Here’s what we do:
1. On our banner topic, we clearly explain the purpose of our community.
Young people, you are here to lead and influence systems that impact you. Adults, you are here to listen and share resources. We are all here to power youth-led collective impact. Only when we work together can we equip ALL of New York City’s young people to thrive. To get started, check out First time here? Welcome!
2. Our First time here? Welcome! post “sells” why people should sign up for the forum.
Welcome to #NYCEDU! We’re youth leaders and adult allies working together to equip ALL of New York City’s young people to thrive.
Here’s how to explore the community.
- Engage online . Follow discussions in #public-square, look for #jobs, and check out resources from the #learning-library.
- Meet in-person . Come to upcoming events hosted by community members and network partners.
Want to get more involved?
Sign Up for an Account
By signing up, you will
- Receive insider news on all things happening in New York City youth advocacy and systems change
- Have access to special sections of our website
- Join a community of youth leaders and adult allies who are all committed to working with you towards collective impact!
Please note, because of legal reasons, only people 13 years or older are able to sign up for an account . Not 13 yet? Please email hello@nycedu.org to engage in a different way.
Finally, not ready to create an account yet but want to stay in touch? Subscribe to our quarterly newsletter here .
Caption: Group photo from our 2018 Potluck Party in the Park showing #NYCEDU participants young and old!
3. Our welcome message reads
Hi and welcome to #NYCEDU!
Choose one of these popular first steps to take next.
- Add a profile picture
- Introduce yourself to our community
- RSVP for an upcoming event, and/or
- Post a conversation starter on #public-square
You can also learn how to use our website features by starting an interactive tutorial or reading the new user guide.
Enjoy!
Notice that we’ve made everything a link, including a link to start the user tutorial. This keeps the message short and sweet. We’ve also highlighted the actions we care the most about.
4. We’ve had a lot of success with our introduction thread. About 2/3 of our new users have posted!
Hi from all of us at #NYCEDU! We’re eager to hear your story.
Where are you from?
What issue related to young people are you most passionate about?
What would you like to ask of and offer to the #NYCEDU community? We want to help!
And for fun, share a random fact or two.Haven’t added a profile picture, yet? Add it now.
To welcome the newest people, jump to the last post and say “hi!”
5. We emphasize adding a profile picture.
Most new users didn’t, so I moved that step to the first in the list within the welcome message, and added a reminder to add a profile picture to the introduction thread as well. Before I would message each user privately to ask them to add a photo. Let’s see how well that works.
6. We have on our roadmap to create banners that work people through onboarding steps
We draw inspiration from How We Increased Community Engagement By 160% | FeverBee and have on our idea list to use Feverbee’s code for interactive banners.
7. We’re writing more detailed workflow documents
https://discourse.nycedu.org/t/how-do-we-document-organizational-policies-meeting-minutes-and-project-updates/195
Our discourse site is in early days yet, so we’re going to constantly evolve and grow. I’d love to be updated on what you find works, too.