Encouraging+Initial+Engagement

One of the things that I have found useful in encouraging initial engagement is to identify a few champions for the e-discussion and encourage them via personal emails to contribute to the discussion in the initial phases. This helps to set a warm and open tone and also helps with the comfort level of other participants. It is also helpful to choose a platform where the participants have the option of contributing via email or by logging on to the web. The email option is useful in overcoming the initial hesitation with a new technology. It also helps to start the conversation around something very casual and a topic that cuts across cultures. However, lurkers also learn significantly from any online interaction..

**Games**

 * Six Degrees of Separation - from Bronwyn Stuckey
 * [|Just Three Words] - from Nancy White (scroll down a bit on the page)

Activities

 * Introductions**
 * Have a place for people to share their introductions. Have a hospitality team to respond to their posts and offer to answer any questions.
 * Give some kind of reward for posting an intro, for example, allow them to have a signature tag or special formatting available (something frivolous, not substantial).

Groups

 * Facilitate the creation of a [|critical mass] to drive community activities.
 * Ensure your community has got some [|Early Adopters] to help on the adoption of different tools.

Links to Resources about Encouraging Initial Engagement
(see also the del.icio.us tag "[|online_faciltiation]")
 * [|Predicting Continued Participation in Newsgroups] Joyce, E., and Kraut, R. E. (2006). Predicting continued participation in newsgroups. Journal of Computer-MediatedCommunication, 11(3), article 3. http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol11/issue3/joyce.html