.Inretrospect,PBSshouldhaveencouragedmoredialogueonthewebsiteby specifically targeting individuals to blog, comment orwrite something in the forum ‐anythingtogettheconversationstarted.Acommunitydoesn’treallybeginuntilmembersfeelcomfortableaboutparticipatingonthesite.

23

Recommendation: Itisimportanttohavenewcontentandconversationsonasocialnetwork.Thismakes

it more interesting formembers and they aremore likely to come back. One articlerecommends seeking out bloggers and otherwell‐networked individuals and invitingthem to become a “charter member” of the communityiii. This makes them feelprivileged to be invited and their network plus their experience can help launch thesite.

Whatbroughtpeopletothewebsite?Accordingtooursurvey(andasillustratedbelow),over60%oftheusersjoinedbecausefriendsand/orco‐workers told themabout theproject,13% joinedbecauseofcorporatepartnerwebsitesand9%joinedthroughtwitterand/orfacebook.

Thewrittenresponsesfromthesurveyindicatethatmanypeoplejoined“asafavourtoafriend”,orbecause“itsoundedinteresting”.Recommendation: Whilefriends,familyandco‐workershavebroadnetworks,it’simportanttoattractthe

righttargetmarkettothesite–not justthosewhoaredoingafavourforafriend.Aswill be discussed later, it is not the number of eyeballs but the right eyeballs thatmatter!

24

WhydidpeoplejoinProjectBlueSky?

Greatconcept–peoplelovedtheconcept Newness–theideawasinnovativeandunique Mergingvalues–manypeoplelikedtheenvironmentalandsporttwist Community–peoplewantedtobepartofsomethingbiggerthanthemselves KeyInfluencers‐engagedandsocialnetworksavvyathletes Contestsandchallenges–addscompetitivespirit Partnerships‐Partneringwithexistingnetworks

Whenuserswereaskedtoexplainwhytheyhad joinedProjectBlueSky, theirresponsesfellintofourmajorcategories:

While the motivation for most users fell into one of the above categories, many alsoindicatedthattheconcept(Olympicathletesinspiringenvironmentalactionthroughsocialnetworking) had intrigued them and they joined in order to learn more about it. Forexample, users indicated they joined because they were “Curious about the approach toengaging public on climate change” andwanted “To see how it functioned as a behaviourchangetool”.Also,becauseitwasa“Greatinitiativetosupportsportandsustainability.”

25

Recommendation: It’simportanttosurveyusersearlyonintheprocessastowhattheyhopetogetoutof

yourwebsiteasthiscanhelpdirectthecontent.

Whatworked?Accordingtothesurveyaswellaswebsitedatacollectedthroughouttheproject,thethreemainreasonsusersstayedengagedwereasfollows:1. ConnectivityThemoreusersfeltconnectedtotheinitiative,thepurpose,otherusers,andtheathletes,the more likely they were to stick around. In fact, a number of people indicated theyremained involved in PBS because of Ryan Leech, one of our most active athleteambassadors.2. CommunicationTheemailblastssenttouserscorrelatedwithsignificantjumpsingrosswebsitevisits.Inaddition,activityonthewebsiteaswellasbloggingandtweetinggeneratedinterest.3. ContestsProjectBlueSkyranacontestwherememberswereencouragedtodonatetheirkilometresto one of two lead athletes who were competing against one another for the mostkilometres.Thiscontestgeneratedthemosttrafficofanyotherengagementstrategy(122uniquevisitorsinoneday).

Whatdidn’twork?According to our survey, users identified reasonswhy they felt disengaged and perhapsfrustratedbytheproject: Password protection: This extra step, which was required by project stakeholders,

deterredsomeusersfromfullyengagingintheproject.

Thewidget:Userswerefrustratedbythewidgetfornumerousreasons(toocomplex,notworking, itdidn’taccount fordecimals,andbecause itwas limited toonlybiking,walking,ortakingtransit).AdetailedimageofthewidgetisfeaturedinAppendix7.

Counting kilometres: Since users were responsible for entering the number of

kilometres that they travelled, they usually had to guess as therewas no tool (asidefromalinktoGoogleMaps)tohelpthemreliablycountkm’s.Thislackofaccuracymayhavetakenawayfromthecredibilityofthesite.

26

Lackof engagement: Therewas a lack of engagement on the part of athleteswhichunfortunatelysetabadexampleforothers.AccordingtotheJunxionreport,“if(people)believethatothersdonotcare,theyare50%lesslikelytocarethemselves”vi.

Lack of web activity: There was very little change from day to day on the website

which didn’t incent people to re‐visit. This includes content, overall news and thenumber of members. Users mentioned in the survey that they wanted to see morecontentoncarbonreducingactivities.

Goaltoobig:The1billion‐kilometergoalwassolarge(andincreasinglyunobtainable)

thatitleftusersfeelingasthoughtheywereupagainstanimpossibletask. Lack of incentives: Users felt that they needed more encouragement to continue

engagingwiththewebsite.Usersspecificallymentionedthisinthesurvey. Oversaturation:Manyusersfeltthattherearetoomanysocialnetworksoutthereand

they were feeling overwhelmed trying to keep up with numerous online profiles.Ultimately,PBSwascompetingforpeople’slimitedtimeandattention.

Sustainability‐BarrierstoEngagementTheJunxionreportstipulatesthattherearespecificbarriersto adopting sustainable behaviours. Not surprisingly, theyrecommend that these barriers need to be removed beforeindividualchangecanbeexpected.Theyevengoasfarastosaythat“acommunitysocialmarketingprogramthatignoresexternalbarriersisarecipeforfailure”vi.The PBS team realized very early on in the project that

changingbehaviour(i.e.–bikinginsteadofdrivingetc)wasgoingtobeachallengingtask.Some of the barriersmentioned that could be related to PBSwere “lack of awareness”,“feelingunabletomakeadifference”,“perceptionofdifficulty”and“lackofincentives”.Inaddition to this, another study cited “laziness” as a potential barriervi. The fact that theprojectideaisintangible(i.e.–theresultsarenoteasilyseenbythoseparticipating)madeit more difficult to encourage people to participate. This is partly due to the fact thatindividualsunderstandtheeffortittakesforthemtochangetheirroutineandparticipateinPBSbyloggingtheirkilometresbuttheydon’tnecessarilyseetheenvironmentalbenefit.Notonlyisbikingachangetoyourdailyroutineifyoudrivetoworkeverydaybutitisalsoa large physical change if you are not used to exercising that much. The change couldinvolvepurchasingabicycleandallof thegearand thenbeginninganexerciseroutine–notalwaysaneasysell!

“Acommunitysocialmarketingprogramthatignoresexternalbarriersisarecipeforfailure”vi

27

Recommendations: Show members the positive side of their transition and use the Influencers to help

modelthisbehaviourchange.

Ask yourself ifwhat you are requesting of people (i.e. – biking instead of driving) isrealisticandsetthegoalaccordingly.

Wheneverpossible,trytoshowmembersthetangiblebenefitsoftheirefforts.According to the Junxion report, the key barriers people face in trying to adopt asustainablelifestyleareasfollowsvi:

OutreachChannel‐SocialMediaTwitter

OnJanuary18th,2010PBSaddedtheabilityforusersto tweet their kilometres as an option other thanusing the widget. While not adopted in largenumbers, this approach caught on quickly as it waseasy for users to do. Generally it engaged the PBSTwitter users more as they didn't have to switch toanother site to continue participating from theirprevious tweeting (figure right). There was not aclear preference for tweeting over widget entry asonly small numbers of users switched from widget

28

entrytotwitterentry2.

Twitter,asacommunicationtool,workedwellfordeliveringconstantcontentandgettingusers to interact. Itwaseffectivebecause itessentiallyextendedthewebsite'sconceptofgenerating a conversation about the environment and allowed PBS to recognize userseffort. The technology also served as an advertisement for PBS aswidget entries (alongwith the project name) would continuously show up on followers' feeds and theirfollowers’feeds.

Recommendation:

Makeitaseasyaspossibleformemberstoparticipate.Inthiscase,memberswereabletotweetintheirentrieswhichwaseasierthanloggingintothePBSwebsite.

WhatTweetsWorked?PBS tried to engageuserswith relevant information that couldbe “re‐tweeted” andgivePBS some exposure. The subject matters of the tweets (see Appendix 8) fell into threecategories: information and tools supporting the cause, recognition of efforts, andinformationonwherePBShadbeenfeatured.One program that is helpful is called TweetDeck which allows community managers tokeep track of pre‐set searches, such as “sustainable transportation” as well as allowingthemtotrackany“mentions”.Forexample,ifsomeone“re‐tweeted”somethingPBSwrote,itwouldshowupinthementioncategory.Bykeepingtrackofwhatmentionscomeup,onecanseewhatsortoftopicspeopleareinterestedinastheyarebeing“re‐tweeted”.InordertomanagealloftheseeventsPBShadapairofsocialmediaexpertswhoworkedtogether using tools that helped to mass aggregate and mass deliver content. UsingHootsuitexi,PBSwasabletotrackthetweetsthatweremadeandthosethatwerereceived.Hootsuitealsoallowsausertodelaythetweetdeliverysothataqueueoftweetscouldbereleased throughout thedaywithouta teammembermicromanaging the releaseof eachindividualtweet.Furthermore,usingtheOw.lylinkshortenerPBShadmorespaceineachindividualtweetandhadatrackingsystemtokeeptrackofourpopulartweets3.

2Otherusersdidnotmakeitcleariftheywerethesameuserorsomeoneentirelydifferent,soPBStreatedthemasuniqueindividualsinthedata.3AlinkshortenersuchasOw.lytakesalongURLandgivesyouashortURLthatlinkstothesamelocation.

29

Recommendations: Use a link shortener, such as Ow.ly or bit.ly when tweeting. Even if your message

includingthe full link is lessthan140characters, itwillbeeasiertore‐tweet if it isashorterlink.

UseTwittertoengage individuals inaconversationandusetools,suchasTweetDeck

andHootsuitetomakeiteasiertotrackconversationsandscheduleyour“tweets”.FacebookFacebookcanbeagreatengagementtool,however,recentchangestotheirplatformhavemadeitverydifficulttosharewidgetsastheyhideinthelefthandcornerofthepage.Thisisunfortunatebecauseaccordingtoonearticle,morepeopleuseFacebooktoshareonlinecontent,suchaswidgets,thananyothersitexii.PBS generated a community of 230 Facebook fans ranging in age from 25 – 44. Thesedemographics matched the website and survey respondent demographics with an evengenderdivide.SeeAppendix9fordemographicdatafromoursurvey.

SocialMediaMeasurementAccording to the Radian6 article, Practical Social MediaMeasurement and Analysis, “justgatheringlotsofeyeballsisn’twhatactuallymatters,butrathergatheringtherighteyeballsand then driving them to some sort of action”xiii. This is true as the easiest things tomeasurearen’talwaysthebestthingstomeasure,intermsoftheiractualbusinessimpact.Companieswillgetbetteratthis;however,socialmediaissonewtothemarketingmixthatitwilltaketimeforcompaniestolearnthebestwaystomeasuretheirefforts.AccordingtoForresterResearch,41%ofmarketersintervieweddonotmeasureROIfromsocialmediainvestmentxiv. For those that do measure, and as mentioned above, marketers have atendencyto judgetheirsuccessbasedon“easy”butnotnecessarilyrelevantmetrics(seechart below). The lower items on the priority list (conversions etc) are actually betterindicators.

30

YouTubeVideo is a powerful way to engage users and get yourmessage out to many people simultaneously. YouTube is agreat platform to post and release viral videos that can beeasilysharedamongpeers.PBShostedvideosonthehomepagetointroducetheprojecttonewusers.Itsuppliedaconvenientresourcetogivemorecompelling directions on using the site as well as a

31

passionate introduction by David Calder (the project’s main athlete sponsor). Inretrospect,PBScouldhaveusedvideosearlier in theproject;however, limitedresourcespreventedthis.Recommendation: Whenpossible,useshortvideosasawaytocommunicatewhatyourproject isabout.

The best people to present are the Influencers (such as athletes) that are passionateaboutthecauseandhavetheabilitytomotivateotherstowardsaction.Videosalsohelpmemberstrustwhoisbehindtheproject.

BlogAblogisagreatwaytokeepusersuptodatewithwhat'shappeningonthesiteandwasusedsuccessfullyatPBStobothinformandengageusers.Usersareabletocommentbackandgetclarificationandevensparkconversationsaroundtopics introducedontheblog.Blogsworkwellatdeliveringcomplexpiecesof informationas theycan includepicturesandaren’t typically limitedtoacertainnumbersofcharacters.PBSpostedenergy‐savingtips, links to energy‐saving calculators, and news about the athletes and Olympics. Thefigurebelowshowsthepeaklevelsofactivityfromblogpostings.Recommendation: Useblogsasawaytocommunicatewhatisgoingonwiththeproject,orotheritemsof

relevance.Whenstartinganewwebsite,it’sagreatwaytoshowactivity.

Blogpoststhatcoincidedwiththepeaksinblogtrafficwere:

32

WhatWorked/WhatDidNotWorkPromotionsPBS ran various events to attract users and keep them engaged. Over the long run, thefigurebelowhighlightsthethreemainpeaksofactivityonthesite:October, January,andFebruary.

Figure:VisitstotheSiteSource:GoogleAdWordsxv

AthleteContestThefigureonthenextpageshowsthatthemajorityofsiteactivityinOctoberwasduetoacontestbetween twoof the featuredathleteson thesite ‐DavidCalderandRyanLeech.Userswereencouragedtocredittheirwidgetentriestooneoftwogroups,eachsupportingoneof the two athletes.Users still received their individual credit for each trip entry inaddition to thegroupgetting credit.Whilenoprizeswereoffered,users clearly enjoyedthecompetition.Recommendation: Contests like thisareagreatway toget theathletes toengagemore in theproject. It

alsomakesitmorefunandcompetitiveformembers.

TorchRelayCoca‐Cola provided the opportunity for project team leads Chris Kantowicz and DavidCaldertocarrythetorchonthefirstdayofitsarrivalinCanadaprovidinghugeprofileandmediainterviewsfortheproject.DavidCalderinparticulardidlivehitswithCTVCanadaA.M.,GlobalTVandanumberofradioandnewspaper interviews.Asshowninthefigurebelow,themediacoveragehadverylittleimpactonPBStraffic.

ghghg

33

Figure:SiteUpgradesandActivityOctober7‐November7,2009Source:GoogleAdWordsxvi

Figure:SiteUpgradesandViewingActivityJanuary1‐January31,2010Source:GoogleAdWordsxvi

34

MediaTheabovefigurehighlightstwotrafficspikesinJanuary2010.ThefirstspikeistheresultofanadvertisementthatraninBlackPressMedia(aconglomerateofsmallnewspapers4).Thedatahighlightsthatoverthecourseoftheadvertisingterm(January24thto26th),72%ofthePBSwebsiteuserswerenewusers,sotheadvertisementworkedwellatbringinginnewusers5.PrizeContestsThesecondtrafficspikeinJanuary2010(asshownabove)wastheresultofacontestforfour tickets to the 2010 OlympicMen's Ski Cross Final. Every widget entry per person(max1perday) equaledanentry into thedraw.When the contest ended, anentrywasdrawnatrandomandawinnerwasdeclared6.Inthesurvey,membershadsuggestedthatan email reminderwouldhave encouraged them touse the sitemore.As such, an emailremindermayhaveincreasedthenumberofcontestentriesthroughoutthecontestversusaspikeatthebeginningandendofthecontest.Therewere49%newusersatthebeginningofthecontest.Thisturnedinto39%newusersat theendas initialnewusers stayedon.TheOctober contestbetweenathletesengagedmorecurrentuserswithonly38%ofparticipantsbeingnewusersatthattime.

AdditionalPromotionsMayor’sChallenge:Originallypitchedasa challengebetweeneachof the2010Olympicvenue cities, and spearheaded by Mayor Pam Goldsmith‐Jones of West Vancouver, theMayor’sChallengelaterbecameamoresimplisticendorsementofPBSbyeachofthevenuecities.EachcommunityactivatedtovaryingdegreeswithWestVancouverandtheCityofVancouvergoingasfarasfeaturingPBSontheirwebsites.TheCityofVancouverwithPBSonitshomepagebecamethesecondmostimportanttrafficgeneratortothePBSsiteafterGoogle.Athlete Village Activation: Coca‐Cola through its Games time activation rights enabledPBSandCleanAirChampions(CAC)topromotethemselvestotheOlympicathletesinboththeVancouverandWhistlerathletevillages.Akioskterminalwassetup ineach locationmannedbyretiredand/orsummerOlympicandParalympicathleteswhocollectedpledgestotheenvironmentfrominterestedathletesattheGames.Coca‐Colaprovidedthefundingfordevelopmentandproductionofthekiosk,whilePBSandCACmannedthelocations.PBS

4BlackPressmediaservessmallcommunitiesinVancouverandVancouverIsland5Despiteaninitialhiccupwithoursponsorwhichcausedustoremovetheannouncementtemporarily6Multipleentriesadaywouldhavenoimpactbeyondthefirstentry

35

owesadebtofthankstoCACwhodidalltheheavyliftingtogetthekioskprogramupandrunningandmanagetheteamthatmannedthelocations.Figure(below):SiteUpgradesandViewingActivityFeb.1­Feb.28,2010

Recommendations: It’sgoodtotrydifferenteventstoseewhatworksandwhatdoesn’twork.Theevents

thatwereeasilysharedonlineamongmembers(i.e.–byemail)weremoresuccessfulthan the live events. This may be attributed to the fact that the live events weren’treachingpeoplewhiletheywereattheircomputerswheretheycouldeasilylogonandcontributetothewidget.

Give theuser somethingwheneveryou can.Unfortunately, not everyone is convinced

thatyourwebsiteorcauseisworththeirtime.Givingtheusersomething(information,prizes, recognition, or video‐game type rewards) can give users incentive to keepengaging with your website. PBS’s goal was to change behaviour but the websiteattractedalotofuserswhowerealready“believers”.

EmailBlastsworkwell.Beingdirectandcommunicatingwhatyouwantfromuserswillhelp people understandwhat you are trying to accomplish.While PBS found this toworkwell,cautionmustbeusedwhenemailingpeoplethroughasocialmediasite.Try

36

togiveusers theoption to “opt‐in” toreceiveemails.According to thearticleentitled“UnderstandingConsumerPreferences”,membersofFacebookwereonly30%likelytogivebrands(thattheywereafanof)permissiontocontactthemv.

37

V.StartingaNewWebsiteOne article, entitled “Online Community Best Practices” suggests the acronym “POST”shouldbeusedbyanymarketerlookingtostartawebsite.

POST=People,Objectives,Strategy,andTechnologyiii

Beforedevelopingawebsite,youneedtofigureoutyourtargetmarketasthiswillsetthestage for thewebsite design and content andwill help guide yourmarketing strategies.Secondly,youneedtodetermineyourobjectives.Afteryouknowyourtargetmarketandobjectives,youneedtodeviseastrategythatisappropriatetobothoftheseandthenfigureout which technology is best suited to your purpose. The chart above highlights fiveobjectives companies canhave: listening, talking, energizing, supportingor embracingxvii.PBSwastryingto“talk”and“energize”sowidgets,keyinfluencers,socialnetworking,andblogswereallused.

38

Recommendations: Inordertofindearlyadopterstohelplaunchyourwebsite,startbyfinding“creators”–

thosewhoarealreadywritingblogsonthetopicorareuploadingrelevantpicturesandvideos.Youcan invite thesepeople to thewebsite tohelpget theconversationgoing.According toonearticle, “communitieswillonlysucceed if theyserve the interestsoftheirmembers”iii.

Usethe“POST”acronym(People,Objectives,Strategy,Technology)tohelpguideyourwebsitelaunch

To help outline your website strategy, Radian6 suggests the following questionsshouldbeaskedv:

1. Whydoyouwanttobuildanonlinecommunity?2. Doesthecommunityhavetobebuiltandhostedbyus,orcan/shouldPBSparticipate

inexistingcommunitiesacrosstheweb?3. Whatareyouhopingtoachievebybuildingthisonlinecommunity?4. Doyouhavespecificgoalsinmindthatyoucanmeasureagainst?5. Whatwillmakeyouronlinecommunityunique?6. Whatinternalresourcesdoyouhavetosupportanonlinecommunity?Doyouhavea

staffandbudgettoallocatetowardthisinitiative?7. Whywillpeoplejoinyouronlinecommunity?8. Whatotherareasofyourbusinesscanacommunitystrategysupport, likecustomer

serviceorproductandservicedevelopment?9. How will you measure success, and are you committed to adapting your strategy

basedonwhatyoulearn?10. Whattools,technology,andinfrastructuremightyouneedtosupportanddeployall

oftheabove?

Recommendations Find out who your competitors are. For example, PBS was competing for time with

othersocialnetworks;however,manywebsiteswerecateringtoasimilarmarket.Withmoretime,betterplanningcouldhavebeenachievedandPBSwouldhavebeenbetterabletodifferentiateitselfmoreeffectively.

Useanalertsystem,suchasGoogleAlertsthatcantellyouifpeoplearetalkingaboutitemsrelatedtoyourprojectandalsowheretheseconversationsaretakingplace.

39

OnlineTrendsThearticleentitled“ContextMattersforCanadians”suggeststhatmarketersneedtoworkeven harder nowadays to get people to pay attention to thembecause there is somuch“noise”(otherwebsitesetc)competingforusers’attention.Onewaytogetattentionistocommunicate,inform,orentertainusers,asthesearethetopreasonsCanadiansgoonline,asshownbelowxviii.

According to the article The Rising Potential of Social Networks, those who visit socialnetworkingsitesmonthlyarereferredtoas“Joiners”xix.Thisarticlealsoincludesthefigurebelowthathighlightsthedemographicbreakdownofthedifferentsocialnetworkingsites,suchasFacebookandcomparesthemto“Joiners”ingeneral.“Joiners”typicallyinteractedwithPBSinthefollowingways: Updatedtheir“latestactivity”section Addedfriendstotheirprofilepage Addedacommenttoafriend’spage UpdatedtheirprofilepicturesConversely,“Joiners”onPBSlessfrequently: Bloggedorusedtheforumfeatureonthewebsite Tweetedorclicked ProjectBlueSky’stweet Addedphotostoflickroraddedvideos

40

Thesefindingwereinlinewithwhatpeopletypicallydo(andlessfrequentlydo)onasocialnetwork.SeeAppendix10toseewhatfeaturespeopletypicallyuseonasocialnetwork.Recommendation: Breakthroughthenoise!Giveusersareasontocomebacktoyourwebsite.Bytargeting

therightdemographic,youwillbeinabetterpositiontofigureouthowtogetpeopleexcitedaboutyoursite.

41

VI.Technical(Website&Platform)

Whenbuildingawebsite, therearemanyapproachespeople can take.Dependingon theuseandthefunctionalityofthewebsites,peoplecanstartwithsettinguptheirownserversandbuildinguptheirownapplications.Inaddition,onemustalsoconsiderfactorssuchas:security, data collection and integrity, cost of operation and maintenance, scalability,reliability,anddevelopmentlifecycle.

Platforms

ThePBSwebsitewashostedonNingwhichisaproprietaryplatform.Ingeneral,Ningplatformsaregreatforthosewhowanttobuildasocialnetworkquicklyasitprovidesthemostcommon social network functionalities (such as photo‐sharing,blogsetc). Inaddition, it is free tocreateandrunasocialnetworkonNingastheyreceiveincomebysellingadsontheirsites7.

DrupalAnother social networking platform called “Drupal” is open source and can run on justaboutanyLAMPserver.Drupalisacontentmanagementsystem(Framework).Mostofitsmodules are based on the existing modules of other open source software. The Drupalplatform is more portable and is composed of different modules that programmers oradministrators can add or remove depending on their functionality needs. Drupal has ahigherlearningcurvefornewprogrammersandadministrators,asitrequiressomebasiccomputerscienceknowledgetocustomizeit.Insomecasesitrequiresevensophisticatedknowledgetocustomizeittoitsfullextent.Recommendation: Whendecidingonasocialnetworkplatform,keepinmindthattheeasiertoconfigure

platforms, suchasNing, oftenhave trade‐offs in the flexibility, scalability and controlthattheyoffertoadministrators.Itisextremelyimportanttofigurethisoutearlyonasswitchingplatformsafteroneisconfiguredisnoteasy.

Web‐miningtechniquesandprivacypoliciesWeb mining techniques mainly work on web logs. Web logs provided by a web serverusually includea rich collectionofvarious serveractivitiesandclient (user) interactions7Forasmallmonthlyfee,Ningwillnotrunadsonyourwebsite.PBSfollowedthisapproachanddidnotrunads.

“Ningcurrentlyhasnearly500,000socialnetworks,withonebeingcreatedevery30seconds–80,000eachmonth”i

42

with the server.Besides the routine responding activities of aweb server,web logs alsorecord unexpected events or accidents, (i.e. ‐ system overloading or crashes). Manyunexpected intrusions and attackswill also leave records in theweb logs.By systematicanalysisoftheweblogsusingweb‐miningtechniques,typicalpatternsofuseorattackscanbeidentified.PBS had little control over the security or data integrity of the website since securitydepended completely on Ning's security structure. Users of Ning have no means todetermine the format of the data and how data is stored in the network. As such, it isalmost impossible for Ning users to check the website security and data integrityfundamentallybutsomeimprovementscanbemadebyrunningscripts,suchasJavaScript.Whatworked: Optimizeddatabaseschema:Datawerestoredinasmallersizewhichmaderetrieval

andupdatingofdatamuchmoreefficient.Thisgreatlyimprovedtheresponsetimeofuserqueries.

Improvedsecurityofback­end:Back‐endscriptswereconstructedsothatallinputswere filtered and validated before they were stored in the database. Any maliciousinputswouldbehandledatamuchhigherlevel,whichinturnimprovedthestabilityofthesystemingeneral.

Havingarichcollectionofuserdata:Datawascollectedthroughvariousmeans,such

asGoogleanalytics,thehostwebsite,intermediateproxiesetc.Thisdatawhenanalyzedbydataminingtechniquescanprovidecomprehensiveviewsofuserprofilesandusagepatterns.UserdatawasalsoavailablethroughNingasdownloadableCSVfiles.

Whatdidnotwork: Lackofaccessibility:Attemptstotryandgetaccesstothewebsiteusers'dataand

combineitwiththewebadministrators'datafailed.Ningdoesnotprovidetheinterfacetoallowtheadministratorstoaccesstheirusers'datainrealtime.Inaddition,becauseoftheprivacypoliciesoftheNingplatformanditsinherentstructure,theweblogsarenotprovidedtothesiteadministrators.

Lackofweb­miningcapabilities:ItisimpossibletoapplyanywebminingtechniquestoanysocialnetworksbuiltonNing.FortheusersoftheNingplatform,theunderlyingoperationsofthewebsitearecompletelyblocked.Theonlywaytogetanyoperationalstatisticsfromthewebsiteisthroughthirdpartywebsitesorsoftware,suchasGoogleAnalyticsandClearSpring.

Ning'splatformismoreusage­oriented:Ningprovideslimitedback‐endlogsofthe

socialnetworkactivitiesandnodebugorerrortracesatall.Ningisverystrictonhow

43

dataisused,especiallyprogrammabledata.ItisalsoverylimitedinOpensocialAPIimplementationsandusesanobject‐orienteddatabase.Assuch,thereisnowaytogetaccesstoitsdatabase,eitherthroughawebserviceinterfaceorthroughback‐endscripts.

44

VII.FuturePlansFutureoptionsfortheProjectBlueSkywebsitearecurrentlybeingevaluatedastheprojecthascome toanend. Ideally, theProjectBlueSkyURLand learningswillbepassedon tofutureOlympicandParalympicGames, suchasLondon2012 tobeusedasa communityengagementtoolaroundsustainabilityissues.

45

Appendix1–SummaryofRecommendationsBelowisalistofrecommendationsthatwerepulleddirectlyfromthereport. Whendesigninganewwebsite,besurethattheproperdomainnamesareavailable(i.e.

‐.caand.cometc)andthatthenameresonateswiththeprojectbutisnotgeneric.Inthecase of PBS, there were different versions of the name in active use by otherorganizations,including“BlueSkyProject.”Thismadesearchengineoptimizationmoredifficultandmadeitharderforpeopletofindthesite.

Besurenottolaunchinapublicfashiontooearlybeforeyouronlinecomponentshave

been properly tested. In this case, many key leaders in the sustainability field whoattendedthelaunchweredisappointedwhensomeoftheprogramcomponentsdidn’twork properly causing confusion and disappointment. Itwas hard towin them backonceversion2.0wasdeployed.

Chooseyourmetricwisely.PBSusedkilometresasaproxyforCO2.Itwasbelievedthat

kilometreswouldbeaneasiermetric forpeopletorelateto,however, theconnectionbetween kilometres and CO2 wasn’t always clear to members. Using kilometres alsolimitedtheproject’sabilitytoincludenon‐travelrelatedactionsintothewidgetanditsdatabase.Forexamplecuttingemissionsbybringingyourownbagratherthangettingaplasticbagatastoreisnotanactivitythatlendsitselftobeingmeasuredinkilometres.

Break‐up largegoals intosmallerchunkssomembers feelas thoughtheycanmakeadifference (versus having such an overwhelmingly ambitious goal). Success engagespeoplesosmallwinsarebetterthannowins.

Chooseanachievable targetwithsomesolid thinkingbehindhowyouwillbeable to

reach it. PBS was hampered by the expectation that it would reach the 1 billionkilometre mark and many pre‐judged its success based on this when many othersuccessesandlearningswereaccomplishedandshouldbecelebrated.

Chooseyourpartnerscarefully. Insomecases,PBShad tomakemanychanges to the

websitetosatisfyitspartnersbutthisoftenprovedadistractiontofocusingontheenduser.PBSwouldrecommendthatwhenapartnershipisformedthatfrankdiscussionsdelveintowhatprioritieseachgrouphave,whattheyhopetoachieveandalsohowthedecision‐makingwillbecarriedout(preferablybeforeworkbegins).

Remember that social networks don’t grow overnight. If there is a specific goal that

needs to be reached,make sure there is enough time allocated to properly devise astrategy,doresearchandlaunchthewebsite.Alsoconsiderwhetheryourgoalmatchesyourresourcesintermsoffinancialandhumancapital.

46

Beclearincommunicatingwhatyouwantfromusersandsendoutemailstoremindthemtovisityourwebsite.Inthesurvey,usersmentionedthattheywouldhavelikedreminderstoentertheirkilometresintothewidget.

Keepinmindthattheviralnatureofwidgetsmeanstheycouldendupanywhere(blogs,

Facebook,etc).Thismeans it’s crucial that thewidgetcanstandaloneon theseotherwebsitesandcommunicateitspurposeinanintriguingwaytogetpeopletouseitandpassiton.

Complete user testing (with those in your targetmarket) to see if yourwebsite andwidgetareintuitiveandeasytonavigate.Inaddition,theseuserscanhelpinthedesignandimplementationphasesofthewebsite.ThePBSteamwasworkingsocloselywiththewidgetthattheyconsiderediteasytouseandveryintuitive.However,thefeedbackfromthesurveysuggeststhatpeoplefoundthewidgettobecomplexandconfusing.

Startwithfewerfeaturesandaddthemasnecessary.Thewidgetworkedtoprovide

userstheinteractivitythatgavethemownershipandwasthecatalysttogettheminvolvedintheproject.

Give something back to users. PBS reinforced people’s desire to add entries to thewidget by telling them how their CO2 savings affects them personally, such as theamountofmoneysavedbynotdrivingtheircar.

Don'thidethemainfeaturesbehindanotherwebpage(i.e.–splashpageorlanding

page)unlessitisrequiredforprivacyorsecurityreasons.Inourcase,stakeholdersmandatedalandingpage(seeAppendix3)asawaytosecurethesite,however,whenthiswaschangedtoadescriptivesplashpage,itwasunsuccessfulsinceitremovedaccesstothewidget.Asshownabove,manyuserswerenotwillingtosignupforthewebsite.Assuch,removingaccesstothewidgetcutoutalargegroupofusers.Ifyouhavestakeholdersthatwantinputonyourdesign,suchasrequiringatightlycontrolledlandingpagefornon‐users,findsomewaytoprovideinteractivitytotheuseronthatpageaswell.

Provide"somethingmore"forusersoncetheydecidetosignin.Information,activities,

andcontentareallimportanttokeepingusersoncetheyjointhewebsite.Manyteamsassumethatbecauseyouhaveaforumitwillbeused.However,forumsareeverywhereandusersneedsomethingtotalkaboutbeforetheywillparticipate.

“Changeismostlikelytooccurwherelevelsofcollectiveactioncanbeengaged”vi.This

is especially true when it comes to sustainability. People often feel as though theycannotmakeadifferenceby themselves.Therefore, ifyougetpeople intogroupsandgive them a strong leader, they are more likely to feel as though they can make adifference.

47

Common interests, relationships among community members and actively engagedhostsarekeytobuildingasuccessfulcommunity.

When considering Olympic athletes as Influencers, keep inmind that they aremore

likelytocommittoyourcauseif it issomethingtheyaretrulypassionateabout.Eventhen, they are busy individuals so it’s advisable to be realistic if forming an entireprogramaroundthem.

Ifit’sanonlineproject,it’sbesttoinvolveathletesthatarealreadyactivelyengagedinsocialmedia.Thiswillensuremoreexposureforyourproject,avoidthelearningcurveofgettingathletesuptospeedwiththetechnologyandengagethoseathletesthatarealreadycomfortablewithanactivepublicprofile.

Ensureengagementbyyour leaders.AlthoughPBShadathletesvoluntarily lend their

nameandprofiletothecause,mostwerenotactiveonthesitewhichmadeitdifficulttotap into theirnetworksandprovidea forum forotherparticipants toengagedirectlywiththeathletes,apromisethatwasmadeinthepromotionoftheprogram.

Bestrategic inwhoyouapproach tobeyourpartnerandhavecleargoals inmindof

whatyouwanttogetoutofthepartnership.Beasopenandhonestupfrontastowhatyou need from the partner as well as what your limitations are in terms ofreciprocating.Awritten“letterofunderstanding”(LOU)isadefiniteassetfromaclarityperspective.

Oneofthekeypartnershipsmissingfromthisprojectwasindustry.WhilePBSfocusedon environmental and sport orientated organizations, it failed to recognize thatindustry, specifically technology experts with experience in building social mediasoftware,couldhavebeenkeypartnersforthisproject.

Time was another factor in preventing partnerships with the corporate sector and

VANOCsponsorsinparticular.Althoughmanywerecontacted,theirGamestimeplanswerealreadywellestablishedwithnoadditionalresourcesoftime,moneyandhumancapitaltoadoptanotherprogramlikePBS.

Forthistypeofproject,itisrecommendedtoconsideryouthasatargetbecauseoftheir

high levels of engagement, influence in families and because they are tech savvy.However,iftryingtoreachyouththroughschoolprograms,itisimportanttoallowforconsiderable lead‐time. In addition, the closer you can tie the program to the coursecurriculum,thebetteritwillbereceived.

It is imperativetohaveaclearcommunicationstrategywithclearmessagingonwhattheprojectisabout.

Insomecases, it iseasytoassumethatyourwebsiteappealstoeveryone.However,a

websitethattriestoappealtoeveryoneendsupappealingtonoone!Takethetimeto

48

determine the correct target market for your program. The dollars you spend onmarketingandpromotionswillgomuchfurther.

Itisimportanttohavenewcontentandconversationsonasocialnetwork.Thismakes

it more interesting formembers and they aremore likely to come back. One articlerecommends seeking out bloggers and otherwell‐networked individuals and invitingthem to become a “charter member” of the communityiii. This makes them feelprivileged to be invited and their network plus their experience can help launch thesite.

Whilefriends,familyandco‐workershavebroadnetworks,it’simportanttoattractthe

righttargetmarkettothesite–not justthosewhoaredoingafavourforafriend.Aswill be discussed later, it is not the number of eyeballs but the right eyeballs thatmatter!

It’simportanttosurveyusersearlyonintheprocessastowhattheyhopetogetoutof

yourwebsiteasthiscanhelpdirectthecontent. Show members the positive side of their transition and use the Influencers to help

modelthisbehaviourchange.

Ask yourself ifwhat you are requesting of people (i.e. – biking instead of driving) isrealisticandsetthegoalaccordingly.

Wheneverpossible,trytoshowmembersthetangiblebenefitsoftheirefforts. Makeitaseasyaspossibleformemberstoparticipate.Inthiscase,memberswereable

totweetintheirentrieswhichwaseasierthanloggingintothePBSwebsite.

Use a link shortener, such as Ow.ly or bit.ly when tweeting. Even if your messageincludingthe full link is lessthan140characters, itwillbeeasiertore‐tweet if it isashorterlink.

UseTwittertoengage individuals inaconversationandusetools,suchasTweetDeck

andHootsuitetomakeiteasiertotrackconversationsandscheduleyour“tweets”. Whenpossible,useshortvideosasawaytocommunicatewhatyourproject isabout.

The best people to present are the Influencers (such as athletes) that are passionateaboutthecauseandhavetheabilitytomotivateotherstowardsaction.Videosalsohelpmemberstrustwhoisbehindtheproject.

Useblogsasawaytocommunicatewhatisgoingonwiththeproject,orotheritemsof

relevance.Whenstartinganewwebsite,it’sagreatwaytoshowactivity.

49

Contests like thisareagreatway toget theathletes toengagemore in theproject. Italsomakesitmorefunandcompetitiveformembers.

It’sgoodtotrydifferenteventstoseewhatworksandwhatdoesn’twork.Theevents

thatwereeasilysharedonlineamongmembers(i.e.–byemail)weremoresuccessfulthan the live events. This may be attributed to the fact that the live events weren’treachingpeoplewhiletheywereattheircomputerswheretheycouldeasilylogonandcontributetothewidget.

Give theuser somethingwheneveryou can.Unfortunately, not everyone is convinced

thatyourwebsiteorcauseisworththeirtime.Givingtheusersomething(information,prizes, recognition, or video‐game type rewards) can give users incentive to keepengaging with your website. PBS’s goal was to change behaviour but the websiteattractedalotofuserswhowerealready“believers”.

EmailBlastsworkwell.Beingdirectandcommunicatingwhatyouwantfromuserswillhelp people understandwhat you are trying to accomplish.While PBS found this toworkwell,cautionmustbeusedwhenemailingpeoplethroughasocialmediasite.Trytogiveusers theoption to “opt‐in” toreceiveemails.According to thearticleentitled“UnderstandingConsumerPreferences”,membersofFacebookwereonly30%likelytogivebrands(thattheywereafanof)permissiontocontactthemv.

Inordertofindearlyadopterstohelplaunchyourwebsite,startbyfinding“creators”–

thosewhoarealreadywritingblogsonthetopicorareuploadingrelevantpicturesandvideos.Youcan invite thesepeople to thewebsite tohelpget theconversationgoing.According toonearticle, “communitieswillonlysucceed if theyserve the interestsoftheirmembers”iii.

Usethe“POST”acronym(People,Objectives,Strategy,Technology)tohelpguideyourwebsitelaunch

Find out who your competitors are. For example, PBS was competing for time with

othersocialnetworks;however,manywebsiteswerecateringtoasimilarmarket.Withmoretime,betterplanningcouldhavebeenachievedandPBSwouldhavebeenbetterabletodifferentiateitselfmoreeffectively.

Useanalertsystem,suchasGoogleAlertsthatcantellyouifpeoplearetalkingaboutitemsrelatedtoyourprojectandalsowheretheseconversationsaretakingplace.

Breakthroughthenoise!Giveusersareasontocomebacktoyourwebsite.Bytargeting

therightdemographic,youwillbeinabetterpositiontofigureouthowtogetpeopleexcitedaboutyoursite.

Whendecidingonasocialnetworkplatform,keepinmindthattheeasiertoconfigureplatforms, suchasNing, oftenhave trade‐offs in the flexibility, scalability and control

50

thattheyoffertoadministrators.Itisextremelyimportanttofigurethisoutearlyonasswitchingplatformsafteroneisconfiguredisnoteasy.

51

Appendix2:BeckyScott’sProfileonAthleteScrollerTheOlympicsisthelargestsportingeventintheworld,andduetothevarietyofsportsthatareshowcased,bothgendershavesomethingtoappreciate.Withthatsaid,thereisagenderdivideintermsofwhatpeoplelookforintheOlympicexperience.Whilemenaremainlyconcernedwiththesportsthemselves,womenaremoreattractedtothedramaoftheOlympics;includingstoriesaboutcomebacksanddefeatsxx.Womenarealsointerestedinhearingabouttheathletesbackgroundandtheywanttohearabouttheother“roles”thatwomenplay;forexample,“Mother”,“Foodie”,WorldTraveler”etc.BelowisanimageshowinghowtheaboveresearchwasincludedinthePBSwebsiteaspartofadynamictoolforscrollingthroughthesite’sfeaturedathletes.

52

Appendix3:ProjectBlueSkyScreenshotEarlyWebsiteMock­up–July2009

53

Appendix4:ProjectBlueSkySplashPage

54

55

56

Appendix5:SuccessMetricsSource:Radian6.,PracticalSocialMediaMeasurementandAnalysis,March2010

57

58

Appendix6:Vancouver2010LessonPlan“Withfreedownloadablelessonplans,interactivecomponents,contestsatvariouslevelsandOlympianstories,thisinitiativebytheCanadianOlympicCommitteeengagesstudentsfromgrades2‐12.Attheelementaryschoollevel,studentswilllearnaboutthevaluesoffairness,excellence,leadership,respect,goalsetting,dealingwithpressureandpersonalgrowththroughthestoriesofOlympianssuchasBeckieScott,SilkenLaumann,DanielIgali,LawrenceLemieux,JenniferBotterill,GaryReedandAlexandreDespatie.Eachstoryisavailableatthreedifferentreadinglevels:bronze(grades2‐3),silver(grades4‐5)andgold(grades6‐7).Thelessonplanslinktolanguageartslearningoutcomesandwillhelpstudentsexploreandinternalizetheseuniversalvalues.Atthesecondarylevel,studentsareabletolinktoappliedlearningprojectsrequiringthemtouseacquiredskillsandtheorytosolvereal‐lifeOlympicproblems.”(www.vancouver2010.com)

59

Appendix7:Widgetinstructions(andinitialWidgetdesignbelow)

60

Appendix8:WhatTweetsWorked?

HootsuiteInterfaceshowingthetrafficspikesfromaboveTweets

61

Appendix9‐SurveyQuestions&DemographicsNumberofmemberswhoreceivedthesurvey:722Numberofcompletesurveysreceived:89(12.3%ofmembers)GenderDemographics47%female36%maleAgeDemographics47%27‐45yearolds28%over4617%under26

62

Appendix10:WhatUsersTypicallyDoonaSocialNetworkSource:Bernoff,JandRiley,E.,TheRisingPotentialofSocialNetworkingSites,February2010

63

EndnotesiDavidSuzukiFoundation.,“ClimateScorecardforthe2010WinterGames”,January2010iiE‐Marketer.,“PoorContentMakesViralMarketingFizzle”,September2007iiiOwyang,Jeremiah.,“OnlineCommunityBestPractices”,February2008ivTheCenterofExcellenceforYouthEngagement(2009),“WhatisYouthEngagement”,RetrievedApril15th,2010from(www.engagementcenter.ca)vRadian6.,“BuildingandSustainingBrandCommunities”,February2010viJunxionStrategy.,“SustainabilityAwarenessandAction”,June2007(preparedforVANOC,EnvironmentCanada)viieMarketer.,“SocialInfluencersGetTalking”,March2010viiiBemporad,Raphael.,“HowGreenMarketersCanLureConsumers”,InterviewwithE‐Marketer,May2009ixAnderson,Jackie.,“ConsumerBehaviourOnline:A2009DeepDive”,July2009xFrameworkFoundation.(2006).RetrievedApril15th,2010(http://www.frameworkfoundation.ca/)xiHootsuite:http://hootsuite.com//xiieMarketer.,“SocialWidgetsDriveSharingonFacebook”,July2009xiiiRadian6.,“PracticalSocialMediaMeasurementandAnalysis”,March2010xivBernoff,Josh.,“MetricsForSocialApplicationsInADownturn”,October2008xv"VisitsforallVisitors."GoogleAnalytics.RetrievedMarch18(http://adwords.google.com)xvi"Dashboard."GoogleAnalytics.RetrievedMarch18(http://adwords.google.com)xviiBernoff,Josh.,“HowToChooseTheRightSocialTechnologies”,March2008xviiiVonAbrams,Karin.,“ContextMatterMoreThanEverforCanadians”,November2009xixBernoff,JandRiley,E.,“TheRisingPotentialofSocialNetworkingSites”,February2010xxRothenbuhler,Eric.,“ThelivingRoomCelebrationoftheOlympicGames”,JournalofCommunication,Fall1988