Open Community Case Study – Local Government Knowledge Network

This post is part of our regular series of Open Community case studies, in which intrepid association blogger and freelance writer Deirdre Reid will be digging into associations (and other kinds of organizations when relevant) who are living and breathing their open communities in the ways we describe in the book. If you have a case study to share, from the angle of any of the “big ideas” in our little book, please contact us.

Community: Local Government Knowledge Network

The International City/County Management Association (ICMA) is the professional association for appointed local government administrators throughout the world. The Alliance for Innovation is an international network of progressive governments and partners committed to transforming local government by accelerating the development and dissemination of innovations. In May 2010 ICMA and the Alliance launched the Local Government Knowledge Network. Since then, more than 16,000 local government professionals have used the Knowledge Network to connect with colleagues and access resources on local government management.

Champions:

• Tracy Miller, Florida Regional Director, Alliance for Innovation
• Toni Shope, CAE, East Regional Director, Alliance for Innovation
• Karen Thoreson, President, Alliance for Innovation
• Brian Derr, Chief Information Officer, ICMA
• Bob O’Neill, Executive Director, ICMA

Big Idea: Developing into a Social Organization

Concepts:

• It’s about clarity over control
• Ease up on the hierarchies
• Skill sets for a social organization

Their Story:

The standard 20^th century association brochure usually included “access to members-only resources” as one of the benefits of membership. Our best stuff – magazines, reports, data, discussion forums and more – lived behind the member wall.

Today our members and prospects find resources and networking opportunities all over the web. Associations debate whether to tear down their walls and open their communities to non-members. Is the risk worth the effort? Will members leave us? Will others stop joining?

ICMA and the Alliance wrestled with these questions too, but the benefits of an open community convinced them to not only move forward, but to do it together. Organizations that once viewed each other as competitors became partners.

ICMA, the Alliance and a third collaborator, Arizona State University (ASU), created the Local Government Knowledge Network as an opportunity to help local governments identify, develop and disseminate innovative ideas and practices to a broader audience in a quicker way. Each organization plays a different role: ASU brings the research and analysis capacity, the Alliance groups are labs for change and innovation and ICMA members are the practitioners and disseminators.

It’s about clarity over control

The idea of collaborating came up in informal discussions between board members of ICMA and the Alliance. A change in leadership at the Alliance led to more formal discussions. Although both boards were behind the partnership, some staffers were still resistant to the idea. ICMA, a much larger organization with a staff of 80 compared to the Alliance’s staff of 12, planned to launch a community with or without the Alliance. Some ICMA staffers preferred to go it alone and had to be convinced of the benefits of partnering with the Alliance.

“The biggest cultural change for us was allowing non-members to participate,” says Bob O’Neill. Yet, non-members add to the conversation and bring more value to the Knowledge Network. Conversion to membership isn’t a goal for ICMA; value creation is. Many of the participating non-members are not even likely to become members due to their profession; their contribution would have been lost if it were a members-only community.

Some on the Alliance staff weren’t comfortable with the idea of handing over content and contacts to another organization. Opening up the network to non-members was also a contentious issue. The Alliance identity was built upon their members-only online resources. Toni Shope says, “There was a fear we would lose members because we’re giving it away for free. Instead, we’re gaining awareness, not losing members.”

Karen Thoreson says they broke through those cultural barriers by focusing on the potential value created by the collaboration, new voices and new conversations. They also made sure their members knew these conversations could remain private in by-invitation-only groups, a key concern for government officials. She encouraged personal relationships between ICMA and Alliance staff. She shared all positive results, both small and large, and reassured staff and leadership that the relationship between the Alliance and ICMA would be a balanced one.

Ease up on the hierarchies

The success of this partnership can also be attributed to the existing culture of both organizations. Bob notes that neither organization was hierarchy-driven. Both were already very decentralized, particularly the Alliance. Their staff is spread out all over the country and work together virtually via GoToMeeting and other tools. Tracy Miller says, “We don’t have departmental silos because we don’t have departments.”

Tracy and Toni, the community experts, the ones with the interest and the passion, have become the decision-makers, says Karen. Leadership handles decisions about mission and goals; staff takes care of the strategies and tactics.

Skill sets for a social organization

Toni revealed their secret for success: all Alliance staff commit to visiting the network daily. They’ve become very nimble at contributing content; when they see something valuable, they share it. Tracy advises helping your community build the habit of sharing content. Make that easier for them by having the capacity to capture and share content built into your community platform.

They both stress that community managers always must work to market the community and to engage users. They constantly test to see what works. Toni says, “They’ll come once, but will they come back?”

Forward Failure:

Toni shared a lesson she learned about conversation. Although you’re itching to create more discussion in your groups, “you can’t force people to dialogue.” A network with a welcome page full of staff-initiated discussions doesn’t look like much of a community to a member. You need to be comfortable with silence in your community. Let it happen organically.

Proud Moment:

Tracy is committed to providing virtual training for the network’s users, both members and non-members, so they can become comfortable with the platform. She’s pleased that every time they offer training, at least 30 people participate. She knows it takes time to get members into the network, no matter how many emails you send. Yet, “the adoption rate is really starting to go up, usage and activity is going up. It’s a huge success.”

Check them out:

• Alliance’s Knowledge Network home page
• Alliance on Facebook
• Alliance on Twitter
• ICMA’s Knowledge Network home page
• ICMA on Facebook
• ICMA on Twitter

How do you welcome non-members into your open community?