30 Ideas in 30 Days
 |
| Twitter page for Better Block Boro. Credit: Discover Downtown Middlesboro. |
Idea #6: Leverage the Power of the Crowd
There is a digital corollary to the physical work being done during a Better Block event. With so many tools and websites out there, it is hard to know which to use. We'll name a few and give some specific recommendations for how to utilize each for your Better Block event.
- Twitter. There are few quicker and easier ways to get your message out as quickly as Twitter. Here are a few tips. 1) Find similar people and groups and look at their Follower list. Then ask as many of those people as possible to follow your page. You can get up to 2000 before Twitter places limits. 2) Use tools like tweepi.com to screen your users. This video is very helpful with overcoming your Follower limits. 3) Consistently use a hashtag like #BetterBlockBoro to promote your event. Include this in all of your tweets.
- Facebook. Within Facebook it is easy to set up Pages or Groups for your event. With pages you can also set up Events for any meetings leading up to Better Block.
- SurveyMonkey. An appropriately designed survey can help with booking people for shifts during your Better Block event. See this as an example.
- YouTube. Online video is a powerful way to demonstrate what your Better Block event is all about. Several communities create a summary video once the event is over to share their results with their own community and other communities seeking to do similar work. A slightly less common practice is to have a pre-event video such as the one we created here.
- GoogleMaps. While traditionally not considered a crowd tool, GoogleMaps is a great way to design maps on the fly and then to share with other people. We used GoogleMaps to show a trail system that we proposed, then to adjust the trails created.
- Blog. Lastly, a blog is a great way to get more detailed content in front of participants in your event. We used our blog to promote 30 Ideas in 30 Days. Every day at the same time a post was scheduled to be published, that discussed a different aspect of that event. For a complete list of posts see the links below. We also created a separate and free-standing blog for our Bike Friendly Middlesborough. While this got a start as part of the Better Block, the intent is to spin it off as a freestanding initiative.
 |
| Facebook Better Block page. Credit: Discover Downtown Middlesboro. |
Better Block Middlesborough was held from October 25-27, 2013, in Middlesborough, Kentucky. To help with planning for future events like this, please consider making a donation today!
Managing the Event
- #1: Think Incrementally
- #2: Build a Better Block
- #3: Encourage Public Participation
- #4: Temporary to Permanent
- #5: Pre-Vitalization
- #6: Leverage the Power of the Crowd
- #7: Raise the Funds You'll Need
- #8: The Strength of Main Street
- #9: Sidewalk Stencils and Signs
- #10: Blackmail Yourself
Welcoming People
- #11 The Power of 10
- #12 Walk [Your City]
- #13 Mobile Vendors
- #14 Food Trucks and Carts
- #15 Plant Trees
- #16 Cover Up Blank Walls
- #17 Free Library
- #18 Pop-up Parks
- #19 Pop-Up Shops
- #20 Temporary Improvements Encourage Historic Preservation Planning
No comments:
Post a Comment