Welcome
The Unexpected Benefits of Content Curation for Nonprofits
Beth Kanter, Trainer, Author, Blogger
Photo by MJK23
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kevharb/5391858379/sizes/l/in/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mjk23/3389791843/in/faves-cambodia4kidsorg/
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Beth Kanter: Master Trainer, Author, and ChangeMaker
http://www.flickr.com/photos/socialgoodbrasil/8179199091/sizes/l/in/photostream/
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http://bit.ly/lean-content-np
This webinar is based on the article I wrote for the June
edition of the NTEN Change journal while on several long haul jet
plane rides.
The whole issue is on content curation and Id urge you to read
because the articles are great. They cover how nonprofits can use
curation as part of their content strategy. My article focuses on
the art and practice of content curation and an overlooked benefit:
building up staff expertise AND eliminating information
overload.
Content curation is the process of sifting through information
on the web and organizing, filtering and making sense of it and
sharing the very best content with your network. Rather than
another potential recipe for information overload, content curation
can actually be a method to tackle this problem. With so much
information coming at us from social networks, web sites, emails,
and other digital sources, we can no longer afford to just whine
about it content curation can empower us to win the battle over too
much information.
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My nonprofit tech work begins .
I was lucky to have a front row seat at the beginning of the
nonprofit tech field back in 1992 when nonprofits were first
exploring how the Internet could be used for activist and
mission-driven work. I confess to being an early adopter someone
who overpaid for technology tools that didnt work and still do that
today.
My first job in this area was with an online network called Arts
Wire where I learned new technologies as they came out like email,
HTML, and created and lead trainings, provided online support.
I was reflecting back to those days and I realized that part of
my work included content curation, although at the time I didnt
call it that.
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Content Curation for Nonprofits
circa 1994-1996
I maintained a site called SpiderSchool in 1994 for about five
years where I searched the web, reviewed, and shared resources
about how nonprofits could use this new technology. I was doing
content curation where I was making sense of the web. When I look
back on it compared today, there is so much more information being
shared it seems like it was a lot simpler
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But I also taught many workshops where I included techniques on
how to deal with information overload caused by using the Internet
to get our work done
Fast forward to today, I link both these ideas, but have now
realized that content curation the good practice of it can help
reduce that feeling
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Are you a content curator?
Flickr Photo: An untrained eye
Scale
1.2.3.4.5.6.7.8.9.10
Just 2 Words
http://www.flickr.com/photos/an_untrained_eye/2998277224/sizes/l/
Poll Questions:
1.) How are you using content curation for your
organization?
-Content Strategy-Professional Development Strategy-Other
1.) What tools or techniques are you using for content or news
discovery?
Monitor RSS Feeds in NewsreaderFollow news and topical
aggregation sites
Follow experts on different topics on social platforms
Follow content curators on different topicsPersistent keyword
search tools
Other
4.) What content curation platforms are you using?
Scoop.It
StorifyPinterest
Other(Type name and URL into chat?)
5.) What is your biggest challenge to doing content curation on
a consistent basis?
Time to sort through all the crap to find the gems
Getting overwhelmed with the amount of contentEfficient work
flowContextualizing, reviewing, and reading discovered
contentFinding good, reliable sourcesContent curation is not valued
in our nonprofit
Other Challenges (type into chat)
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What is your burning question about content curation?
What do you already know about content curation?
Share Pairs and Sticky Notes
Content curation is the organizing, filtering and making sense
of information on the web and sharing the very best with your
network.
The Content Curator is a Sommelier . . .
http://www.flickr.com/p
I also like the metaphor of a sommelier. They know the grapes,
the winemaker and their techniques, and vintages. They taste many
wines to find the best of the best to appropriately complement
(even enhance) the food in the restaurant. They can answer
questions about the wine to help diners navigate a wine list to
make the best choice. The content curator does something similar,
but with information.
hotos/soavementeblog/6257528545/sizes/l/in/photostream/
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One reason content curation is becoming more and more
appreciated is because of the huge amount of information available
on the web (the equivalent of cheap red wine).
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Which makes it hard to find more of this
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You can be the Elvis of your nonprofit topic area Doing content
curation can help develop thought leader and brand visibility are
the primary reason for nonprofit marketers to adopt content
curation
Improve Thought Leadership: If your organization is curating
content on a particular topic, it can help with branding your
organization as thought leaders in the space. If your staff is
trained in the techniques of content curation, this process can be
a form of professional development, building their expertise in a
subject area that can, in turn, have significant returns to your
organizations programs. Better yet, this professional development
is a self-directed activity and its free! Not only are they
learning on the job, but getting work done, too.
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The Base of Content Strategy
Curation
Creativity
Coordination
Tweets,
Facebook
Blog, Web Site, Email Newsletter, YouTube, Photos, Webinars,
E-books
http://www.contentmarketinginstitute.com/2011/09/food-pyramid-for-content-marketing/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/oberazzi/974939987/in/photostream/
Content curationforms the base of your content strategy pyramid.
Its about curation, creativity, and coordination across channels.
Your content strategy is essential to the success of an integrated
social media strategy.
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Femi Oke: Upworthy
Sarah Stanley: Cancer Commons
Axel Caballero: Cuntame
Nonprofit Curators
Created by Will Coley
http://bit.ly/13ntccur8-videos
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-8cW1caQQg&feature=youtu.be
Video clips: Playlisthttp://bit.ly/13ntccur8-videos
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Improve staff expertise: It used to be that we could be trained
to do our work and we wouldnt need to update andsynthesizenew
information on a daily basis. Thats less true today and the ability
to keep with our fields esp. through online information is really
important.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/elitepete/442095833/sizes/l/in/photostream/
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Transdisciplinarity
Sense-making
Social intelligence
Cognitive load management
New media literacy
A good content curator has developed and honed 21st century work
place skills. So investing in the skill and practice you are
increasing the longevity of your nonprofit long term.
Transdisciplinarity:literacy in and ability to understand
concepts across multiple disciplines.
A good curator can appreciate content that is not, at first
glance, related to their subject.
Sense-making:ability to determine the deeper meaning or
significance of what is being expressed.
Social intelligence:ability to connect to others in a deep and
direct way, to sense and stimulate reactions and desired
interactions.
Cognitive load management:ability to discriminate and filter
information for importance, and to understand how to maximize
cognitive functioning using a variety of tools and techniques.
New media literacy:ability to critically assess and develop
content that uses new media forms, and to leverage these media for
persuasive communication
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Content Curation: The Process
Framework: Harold Jarche
Networked Learning Is Working Smarter
Seek
Sense
Share
http://www.jarche.com/2010/10/network-learning-working-smarter/
Im a huge fan of Harold Jarches Seek, Sense, Share model for
self-directed professional learning. The framework works well for
content curation.
Content curation is a three-part process: Seek, Sense, and
Share. Finding the information (or seeking) is only one third of
the task, as Mari Smith points out in thisvideoabout why curation
is important andsome tools for doing it. Making sense of the
information is just as important. Sense-making can be as simple as
how you annotate the links you share, the presentation, or what
youve left out. Sense-making can be writing a blog post using the
links or summarizing the key points in a presentation. But it has
to support your organizations communications objectives or your
professional learning goals. Finally, the sharing: its about giving
the best nuggets of content to your audience in a format that they
can easily digest and apply.
Putting content curation into practice is part art form, part
science, but mostly about daily practice. You dont need to do it
for hours, but 20 minutes every day will help you develop and hone
the skills. It is best to do the seeking part in small bursts to
avoid feeling overwhelmed.
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Tweets links related to organizations mission andworkas a
bipartisan advocacy organization dedicated to making children and
families a priority in federal policy and budget decisions.
SEEKSENSESHAREIdentified key blogs and Twitter users in each
issue areaScans and reads every morning and picks out
bestSummarizes article in a tweetWrites for Huffington PostHelps
him do his workEngages with aligned partnersTweets best of
best
Note: This is not only the big outcomes, but also the evidence
of peer learning work.
]You all have been doing amazing work since we last got together
and your growing skills and networks really paid off recently with
regard to the Supreme Courts decision on the ACA. In her blog, Beth
highlighted this day as one of those opportunities to balance
strategic communications with the spontaneity of social media. You
all jumped on this historic event and demonstrated your social
media smarts, including:
Being flexible and keeping it simple;
Using multiple channels and shaping content for each
channel;
Leveraging the organic sharing properties of Facebook;
Having a broad narrative in mind in advance (win, lose or
something in between);
Getting your social media ambassadors and super-users to help
spread your message;
Curating content from trusted sources; and
Focusing on the story after the immediate announcement and
providing analysis.
There was a huge amount of activity across our network on
decision day and it really was a great demonstration of putting
into action what we have been learning as a peer community.
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http://www.mlui.org
BILL PALLADINO,Senior Policy Specialist,is helping the Institute
build a new collaborative marketing campaign to increase the amount
of food that is sourced locally in the region. Palladino was
previously an MLUI board member, executive vice president of
business results for ISB Worldwide, of Dallas, and ran his own
consulting service, Krios Consulting, in Traverse City. Ext.
[email protected]
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http://www.mlui.org
BILL PALLADINO,Senior Policy Specialist,is helping the Institute
build a new collaborative marketing campaign to increase the amount
of food that is sourced locally in the region. Palladino was
previously an MLUI board member, executive vice president of
business results for ISB Worldwide, of Dallas, and ran his own
consulting service, Krios Consulting, in Traverse City. Ext.
[email protected]
24
http://www.mlui.org
BILL PALLADINO,Senior Policy Specialist,is helping the Institute
build a new collaborative marketing campaign to increase the amount
of food that is sourced locally in the region. Palladino was
previously an MLUI board member, executive vice president of
business results for ISB Worldwide, of Dallas, and ran his own
consulting service, Krios Consulting, in Traverse City. Ext.
[email protected]
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Share Pairs
What struck you about the nonprofit curator stories?
What have you thought about or already do in your practice?
What is the process of Great Content Curation?
Framework: Harold Jarche
Networked Learning Is Working Smarter
Seek
Sense
Share
http://www.jarche.com/2010/10/network-learning-working-smarter/
Im a huge fan of Harold Jarches Seek, Sense, Share model for
self-directed professional learning. The framework works well for
content curation.
Content curation is a three-part process: Seek, Sense, and
Share. Finding the information (or seeking) is only one third of
the task, as Mari Smith points out in thisvideoabout why curation
is important andsome tools for doing it. Making sense of the
information is just as important. Sense-making can be as simple as
how you annotate the links you share, the presentation, or what
youve left out. Sense-making can be writing a blog post using the
links or summarizing the key points in a presentation. But it has
to support your organizations communications objectives or your
professional learning goals. Finally, the sharing: its about giving
the best nuggets of content to your audience in a format that they
can easily digest and apply.
Putting content curation into practice is part art form, part
science, but mostly about daily practice. You dont need to do it
for hours, but 20 minutes every day will help you develop and hone
the skills. It is best to do the seeking part in small bursts to
avoid feeling overwhelmed.
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Seek
Define objective, audience, and topics
Organize sources
Use discovery tools
Scan more than you capture
Dont share unless it adds great value
Discipline
http://www.jarche.com/2010/10/network-learning-working-smarter/
Keeping up to date in your field and finding content that will
help you be more effective at work or build your organizations
reputation as thought leader
Make sense of the information by creating a product or applying
what youve learned.
Exchanging resources, insights, and conversations with people in
your network.
Define objective, audience, and topics
Organize sources
Use discovery tools
Scan more than you capture
Dont share unless it adds great value
Discipline
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Sense
Product: Blog post, report, memo, presentation
Annotate, Archive, Apply
Add values to your nonprofit
http://www.jarche.com/2010/10/network-learning-working-smarter/
Product writing, report, presentation, memo,
Annotate, Archive , Apply
Must add value to your work
Make sense of the information by creating a product or applying
what youve learned.
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http://masternewmedia.org
Learn from Observing the Master Curators
http://sco.lt/5axY9Z
Here is a review of 14 different ways to add value in
sense-making. There are many more.
Ross Dawsonsfive waysofadding valueto information are a good
start at sense-making techniques, with my short explanations
appended.
Filtering:separating signal from noise, based on some
criteria.
Validation:ensuring that information is reliable, current or
supported by research.
Synthesis:describing patterns, trends or flows in large amounts
of information.
Presentation:making information understandable through
visualization or logical presentation.
Customization:describing information in context.
In 1936, James Mangan, a most interesting character, identified
several skills foracquiring knowledge(viaMaria Popova).
Practice: This is absolutely critical. It is primarily
throughexperience performance reflectionthat we learn.
Get it from yourself:Sometimes its better to work things out for
yourself than get a quick answer from someone else.
Walk around it:Looking at something from a different
perspective, especially away from the mainstream, can give new
insights.
Experiment:Use a constantprobe sense respondapproach with work
and learning.
Robin Goodpicked up on the theme of sense-making, and identified
five morecurationskills, with my comments:
Comparing:With increasing complexity, and obfuscation by
competing interests, being able to compare related items becomes
more valuable. Imagine if someone could compare all your mobile
telephone options in a clear, simple way. Good comparisons are
quite useful.
Finding related items:Collecting a series of resources on a
subject over time can be useful, and save others time. For example,
I have several bookmarks onshareable workspacesthat I have passed
on to many people interested in starting a work commons.
Illustrating / Visualizing:Goodinfo-graphicsare very useful, but
too often they obscure. Visualizing takes great skill but can be
exceptionally useful.
Evaluating:Being able to set criteria and evaluate from a
neutral point of view can add real value to what otherwise would
just be data.Nate Silverhas made a living from this.
Crediting & Attributing:Whileattributionmay just seem like a
nice thing to do, it is very important to trace how knowledge is
constructed. With proper attribution to the original source, you
can then make changes if evidence or circumstances change.
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Share
Share at the right moment
Feed your network a steady diet of good stuff
Comment on other peoples stuff
Recommend other curators
http://www.jarche.com/2010/10/network-learning-working-smarter/
Product writing, report, presentation, memo,
Annotate, Archive , Apply
Must add value to your work
Make sense of the information by creating a product or applying
what youve learned.
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Small Group Exercise
Framework: Harold Jarche
Networked Learning Is Working Smarter
Seek
Sense
Share
http://www.jarche.com/2010/10/network-learning-working-smarter/
Im a huge fan of Harold Jarches Seek, Sense, Share model for
self-directed professional learning. The framework works well for
content curation.
Content curation is a three-part process: Seek, Sense, and
Share. Finding the information (or seeking) is only one third of
the task, as Mari Smith points out in thisvideoabout why curation
is important andsome tools for doing it. Making sense of the
information is just as important. Sense-making can be as simple as
how you annotate the links you share, the presentation, or what
youve left out. Sense-making can be writing a blog post using the
links or summarizing the key points in a presentation. But it has
to support your organizations communications objectives or your
professional learning goals. Finally, the sharing: its about giving
the best nuggets of content to your audience in a format that they
can easily digest and apply.
Putting content curation into practice is part art form, part
science, but mostly about daily practice. You dont need to do it
for hours, but 20 minutes every day will help you develop and hone
the skills. It is best to do the seeking part in small bursts to
avoid feeling overwhelmed.
33
Curating Efficiently: How To Avoid Getting Content Fried
http://www.flickr.com/photos/waferboard/4153245628/Becoming
content fried is a potential hazard for content curators, and that
can get in the way of being efficient. In addition to the technical
skills and tools described above, it is also important for staff to
incorporate techniques into their daily work life that reduce
distraction and stress.
The seeking part of the work is a fast-forward,
swimming-in-the-stream experience. I cant possibly read everything,
but my content curation skills help me pick out the best stuff to
give more attention to. I find I can only do that work at certain
times of the day or only for so long. The biggest difficulty I
experience is the shifting from this forward-flowing process of
consuming, curating, and sense-making of content to learn versus to
get something done. The latter requires a different type of
attention, so it is good to schedule accordingly.
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We cant simply blame the problem on a lot of information
It is also mindless consumption of information
We all need to go on an information diet and practice mindful
consumption and sharing of info and that is at the heart content
curation
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When you start curating information, does it make you feel
anxious?
When you are seeking information to curate, have you ever
forgotten what it was in the first place you wanted to
accomplish?
Do you add links to your Scoop.It or other collections without
reading and thinking and annotating the article?
Do you experience frustration at the amount of information you
need to process daily?
Do you sit at your computer for longer than 30 minutes at a time
without getting up to take a break?
Do you constantly check (even in the bathroom on your mobile
phone) your email, Twitter, Scoop.It or other online service?
Is the only time you're off line is when you are sleeping?
Do you feel that you often cannot concentrate?
Do you get anxious if you are offline for more than a few
hours?
Do you find yourself easily distracted by online resources that
allow you to avoid other, pending work?
Self-Knowledge Is The First Step
A few quick assessment questions
Add up your score: # of YES answers
012345678910
Source: Lulumonathletica
Mindful Online..Need Help Now
Whats Your Attention Focusing Score?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tzofia/270800047/sizes/m/in/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lululemonathletica/5724696305/sizes/m/in/photostream/
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Understand your goals and priorities and ask yourself at regular
intervals whether your current activity serves your higher
priority.
Notice when your attention has wandered, and then gently
bringing it back to focus on your highest priority
Sometimes in order to learn or deepen relationships -- exploring
from link to link is permissible and important. Dont make attention
training so rigid that it destroys flow.
Source: Howard RheingoldNetSmart
What does it mean to manage your attention while your
curate?
Manage Your Attention, Not Just Your Time
Visualize on Paper
Establish Rituals
Reflection
Manage Electronic Distractions
Manage Physical Space
Just Say No
A Few Tips
1.) Manage Your Attention, Not Just Your Time:Dont just create a
to-do list, lay it out on daily and weekly schedules, breaking down
key tasks of the project into chunks. Consider the level of
concentration and focus that each type of task or chunk requires
and schedule accordingly. For example, if I have to do some writing
that requires a higher level of attention for me than does scanning
Twitter or reading and responding to email,I schedule my writing
time during peak concentration hours in the day. (Ive charted those
so I know when they occur). I alsouse a timer when Im scanning my
networks and limit those activities to 15-20 minute bursts.
2.) Visualize OnPaper:Over the past 10 months, Ive made a return
to paper and markers and using mind maps or visualization
techniques to reflect, and plan my week or day. I use this as a
pre-writing exercise as well as a reflection exercise. Its why I
felt the need todive into visual facilitation and thinking
techniquesas a way to cope with getting content fried.
3.) Establish Rituals:Rituals in your work life are valuable.The
mind map offers a lot of good suggestions for rituals from
decluttering your workspacetohealthy habitslike sleep and
exercise.
4.) Reflection:Reflection doesnt have to be a huge amount of
time to be effective. Im taking ten minutes every morning to
practice some visual recording skills like drawing to create my 3
Most Important Things for Today List. At the end of the day, I look
at it, reflect on what I did and plan for tomorrow. The advice is
not to go online or check email until you get your three things
done, but that is very hard for me given so much of my work is
online. What I do is try to avoid email first thing in the
morning.
5.) Managing Email and Other Distractions:Ive turned off
notifications that pop up on my computer screen or send me a text
message to my mobile phone.
6.)Managing Physical Space:When I see clutter in my physical
work spaces, I try to take that as a sign that I need to hit a
pause button. Usually it is because Im doing too much.
7.)Just Say No:Maybe you are going to say no to social media for
a day and go to meet with people, take a class, read a book, or
take a walk. When Im feeling most overwhelmed, I take a break. Even
if it is just to get up and walk around my desk.
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Flickr Photo by John K
One Minute of Silence: What is one idea that you can put into
practice next week? Write down on an index card
Raffle!
Thank You!
Blog: bethkanter.org
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Twitter: @kanter
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