June 12, 2008
VIEWPOINT: Is a Blog Right for Your Coalition?
by: LaDonna Coy, MHR, CPS, CDLA, New Media and Prevention Specialist
Source: http://cadca.org/CoalitionsOnline/article.asp?id=1894
What are blogs and why should a coalition consider them? For starters, blogs have upset the way we´ve grown accustomed to communicating! And that´s a very good thing if you are involved in the work of creating community change. Clay Shirky, author of Here Comes Everybody, says, "when we change the way we communicate, we change society."
A blog at its most basic is an individual or group Web site that is updated often and the newest information always appears first. While often described as an online journal, you also can think of it as a coalition news channel. This channel is your own, for your news and information based on your needs and schedule—but with an interesting twist. Unlike Web sites, blogs allow comments, opening up two-way communication loops. Good blogs encourage exchanges of information, ideas and resources.
What can a coalition do with a blog? Some coalitions use blogs for distributing news, information or to celebrate community events in ways similar to a Web site. Others use blogs to replace and expand the reach of their newsletter. Some post thoughts, comments, opinions, descriptions, or stories. We are more limited by own imaginations than by the technology.
If you have a computer, Internet connection and a browser, a blog is quick and easy to start and can be free. What else can blogs do for a coalition? They can:
• provide an anchor from which coalitions can launch ideas/events/products and link to ANY other source that appears online;• open communication and feedback loops offering community “conversation” online; and
• make dramatic ripple effects possible as conversations between the coalition and the community happen and expand to encompass other coalitions across the country, the research community, and provider network.
If we change the way we communicate—the way information flows between, among and around us—we will naturally create change.
[...]
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Check out this blog for more great info on blogging in the prevention world: http://technologyinprevention.blogspot.com/
Showing posts with label Blog help. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Blog help. Show all posts
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Sunday, May 06, 2007
Blog incentive quiz -- for a $5 Starbucks gift card
Remember how you first were getting acquainted with email or the Internet? Now, it's part of everyday life. Blogs, like any form of change, can be a little daunting at first. Even the word 'blog' can send shivers of terror among some.
In order to encourage use of this form of 'anywhere' and interactive communication, we're offering an incentive. Take some time to surf around and get yourself acquainted with the blog. Look at who's a fellow author, related web links, post topics (or 'labels'), and the articles themselves. Then answer the four questions in the quiz below.
Send your quiz responses to Wendy Hausotter at Wendy.Hausotter@state.or.us. If you're one of the first five respondents, you'll get a FREE $5 Starbucks gift card!
THE QUIZ:
1. How many posts are under the label "Tips for Parents/Educators"? What are the subjects of these posts?
2. If you weren't sure or don't remember how to log in & post an item to the blog, what could you click within the blog to get help?
3. Now, try logging in using your username (your full email address) and password (which is, unless you changed it, a word that rhymes with 'retention'). Once you've logged in, click 'view blog' and post a comment to ANY one of the articles/posts in the blog.
4.What are the primary barrier(s) that you may have with using this blog?
Thanks!
Remember to send your quiz responses to Wendy.Hausotter@state.or.us if you want one of those gift cards!
In order to encourage use of this form of 'anywhere' and interactive communication, we're offering an incentive. Take some time to surf around and get yourself acquainted with the blog. Look at who's a fellow author, related web links, post topics (or 'labels'), and the articles themselves. Then answer the four questions in the quiz below.
Send your quiz responses to Wendy Hausotter at Wendy.Hausotter@state.or.us. If you're one of the first five respondents, you'll get a FREE $5 Starbucks gift card!
THE QUIZ:
1. How many posts are under the label "Tips for Parents/Educators"? What are the subjects of these posts?
2. If you weren't sure or don't remember how to log in & post an item to the blog, what could you click within the blog to get help?
3. Now, try logging in using your username (your full email address) and password (which is, unless you changed it, a word that rhymes with 'retention'). Once you've logged in, click 'view blog' and post a comment to ANY one of the articles/posts in the blog.
4.What are the primary barrier(s) that you may have with using this blog?
Thanks!
Remember to send your quiz responses to Wendy.Hausotter@state.or.us if you want one of those gift cards!
Friday, March 30, 2007
Blog-a-thon-a-rama-palooza
Blog-a-thon-a-rama-palooza!
So, to increase participation on the blog…we’re going to up the ante (pardon the expression) by offering incentives: after the third time you log in and post a comment, resource, etc. you’ll receive either a $5 Starbucks gift card, or a $5 coupon to another store of your choice (as long as it’s a statewide chain so we can get the coupons).
Need help loggin in?
Logging in to blogging in -- it's just like logging in to your email account and sending a message to a friend!
Need some help? Go up to the very, very top right hand corner of your screen (in the grey area that says, "Sign In."
Click "Sign In", and then hit the "New Blogger" button.
Your username is your FULL email address that you gave us when you signed up for blogging (e.g., amy.awesome@awesomeagency.org).
Once you're in, click "New post." Then go for it! Just like typing an email. Once you're done, click "Publish." Just like hitting send on your email! Voila.
YOU are an official gambling prevention blogger. Go for it!
Are you visual, or just need a little more help? Click here or send us an email!
So, to increase participation on the blog…we’re going to up the ante (pardon the expression) by offering incentives: after the third time you log in and post a comment, resource, etc. you’ll receive either a $5 Starbucks gift card, or a $5 coupon to another store of your choice (as long as it’s a statewide chain so we can get the coupons).
Need help loggin in?
Logging in to blogging in -- it's just like logging in to your email account and sending a message to a friend!
Need some help? Go up to the very, very top right hand corner of your screen (in the grey area that says, "Sign In."
Click "Sign In", and then hit the "New Blogger" button.
Your username is your FULL email address that you gave us when you signed up for blogging (e.g., amy.awesome@awesomeagency.org).
Once you're in, click "New post." Then go for it! Just like typing an email. Once you're done, click "Publish." Just like hitting send on your email! Voila.
YOU are an official gambling prevention blogger. Go for it!
Are you visual, or just need a little more help? Click here or send us an email!
Wednesday, June 07, 2006
Official Welcome to this Blog
Welcome to the brand new problem gambling prevention blog!
As you can see, it's really fresh and just a couple posts thus far, just to get us going.
Why a blog? And what can a blog do for us in the field of problem gambling prevention?
The point of this tool is to be able to share resources as things come up and request information from one another. Our field is so new, and we have so little time that having the opportunity to share can prove invaluable if we really do get involved.
The benefits of a blog are, among other things, more interactivity than a traditional website, and less email in already stuffed inboxes. You can come back at anytime, and post at anytime as well if you're an author.
Check out a couple of sample posts below. And for a good example of how a blog can benefit us, visit a related blog at gamingresearch.blogspot.com. While it's not specific to prevention (which is why we've begun this blog), there you will find updated research related to gambling.
Questions? Post a comment using the 'comments' link below. Like to be an author on the blog? Send an email.
Thanks. Happy blogging!
As you can see, it's really fresh and just a couple posts thus far, just to get us going.
Why a blog? And what can a blog do for us in the field of problem gambling prevention?
The point of this tool is to be able to share resources as things come up and request information from one another. Our field is so new, and we have so little time that having the opportunity to share can prove invaluable if we really do get involved.
The benefits of a blog are, among other things, more interactivity than a traditional website, and less email in already stuffed inboxes. You can come back at anytime, and post at anytime as well if you're an author.
Check out a couple of sample posts below. And for a good example of how a blog can benefit us, visit a related blog at gamingresearch.blogspot.com. While it's not specific to prevention (which is why we've begun this blog), there you will find updated research related to gambling.
Questions? Post a comment using the 'comments' link below. Like to be an author on the blog? Send an email.
Thanks. Happy blogging!
Help with blogging
Need help logging in for the first time? Blogging your entry for the first time? Click each of the three pictures below for help. Still don't get it or do better with a little extra help? Email julie. [julhynes at gmail dot com].
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