Professional Sites

I have questions.

I’d like to start a web page – using an already established template – for one of my projects at work. I think it’s important for users of one of our products to communicate – to share problems and solutions, questions and answers. The current site provides blogs, discussion boards, a gallery for figures and abstracts.

“It’s failing.” I spoke to a manager last week and we chatted about how important the concept was and how vital the customer opinions were to our troubleshooting and continued development. “We can’t get people to talk. They’ll sign up and read, but they don’t want to answer questions or even ask them. Nobody’s saying anything so why keep providing the site at all?”

I sighed. I’d looked at the site under discussion and he was correct. Statistics indicated visitors were coming. Then they’d leave quietly because nothing was going on. We need something bright and dynamic and compelling!

“Maybe a smaller community is worth trying,” I suggested and he pounced on the idea.

“But,” he said gently, just as I was beginning to flutter with excitement, “only about 1% of your audience will write anything.” I thought of my blog, did some quick calculations in my head and nodded my silent agreement.

“But,” I argued since I really do want this to work, “once someone starts to feel comfortable posting, others might follow. So I think launching and persistence are both important.”

“True,” he said, “and I don’t mean to rain on your parade. I’d love to see you make this work. But it’s a lot of work to launch big and continue to push. And I know you’re new and passionate – and that’s wonderful – but you’re also probably incredibly busy and a little overwhelmed. So I don’t want to encourage you to tackle something that’s going to bury you.”

“No, I know,” I said and paused. “And I appreciate the thought.” He offered several suggestions for alternatives or tips to make the webpage work if I decided to go that route.

“Take initiative,” Adam ordered at a group meeting earlier this month. “You’re management – make decisions. Don’t have meetings for judgments you can make on your own.” I nodded when he looked at me, being rather eager to make decisions and move forward.

“Well, maybe not you,” he said, perhaps suspicious of how excited I looked. “You’re still new – check with me before you do anything major.” Crestfallen, I made a face at him and got a wink in return. But I’m still pushing forward – identifying priorities, guiding efforts, setting up meetings.

Given that I know some of you have set up professional pages for groups, any advice? How to launch well? How to encourage participation? Do I create a student section? A research section? Do high level researchers impress or intimidate? Advice? Please?