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Savvy Chavvy

• A social network for young Gypsies and Travellers in the UK

• 2,719 members• Won the first Catalyst Communities award

in July 2008• ‘Chavvy’ is a Romany word for ‘child’

Savvy Chavvy

• Young Travellers use the network as a safe place to have discussions, find family members, make friends and arrange events

Rosina Hughes is 17 from Wareham, Dorset. She says:

• "It's great to have a site where you feel comfortable and safe discussing Gypsy things”

• "They have Gypsy hate groups, so it's important that we have our own space."

• “You're all dirty” and “you're all scum”, are some of the racist responses she says she has received on other social networking sites.

• § Make sure the existing leaders in the community understand and embrace what is planned - but do not expect them necessarily to be the leaders online

• § Be prepared for the community to reshape the objectives. It will thrive if it meets real needs, and ambassadors will emerge.

• § Investment in people - their training and support - is more important than investment in technology

• § Keep it simple, and make sure that when people go home after training they can do everything for themselves without further training.

• § Keep the ongoing costs of the technology low, and if possible free.

• § Sustainability is achieved through low costs and ownership of the project by the community

• § Be prepared to use commercial platforms to achieve this, rather than bespoke sites that require continuing technical support

• § Do not assume that marginalised communities will necessarily want to build communication bridges to the mainstream. They may be more concerned about creating a safe space for themselves.

This doesn’t mean we replace offline activity

To keep in the game, Charities MUST:

• Let go• Facilitate conversations, don’t control them• Involve supporters, don’t ‘own’ your cause• Allow employees to get involved:

Employee on social network does not equal messer!

• Try things and be patient• Aggregate content for your supporters

What’s so different about web 2.0?

• It is fundamentally different from previous forms of media

• Social media platforms provide a framework for people to connect directly to each other – the architecture has permanently changed, though technologies will continue to evolve

• People are using social media to glean information from each other without relying on organisations

• This shift is permanent! Get involved or lose out!

The best organisations blend online and offline activity

• Example: If you’re running an awareness event for your charity

• Create a network or start a group around the event• Write blog posts in the run up to the event• Invite people to post their own photos onto your

site, ask them to post their feedback etc• Those who took part will feel like part of a team• Those who couldn’t be there will feel like they

haven’t missed out

You can set up your own network for your community or organisation

by using free networks like:

• www.ning.com• www.webjam.com

• We set Savvy Chavvy up using Ning

TOP TEN TIPSto set up a network on Ning

• Firstly, you need to consider the purpose of your network – who will be your members and why will they use this website above others? What need does your network address?

Set Up

• Go to www.ning.com and set up your network, choosing a catchy name and Ning web address. It’s very simple; all you need is an email address and it takes a couple of minutes

Privacy

• Choose how public or private it is going to be – can everyone on the web see and contribute to your network or will it be closed and private for your members only?

Tagline

• Give your network a tagline and short description - what’s it all about? The tagline should consist of one pithy sentence, E.g. www.savvychavvy.com: ‘A social network for young Gypsies and Travellers in the UK’

Features

• Next, add features to your network. You can drag and drop functions like ‘forum’, ‘chat’, ‘blog’, ‘video’ & ‘photos’ into the front page. You might, for example, place the ‘forum’ function prominently in the middle of the page if having discussions is the main purpose of your network

Design

• Choose a design – Ning will give you lots of templates to choose from and you can customize one with your own choice of images, fonts and colours

Content

• Your network is now ready for content – help to define the network’s identity by starting discussions, posting photos, adding videos etc that are relevant to the purpose of the website

People

• Invite people to the network – start by inviting relevant people and welcoming them by writing a note on their pages. If you’re trying to attract a certain community don’t send out blanket invites to attract a volume of members – the quality and relevance of your members is what will help it grow and develop into a sustainable space. You can support this by writing your own relevant joining up questions

Engage

• Keep the community active and interested – once you have a working network, keep your members engaged by making small changes to the site, adding new content and sending them relevant information (without spamming them with constant messages!)

Extras

• Ning is free but you can purchase optional services like the removal of ads, the ability to use your own domain name and extra storage

Contact nathalie@onroadmedia.org.uk

Twitter @natmcwww.onroadmedia.org.uk