Content Strategy Spotlight – AEA365.org

This is an Eval Central archive copy, find the original at freshspectrum.com.

There is not just one way to build a digital community, or rather, leverage the web to support an existing community. When many organization’s design communities of practice they tend to focus on hosting a series of webinars, developing a forum, or building a resource library.

Their blog is often an afterthought. But it is definitely possible to support communities through blogging. And one of my favorite examples is AEA365. So I reached out to my friend Sheila B. Robinson, to ask her a few questions.

So each month we have an intern take a couple guesses as to what people in our association might like to read.
That's how we do it too!
A lot of association blogs are pretty crummy.

They seem to forget about the association's greatest source of power.
It's members!

AEA 365 is different. Instead of writing "to" their members, they have created a space for organic contribution.

AEA365 is a blog written by evaluators, for evaluators.

Over the past 10+ years the blog has posted nearly every day.

So what is the secret behind the blog's longevity? Well I think Susan Kistler, who started the blog, and Sheila B Robinson, who has acted as lead curator for close to seven years, are two major reasons.

A few years ago it was a lot more challenging to keep the content going. We had to do some outreach and extend invitations.

Now we are getting a steady influx of posts, with more and more groups interested in sponsoring a week.

I think the content sponsoring is an awesome strategy. The American Evaluation Association is made up of many Topical Interest Groups and local affiliated associations. By giving these subgroups the chance to organize a week of content, it takes the content burden off the shoulders of the curators.

If another organization would like to try this my advice would be to have contribution guidelines publicly available.

Guidelines and a formulaic style might seem limiting but this kind of structure can really provide a solid foundation for a community blog filled with diverse perspectives.

Interested in the Full Q&A with Sheila?

Here it is!

How long ago was it when you took over lead curation from Susan?

I started working with Susan in February 2013. It was supposed to be a six-month internship. Guess you can figure out what happened since then! Prior to me, she had taken on a sort of assistant curator. I’m not sure if they did six months and left, or she had just advertised wanting someone for six months when I applied. I have from time to time had some volunteer assistance myself.

Has it ever missed a day or two/gone on break?

While it has never gone on break officially, we accidentally miss a couple of days a year. Think about the monumental task of publishing 365 articles a year. I know Seth Godin does it, but he’s also not publishing 450 word articles every day either!

What is the biggest challenge in keeping the content going?

It was a lot more challenging a few years ago when we really had to do some out reach and extend invitations to people we knew to write posts. It’s now been 2 to 3 years since I’ve intentionally invited anyone to write. We are getting a steady influx of posts, and more and more groups interested in sponsoring a week. These groups are generally TIG’s, affiliates, and a few other types of groups. Once in a while, there is a consulting group and I have to make sure they don’t do too much self promotion. Also, sometimes people suggest themed weeks and we do those as well.

How far ahead do you plan posts/do you have a backlog?

It used to be that I would get nervous seeing openings two weeks ahead of time, but now, I’m generally planning for individual posts 3 to 4 months in advance. 2020 is almost full, with sponsored and themed weeks. I have individual spots open about six per month starting in March.

If someone else wants to try this in another association or community, what advice would you give to them?

I would definitely say to have contribution guidelines publicly available. The fact that we have a general format with a specified length, and expectation for an introduction, and just a few rules, has really been helpful. I think people like knowing what they’re going to get each day.

10 years from now, will there still be an AEA365?

I imagine there will be! The blog has grown in popularity in the nearly 7 years that I’ve been working with it.