Back to RSA networks and engagement
This draft strategy has been developed by Dave Briggs and David Wilcox
for the new RSA Digital Engagement group - draft Terms of Reference
here
If you wish to contribute to drafting the strategy you can can ask to
join this wiki - see above - or comment on the RSA DE group
page - archive links
The internet offers a wealth of opportunity for any group committed to
doing social good. As documented in a number of books, articles and web
pages, the ability for people with common interests to self organise to
get things done presents a major shift in the way civic activity is
performed.
This has repercussions for a number of actors within society, not least
membership based organisations such as the RSA. If people can congregate
around an issue by creating a group on Meetup, or Facebook, or by simply
using a common tag on Twitter, what is the value-add from having to pay
an organisation to be a member?
The RSA corporately is figuring out this conundrum under the banner of
21st Century Enlightenment, and is engaged in using a lot of online
technology, such as blogs, Twitter and Ning groups to spread the word
about its activities and to encourage new fellows to sign up. There have
also been attempts to provide platforms for fellows to connect with one
another and to organise into groups on the basis on issues or locality.\
In addition to this, a group of web-savvy fellows created an informal
group called OpenRSA, with the aim of exploring how far self-organising
could go for fellows, and how online developments affected the
relationship between the RSA and its fellows.
The result of all this activity was the creation of several groups,
mostly location based, using the free Ning platform. There is also the
RSA Fellowship Council Ning site, which has the vast majority of
activity. The proliferation of these free networks have demonstrated
both the clear need fellows have for places where they can network
online; but also the difficulties of managing multiple online spaces and
keeping everyone up to date with their content.
This is a digital engagement strategy for fellows, and not for the RSA as a corporate body. This strategy identifies the challenges facing fellows in their attempts to use the internet to help them communicate and collaborate with other fellows, and then sets out what needs to happen to meet those challenges. This takes the form of activities and roles.
This strategy is for the fellows, and not for the RSA as a corporate body. Therefore, it is not concerned with explicitly promoting the RSA, it’s activities or fellowship (although those things may be by-products of this strategy). It also does not cover technology issues which are the responsibility of the RSA and which could not conceivably be undertaken by fellows alone - such as the membership directory project, for example.
This strategy sets out how fellows can use online technology to complement their activities and to create more connections and conversations between fellows. The strategy will enable fellows to play an active and influential role in the virtual communities which are growing in importance throughout civil society.
To meet the challenges, fellows need to achieve the following
objectives:
Any technology solution for the fellows needs to incorporate the
following features. This not not need to all be in the same platform.
Instead, a variety of tools could be identified for fellows to use to
ensure all needs are met. Some of these, on reflection, might not be
needed at all!
What’s more, the technology used by fellows should, where possible, be:
Books:
Websites:
How to engage with RSA (Google Doc by David Wilcox and collaborators)