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Managing a Community of Safety Professionals During a Global Pandemic

Published: Dec. 7, 2020, 10:30 a.m.

This episode marks 5 years of Community Signal! If you tune in, you\u2019ll hear Patrick share a thank you for the incredible guests and collaborators that have helped get us here, in addition to the sponsors and Patreon supporters that have generously supported this work. We\u2019re proud to share the stories and learnings of our peers in the community industry and Patrick, Karn, and myself look forward to speaking to more of you! If you ever have feedback on the show or want to suggest a guest, we\u2019d love to hear from you. Please\xa0drop us a line, even if it\u2019s just to let us know that you\u2019re listening.

Around this time last year, the burgeoning online community behind the\xa0American Society of Safety Professionals\xa0was beginning to discuss COVID-19. As the pandemic made its way across the globe,\xa0Ashleigh Brookshaw, the manager of community engagement at the ASSP, adapted to make sure that the community was positioned as a core part of the society\u2019s online experience.

In this discussion, Ashleigh talks us through the launch of ASSP\u2019s online community and how leaders within the ASSP were vital to its construction and launch. By leveraging the experience and insight of the safety professionals that were already members of the society, Ashleigh was able to ensure that the community was easy to use and navigate from a technical perspective and also seeded with content and voices that would welcome a diverse membership. This is a common thread throughout the interview\xa0 \u2013 the ASSP empowers its leaders and community members to lead much of the programming, discussion, and community moderation. Ashleigh shares the insights and UX considerations that she has implemented to power this community.

Patrick and Ashleigh also discuss:

How the ASSP is thinking about the future of the safety profession and why DEI is important to that vision
Managing a community of safety experts during a pandemic
The code of conduct and motivations that encourage community members to keep conversations professional

Our Podcast is Made Possible By\u2026

If you enjoy our show, please know that it\u2019s only possible with the generous support of our sponsors:\xa0Vanilla, a one-stop shop for online community and\xa0Localist, plan, promote, and measure events for your community.

Big Quotes

COVID-19 has demonstrated the use-case for the ASSP community (4:15):\xa0\u201cAs you take a look at the maturation rate of community, that first year, year and a half, two years, is in my opinion, very, very critical in order to build the user adoption and behaviors that you want to see for long-term sustained engagement. The good thing about COVID-19, and I always like to try to pull the positive little nuggets where I can, is that our organization has really stepped up in terms of integrating online community more holistically and strategically at the front end, to service our members.\u201d -Ashleigh Brookshaw

Community segmentation drives the ASSP user experience (18:47): \u201cPeople sometimes want [online community] segmentation in a way that won\u2019t actually work well. They will segment themselves off into a corner and then wonder why no one sees what they post. \u2026 \u2018I posted this [with segmentation that allows me to reach] seven people out of a 7,000 member org, why didn\u2019t I get any replies? Why doesn\u2019t anyone care about me?'\u201d \u2013@patrickokeefe

But segmentation can sometimes be harmful (22:53):\xa0\u201cPeople sometimes want segmentation in a way that won\u2019t actually work well for the wider organization. They will segment themselves off into a corner and then wonder why no one sees what they post. \u2026 Then they wonder, they complain, \u2018I posted this [with segmentation that allows me to reach] seven people out of a 7,000 member org, why didn\u2019t I get any replies? Why doesn\u2019t anyone care about me?'\u201d \u2013@patrickokeefe

Empowering community-led moderation (35:00): \u201cASSP, as an organization, has a professional code of conduct. If a member is not acting in accordance with the mission and the vision of [a] particular group and [not] helping [to] advance the society as a whole, there\u2019s going to be [an] ethics review by [the] professional code of conduct committee.\u201d -Ashleigh Brookshaw

About Ashleigh Brookshaw

Ashleigh Brookshaw\xa0is an accomplished community strategist, who has worked with both internal and external audiences for a variety of organizations including nonprofits like Chicago Gateway Green, Fortune 500 companies like Allstate Insurance, and professional associations like the\xa0American Society of Safety Professionals. She is also the chief innovation officer of C2M Digital, a consulting services firm headquartered in historic downtown Oak Park, IL.