Engaged Youth » Partnership Proposal 10.18.07

Partnership Proposal 10.18.07

October 22nd, 2007 at 12:37pm Toby Campbell Permalink

PROPOSAL A:
ESTABLISHING YOUTH ACTIVITY AND CONTENT FOR THE WEBSITE

Rationale:
At this launch phase, our marketing efforts to recruit large numbers of unpaid youth will be effective IF and ONLY IF the site appears active and interesting when these youth visit it for the first time. This proposal is designed to ensure that the website becomes active (an active community of youth is consistently using the site for the kinds of activities for which it was designed, productively engaging in discussions and posting content) and interesting (there is ample, circulating content on the website).

1. Problem: We need content.
Solution: We ask our partners to provide us with content created by their youth.

2. Problem: Why would partners want to provide us with content? What do they get in return?
Solution: We give them the promise that all content posted by their youth will be commented on and discussed by youth using our site who are trained to engage in positive dialogue around youth content. Their youth can participate in discussions that stem from their work.

3. Problem: How will we ensure that all content is being discussed?
Solution: We hire a team of paid youth to comment on and discuss all website content. They receive training on how to positively do this, and we create job descriptions that are very specific about expectations for their positions. They could work out of the Y or even from home.

PHYSICAL SPACES:
As we establish these content partners, we will test program collaborations that open up physical spaces for PSO youth. For example, we may collaborate with the libraries to report on their Writers’ in the Schools event, or collaborate with the VERA project to host an arts or music event tied to PSO content. These opportunities will open up on a case by case basis through meetings and correspondence with partner staff.

Proposal A PHASE TWO: MARKETING TO YOUTH
The purpose of Proposal A is to ensure that the website becomes active and interesting so that a phase two marketing campaign to recruit many youth to the site will be effective.

What do we need to make Proposal A possible?

• Funds to pay youth staff
• Staff work on creating partnerships to get content for when the website launches
• Staff work on structuring job descriptions and training for paid youth staff
• Staff recruit youth to act as paid staff when the website launches

Comments?

Entry Filed under: partner strategy, youth management

4 Comments Add your own

1. ctugwell | October 22nd, 2007 at 11:05 pm

Great ideas. I believe that we’re trying to raise money for the blog team and editorial team. At least we identified an ideal amount at our Friday budget meeting.

An ideal number of youth participating as bloggers and serving on the editorial team would be around 30. We’ll take more as we grow.

The blog team would meet less frequently than the editorial team. A job description for bloggers exist. Details include 4 new posts a week, and 2 new comments a day (not sure on the volume).

We’ve also started to hash out what the editorial team’s job description would look like. I think we have some strong ideas though. The fianl job description won’t happen until the site is up and running.

Honestly, without the site it’s going to be difficult to get partners. I truly believe we’ll get some when the site is up and running.

Our Y digital arts class is creating a lot of stuff right now. We did some street interveiws last week. One on the working poor, and another on outsourcing (check them out on you tube MCdigitalarts). We’ll be developing more stuff like this in the future.
2. Deen Freelon | October 23rd, 2007 at 1:30 am

Yeah, this looks great. Paying youth from the get-go will give our site the initial boost it needs to get over the early days when we’re just starting to get the word out. Making sure that content gets commented on will be crucial to securing an audience for the site—comments act as a powerful reinforcer for nonmarket production on the web. In some cases, it can be as good or better than money.

I can definitely see my blog curriculum playing a major role in supporting Needs 3 and 4. It seems I’ll also need to give the kids some technical training on how to administer content in Drupal, so I’ll put that on my long-term radar.
3. Sivaldo Silva | October 23rd, 2007 at 1:30 pm

I think the main problem about this kind of project is “the creation of life” on this space. I mean the young people have to feel life on this space. It’s necessary to be a place (on the Internet) where they can meet and exchange ideas or opinions on a issue that they are interested. A place where they can find gratifications. Obviously, content can create life and gratifications there (It is on item between others ). I guess, Toby is right when she identifies the goals and problems. Maybe, it’s important to think more about what type of gratification the content can provide.
4. Toby Campbell | October 25th, 2007 at 2:21 pm

Thanks for your feedback. I look forward to hearing from everyone, and it seems like a good idea to keep this proposal on the table. In the meantime, Adri and I are working up another concrete proposal for partnership and marketing activities over the next few months, so we’ll post a version of that next week. Keep the comments coming!