Five aspect of effective networks

I’ve been doing a few presentations lately that include the basics of network-centric organizing, so I thought it would be helpful to post a refresher here. With props, as always, to Marty Kearns from whom I learned a lot of this.

Update 5/22/08: Now you can watch the presentation, which makes very little sense without me talking.

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Five aspects of effective networks

1. Strong social ties
   • Personal relationships
   • Trust
   • Awareness
2. Dense communication grid
   • Online & offline
   • One-to-one, one-to-many, and many-to-many
   • For example
   • Blogs, forums
   • E-mail, IM, SMS
   • Face-to-face
3. Common story
   • Shared values
   • Collective narrative
4. Culture of sharing
   • For example
   • Data, information
   • Skills & expertise
   • Money
   • Space
5. Network awareness
   • Feeling like a member
   • Knowing what the network is for

Here are some more resources to learn more about network-centric organizing strategies:

• Earlier presentations on this topic: lotusmedia.org/advocacy-20-the-slideshow (slides) & lotusmedia.org/ruby-goes-to-class (video) &
  lotusmedia.org/civic-engagement-and-technology (with helpful links)
• Blogging tips: lotusmedia.org/so-you-wanna-start-an-advocacy-blog
• Network-centric approach to politics: lotusmedia.org/the-political-cluetrain
• Background reading: lotusmedia.org/network-centric-reading-list
• Marty Kearns’ widsom: advocacy20.org & netcentriccampaigns.org

… and more in my “Advocacy 2.0″ category on this blog: lotusmedia.org/in/nptech/advocacy/