tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18662424476063831812024-03-05T06:08:06.645+01:00On the road to discovery: Roxanna Samii blogThis blog talks about development, knowledge management, social media, change management, organizational behaviour, ICT4D, rural livelihoods, leadership, management and other related subject matters.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10933270079603837958noreply@blogger.comBlogger143125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1866242447606383181.post-3732173502638467762022-06-03T09:30:00.012+02:002022-06-04T07:39:59.548+02:00Anatomy of successful campaigns and public advocacy initiatives<p><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: large; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaIrdC3Q1wmxeNESxUB6ylRRRVpWVM1pBcSmLB0iMM5xgEae_xE8X_y1qNFEA940KF208UadNIAX_cT9Y5ZcH-6C86NZlKDVqcbXK5dBWJoXlTvT42lNcwWC5Go2AMas300Yr9BDRbI2rWKWqXk1Ef-f-v3HAmeBH7DwtaiBJpnClVCvRm-UUgipZw/s4032/IMG_6479.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaIrdC3Q1wmxeNESxUB6ylRRRVpWVM1pBcSmLB0iMM5xgEae_xE8X_y1qNFEA940KF208UadNIAX_cT9Y5ZcH-6C86NZlKDVqcbXK5dBWJoXlTvT42lNcwWC5Go2AMas300Yr9BDRbI2rWKWqXk1Ef-f-v3HAmeBH7DwtaiBJpnClVCvRm-UUgipZw/w640-h480/IMG_6479.jpeg" width="640" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><div style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Recently someone asked me what makes a good public advocacy campaign? Well, I guess this is one of those questions with many answers.... What follows is based on my personal experience, which I hope you will find useful.</span></span></div><div style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Ingredients for a sound public advocacy campaign</b></span></div></div><div style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Campaigns and public advocacy are time-bound activities that are anchored in and support a communication/corporate strategy. As such they need to have an <b>inspiring goal </b>and an <b>aspiration outcome</b>, along with clear:</span></div><div style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;">purpose and context</span></span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;">timeline</span></span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;">messages</span></span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;">informative and creative assets</span></span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;">call to action</span></span></li></ul></span></div><div style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Campaigns come to life because there is a need to raise awareness about a topic. And a</span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">successful campaign is one that </span><b style="font-family: inherit;">informs</b><span style="font-family: inherit;"> and </span><b style="font-family: inherit;">inspires</b><span style="font-family: inherit;"> and triggers </span><b style="font-family: inherit;">action</b><span style="font-family: inherit;">.</span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span></div><div style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;">During a campaign you </span><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">inform</span> </b><span style="font-size: large;">your audience about the selected topic with the goal to build a movement. You </span><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">inspire</span></b><b style="font-size: x-large;"> </b><span style="font-size: large;">people to take to heart and rally around the topic so that ultimately you encourage policy makers and citizens to </span><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">act</span></b><b style="font-size: x-large;"> </b><span style="font-size: large;">and as a result bring about the necessary change.</span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="font-size: x-large;"> </span></span></div><div style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Change comes in different flavors, ranging from consumer/citizen behavior change to changes in national, regional and international legislature, to civil society becoming a die-hard advocate for your cause, to “nay-sayer” joining your movement, to investment in R&D, to businesses and industries embracing, internalizing and acting on the campaign messages and call to action and eventually to legally binding treaties.</span></div><div style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;">The roadmap to success starts by clarity on what you want to </span><b style="font-size: x-large;">measure</b><span style="font-size: large;">:</span><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-size: medium;"><b style="font-family: inherit;">who </b><span style="font-family: inherit;">do you want to reach and <b>what </b>do you want from them</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;"><b style="font-family: inherit;">what</b><span style="font-family: inherit;"> is the focus of the campaign and </span><b style="font-family: inherit;">why</b><span style="font-family: inherit;"> do you want to focus on this topic at this moment in time</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;"><b style="font-family: inherit;">how</b><span style="font-family: inherit;"> are you planning to reach your audience</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;"><b style="font-family: inherit;">what</b><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><b style="font-family: inherit;">behavioral and policy changes </b><span style="font-family: inherit;">you want to bring about</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;"><b style="font-family: inherit;">what</b><span style="font-family: inherit;"> is the duration of your campaign/public advocacy activity</span></span></li></ul></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="font-size: x-large;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;">As communicators, our goal is for the campaign or a public advocacy activity to go viral. And for this to happen the campaign needs to:</span><br /><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;">be authentic</span></span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;">show the organization’s heart</span></span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;">be emotionally engaging</span></span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;">pay tribute to and entertain the audience</span></span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;">show you care about the topic and the audience</span></span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;">show you’ve created content that is relevant to cause and the audience</span></span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;">have simple and jargon free messages and campaign assets</span></span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;">take a stand so that it can bring about the necessary policy and/or behavioral change</span></span></li></ul></span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Last but not least, seasoned communicators know that flexibility to address emerging and new needs is a key ingredient to success. In other words, no matter how well planned your campaign and public advocacy activity is, it is never set in stone,<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>rather it is fluid and dynamic, as you need to constantly take stock of audience sentiment and feedback.</span></div><div style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span><b><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Measuring success</span><br /></span></b><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">To show the impact of your campaigns and advocacy activities, and to go beyond the anecdotal examples you need to show how much you “moved the needle” on the campaign topic. In other words did you achieve your inspiring goal and aspirational outcome(s).<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div><div style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">To do so, you need to measure against your baseline to assess how well did you inform (by measuring likes, shares, page views etc - this said be careful not to embrace too tightly "<a href="https://rsamii.blogspot.com/2016/11/socialmedia-metrics-trashing-vanity.html">vanity metric</a>" ), how well did you inspire your audience<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>to take the necessary action(s) in terms of concrete commitments, change in behavior, change in trend, change in policy and legislations, investment in R&D, the topic increasingly making the headlines, etc.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div><div style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;">To do so you may wish to consider the following:</span><br /><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">What percentage of the targeted audience </span><b style="font-family: inherit;">engaged</b><span style="font-family: inherit;"> with the campaign?</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">What percentage of the targeted audience </span><b style="font-family: inherit;">acted</b><span style="font-family: inherit;"> on the campaign messages? </span><b style="font-family: inherit;">What did they do? </b><span style="font-family: inherit;">For example, if business and industry were one of the targeted audiences,</span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">did they increase investment in R&D, what changes did they implement to support the campaign’s messaging, call to action and goal.</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">What percentage of the targeted audience </span><b style="font-family: inherit;">acted as influencers? Who did what as a result of someone doing something? Who spearheaded to build a community?</b></span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">How many </span><b style="font-family: inherit;">“Nay-sayers” moved to the campaign camp?</b><span style="font-family: inherit;"> What was the conversion rate?</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">What</span><b style="font-family: inherit;"> concrete commitments and policy changes the campaign triggered</b><span style="font-family: inherit;">? How many countries committed to meet/address the goals of the campaign? How many businesses rallied around the campaign’s core messages and actions and committed to change something? If you started off the campaign with a focus group, how did the focus group change their behavior?</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;"><b style="font-family: inherit;">Does the campaign still have a life after its official end date?</b><span style="font-family: inherit;"> Are people still talking about the campaign, pushing out its messages and making concrete and actionable commitments?</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">On a scale to </span><b style="font-family: inherit;">1-10 where does the campaign topic stand in terms of being a “household name”.</b></span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Did you </span><b style="font-family: inherit;">manage to build my own brand </b><span style="font-family: inherit;">as a campaign/public advocacy service provider?</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Are other industries </span><b style="font-family: inherit;">replicating and/or using elements of your campaign</b><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span></li></ul></span></div><p></p><div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">I hope you found the above useful and I would love to hear your views and experience in mounting successful and "viral" campaigns.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><p><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">On the road to discovery: Roxanna Samii blog</div>Roxanna Samiihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01187694720212730520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1866242447606383181.post-70263371571428717162020-03-18T09:36:00.001+01:002020-03-20T14:41:40.139+01:00Dummy's guide to survive #Covid19 quarantine, stay at home, shelter in place <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQaRMA2nil4l6agiT7DFr12R-3AWR69Yo5-Y8AogjMBi0ATWe1Zi0aWEMGLTE-VgWA2lDPbT34_t-2HTZw1UfgIHiw1UA7vE7YUU7g_nErhG8qV_4wiEyO-Ywe9k49GV_m-N9ePKyTLA4/s1600/IMG_1906.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQaRMA2nil4l6agiT7DFr12R-3AWR69Yo5-Y8AogjMBi0ATWe1Zi0aWEMGLTE-VgWA2lDPbT34_t-2HTZw1UfgIHiw1UA7vE7YUU7g_nErhG8qV_4wiEyO-Ywe9k49GV_m-N9ePKyTLA4/s400/IMG_1906.JPG" width="300" /></a>We, in Italy, are in day 9 of our Covid19 lockdown......<br />
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As the rest of the world, slowly but surely, is going into lockdown, here are some tips which are making my quarantine, staying at home or "shelter in place" experience more pleasant and is helping me to keep my sanity.<br />
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I hope you find them useful.....<br />
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<b>Tip 1 - </b>Tune in to the news twice a day<br />
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<b>Tip 2 - </b>Create your virtual socializing moments.<br />
We, in Italy, have two daily distant socializing moments:<br />
12pm - we thank the doctors, nurses and other service provides by clapping<br />
6pm - we go out on our balconies, play music and sing<br />
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<b>Tip 3 - </b> Continue your physical activities. I am doing virtual yoga via Skype and it is great fun<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikbhgDBRe5b0z8vekV0iV_TRqWnbIAYHxEoLnWNnLvr7DNMcJzULUwbm37TVz0zAOmSV4twx9U2xsOuvcqYXMrNuZzQzLPDvbMVGZn6qfCjK1pFfNDOW2-rudEa2wNQu4qYm7xwphTA9U/s1600/IMG_2128.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikbhgDBRe5b0z8vekV0iV_TRqWnbIAYHxEoLnWNnLvr7DNMcJzULUwbm37TVz0zAOmSV4twx9U2xsOuvcqYXMrNuZzQzLPDvbMVGZn6qfCjK1pFfNDOW2-rudEa2wNQu4qYm7xwphTA9U/s320/IMG_2128.JPG" width="240" /></a><b>Tip 4 -</b> Call your friends and family. Spread kindness, especially to those who live alone and do not have anyone. This is not the time to adopt the mantra, out of sight, out of mind<br />
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<b>Tip 5 -</b> For those smart working, use what was your commute time to do something for yourselves. Make sure you create your coffee and lunch moments with colleagues and check in on your colleagues<br />
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<b>Tip 6 -</b> Follow the directives of your local authorities to the letter. Stay at home.<br />
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<b>Tip 7 - </b>Use your "extra time" to master your hobby<br />
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<b>Tip 8 -</b> Share the jokes, mimes and other entertaining content that comes your way. Remember laughter is a great medicine. Studies show that laughter strengthens our immune system, gives a boost to our mood and protects us from stress.<br />
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<b>Tip 9 -</b> Spread positive messages and remember:<br />
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WE ARE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER<br />
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WE SHALL OVERCOME<br />
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WE SHALL <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hvELJbbGJU">SURVIVE</a><br />
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AND WE'LL BE THE <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXw8CRapg7k">CHAMPIONS</a><br />
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When all this madness is over, remember:<br />
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NOT TO TAKE ANYTHING FOR GRANTED<br />
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ENJOY EVERY MINUTE OF YOUR LIFE<br />
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DO NOT DEFER THINGS TO TOMORROW, DO IT TODAY!!!!<br />
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<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/B91pE0ao3Dd/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link">VIST ITALY - OUR "BEL PAESE" </a><br />
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">On the road to discovery: Roxanna Samii blog</div>Roxanna Samiihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01187694720212730520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1866242447606383181.post-54249104291210832262019-06-15T10:39:00.000+02:002019-06-15T10:39:26.411+02:00Separating wheat from chaff: Engaging the fit for purpose consultancy firm<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://rsamii.exposure.co/separating-wheat-from-chaff">separating wheat from chaff</a> by <a href="https://rsamii.exposure.co/">Roxanna Samii</a> on <a href="https://exposure.co/" style="text-transform: uppercase;">Exposure</a>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">On the road to discovery: Roxanna Samii blog</div>Roxanna Samiihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01187694720212730520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1866242447606383181.post-86146172325058180502019-04-26T17:20:00.000+02:002019-04-26T17:20:15.323+02:00Battle of giants: Tagline vs #hashtag - and the winner is ....... <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://rsamii.exposure.co/battle-of-giants">Battle of giants</a> by <a href="https://rsamii.exposure.co/">Roxanna Samii</a> on <a href="https://exposure.co/" style="text-transform: uppercase;">Exposure</a>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">On the road to discovery: Roxanna Samii blog</div>Roxanna Samiihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01187694720212730520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1866242447606383181.post-51114944159119164952019-04-21T15:36:00.000+02:002019-04-22T08:39:36.094+02:00Climate panic button is activated. Do you hear the sirens?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://rsamii.exposure.co/the-panic-button-is-activated"> the panic button is activated</a> by <a href="https://rsamii.exposure.co/">Roxanna Samii</a> on <a href="https://exposure.co/" style="text-transform: uppercase;">Exposure</a>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">On the road to discovery: Roxanna Samii blog</div>Roxanna Samiihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01187694720212730520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1866242447606383181.post-39764793967813613452019-04-18T16:56:00.000+02:002019-04-28T10:45:31.503+02:00Who’s who on a typical day in the work place….. <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<i style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">10 am, team invited to a brainstorming meeting.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></i></div>
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<span class="s1"><i>Challenge statement put on the table. Team brainstorms.</i></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><i>Here is what happens next:</i></span></div>
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<span class="s1">The “I know it all” person kicks off the conversation by eloquently sharing old wine in new bottle “ideas”. Everyone around the table listens politely without hearing what is being said.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">The problem solver paves a pragmatic way forward, whilst the cautious person diligently puts on the table all the rules and regulations oblivious to the reality and the constraints.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">The visionary speaks last and shares disruptive, ambitious and out-of-the-box ideas.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">The room goes silent, as the team is processing what they just heard.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">The “I know it all” person, continues to pitch the old wine in new bottle ideas. The problem solver can see the contours of the visionary’s proposition and outlines how the vision can be implemented. The cautious person goes back to the comfort of the rule book. The visionary keeps quiet.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">After the meeting - the “I know it all” inundates everyone with emails reiterating the old wine in new bottle ideas.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">The cautious person puts in writing all the things that cannot be done without offering solutions and a way forward, taking comfort in the rules - citing them by name and respective paragraph numbers.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">The problem solver person figures out ways to pragmatically implement the vision.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">The visionary keeps quiet giving the team time to internalize.</span></div>
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<span class="s1"><b>How familiar is the above scenario?</b></span></div>
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<span class="s1">And<b> </b>how many of these stereotyped folks do you know?</span></div>
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<span class="s1">I would bet, this is pretty familiar and you probably have come across these folks.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Here is what I’ve learnt from similar situations.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
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<span class="s1">As I matured, I learnt to listen very carefully to the <b>visionaries</b> around me. I learnt not to pass judgement. I learnt to internalize and try to visualize their vision. I learnt to give the benefit of the doubt. I learnt to try and bring their vision to life. I learnt that even if I did not see their vision at the very moment, if I applied myself, I would be able to see it - may be not immediately, but eventually I would. I learnt to trust these folks and their disruptive, out-of-the-box ideas. I learnt to go with their flow.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">And this has had a win-win end result. Even when the idea did not work, it was a win-win, because it brought the team together and resulted in an excellent team building exercise where everyone learnt how to work and trust each other. When it worked - which is 9 times out of 10 - it end up being like watching fireworks on 4 July!!!!<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
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<span class="s1">As I’ve matured, I’ve learnt to see the strength in diversity. As Michelle Obama once said, “Sameness brings more sameness”. We need diversity. This is not just in terms of sex, religion, sexual orientation and race - it is also in terms of personal characteristics and what people bring to the table.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">I know, you are probably thinking that there are folks who bring little or nothing to the table. I am not sure this is an accurate statement. If you create a safe space and give folks a bit of gentle nudge, they may surprise you.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">What I’ve learnt is that make sure everyone has an equal opportunity to share their idea. It goes without saying that we should not let any one person to dominate the conversation. So, to the <b>“I know it all”</b> person - next time you have the urge of being the first one to talk, pause…… Count until 20 - you’ll be surprised, as someone<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>other than you will take the floor and you get to first listen before sharing your ideas.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Also, remember, if at that very moment you do not have anything valuable to offer (and this can happen), there is nothing wrong to say “I need more time to think about it. Let me do so and get back to you.” And if you do so, pls take it literally and really think about it.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">I’ve come across many <b>cautious</b> folks and trust me, their counsel and guidance is definitely valuable. They become truly an asset when they offer solutions and guidance to work our way through the red tape. They may end up being frustrating when they take comfort in the rule book and do not make a genuine effort to understand what is at stake.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">The pragmatic nature of the <b>problem solver</b> makes them the natural fit for taking the situation at hand and making sure things work like a Swiss clockwork. This is why, willingly or not, they assume the control. And quite often this can work against them, as others may see them as ambitious or as the one who wants to impress and show off.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">So, to these folks, make sure you involve everyone on team so that the “control” is shared. This way, you can give your best - continue to be pragmatic - get the work done without making enemies and have fun.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">So, dear reader, if you have encountered similar situations, please share your experience. If you think the above scenario is a heresy, please share why you think so. At the end of the day we all strive to create a harmonious and non-complacent workplace. So, if there are behaviors that we can change to achieve this goal, why not do so.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Looking forward to your ideas, examples and more.</span></div>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">On the road to discovery: Roxanna Samii blog</div>Roxanna Samiihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01187694720212730520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1866242447606383181.post-9916138871239618932019-01-13T17:29:00.001+01:002019-02-08T19:51:59.186+01:00My take on the captivating “How Democracies Die”<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Just finished reading the captivating <i>How democracies die </i>by Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt.<span class="s1"></span></div>
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<span class="s1">The authors, Professors of Government at Harvard University, through an engaging and informative narrative demonstrate how extreme polarization kills democracy.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">As I was reading the book, I realized the wisdom in the statement: “the most effective coalitions are those that bring together groups with dissimilar - even opposing - views on many issues. They are built not among friends but among adversaries. History shows that it is possible to reconcile democracy with diversity.”</span></div>
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<span class="s1">The authors put forward a fascinating four behavioral warning signs to spot an authoritarian leader.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>They suggest if a leader shows one or more of these traits, he/she is a demagogue and an authoritarian:</span></div>
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<li class="li1"><span class="s2"></span><span class="s1">“rejects, in words or action, the democratic rule of game</span></li>
<li class="li1"><span class="s2"></span><span class="s1">denies the legitimacy of opponents</span></li>
<li class="li1"><span class="s2"></span><span class="s1">tolerates or encourages violence</span></li>
<li class="li1"><span class="s2"></span><span class="s1">indicates a willingness to curtain the civil liberties of opponents, include the media”</span></li>
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<span class="s1">Dare I say that the above four characteristics not only apply to a political leader (head of state/government, minister, party leader, politician, etc.) but also to anyone who is and/or claims to be a leader (CEO, commander, manager, boss, superior, etc.)</span></div>
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<span class="s1">The authors make the case that “democracy is a shared enterprise and its fate depends on all us”. As such, they say <b>PEOPLE</b> and <b>PEOPLE’s WILL</b> are more powerful that the Constitution.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Rightfully so, they say “people are the first source of power, and the people can abolish a Constitution if they want to.”</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Throughout history, people have been instrumental to topple governments and democracies. They’ve done so through peaceful marches, or violent revolutions. They’ve done so because they were fighting for a cause or because of resentment.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">I am not going to pass any judgement on whether these causes<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>and/or resentments are right or wrong. What I have realized is that democracy is super fragile. And to make sure democracy stands the test of demagogues and authoritarian rulers, we need to invest in people and in education.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
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<span class="s1">I would like to believe that if people have a good sense of history, if people can tell apart propaganda from facts, if people are able to recognize the characteristics of authoritarian leaders, if people see the early warning signs of democratic norms being eroded, if people can see through the pseudo “economic crises, natural disasters, and especially security threats - wars, armed insurgencies, or terrorist attacks” which <i>de facto</i> allow autocrats to exercise authoritarian<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>measures and “do whatever they like”, then we would be able to safeguard our biggest gift - democracy.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Sadly, our societies have become so polarized, and this has led to eroding democratic norms, which means democracy can longer be taken for granted.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">What we are left with, is to invest in people. Invest in raising awareness and building people’s understanding about the sacrosanct democratic norms and values. Invest in teaching people about the infinite benefits of living a democratic societies and cherishing diversity.</span></div>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">On the road to discovery: Roxanna Samii blog</div>Roxanna Samiihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01187694720212730520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1866242447606383181.post-46115631638035475332018-06-30T07:07:00.000+02:002018-06-30T07:07:06.239+02:00An open invitation from UN Environment Patron of Oceans, Lewis Pugh, to join him as he swims the length of the English Channel #TheLongSwim<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Lewis Pugh, UN Environment’s Patron of the Oceans is the personification of inspiration. To raise awareness about the state of our oceans, Pugh has been swimming in the frigid and freezing waters of Arctic and Antarctica. He has been putting his life at risk to show the world the impact of climate change and the vital role our oceans play for humanity.<br />
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Over the years, he’s been asking governments to put an end to the rhetoric, roll-up their sleeves and create marine protected areas. In July 2018, Pugh will embark on his toughest swim so far – something that no one to date has done.<br />
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He’ll be swimming the full length of the English Channel some 560 kilometres, which he expects will take 50 days to complete. “We’re drowning in commitments ... it is high-time for action”, says a passionate Pugh.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo by: Kelvin Trautman </td></tr>
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“I am embarking on this swim to highlight importance of proper marine protected areas – areas where human activity such as fishing, drilling, shipping, gunnery practice and disrupting marine life is restricted and/or prohibited.”<br />
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UN Environment states that marine protected areas offer one of the best options to maintain our oceans’ health and avoid further degradation. They can be particularly effective when developed as part of a wider management solution. Pugh’s message to the UK is “you can do better and more!”<br />
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UK waters cover 750,000 square kilometers with only 7 square kilometre of these fully protected marine reserve.
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<b>A crowdsourced swim </b><br />
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Pugh has been training in the cold waters off South Africa for this swim. A man of many “firsts”, he is crowdsourcing his Channel swim. “I want politicians, mums, children, businessmen and women, anyone to join me for any section of the swim.”<br />
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“There is nothing better than seeing the impact of our wrongdoing with your own two eyes”.<br />
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At the end of his daily 10 kilometre swim, Pugh will meet with local communities to discuss their challenges and opportunities. Each stop will be an opportunity to raise awareness and advocate for increased marine protected areas.<br />
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Surfers Against Sewage, a grass-roots organization engaged in cleaning up beaches in the UK with its 75,000 volunteers, will be amplifying Pugh’s message that “our oceans are in a real mess”.<br />
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“We must stop the plastic from entering our rivers and seas. And we must create a series of marine reserves around the UK”, says Pugh.
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">On the road to discovery: Roxanna Samii blog</div>Roxanna Samiihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01187694720212730520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1866242447606383181.post-24494802859142811652017-12-02T12:26:00.001+01:002017-12-02T12:26:30.724+01:00Become your own creative agency: The back-story of UN Environment’s #BeatPollution campaign<br />
Those of you in the creative space know that innovative ideas come to life in the most unexpected manner. You also know that to get the creative juice going, you need to first diverge to then converge.<br />
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The divergence stage is about putting ideas on the table and not being non-judgmental. And guess what, it is inevitably your very own people and those in the trenches who come up with brilliant and creative ideas.<br />
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This is the backstory of <a href="http://www.unenvironment.org/">UN Environment</a>’s #BeatPollution campaign.<br />
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One bright day, the boss asked us to come up with an engaging, public-facing campaign to raise awareness about various dimensions of pollution. With a small budget, we rolled up our sleeves and got to work. And guess what, that was the beginning of many creative sessions and iterations that resulted in a citizen engagement with over 2 million commitments to #BeatPollution.<br />
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<b>The campaign’s secret sauce </b><br />
Embracing and nurturing the power and beauty of internal resources definitely made the difference. From the get go, this was a totally “in-sourced” campaign. It was exclusively powered by the creative juice of our own colleagues.<br />
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They came up with #BeatPollution hashtag; they came up with the information architecture for the website; they came up with the gamification; they came up with the citizen commitments; they came up with the overall look and feel of the campaign; they designed and implemented the website; they created the compelling social copy; they crafted the engaging pollution-related stories; they developed the story board for the infographics; they developed the brand identity; they strategically made this a digital-first campaign; they intelligently used social media to push out the content; they created all the cool videos and shout-outs; they forged partnerships with other entities and organizations to amplify our messages; they worked with programme colleagues to get the facts and figures; they pitched the stories…….In a nutshell THEY were the CREATIVE AGENCY.<br />
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In-sourcing the creative process meant that we did not have to adopt someone else’s blueprint. It meant we did not break the bank; it meant project management was done through team work; it meant everyone took ownership of the project; it meant we could adopt an iterative process, it meant we could adjust and tweak the campaign based on metrics and audience feedback.<br />
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Our own elbow grease allowed us to have full-control over the campaign which put us in a vantage position to swiftly make the necessary changes and respond to new and unforeseen needs.<br />
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<b>Lessons learnt</b><br />
Next time you are embarking on a public-facing initiative, start at home-base, and look inside before venturing out. Give your own folks the space and opportunity to unleash their creative juice. You will end up with a super sleek product which everyone owns, you will not break the bank, you’ll boost morale, you’ll create an opportunity for cross-functional interaction and team work and most importantly you’ll end up giving an immense job satisfaction to your very own people.<br />
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Become your own creative agency and sharpen the skillset of your own folks by challenging and exposing them to uncharted territories.<br />
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If you happen to be a one-man band, do not despair. Remember you are not alone. There are many creative folks in the <a href="http://www.unsocial500.com/">UN Social 500 network</a> who are willing and able to act as your creative agency. What you need to do, is just reach out. You’ll definitely find an extended hand on the other side that can help you with your campaign!!!!<br />
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Good luck and make sure you visit <a href="http://beatpollution.org/">beatpollution.org</a> and make your commitment to #BeatPollution<br />
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This <a href="http://www.unsocial500.com/2017/12/01/become-your-own-creative-agency-the-backstory-of-un-environments-beatpollution-campaign/">blogpost </a>first appeared on UN Social 500<div class="blogger-post-footer">On the road to discovery: Roxanna Samii blog</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10933270079603837958noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1866242447606383181.post-38144105676739719212017-10-15T11:31:00.001+02:002017-10-22T13:29:39.101+02:00Celebrating life and paying gratitude<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Today, I want to celebrate life... Today, I want to cherish all good memories....<br />
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Today I want to learn from painful memories..... Today, I do not want to put off something for tomorrow, rather just do it.</div>
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Today, tomorrow for all the days to come, I want to live each day as if there is no tomorrow.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRyPZDugQPjxr-WBAVUYeT-Hd5KX_q2RTq-jStCbUDIyS1ebUHI8EcwHNsQwEjg6AN8EfRo3ZGKljbJjkJwdKaNsCMocZhCdQMivfTNa-XZcsEZD2VHhUkvxpV5KNaINDJl1vJ0bMLNJg/s1600/DSC_0902.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRyPZDugQPjxr-WBAVUYeT-Hd5KX_q2RTq-jStCbUDIyS1ebUHI8EcwHNsQwEjg6AN8EfRo3ZGKljbJjkJwdKaNsCMocZhCdQMivfTNa-XZcsEZD2VHhUkvxpV5KNaINDJl1vJ0bMLNJg/s640/DSC_0902.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">Today, I want to celebrate life.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4Y2ZQt_8NmyYHE5OYHJLjVRFDWtBEFFtffMP4q2laZWYegpMoHKIEchjdm294is38Lqssj1gZFLis9U002Odf0WfnglFsu5bFppSOIDRlMz71zi4j2_gNCfIGniodifo7JgaTww2iA9E/s1600/DSC_0963.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4Y2ZQt_8NmyYHE5OYHJLjVRFDWtBEFFtffMP4q2laZWYegpMoHKIEchjdm294is38Lqssj1gZFLis9U002Odf0WfnglFsu5bFppSOIDRlMz71zi4j2_gNCfIGniodifo7JgaTww2iA9E/s640/DSC_0963.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">Today, I want to celebrate the special moments in life.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqaKYCbIoOpyaqxJ9_Zv9W9EnHCNvMbTSZYmNT-lHMlGvXTzJ_J0PkKn5_px2-SymCKdRX3yB_ugqdGp7i3T2AWTcxxBZi2726IAU7lXTsZiIdUyr2Dnk9HzsQAxoG1tVjWPOUrAzYjaY/s1600/DSC_0908.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqaKYCbIoOpyaqxJ9_Zv9W9EnHCNvMbTSZYmNT-lHMlGvXTzJ_J0PkKn5_px2-SymCKdRX3yB_ugqdGp7i3T2AWTcxxBZi2726IAU7lXTsZiIdUyr2Dnk9HzsQAxoG1tVjWPOUrAzYjaY/s640/DSC_0908.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">Today, I want to say thank you to what I have.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUGNWj_sc0hRXEX5HLfK5wQKyJJrzpZmjPpTTCW6212RW0wlG1zanRv1CFaeOE-dkjTp18sLfHi4oGJyV89id1-qXyj-Apun4WldaWhj25oWJwD4d8WImAGf-rGxgnUBfPgcu1SSbNNAg/s1600/DSC_0003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUGNWj_sc0hRXEX5HLfK5wQKyJJrzpZmjPpTTCW6212RW0wlG1zanRv1CFaeOE-dkjTp18sLfHi4oGJyV89id1-qXyj-Apun4WldaWhj25oWJwD4d8WImAGf-rGxgnUBfPgcu1SSbNNAg/s640/DSC_0003.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">Today, I want to celebrate the lessons learnt from my achievements and my failures.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb_iBQ6T8QmbRo1hQgivoX-TEkk9ro0fPffrPPo7SflW9TId1ZfsJC0KBIGN9ijj_urhYP_ZjSLVZgx5XulnV631bzCQFfIxjeMaF2LcvXlMbxuTuEh81z3WIYzdi7fiDC8yDiwEChw_E/s1600/DSC_0977.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb_iBQ6T8QmbRo1hQgivoX-TEkk9ro0fPffrPPo7SflW9TId1ZfsJC0KBIGN9ijj_urhYP_ZjSLVZgx5XulnV631bzCQFfIxjeMaF2LcvXlMbxuTuEh81z3WIYzdi7fiDC8yDiwEChw_E/s640/DSC_0977.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">Today I want to celebrate the many people I've crossed path with.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJChdcYhYUsMt80G2YuEksJI2h8H99FmOk6DH1LKi7QsYF9ePBUYldb4QINdkm7xIuPZOofPc6SUi7quXLIXIdXQGucId57H6c_0G_GQ10pTVWFQrlWzehvpLT_eU4mqzouJJIKHAB4rM/s1600/DSC_0046.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJChdcYhYUsMt80G2YuEksJI2h8H99FmOk6DH1LKi7QsYF9ePBUYldb4QINdkm7xIuPZOofPc6SUi7quXLIXIdXQGucId57H6c_0G_GQ10pTVWFQrlWzehvpLT_eU4mqzouJJIKHAB4rM/s640/DSC_0046.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">Today I want to celebrate my vulnerabilities.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCWdF4zW34zFvn8wkD3gZ9tIbcvVpnC8ygVAOm6PhyXCFoUfEJqgV-20gU172UiS5GUGZ5A9KYGCK9-0tsSs5a3ehXEKgCKWAQohbhFlUJAQtafKnGypJJwNkWnsE6bS1Z7peXVmEiI98/s1600/DSC_0968.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCWdF4zW34zFvn8wkD3gZ9tIbcvVpnC8ygVAOm6PhyXCFoUfEJqgV-20gU172UiS5GUGZ5A9KYGCK9-0tsSs5a3ehXEKgCKWAQohbhFlUJAQtafKnGypJJwNkWnsE6bS1Z7peXVmEiI98/s640/DSC_0968.JPG" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-size: large;">Today, I want to celebrate the many journeys to come.</span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJChdcYhYUsMt80G2YuEksJI2h8H99FmOk6DH1LKi7QsYF9ePBUYldb4QINdkm7xIuPZOofPc6SUi7quXLIXIdXQGucId57H6c_0G_GQ10pTVWFQrlWzehvpLT_eU4mqzouJJIKHAB4rM/s1600/DSC_0046.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><br /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJChdcYhYUsMt80G2YuEksJI2h8H99FmOk6DH1LKi7QsYF9ePBUYldb4QINdkm7xIuPZOofPc6SUi7quXLIXIdXQGucId57H6c_0G_GQ10pTVWFQrlWzehvpLT_eU4mqzouJJIKHAB4rM/s1600/DSC_0046.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"></a>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJChdcYhYUsMt80G2YuEksJI2h8H99FmOk6DH1LKi7QsYF9ePBUYldb4QINdkm7xIuPZOofPc6SUi7quXLIXIdXQGucId57H6c_0G_GQ10pTVWFQrlWzehvpLT_eU4mqzouJJIKHAB4rM/s1600/DSC_0046.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJChdcYhYUsMt80G2YuEksJI2h8H99FmOk6DH1LKi7QsYF9ePBUYldb4QINdkm7xIuPZOofPc6SUi7quXLIXIdXQGucId57H6c_0G_GQ10pTVWFQrlWzehvpLT_eU4mqzouJJIKHAB4rM/s1600/DSC_0046.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJChdcYhYUsMt80G2YuEksJI2h8H99FmOk6DH1LKi7QsYF9ePBUYldb4QINdkm7xIuPZOofPc6SUi7quXLIXIdXQGucId57H6c_0G_GQ10pTVWFQrlWzehvpLT_eU4mqzouJJIKHAB4rM/s1600/DSC_0046.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><br /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJChdcYhYUsMt80G2YuEksJI2h8H99FmOk6DH1LKi7QsYF9ePBUYldb4QINdkm7xIuPZOofPc6SUi7quXLIXIdXQGucId57H6c_0G_GQ10pTVWFQrlWzehvpLT_eU4mqzouJJIKHAB4rM/s1600/DSC_0046.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="color: black; text-align: left;"></span></a>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheQ81RBN9HmbVb_0bWrt8GIOFsDFq6T5V6KQbin2atOriMq7LpLmuBBm8KlYWaUTygj_WVi-8Sot5RhbJ4aErUkPizMYhlhrbPTF2sxdx6n9rPQ4Ozo35q6TjsoJySFjzR5RrUPurXftU/s1600/DSC_0968.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><br /></a>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">On the road to discovery: Roxanna Samii blog</div>Roxanna Samiihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01187694720212730520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1866242447606383181.post-49079567839196615822017-08-04T14:29:00.004+02:002017-08-04T14:29:57.775+02:00Suffering From The ‘Curse Of Knowledge’?<b>Take a dose of story telling, write from your heart, and adopt the inverted pyramid.</b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj3cfZuxbbLa6dzkccF-zz7YuGCGVcw5Py9y6zIVtYGbRU6AYbT2GdUSIgHyPx1UAWEwXseEWMKWbn1lQlvwYC5hUa2AxW6FH5rIqq699t4ctaP6uetOtbMLE2alXDy3_m4nvQngwZ7MNL/s1600/photo-credit-Roxy-Samii-1024x768.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj3cfZuxbbLa6dzkccF-zz7YuGCGVcw5Py9y6zIVtYGbRU6AYbT2GdUSIgHyPx1UAWEwXseEWMKWbn1lQlvwYC5hUa2AxW6FH5rIqq699t4ctaP6uetOtbMLE2alXDy3_m4nvQngwZ7MNL/s320/photo-credit-Roxy-Samii-1024x768.jpg" width="320" /></a>If you had a choice between reading an engineering and hydraulic account of the construction of Three Gorges Dam in China – which is the largest dam in the world – or Arundhyati Roy’s “The cost of living” – which is about the impact of infrastructure projects on people’s lives in the subcontinent, which one would you opt for?<br />
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My bet is that if you are not an engineer or hydraulic specialist, you would probably pick up Roy’s book. And this is because Roy’s account is a story about how infrastructures such as dams can positively or negatively impact people’s lives. It’s because while peppered with relevant facts, figures, and historical accounts, it is about real people – it has a plot, it has a hero, a villain, a turning point and a call to action. And this is why it makes it a compelling read.<br />
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As development workers, while we excel in writing concept notes, progress reports, case studies, we struggle to unpack the impact of our work in form of compelling stories. This is because we suffer from a chronic disease called the curse of knowledge.<br />
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Colin Camerer, George Loewenstein and Martin Weber coined the term “Curse of Knowledge” and described it as the “cardinal sin of finding it hard to imagine that others do not know what you know”. It is when we’re unable to recreate what we know in someone else’s state of mind.<br />
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<a href="https://www.psychologicalscience.org/observer/the-curse-of-knowledge-pinker-describes-a-key-cause-of-bad-writing">Steve Pinker</a>, Harvard cognitive scientist says, “Anyone who wants to lift the curse of knowledge must first appreciate what a devilish curse it is. Like a drunk who is too impaired to realize that he is too impaired to drive, we do not notice the curse because the curse prevents us from noticing it.”<br />
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He then continues to explain, “I think the curse of knowledge is the chief contributor to opaque writing”. “It simply doesn’t occur to the writer that readers haven’t learned their jargon, don’t seem to know the intermediate steps that seem to them to be too obvious to mention, and can’t visualize a scene currently in the writer’s mind’s eye. And so the writer doesn’t bother to explain the jargon, or spell out the logic, or supply the concrete details — even when writing for professional peers.”<br />
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The good news is that if you are open-minded enough to acknowledge you are suffering from the curse of knowledge, there is a cure for it.<br />
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And the cure is pretty straightforward: simplify your “complex reality” by creating a common picture which everyone can relate to. Tell human and impact stories featuring real people. Use metaphors and analogies. Know your audience and make your content relevant to them by catering to what they need and want.<br />
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For example, if you are writing for a policy maker, have a strong call to action; if you are writing for the general public, tell a compelling story that touches both their heart and head, a story that is inspiring, raises awareness, has a message of hope and a call to action.<br />
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Make your story fun and shareable. Be direct and write your story in a way so that your reader has an “aha” moment.<br />
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Below are a few tips on how to go about writing a compelling story. Let’s not forget that a story is different from a report.<br />
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<ul>
<li>Use the<a href="http://www.poynter.org/2003/writing-from-the-top-down-pros-and-cons-of-the-inverted-pyramid/12754/"> inverted pyramid</a> paradigm</li>
<li>Tell the story from the heart, showing impact of the activity on people’s lives</li>
<li>Write with passion</li>
<li>Craft catchy titles</li>
<li>Use quotes</li>
<li>Write short and simple sentences</li>
<li>Use headings and subheadings</li>
<li>Write maximum 500-800 words</li>
<li>Stories are not reports</li>
<li>Complement stories with pictures and captions</li>
<li>Make sure your message is clear, concise, concrete, correct, coherent and complete.</li>
</ul>
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When you reach the point of sacrificing, without too much grief, your darlings – or your jargon and insider language – that is when you can consider yourself cured of the invasive “curse of knowledge” disease.<br />
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If you are amongst the brave ones out there willing to embrace “curse of knowledge rehab” and adopt story telling paradigm while at the same time sacrificing the intrusive darlings – keep track of your progress and share it with the rest of the community.<br />
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May the force be with you!!!<br />
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<i style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;">I am writing a series of guest blogs for @unsocial500 on how to boost engagement on social media. The purpose of the series is to share best practices and tips. The above blogpost first appeared on UN Social 500 site. If there is a specific topic you want more information and guidance on, please let me know so that I can put it in the pipeline :)</i><br />
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">On the road to discovery: Roxanna Samii blog</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10933270079603837958noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1866242447606383181.post-34039390454278760902017-05-06T19:41:00.000+02:002017-05-06T19:41:17.050+02:00Say no to spamming: Engage with others as you would like to be engaged with #socialmedia #spam<div class="p1">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo credit: Ben Brown</td></tr>
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Who amongst us has not been a victim of unsolicited mail, telephone calls, emails or posts showing on our social media timelines?</div>
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<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">While there may be few lucky people out there who are oblivious to spamming, many more have either experienced or practiced one or more form of spamming.</span></div>
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<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
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<span class="s1"><b>Bulk messaging</b></span></div>
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<span class="s1">When was the last that as a communication professional or social media strategist you sent out messages with the same or similar content? When was the last time you cross-posted or received the same message from different networks?</span></div>
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<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
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<span class="s1"><b>Sharing undesired or excessive content</b></span></div>
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<span class="s1">When was the last time you received unsolicited content? And when was the last time you pushed out unsolicited content to your network(s)?</span></div>
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<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
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<span class="s1"><b>Clickbaiting</b> </span></div>
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<span class="s1">When was the last time you clicked on a link because the headline caught your attention to then be totally disappointed by the content of the article? When was the last time you created the coolest headline to entice your readers to click on the embedded link which did not quite match your headline?</span></div>
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<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
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<span class="s1">We’ve all been victims of spamming and in our digital journey, may have also practiced spamming.</span></div>
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<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
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<span class="s1">As social media strategists, to maximize the reach of our content, we may have:</span></div>
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<li class="li1"><span class="s2"></span><span class="s1">pushed out similar type of content over multiple channels for a more or less prolonged period of time</span></li>
<li class="li1"><span class="s2"></span><span class="s1">created pre-canned tweets, Facebook and Instagram posts asking our networks to share these with their respective audience</span></li>
<li class="li1"><span class="s2"></span><span class="s1">reported live from events inundating cyberspace with podium images and content which is the contrary to soundbites</span></li>
<li class="li1"><span class="s2"></span><span class="s1">repeatedly promoted dull content</span></li>
</ul>
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<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">After practicing the above sins, we’ve sulked as our intentional or unintentional spamming resulted in a sharp fall in:</span></div>
<ul class="ul1">
<li class="li1"><span class="s2"></span><span class="s1">engagement - hardly any of our followers, let alone our influencer(s) engaged with the content</span></li>
<li class="li1"><span class="s2"></span><span class="s1">audience - many of our followers unfollowed or unfriended us and as a result</span></li>
<li class="li1"><span class="s2"></span><span class="s1">reach - if our average likes or retweets were in the hundreds, our spam content yielded no more than 10 likes or retweets</span></li>
</ul>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">The digital space is not different than real life…… As such the saying “Do to others as you would have them do to you”….. holds true here as well……</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Remember, “Engage with others as you would like to be engaged with”. </span></div>
<ul class="ul1">
<li class="li1"><span class="s2"></span><span class="s1">Quality over quantity</span></li>
<li class="li1"><span class="s2"></span><span class="s1">Create compelling content, as this travels miles and miles and at speed of light</span></li>
<li class="li1"><span class="s2"></span><span class="s1">Nurture your solid and trusted followers/networks</span></li>
</ul>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">So instead of spinning your wheels in creating content for the sake of creating content and pushing it out indiscriminately, invest in your network(s). </span></div>
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<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">To expand your digital foot print, create content that allows you to reach out to new unconverted groups and communities.</span></div>
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<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Remember at the end of the day, it is <b>PEOPLE</b> who make your content go viral. <b>FOCUS on PEOPLE and less on process.</b></span></div>
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<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<br />
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Next time someone spams you, remind them that for their content to go viral, it needs to resonate with the audience - you being one of them. Work with them and make their spam content salient and relevant. And once you’ve done so, celebrate putting another nail in the spam coffin!</span><br />
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<i style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;">I am writing a series of guest blogs for @unsocial500 on how to boost engagement on social media. The purpose of the series is to share best practices and tips. The above blogpost first appeared on UN Social 500 site. If there is a specific topic you want more information and guidance on, please let me know so that I can put it in the pipeline :)</i><div class="blogger-post-footer">On the road to discovery: Roxanna Samii blog</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10933270079603837958noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1866242447606383181.post-43916396893694650732016-11-13T13:16:00.002+01:002022-06-03T13:21:37.937+02:00#Socialmedia metrics: Trashing “vanity metrics”, embracing engagement and behavioural change indicators #UNMetrics<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_9cTDDWDTvft7uJiqNoVrkn9OV1nqgVgTkyW740oLuCgWJ6nKEemA_nBkUJXRUBJukn74uQH6V4bPRYpMbuuKlSmxJYcnN740FTeKCKJApIG9ySmbo8g3HWn0Mvl8hQikUzrky-BOm5O5Bd2wGHcPBld8-63MFrg2ob1lt3VYs3w67xaTtqE8yw6d/s4032/IMG_6368.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_9cTDDWDTvft7uJiqNoVrkn9OV1nqgVgTkyW740oLuCgWJ6nKEemA_nBkUJXRUBJukn74uQH6V4bPRYpMbuuKlSmxJYcnN740FTeKCKJApIG9ySmbo8g3HWn0Mvl8hQikUzrky-BOm5O5Bd2wGHcPBld8-63MFrg2ob1lt3VYs3w67xaTtqE8yw6d/w640-h480/IMG_6368.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br />In this month’s blogpost, I’m reaching out to the community to see if we can brainstorm to find relevant and meaningful indicators to assess the impact of our social media efforts.<br />
<br />
We all know that in the development space, our success is measured by the impact we have on people’s lives. If you are an economist, you probably measure this in terms of income; if you are a sociologist you measure it in terms of well-being of a household; if you are a governance expert, you measure the effectiveness of institutions; and if you practice sustainable development, you measure all of the above and more.<br />
<br />
Throughout my social media journey, I’ve been struggling to find a meaningful way of showing the impact of development-related social media efforts.<br />
<br />
I’m not fully convinced that number of fans/followers, number of mentions; number of retweets and/or social shares tell the full impact story.<br />
<br />
I consider the above as quantitative indicators – or what others call “vanity metrics”. These are not hard core engagement indicators. They do not shed light on behavioural change nor do they show the action of the user on any given piece of content.<br />
<br />
Maybe there are folks out there who have cracked this nut. If so, please share your insights.<br />
<br />
Bearing in mind that we can never get away from metrics, I would love to hear from our very own community whether the following indicators could help us have a better picture of the impact of our social media efforts:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>how are the influencers in our field engaging with our content</li>
<li>are our followers taking action and/or inquiring about our work as a result of “reading” and “interacting” with our content</li>
<li>how are our followers curating our content</li>
<li>how is our audience complementing our content to generate new knowledge</li>
<li>how is our audience advocating on our behalf and/or advocating our cause</li>
<li>what is the evidence of behaviour change as a result of interacting and engaging with our content</li>
<li>who is providing salient, substantive and constructive comment, thus sparking new conversations</li>
<li>is the community raising issues and pushing us out of our comfort zone</li>
<li>what is the quality of original content we’re producing to respond to our follower’s needs and request</li>
</ul>
<br />
I am sure our collective wisdom and experience can help us crack this nut. So please, share your ideas and input. Let’s try and come up with a set of comprehensive indicators which really measure engagement and behaviour change.<br />
<br />
To share your thoughts all you need to do is tweet with the <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23UNMetrics&src=typd">#UNmetrics</a><br />
<br />
Looking forward to your insights. Until then goodbye…..<br />
<br />
<hr style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;" />
<i style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;">I am writing a series of guest blogs for @unsocial500 on how to boost engagement on social media. The purpose of the series is to share best practices and tips. The above blogpost first appeared on UN Social 500 site. If there is a specific topic you want more information and guidance on, please let me know so that I can put it in the pipeline :)</i><div class="blogger-post-footer">On the road to discovery: Roxanna Samii blog</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10933270079603837958noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1866242447606383181.post-25954034882040879772016-10-21T12:40:00.000+02:002016-10-21T12:40:49.994+02:00Recreating the golden age of “Letters to the editor”<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu-n5lfPEZXpaey1FzoUdQx18YMuWkeFMREGuUCYcr7JMouZ13qmXNNo9rpKdCYFlcEWURe2UmiBLkjOdXOM1TpZWf9L7TG9ifEK_f2pto6a2YEmEMJ1dARwyFeyjU8X8EKgdzOznf1E8c/s1600/letter-to-the-editor.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu-n5lfPEZXpaey1FzoUdQx18YMuWkeFMREGuUCYcr7JMouZ13qmXNNo9rpKdCYFlcEWURe2UmiBLkjOdXOM1TpZWf9L7TG9ifEK_f2pto6a2YEmEMJ1dARwyFeyjU8X8EKgdzOznf1E8c/s1600/letter-to-the-editor.png" /></a></div>
<b>Do you remember the letters to the editor? The missive that we used to write to express an opinion and our views, hoping that it would get published…..</b><br />
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These missives, which were the print version of on-line commenting, tweeting and blogging and often works of art, would get published in reputable newspapers, magazines and weeklies.<br />
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They were works of arts, because of their rigor, because of the fact that they followed a protocol in expressing views and opinions, because they hardly ever used profane and/or offensive language, because they were combatant in a respectful manner.<br />
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Today the internet and social media have become preferred communications channels for many as they allow us to easily connect and engage in conversations. The “social” web has fundamentally changed how we consume news and content in general. We are using digital tools to insert ourselves in conversations and connect with other people.<br />
<br />
As our news consumption pattern evolves, we have developed the urge of immediately reacting and expressing our opinion and ideas.<br />
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While there is nothing wrong with this urge, however, in doing so, we need to remember the protocol, the rigor and the respect of the “old century letters to editor”.<br />
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As development workers, UN officials and civil servants we have an obligation to express our opinion and views in the most respectful manner. While each and every UN organization has its own code of conduct and ethics, there are certain things that are universal and applicable across the board.<br />
<br />
When commenting and engaging in an on-line conversation, you may wish to consider these common-sense guidelines which I had put together sometime ago:<br />
<br />
<b>Be a good ambassador:</b> Be aware that your behaviour and opinions on social media channels directly or indirectly reflect on the organization. Make sure your profile picture or avatar reflects your professionalism.<br />
<br />
<b>Be honest, transparent and open:</b> If you are blogging about your work, identify yourself. If you have a vested interest in something you are discussing, be the first to point it out by making it clear that you are expressing your own opinion. Bear in mind that transparency does not mean disclosing confidential and/or proprietary information. And remember not to disclose confidential information in your on-line conversation. If you make a mistake, admit it and correct it.<br />
<br />
<b>Be passionate, enthusiastic and engaged:</b> Share the passion you feel for your work and talk about your successes and challenges. If you are writing a blog, encourage your readers to provide feedback and comment. Read the contributions of others and see how you can contribute to the conversation.<br />
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<b>Be responsible</b>: You are responsible for what you write and how you behave on social media channels. Participate in online social media, however, do so properly and exercise solid judgment.<br />
<br />
<b>Be conversational: </b>Talk to your readers and avoid being pedantic. Do not be afraid to bring in your personality. When communicating on social media, consider content that is open-ended and one that solicits response, so that you can engage in a conversation. Cite others when you blog and solicit comments.<br />
<br />
<b>Be respectful:</b> Respect your audience’s privacy, respect your colleagues and peers. Respect your “competitors”. Disagree in a respectful manner.<br />
<br />
<b>Be conscious when mixing professional and personal: </b>Sometimes the professional and personal may intersect. While respecting freedom of speech, as international civil servant, we have certain obligations and need to abide by our organization’s code of conduct.<br />
<br />
<b>Be aware of global implications: </b>Your interactions on social media channels can have global significance. The way you answer a question online or write may be appropriate for some parts of the globe, but considered inappropriate or illegal in other parts of the world. Therefore, keep the “world view” in mind when engaging with social media tools.<br />
<br />
<b>Bring value:</b> The best way to get your thoughts and words across is to write things that people will value. Write informative, interesting and thought-provoking content. Help build a sense of community by sharing and discussing your experiences and challenges. Do not forget you are responsible for what you write. Aim for quality and not quantity.<br />
<br />
<b>Build relationships:</b> Engage with your audience and build trust to develop “relationships” rather than just exclusively using social media as an advocacy tool.<br />
<br />
<b>Correct mistakes:</b> If you come across a misrepresentation of your organization’s work, identify yourself and correct the mistake. In most cases people do not mind being corrected. However, if you get the feeling that someone is deliberately misinterpreting what you are saying, ignore them. On the other hand, if you have made a mistake, do not hide it, be open and admit it.<br />
<br />
<b>Give credit where credit is due:</b> Do not claim authorship for something that is not yours. If you are using third party content, make sure you have permission to use it and provide appropriate attribution. Do not use copyrighted and trademarked content without asking permission.<br />
<br />
<b>Know that the internet is permanent:</b> Once information is published online, it becomes a permanent record. Remember on the internet everything stays on Google!<br />
<br />
<b>Respond to constructive criticism: </b>Turn negative comment into positive discussion. Thank the commenter and engage them in a conversation. Take time to read between the lines and understand the arguments. In correcting factual errors and responding be respectful, sincere, confident and truthful.<br />
<br />
<b>Separate opinions from facts: </b>When interacting on social media, make sure you separate opinions from facts.<br />
<br />
<b>Spread the work and connect with people: </b>Do not talk about yourself exclusively, but also share the successes of your colleagues, peers and the organization you work for.<br />
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<b>Think of CNN, your mother and your boss: </b>Do not say anything online that you would not be comfortable seeing quoted on CNN or other television networks, discussing with your mother or explaining to your boss! Remember, there is nothing private on social media and all your posts and comments may be traceable.<br />
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<b>Use a disclaimer: I</b>f you publish on a third party website or on your personal blog, use a disclaimer similar to:“The information posted on this blog and/or website are my personal views and opinions and do not necessarily represent my organization’s positions, strategies or opinions”<br />
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<b>Write what you know: </b>When writing about development-related issues, write in first person and stick to your areas of expertise.<br />
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The above are excerpts of what the social media guidelines I had prepared for IFAD. Hope you find the above useful and if you are interested to know more, here is the link to the full version of the <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/ifad/ifad-social-media-guidelines">guidelines</a>.<br />
<br />
<hr />
<i>I am writing a series of guest blogs for @unsocial500 on how to boost engagement on social media. The purpose of the series is to share best practices and tips. The above blogpost first appeared on UN Social 500 site. If there is a specific topic you want more information and guidance on, please let me know so that I can put it in the pipeline :)</i><div class="blogger-post-footer">On the road to discovery: Roxanna Samii blog</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10933270079603837958noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1866242447606383181.post-31531483264027194202016-09-25T15:42:00.000+02:002016-09-25T15:42:28.578+02:00#Hashtag or not to #hashtag, that’s the question….<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0Vxh_xp8NK26GA9Bb4VbJ8wNAawyLED_DlyeOf0rxxRtJIcmG3ceCV1NuO88Y18wVnxbzy3oaxeQ7FqD7z2nMlP3iQ59PbJnHuzdS3yXKzKOVSWMw-Lwp_Trr_o4_bBvdW-dimHoYMmPa/s1600/sign4climate-300x225.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0Vxh_xp8NK26GA9Bb4VbJ8wNAawyLED_DlyeOf0rxxRtJIcmG3ceCV1NuO88Y18wVnxbzy3oaxeQ7FqD7z2nMlP3iQ59PbJnHuzdS3yXKzKOVSWMw-Lwp_Trr_o4_bBvdW-dimHoYMmPa/s640/sign4climate-300x225.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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The advent of social media is making the once “off-limits”, highly exclusive meetings less exclusive and more participatory.</div>
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<span class="s1">Take the World Economic Forum…. Back in 1971 when Professor Klaus Schwab kicked off the then “European Management Forum”, this event was an exclusive meeting for a select few. As the event and the institution evolved into the <a href="https://www.weforum.org/" rel="nofollow">World Economic Forum</a> (WEF), it continued to remain pretty exclusive, until the early adopters in the room started tweeting.</span></div>
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<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
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<span class="s1">That was the beginning of democratization of WEF. The live reporting allowed those of us “outside the room” to know in real time what the world movers and shakers were up to. It also allowed “those outside the room” to take part, share their views and dare I say influence the future.</span></div>
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<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
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<span class="s1">With the advances of technology and more specifically thanks to live webcasting, live reporting, SnapChat, Facebook Live, Google Hangouts, the once exclusive events are becoming more and more participatory.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">I consider this democratization as an excellent opportunity for influencing policies and politics. This said, I also acknowledge that for it to work, we all need to be engage and embark on the journey in a responsible way.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">As social media strategists, the opening up of meetings to “those outside the room” demands that we decide whether it is best to set up event specific social media channels and/or use event specific hashtags.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">There are many opinions out there and it goes without saying that folks need to assess and go with what suits them best. In this blogpost I am offering my take based on my own personal experience.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Personally, I would not create an event specific channel. And here is why…..</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Think about it – an event has a start and end date. While you may be able to populate the channel with compelling content before and during the event, think of how you’ll go about maintaining it after the event is over. Also, think of what is required in terms of time and effort to build a solid follower base so that your content reaches those who need to know about it.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Here is an alternative to creating event specific channels…. Why not use your already well-established social media channel – that is to say your corporate account(s). By doing so you are not starting from ground zero. You already have a solid follower base and more importantly you can count on all those folks who care about your work and who are willing and able to advocate on your behalf.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">This means you do not have to go through a lot of trouble to drum up interest provided you share compelling and engaging content. In doing so, you can leverage your followers networks to raise awareness about your event. At the same time, by using an existing and well-established account you’ll be able to mesh your event content with other type of content, thus providing the necessary depth and breadth.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Keep all of that in mind and let’s add another element to the equation to make your event super special…. And here comes the almighty <a href="http://mashable.com/2013/10/08/what-is-hashtag/#z98Ge90mnuqu">HASHTAG</a>.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Hashtags are your best allies. They allow your content to standout and allow you to aggregate your content across platforms. A good hashtag is as good if not better than a compelling content.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">You know the saying “a picture is worth than a thousand words” Well a good and well-thought out hashtag is worth a thousand words…..</span></div>
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<span class="s1">When you embark on <a href="http://www.tintup.com/blog/7-examples-of-successful-hashtag-campaigns/">crafting</a> your event hashtag, you may be tempted to have your own proprietary hashtag…. Take a minute and check to see if there is already a hashtag that you can use. Check out some of the trending ones and see if any one of these can fit your bill.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Remember, you want to engage with the audience, therefore building on a hashtag which has a solid presence and where there is good conversation going on will only increase chances of your content travelling across platforms and allows a wider audience to engage with your content.</span></div>
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<span class="s1"><a href="https://adespresso.com/academy/blog/7-techniques-to-create-a-hashtag-that-boosts-your-brand/">Creating</a> hashtags is a fun exercise, as it allows the team to put on their creative hat and come up with cool stuff. Below are some tips on how to go about to create a memorable and “viral” hashtag.</span></div>
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</div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>First and foremost, sit down with your team and brainstorm.</li>
<li>Secondly, make sure the hashtag is consistent with your brand.</li>
<li>Thirdly, make sure your hashtag evokes emotions and is action oriented.</li>
<li>Fourthly, make it short and sweet.</li>
<li>Fifthly, since you are having fun in creating it, make sure it is clever and humorous.</li>
<li>And finally, test it to make sure it resonates with your audience and leaves no room for “misinterpretation”.</li>
</ul>
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<span class="s1">With your super awesome hashtag in the back pocket; you are now ready to rock!!!!</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Start using your hashtag two weeks before your event. Ask your audience to post relevant content using your cool hashtag. Use it as part of your live reporting, be it on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or if you are blogging.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">In reporting live from your event, use text, photos and videos to share with the folks “outside the room”:</span></div>
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</div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>the mood in the room and what’s happening in the room</li>
<li>the backstory</li>
<li>great soundbites</li>
</ul>
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<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Use the hashtag to keep an eye on the conversation and at the end of your event, use <a href="https://storify.com/">Storify</a> to compile the best soundbites across platforms.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">As a final act, thank your followers for taking part, inform of them on what’s next and/or your next big event. Remember to share your Storify compilation using the ALMIGHTY HASHTAG!!!</span></div>
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<span class="s1">#ThatsallFolks! Do let me know if there is a specific topic you want to learn about and we’ll indulge. See you next month.</span></div>
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<hr style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;" />
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<span class="s1"><span class="s1" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;"><i style="font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;">I am writing a series of guest blogs for @unsocial500 on how to boost engagement on social media. The purpose of the series is to share best practices and tips. The above blogpost first appeared on U<a href="http://www.unsocial500.com/2016/05/30/want-to-better-engage-with-your-audience-figure-our-their-time-zone/" style="color: #771100; text-decoration: none;">N Social 500 site.</a> If there is a specific topic you want more information and guidance on, please let me know so that I can put it in the pipeline :)</i></span></span></div>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">On the road to discovery: Roxanna Samii blog</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10933270079603837958noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1866242447606383181.post-91998119722225332832016-08-24T09:45:00.000+02:002016-08-24T09:45:25.909+02:00The human face behind your avatar: Getting up close and personal with your audience<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span class="s1">Last month's <a href="http://rsamii.blogspot.co.at/2016/07/want-to-better-engage-with-your.html">blogpost</a> focused on the importance of engaging with and figuring out the time zone of your audience. </span></div>
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<span class="s1">Continuing with the theme of how best to engage with your audience, I am sure you'll agree that the most compelling content are those that show the human face behind the avatar. It is content that tells something personal about you, it is content that endears you to your audience and allows you to forge a trustworthy relationship.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">While we have our areas of expertise and topics that we talk about most, at the same time we also have our pet projects and other interests. To boost engagement, you may wish to consider embracing the magic blend between the professional and personal and master the art of weaving the personal with the professional.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">For example, as development worker, I tweet about ICT4D, agriculture, rural development, rural poverty, food security, knowledge management, climate change, environment and most recently about illegal trade in wildlife.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">What I've tried to do in my social media journey is to spice up my professional presence on social media channels with personal a touch to show the human face behind my avatar. Quite often I share my personal views about topics that are close to my heart and share snippets of information about my hobbies and pet projects such as Formula 1, travel itineraries, bucket lists, news about my home country and my adopted home country. I also tweet about a handful of world leaders and personalities.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">One of my most rewarding moments, is when someone comes up to me - and this is typically at a meeting - and tells me, "Oh, you are <a href="http://www.twitter.com/rsamii">@rsamii</a> who tweets about <a href="http://www.twitter.com/pontifex">@Pontifex</a>, <a href="http://www.twitter.com/potus">@Potus</a> and you are an F1 fan". YES!!!! That is the real me!</span></div>
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<span class="s1"><i style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;">I am writing a series of guest blogs for @unsocial500 on how to boost engagement on social media. The purpose of the series is to share best practices and tips. The above blogpost first appeared on U<a href="http://www.unsocial500.com/2016/05/30/want-to-better-engage-with-your-audience-figure-our-their-time-zone/" style="color: #771100; text-decoration: none;">N Social 500 site.</a> If there is a specific topic you want more information and guidance on, please let me know so that I can put it in the pipeline :)</i></span></div>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">On the road to discovery: Roxanna Samii blog</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10933270079603837958noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1866242447606383181.post-30544697051537555062016-08-07T16:25:00.000+02:002016-08-08T16:01:27.502+02:00#MumbaiBeachClean, biggest beach clean up in history, featuring @LewisPugh, @afrozShah1 and @versovabeach #cleanseas<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Afroz Shah and Lewis Pugh at the end of a hard day work. Photo credit UNEP</div>
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Back in 2009 when Lewis Pugh shared his story of how he swam in the waters of North Pole at a <a href="http://www.ted.com/talks/lewis_pugh_swims_the_north_pole">TedTalk</a>, he got a standing ovation. Since then, he has received many more standing ovations. </div>
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His latest feat, was this weekend, when he joined Afroz, a lawyer by profession, who has taken upon himself to organize the biggest beach clean up in history.</div>
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Some 40 weeks ago, Afroz, the Versova beach hero and his beloved mentor Mr Mathur took it upon themselves to clean up the <a href="https://twitter.com/versovabeach">this beach</a> in Mumbai.<br />
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Thanks to their will power and conviction, they managed to rally 200+ volunteers who have since been relentlessly engaged in the most massive and historic beach clean up and have collected <a href="http://unep.org/newscentre/Default.aspx?DocumentID=27083&ArticleID=36240&l=en">1.3 million kilogrammes of trash</a>.<br />
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Lewis Pugh joining Afrouz and his team to clean up the ocean of litter on Versova beach in Mumbai. Photo credit: UNEP</div>
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The civil action and efforts of these responsible citizens caught the attention of <a href="http://lewispugh.com/">Lewis Pugh</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/UNEP/videos/10154463773235712/">United Nations Environment Patron of Ocean</a>. </div>
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Lewis, who is the personification of a champion and a true ocean advocate took it upon himself to lend a hand to Afroz and his team. </div>
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Armed with his usual will power and knowing that if you train your mind and have a clear vision of what you want, you can achieve no matter what, yet again, through his deeds managed to "really shake the lapels of world leaders to get them to understand what is happening".</div>
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What I found most admiring and inspiring about Lewis, is how he followed his heart and conviction and how in the most unassuming and "non-diva" manner he literally rolled up his sleeves to help Afroz and his team. He is one of those few folks who does not need a world stage to do good deeds. And as a leader he makes sure that those around him rise to the top. </div>
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Lewis and Afroz have set the bar high for anyone who wants to get involved in a good cause and bring about change. They showed us all, that to do a good deed, you do not need to create too much fanfare.</div>
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When there is a will, there is a way..... The ocean of litter made way to a clean beach</div>
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They showed us that to bring about change and raise awareness about issues that matter to us, we need to follow our heart, remain true to our beliefs and champion our cause in a responsible manner.<br />
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And at the end of the day, when a cause is worthy, it will have many followers and the results will materialize in tangible manner without millions of spotlights shining on an individual.<br />
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Here is a glimpse of Versova Beach after the clean up...... Some may call it a miracle.... It just shows when there is a will, there is a way.<br />
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Thank you Afroz and Lewis for staying true to yourselves and thank you for inspiring us to pursue our dreams and all the things that are close to our heart.<br />
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">On the road to discovery: Roxanna Samii blog</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10933270079603837958noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1866242447606383181.post-26452451887779318742016-07-14T08:42:00.002+02:002016-07-14T08:42:34.376+02:00Want to better engage with your audience: figure our their time zone #socialmedia #kmers<br />
As communicators we strive to create and craft content that is compelling, content that touches heads and hearts. And as communication professionals we know that if our content does not travel well and reach its targeted audience it will be nothing more than a king without a kingdom.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifoEF9fO7FX__grMx6MUdKWwH0MXNpOx6jLjNwvKJbG1nQibgZOnqc5yS9AG82zooUQl8DH-tIN6xscn1ykH_cyACsBc-foNhFqzV2gOG4l-8gV_rPXVEVFQVzJnhW8Ysce_LdoGZN8hgi/s1600/3242600114_89ea4083eb_o.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="134" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifoEF9fO7FX__grMx6MUdKWwH0MXNpOx6jLjNwvKJbG1nQibgZOnqc5yS9AG82zooUQl8DH-tIN6xscn1ykH_cyACsBc-foNhFqzV2gOG4l-8gV_rPXVEVFQVzJnhW8Ysce_LdoGZN8hgi/s320/3242600114_89ea4083eb_o.gif" width="320" /></a><br />
The evolution of the communication landscape and the advent of digital and social media have transformed the way the audience consumes content. To remain relevant in a crowded space, it is imperative to revisit the way we create, package and disseminate content.<br />
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As I embarked on my social media journey, I soon learnt that content needs to be crafted in such a way that allows you to engage with the audience. This means your content should be talking with the audience and not to them. At the same time, I learnt that “less is more” and the secret to keep the audience attention and keep them focused is to be short and sweet. Thus the beauty of a tweet and the importance of mastering the art to craft engaging and compelling tweets.<br />
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One of the many other beauties of digital communication is the fact it is open for business 24×7. This means:<br />
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<li>you can file your story as and when appropriate</li>
<li>you can raise awareness about issues close to your heart with a wide spectrum of people</li>
<li>you can talk with a global audience and not just the folks in your time zone</li>
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Last year while at UC Berkeley as a visiting scholar, I was posting content in a different time zone than my usual one. I suddenly saw a surge in number of interactions. Intrigued by this new development, I analyzed the content I was posting and soon came to the realization, that considering most of the active social media users and folks who cared about my content were in the America’s time zone, I was doing a better job reaching my audience.<br />
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With this new bit of information in my back pocket, I started to take full advantage of the power and potential of posting around the clock – thus better engaging with different audience groups.<br />
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To support you on this journey, I wanted to share a niffy tool which I came across a couple of weeks ago. <a href="https://tweepsmap.com/">Tweepsmap</a> gives you a pretty accurate information on the geographic location of your Twitter audience. If you get a chance, give it a shot.<br />
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Next time you are posting content, take a minute to think who would be most interested in what you are posting – and schedule your post so that you can make sure you are reaching the right people at the right time!<br />
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<i>I am writing a series of guest blogs for @unsocial500 on how to boost engagement on social media. The purpose of the series is to share best practices and tips. The above blogpost first appeared on U<a href="http://www.unsocial500.com/2016/05/30/want-to-better-engage-with-your-audience-figure-our-their-time-zone/">N Social 500 site.</a> If there is a specific topic you want more information and guidance on, please let me know so that I can put it in the pipeline :)</i><div class="blogger-post-footer">On the road to discovery: Roxanna Samii blog</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10933270079603837958noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1866242447606383181.post-44147824265292293362016-03-30T08:14:00.001+02:002016-03-30T08:16:08.530+02:00#Freedom, #peace and #silence..... Do we really know what they mean? Here is my ephiphany<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>F</b></span>reedom - something that we all crave for.... something that we all aspire to.<br />
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Is freedom of speech, freedom of expression, freedom of movement, freedom of press, freedom of this and freedom of that - the ultimate form of freedom?<br />
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Over the Easter weekend, observing these two lionesses walking in the Savannah made me realize that what we call freedom is nothing but a glorified form of civil captivity.<br />
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Watching these two beautiful creatures strolling with an air of sovereignty, made me understand that <b>FREEDOM </b>means openness. I understood freedom means having choices, means having autonomy. Freedom is all about nonconformity and inventiveness......<br />
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Having had this epiphany I could not but ask myself the question as to whether what we call freedom of speech, freedom of expression, freedom of movement, freedom of press is real Freedom?<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large; font-weight: bold;">P</span>eace.... is another value that the vast majority of humanity craves for....<br />
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Watching these two elephants playing and entertaining each other, made me realize that peace is more than just the absence of war and definitely more than just tranquility.<br />
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<b>PEACE </b>is a profound experience. One that if everyone were to experience it, we would become better human beings.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>S</b></span>ilence: The final gift of my safari experience was the realization that silence is more than just absence of noise and more than just stillness,<br />
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<b>SILENCE </b>is beauty...., Silence is having the right frame of mind to spot, observe, take in and enjoy beauty in everything that we come across in our daily lives.<br />
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">On the road to discovery: Roxanna Samii blog</div>Roxanna Samiihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01187694720212730520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1866242447606383181.post-6710897791357862762016-02-27T20:34:00.000+01:002016-02-27T20:34:26.812+01:00To compete or to collaborate? Social media is the answer #socialmedia #kmers<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxpKTq9GZbZ6wj1w_bHcVLf2dvehiNQsjzFVw0n1Lu2Crx7Bmxc6m3gHT7nmRMiK28PJ4btVSSBtB_LJ29O54XIVCkuKO9kEWAjBgTOWHSiE7zy14IA5mrcxs7Ows8PRO93ky-Iybz4CzC/s1600/IMG_9470.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxpKTq9GZbZ6wj1w_bHcVLf2dvehiNQsjzFVw0n1Lu2Crx7Bmxc6m3gHT7nmRMiK28PJ4btVSSBtB_LJ29O54XIVCkuKO9kEWAjBgTOWHSiE7zy14IA5mrcxs7Ows8PRO93ky-Iybz4CzC/s320/IMG_9470.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Have you ever tried having your voice heard in a crowded and noisy environment? If the answer is yes, you know what it takes to do so!</div>
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<span class="s1">Keep the image of making your voice heard in a crowded milieu in your head….. Now imagine having your voice heard in the development arena crowded with a multitude of development organizations, United Nations agencies, International Financial Institutions, multilateral and bilateral agencies, research organizations, think tanks, Non-Governmental organizations, farmers’ organizations, civil society and foundations.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">I am sure you will appreciate the challenge. As development workers to have our voice heard, we need to show the relevance of our work. We need to show the impact of our work through human stories and hard facts. We need to show value for money, show that we are worth the investment and that for every taxpayer dollar spent in our operations there is multiple return and that this money is being spent judiciously, wisely and has the desired impact.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">This means, that to have our voices heard, to make sure we access the finite development funds and resources, we have to compete with each other, pitch and position ourselves.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Now close your eyes and think of a scenario <b>where the competition against each other becomes collaboration with each other.</b></span></div>
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<span class="s1">Eight years ago the early technology adopters in the development arena by embracing social media discovered a way to turn the table and transform the competitive environment to one of collaboration. The advent of social media brought the development community closer and became a catalyst for knowledge sharing and cooperation. </span></div>
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<span class="s1">This semi-miracle happened because we suddenly discovered that this new communication paradigm not only allowed us to share our individual messages, but more importantly we came to the understanding that by amplifying each other messages we were raising awareness about the comprehensiveness and the integration of the various aspects of development agendas. By sharing a post or retweeting a tweet from a sister agency, we showed that we were not working in silos, rather that our work complemented each other and as a result managed to show the multidimensional aspect of development.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">I think it is fair to say that social media is now part and parcel of our daily lives. And like any technology, it has, to some degree, changed the way we conduct business and interact with each other.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Over the last eight years, the early social media adopters and development workers have collectively been advocating for mainstreaming this new communication paradigm in our business and core processes. This has led to well established social media channels and more importantly resulted in bridging the gap between development agencies and the general public. </span></div>
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<span class="s1">For example, through live reporting of events, we have managed to bring our business closer to our traditional audience and as a result managed to extend and expand our audience base. By complementing the official channels and traditional means of communications - products such as our reports, publications, press releases - with telling the back story of a major publication through a blogpost, or pulling out the salient facts and figures of our dense reports in the form of an infographic or DYK (do you know) posts, we have managed to unpack the wealth of our respective organizational knowledge.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Colleagues across the United Nations Agencies, the International Financial Institutions, the NGO community and grassroots organizations have used these channels to raise awareness about the challenges and opportunities facing people in developing countries. In doing so, they have put the THEME, the TOPIC, the ISSUE in the forefront as opposed to the organization. </span></div>
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<span class="s1">On the occasion of UN’s Sustainable Development Summit, almost all of the UN family mounted campaigns to showcase the universality and importance of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In doing sIo, we tried to show how all the SDGs are inter-related, how all of them carry equal weight and why delivering on them is not a "nice to have", but rather a commitment and an obligation. The skeptics may argue that the cacophony of #globalgoals, #2030agenda, #post2015 and #sdgs campaigns fell on deaf ears. This may be true <i>a prima facie,</i> however, five months later, seeing citations and references to these campaigns shows how collectively we managed to raise awareness about a theme, topic and issue and not necessarily about our individual organizations.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">This radical change in our mindset led to well designed and well choreographed social media strategies and campaigns which allowed the development world to raise awareness about, and fundraise for crisis such as the Haiti earthquake, drought in the Sahel, Ebola, etc. It allowed us to join each other campaigns and provide a united, comprehensive and cohesive front for events such as #iyff, #post2015, #cop21, #parisagreement, #globalgoals, #2030agenda and more.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">This change in paradigm allowed us to better engage with the audience, to harness the “wisdom of the crowd” and allowed us to learn from each other.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">One of the many uphill battles that we fought together, was convincing our colleagues to use social media channels and their personal accounts to talk about and share snippets of their work. Thanks to the work and commitment of the wonderful folks who embraced social media, today the United Nations is more UNITED than ever. A decade ago, asking UN agencies to collaborate and contribute to each other’s campaigns may not have been a trivial undertaking. </span></div>
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<span class="s1">A decade ago, the development community would have embarked on campaigns individually. This meant that we hardly ever benefitted from each other’s experience, let alone the “wisdom of the crowd”. </span></div>
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<span class="s1">Today, when the development community embarks on a campaign, the various agencies chip in and participate. This is made possible thanks to well-crafted social media strategies, including the license to adapt the messages based on individual organization’s mission and goals. </span></div>
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<span class="s1">This means our activities and campaigns are indeed GLOBAL. They are global because we share and cooperate, because the “lead” agency brings everyone together and equips all concerned to share facts and figures about specific issues. As a result, each agency is able to show their contribution to the issue at hand and consequently we are in a better position to amplify each other’s messages, avoid doing propaganda and reach out to a diverse audience.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">As a result, in a time and age where we need to deliver more with less and where there is a pretty tight competition for resources, mainstreaming social media in our core business has allowed us to amplify each other messages, raise awareness about different developmental issues, broaden our scope, engage with existing and involve new audience.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">By cooperating with each other to raise awareness about issues, we’ve managed to show how the work of the entire development community is relevant and how we all depend on each other to achieve the complex, complicated and challenging overall development community’s goals. And in doing so, hopefully we can also show how development is not about providing resources to <b>EITHER</b> this or that agency, rather it is about providing resources to <b>ALL</b> agencies so that together we can tackle all and the many complicated, complex and challenging dimensions of our beloved business.</span></div>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">On the road to discovery: Roxanna Samii blog</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10933270079603837958noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1866242447606383181.post-69106773584789843312016-02-14T16:45:00.000+01:002016-02-16T14:37:18.105+01:00Ever considered how removing physical barriers can help hold effective meetings? #HappyValentinesDay #kmers<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSsIEfSIXoBeKb56gYeFpgOtNEvEByhVA1Qd92Q0LVvwhX64NRl04PZhkSt9KSPKwUFLALas1MmYkSFDl0pyrgf1XUglSk9JFLY2r2pXslomIgdHhnG_oLzB1RNDVuZeJDBonhyFedW-U/s1600/IMG_2513.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSsIEfSIXoBeKb56gYeFpgOtNEvEByhVA1Qd92Q0LVvwhX64NRl04PZhkSt9KSPKwUFLALas1MmYkSFDl0pyrgf1XUglSk9JFLY2r2pXslomIgdHhnG_oLzB1RNDVuZeJDBonhyFedW-U/s320/IMG_2513.JPG" width="320" /></a>Management literature indicates that on average we spend 35-50% of our time in meetings.<br />
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A 2014 <a href="https://hbr.org/2014/04/how-a-weekly-meeting-took-up-300000-hours-a-year/">Harvard Business Review research</a> shows how a company spends 300,000 hours a year in meetings. And this is not an uncommon "feature" for most organizations.<br />
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The same articles states that "research shows that 15% of an organization’s collective time is spent in meetings—a percentage that has increased every year since 2008. No amount of money can buy back that time. It must be treated more preciously."<br />
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Others such as <a href="http://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/time-wasted-meetings-data">Atlassian</a> estimate that "the salary cost of unnecessary meetings for U.S. business is $37 billion." <a href="http://www.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052970204642604577215013504567548">Wall Street Journal</a> estimates that "CEOs spend 18 hours of 55 hour week in meetings."</div>
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Management literature and reality shows that running unproductive and inefficient meetings seems to be a staple of modern working life. And perhaps this is why you can find 130 million web articles providing guidance on meeting best practices and 35 million articles on effective meeting best practices.</div>
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This plethora of "wisdom" seem to impart fundamental and common sense advice for running effective meetings - things such as:</div>
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<li>have an agenda and share agenda ahead of the meeting</li>
<li>invite the right people</li>
<li>keep time</li>
<li>distinguish between information sharing, decision making and brainstorming meetings</li>
<li>wrap up with action points and track decisions</li>
<li>make sure everyone knows what to do when they leave the meeting </li>
<li>establish ground rules</li>
<li>make sure everyone participates</li>
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And the list goes on and on and on.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMkb1bJ27hSPXYZ5mHWtiE6F82S0MS-GhBa1rdJaQTOg3E2e3McAhzqS6jnjME-qHochEkOpKU8OJJrLEtAj8A23mnxW7vfTWt0XbOpcDT_WDReh5TMJASPyhoUU3njuyj7Evg-teLvNM/s1600/IMG_2514.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMkb1bJ27hSPXYZ5mHWtiE6F82S0MS-GhBa1rdJaQTOg3E2e3McAhzqS6jnjME-qHochEkOpKU8OJJrLEtAj8A23mnxW7vfTWt0XbOpcDT_WDReh5TMJASPyhoUU3njuyj7Evg-teLvNM/s320/IMG_2514.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Amazingly enough hardly any of these articles talk about the physical setting of the meeting venue, nor how configuration of conventional board and meeting rooms could constitute an obstacle to and hinder a multi-directional and productive conversation. At the same time, none of them weigh the pros and cons of formal versus semi-informal meetings. </div>
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Close your eyes and think of your meeting room.<br />
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Count the number of barriers in the room.<br />
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I can think of the long meeting table, the chairs and how when people walk into the meeting room there is a seating hierarchy. I can think of the meeting room without windows or meetings rooms without natural light. </div>
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Now, imagine holding meetings in an environment where you can minimize the physical barriers. To start with:</div>
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<li>no seating hierarchy</li>
<li>no "head table"</li>
<li>natural light</li>
<li>green scenery</li>
<li>physically outside of the office setting</li>
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Yes, I know it may be unconventional to hold a board meeting in a park, but I would challenge a brave and bold CEO and board members to take on this challenge and to do so.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjv1XWs3p18nOzGBzB3HRz5fcOWKdH7x5zxsMAjTyltiXyHAGRnHyzEw6YZVsngNLw0mYdDhkDML6oDJ75NA5IB5qt4ziyFcWzGcOLRfgXc5C6f_JYzVWUL6AEpW6KU7V5UzaIobafdYaW/s1600/IMG_0012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjv1XWs3p18nOzGBzB3HRz5fcOWKdH7x5zxsMAjTyltiXyHAGRnHyzEw6YZVsngNLw0mYdDhkDML6oDJ75NA5IB5qt4ziyFcWzGcOLRfgXc5C6f_JYzVWUL6AEpW6KU7V5UzaIobafdYaW/s320/IMG_0012.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
I came to the understanding that meetings held outside of an office environment are most productive as I embarked on <a href="http://rsamii.blogspot.co.ke/2016/01/the-beauties-of-embarking-on-new.html">my new adventure</a>. My first day in the office, I went for a working coffee with a colleague.... And guess what the working coffee was physically outside of the office environment. It was in a beautiful setting. There was fresh air, green scenery, natural light, a pleasant breeze and more.<br />
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As we sat at the table, I realized that there were no barriers, no hierarchy.... It was truly as if we had gone out to a cafe on a Sunday morning.<br />
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The physical act of <b>leaving the formal office space </b>and walking out to this <b>neutral</b> land created a different dynamic and helped to set a different tone. The simple act of "walking away from formality" meant there was <b>no one in power</b>, there was no authority. It meant everyone was on the same footing, everyone was a peer. It meant that we actually <b>talked with each other</b> and not to each other. We had a two-way conversation, rather than a one-way monologue. No one imparted orders, rather we discussed, shared ideas and learnt from each other.<br />
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As a knowledge management practitioner we raise awareness about the benefits of removing barriers to create a safe environment for multi-directional conversation. We advocate for alternative meeting methods and techniques so that we can have better and fruitful conversations.<br />
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While I had practiced and facilitated a number of these KM methods, I must admit that only a month ago did I see in action the benefits of removing physical barriers to have fruitful, effective, efficient and productive meetings and came to the realization that perhaps this is the most common blindspot.<br />
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How about next time you organize a meeting or walk into a meeting you consider the following:<br />
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<li>Hold your meeting in a "neutral territory"</li>
<li>Remove physical barriers</li>
<li>Engage in a conversation as opposed to dictates</li>
<li>Set the tone and create a safe environment</li>
<li>Share information and guidance in a conversational tone</li>
</ul>
If everyone feels like peers, then everyone is in control of and everyone has power over their actions for the bigger common good.<br />
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This is not utopia nor an impossible feat. Having seen the benefits - albeit inadvertently and unintentionally - I would definitely suggest you give a go. Next time you organize a meeting, consider the above and if you can "walk away from your office environment".<br />
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<a href="http://www.valentinedayquotes2016.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Valentines-Day-Wallpapers-2016-13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.valentinedayquotes2016.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Valentines-Day-Wallpapers-2016-13.jpg" height="200" width="320" /></a></div>
If you do give it a try, please share your experience so that together we can collect a solid body of evidence to show that removing physical barriers and holding meetings in "neutral territory" can lead to removing barriers in our head, which can lead to bringing about change.<br />
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<span class="s1"><i>"If you have an idea, you have to believe in yourself or no one else will."</i></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><i>Sarah Michelle Geller</i></span></div>
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Happy Valentine's Day! <br />
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">On the road to discovery: Roxanna Samii blog</div>Roxanna Samiihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01187694720212730520noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1866242447606383181.post-25964401410090719402016-01-17T10:02:00.001+01:002016-01-17T16:23:39.276+01:00The beauties of embarking on a new adventure #lifeisbeautiful #everydaynairobi<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span class="s1">Embarking on a new adventure comes with a magic mix of excitement and apprehension.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">You are looking forward and excited to explore and discover new territories, break new grounds and come out of your comfort zone.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">At the same time, you have to deal with the little voice in your head that nags you with its annoying questions such as "Are you sure about what you are doing?" "Is this the right thing to do".</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Overtime I have learnt that if you want to grow, if you want to live your life fully, if you want to expand your horizon, if you want to make the most of your life, you need to take control of your life and pursue your passion, convictions, ideals and most importantly follow your heart. </span></div>
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<span class="s1">Living life fully means coming out of the “comfort of security” and embracing the unexplored, embracing the adventure, embracing the new encounters and the new experiences.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Embarking on a new adventure while having its share of apprehension and anxiety helps you become more of a complete person. It allows you to see things with a fresh eyes. </span></div>
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<span class="s1">It allows you to see the beauty of what may otherwise may have been “normal” and explore the beauty of novelty. It allows you to live every day as a new day. </span></div>
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<span class="s1">Embarking on a new adventure with an open mind and heart, allows you to live your journey without prejudice, thus enjoying the luxury of creating something new without the burden of a past. </span></div>
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<span class="s1">Embarking on a new adventure is like being a kid in a candy shop. Everything is new and fresh. You look forward to the unexpected, new flavors, new faces, new sentiments, new challenges, new scenery and new dilemmas.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">At the end of the day life is nothing but a journey. And by definition a journey means not staying put, but traveling, moving around, being a nomad, changing horizons, gaining new experiences, meeting new people, learning from different experiences, people and cultures.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">I’ve learnt that to make the best out of any new adventure, you need to:</span></div>
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<li class="li1"><span class="s2"></span><span class="s1">Go with the flow</span></li>
<li class="li1"><span class="s2"></span><span class="s1">Keep all options open</span></li>
<li class="li1"><span class="s2"></span><span class="s1">Keep the door of your heart and mind open</span></li>
<li class="li1"><span class="s2"></span><span class="s1">Say yes to opportunities and people</span></li>
<li class="li1"><span class="s2"></span><span class="s1">Get out and explore</span></li>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVsqNo5wmRjfy67tSyQcJJ2iOf5RUa7JqMXSAEbTKABoSfeGzlszjCRFyu6fOh44X-3aPGkm-hbuAb9Mkn6v674nnAD8G3c7GoI8ghqR4q4-GT7ETEqeaLETLk-lvzYnNJKOo2Owg84OIU/s1600/IMG_1509.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVsqNo5wmRjfy67tSyQcJJ2iOf5RUa7JqMXSAEbTKABoSfeGzlszjCRFyu6fOh44X-3aPGkm-hbuAb9Mkn6v674nnAD8G3c7GoI8ghqR4q4-GT7ETEqeaLETLk-lvzYnNJKOo2Owg84OIU/s320/IMG_1509.JPG" width="240" /></a><span class="s1"></span></div>
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<span class="s1">And I commit to do so as I embark on my new adventure. </span></div>
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<span class="s1">One week into my new adventure, I cannot but fully subscribe with this quote from Hunter S. Thompson.</span></div>
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<span class="s1"><i>“Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming "Wow! What a Ride!” </i></span></blockquote>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">On the road to discovery: Roxanna Samii blog</div>Roxanna Samiihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01187694720212730520noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1866242447606383181.post-60191411344692511062015-10-29T11:26:00.002+01:002015-10-30T17:05:59.236+01:00Is technology killing communities? #kmers #socialmedia<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ6J5LjPTT4g13Osj_-Wx7WP8re3-aOLeN52kgNMwJgrJg0QJnQOnXxOKpJF7Izs3PlfHBZYrKTwmVRr7QNXDEidu2d3stGMK185WMYmPSoZ9ttab83g1EuMeKgt-HXxaDCalPPMproNU/s1600/download.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ6J5LjPTT4g13Osj_-Wx7WP8re3-aOLeN52kgNMwJgrJg0QJnQOnXxOKpJF7Izs3PlfHBZYrKTwmVRr7QNXDEidu2d3stGMK185WMYmPSoZ9ttab83g1EuMeKgt-HXxaDCalPPMproNU/s320/download.png" width="320" /></a>Last month I attended a meeting entitled "<i>What are we talking about when we talk about community</i>?" We started the conversation by sharing our ideas and views about a wide variety of congregation of <b>people </b>- which for ease of reference we called communities. These ranged from <b>tribes</b> to <b>cooperatives</b> to<b> kibbutz</b>.<br />
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We then shared our perception and understanding of different types of communities, such as, <b>community of practice, community of interest, stakeholder community </b>and <b>social community </b>and talked about the importance of <a href="http://rsamii.blogspot.it/2012/04/mission-accomplished-found-convincing.html">nurturing strong and weak ties</a>.<br />
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As we engaged in the conversation, it dawned on me that communities have the power of uniting and dividing....<br />
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They <b>unite</b>, when people who share a common interest or value come together to learn, share and innovate. They may <b>divide </b>when people who share different interests and values end up going head-to-head. At the same time, while fostering discipline, they are a great conduit for <b>innovation </b>and <b>collaboration</b>.<br />
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As we delved in and starting unpacking the subject matter, I thought to myself when was the last time I was part of a community together with a competitor. For example, as a Ferrari fan, would I be considered a traitor if I joined the McLaren or Red Bull community?<br />
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This made me realize that for communities to stay at the cutting edge, they <b>MUST </b>have a disruptive element. I realized that perhaps the dividing factor is as good, if not better than the unity factor. This is because having competing interests will help us come out of our comfort zone, challenge the <i>status quo</i> and as a result transform, create something new.... in short innovate.<br />
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If you've had the privilege of being part of a community, you may have joined it because you shared a common interest or passion. You may have joined a community to survive or you may have joined a community because you were in search of diversity or wanted to get close to your traditions and roots.<br />
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What ever may have been your drive to join a community - once you embraced <b>YOUR </b>community and no matter whether you ended up being a fervent contributor or a lurker - you probably benefitted from a sense of belonging and established some sort of an emotional bond.<br />
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The concept of communities is nothing new. They have existed since the beginning of time when groups of people sharing something in common came together to pursue a common goal and/or passion.<br />
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The new element today is technology. Some argue that technology - could be a double-edged sword - as it is contributing to loosing sight of the <b>PEOPLE </b>component of community.<br />
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As Henry Mintzberg eloquently outlines, in his article <a href="https://hbr.org/2015/10/we-need-both-networks-and-communities">We need both networks and communities</a>,before the advent of technology, the city center, the village square was the heart of the community. Today, the village center has an on-line rival.....<br />
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In the past, communities were made up of people who knew each other, met each other at the market, talked with each other, came to each other's help in moments of need. The advent of technology has changed the way community members interact with each other.<br />
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Mintzberg argues that since members of virtual communities may not necessarily know each other in person and may never get an opportunity to talk with each other face-to-face, these are more of networks than communities. Others argue that networks are better at communication than collaboration.<br />
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Where does this leave us? I think we all agree that nothing can and will ever replace the nuances that a face-to-face interaction offers. At the same time, I believe that the affordances of technology have helped to bridge the time and space barrier. For example, we now can have face-to-face interactions and collaborate with each other virtually. But we cannot break bread virtually, we cannot enjoy a cup of coffee or a glass of wine virtually ..... We cannot do the social stuff, the very things that <a href="http://rsamii.blogspot.it/2015/05/building-high-performing-and-cohesive.html">bring people together, help create a bond, thus foster collaboration</a>. <br />
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So, are virtual and face-to-face interactions mutually exclusive? I am afraid there is not a black and white answer to this question. It goes without saying that when you know members of your virtual community in person and have opportunities of interacting with them face-to-face, this definitely has an impact on the quality of the conversations and undoubtedly facilitates the virtual interaction.<br />
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This does not mean that you are at a disadvantage with it comes to engaging with members who you do not know in person. I am firm believer that you can establish collaborative relationships with people who you have not met in person. At the same time, I also know that when you have had the luxury of meeting them in person and have an opportunity to "socialize" with them, this will end up having a night and day impact on the quality of the relationship.<br />
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While I cannot agree more with Mitzberg statement that we need both networks and communities, as a <a href="http://rsamii.blogspot.it/2015/01/is-facebook-making-us-more-lonely.html">technological determinist</a> I am not sure how to internalize his conclusion "<i>The new digital technologies, wonderful as they are in enhancing communication, can have a negative effect on collaboration unless they are carefully managed. An electronic device puts us in touch with a keyboard, that's all</i>" as I believe that technology is nothing but a tool. It is up to the user - that is <b>US </b>- to make the best use of it.<br />
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I am putting the question and perhaps my personal dilemma to my KM and social media communities and I look forward to hearing your your view and ideas. I am sure your informed views will help take this conversation forward. Let me thank you in advance for your contributions.</div>
<b>REFLECTIONS and REACTIONS</b>
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<a href="https://twitter.com/rsamii">@rsamii</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/BonnieKoenig">@BonnieKoenig</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/NancyWhite">@NancyWhite</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/mongkolroek">@mongkolroek</a> Nope. All a matter of who stewards the community and what everyone brings. More + or -</div>
— ewenlb (@ewenlb) <a href="https://twitter.com/ewenlb/status/659746989215776768">October 29, 2015</a></blockquote>
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<a href="https://twitter.com/rsamii">@rsamii</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/BonnieKoenig">@BonnieKoenig</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/NancyWhite">@NancyWhite</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/ewenlb">@ewenlb</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/mongkolroek">@mongkolroek</a> Over all no.</div>
— Wayne C (@revolutionyfarm) <a href="https://twitter.com/revolutionyfarm/status/659743313365442560">October 29, 2015</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Technology can nurture a community - case in point, the people interacting in this tweet 😊 <a href="https://t.co/4U9Nru6Co0">https://t.co/4U9Nru6Co0</a></p>— Michael Riggs (@mongkolroek) <a href="https://twitter.com/mongkolroek/status/659751070432935936">October 29, 2015</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/ewenlb">@ewenlb</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/rsamii">@rsamii</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/NancyWhite">@NancyWhite</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/mongkolroek">@mongkolroek</a> Agree w/ <a href="https://twitter.com/ewenlb">@ewenlb</a> it is very nuanced & will differ based on the group.See longer comment @ the post</p>— Bonnie Koenig (@BonnieKoenig) <a href="https://twitter.com/BonnieKoenig/status/659759136251486208">October 29, 2015</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Gr8 post by <a href="https://twitter.com/rsamii">@rsamii</a> on concept of <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/community?src=hash">#community</a> & how it's impacted by technology <a href="https://t.co/IAFgTkDesv">https://t.co/IAFgTkDesv</a> cc <a href="https://twitter.com/askdebra">@askdebra</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/joitske">@joitske</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/wiebkehere">@wiebkehere</a></p>— Bonnie Koenig (@BonnieKoenig) <a href="https://twitter.com/BonnieKoenig/status/659759720526446592">October 29, 2015</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">.<a href="https://twitter.com/rsamii">@rsamii</a> Hi Roxanna, just left a couple of comments on the blog post. Superb blog entry, by the way! Well done! <a href="https://twitter.com/pels">@pels</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/nickknoco">@nickknoco</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/ithorpe">@ithorpe</a></p>— Luis Suarez (@elsua) <a href="https://twitter.com/elsua/status/660114734025474052">October 30, 2015</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script><div class="blogger-post-footer">On the road to discovery: Roxanna Samii blog</div>Roxanna Samiihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01187694720212730520noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1866242447606383181.post-85413844560295067172015-09-30T18:39:00.001+02:002018-06-20T18:53:48.581+02:00The bitter sweet story of #migrants and refugees: how about considering the receiving nations as venture capitalists<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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The influx of migrants and refugees to Europe is a story that has dominated not only the headlines but also featured prominently on political and diplomatic agendas.</div>
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It's been a bitter-sweet story... one of solidarity and humanity on the one hand, and harshness and grief on the other hand.</div>
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As a migrant and an immigrant I can tell you that leaving your country of origin, leaving behind your family, your friends, your connections, networks, your identity and sense of safety and security and going to a foreign land is never anyone's first choice. </div>
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So when people migrate from a place and immigrate to another it is because of necessity. It is because they find themselves in a dire and desperate situation, it is because they find themselves between the rock and a hard place. It is because the only choice for a better and more dignified life is to move on... to migrate.</div>
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A lot of ink has been spilled on the perils of migration and immigrants. I am be utterly naive and ask for your indulgence to pause a minute and look at this challenge as an opportunity.</div>
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Consider the countries who welcome and accept migrants as venture capitalists or angel investors. Consider seeing the influx of migrants as an influx of talent, experience and expertise. </div>
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Imagine a world where nation state venture capitalists continuously and constantly create the right environment to unleash migrant's talents. Imagine a world where we continuously and constantly read about the achievements of <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2015/09/09/refugee-crisis-steve-jobs-syrian-migrants-child-aylan-kurdi_n_8108656.html">sons of a migrants</a>.</div>
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As a migrant and an immigrant, I can tell you, our journey is one that starts with an upheaval and uprooting. It is one of loss and pain. It may be one of humiliation and loss of dignity. </div>
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No matter what is the spark that ignites our journey as migrants, we all aspire and hope that the rest of the journey is one of hope, acceptance, solidarity and accomplishment. Every smiling and welcoming face we encounter along our journey is one that sows the seed of hope. Every opportunity, sows the seed of accomplishment. Every hurdle that we overcome, sows the seed of acceptance.</div>
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While we all hope to be able to go back to our countries of origin, we make the land that welcomed us our home. We integrate, contribute and join forces to make our new home a better place and in doing so, we embrace what Pope Francis said to the Latino immigrants in Philadelphia, We try "not be ashamed of your traditions.” His Holiness reminded us: “Do not forget the lessons you learned from your elders, which are something you can bring to enrich the life of this American land. I repeat, do not be ashamed of what is part of you, your lifeblood. You are called to be responsible citizens and to contribute, like others who with so much strength did before you . . . fruitfully to the life of the communities in which you live.”</div>
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As migrants, we become citizens of the world and have many homes. We thank the warm and welcoming smiles and embraces, we thank the opportunities offered to us and we look forward to be able to give back.</div>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">On the road to discovery: Roxanna Samii blog</div>Roxanna Samiihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01187694720212730520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1866242447606383181.post-84723469542633854862015-08-12T17:15:00.001+02:002015-08-13T10:49:15.939+02:00Celebrating young people: Investing in the future #youthday<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) estimates that there are 1.8 billion young people in the world. Today as we mark the International Youth Day we are celebrating and paying tribute to these talented, energetic and creative young people.<br />
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These young people are the very people who can and are willing to change the world and make it a better place.<br />
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For those of us who do not fall in the 10-24 age bracket, if you were to close your eyes and imagine the youth of today, what are some of the images and characteristics that come to mind?<br />
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<li>the internet generation, who lives and breaths on technology</li>
<li>a generation who if separated from their hand-held device will perish</li>
<li>an educated generation with a giving attitude, with the desire to change the world for a better place</li>
<li>a generation that believes in collective action</li>
<li>a promising generation of accomplished CEOs, CFOs and CIOs</li>
<li>a "<a href="http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/08/06/teens-technology-and-friendships/">virtual and social networked</a>" generation </li>
<li>a generation that converses with instant messages</li>
<li>a generation that excels in cutting through information clutter</li>
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Whatever your image of the younger generation, let's not forget the 500 million young people who live on less $2 a day. Let's not forget that 60 per cent of these young people with high potential are neither at school or have any type of employment - be it regular or irregular.</div>
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According to Dr Osotimehin, the Executive Director of UNFPA “Today, nine in 10 of the world’s 1.8 billion young people live in less developed countries, where the young encounter obstacles to their rights – to education, to health, to live free from violence. Many of these young people may never realize their full potential, as leaders, as change-agents, as entrepreneurs, as people with the power to transform the future,”<br />
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Imagine a world where these very same young people have overcome their many challenges and can fully benefit from and actively contribute to the 2015 edition of Youth Day theme "Youth Civic Engagement." Imagine a world where these same young people have access to the technological revolution that their peers are benefitting from. Imagine a world where these same young people are able to fulfil their dreams and aspirations. Imagine a world where these same young people have the opportunity to become accomplished CEOs, CFOs and CIOs.<br />
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I think we can build a world where all young people can have a better and brighter future.<br />
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So next time, you are presented with the opportunity to advocate on their behalf, do so. Next time you have the opportunity to raise awareness about their challenges, do so.<br />
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Next time find an opportunity to extend a helping hand to young person, do so. Next time you have an opportunity to coach and mentor them, do so. Next time you have an opportunity of sharing your experience, do so.<br />
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And if they show arrogance and have a "I know it all attitude", be patient and persevere. The ones who want to learn will do so and yes there will be those who will display arrogance. But hopefully they will be few and far between.<div class="blogger-post-footer">On the road to discovery: Roxanna Samii blog</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10933270079603837958noreply@blogger.com0