When I first conceived of Nott Tuesday, I wanted it to be more than just a monthly meeting. While that in itself is important and needed, I believe there is a greater opportunity.
“But before I tell you that story, I need to tell you this story.”
Last year, several friends (and people who have become friends) cycled from Beeston to Paris to raise funds for our children’s school. The exercise was a huge success.
Not only did we make it to Paris and raised enough money for a new minibus with plenty left over, we also engaged the school community through an active web presence www.r4rh.org and blog rideforroundhill.wordpress.com. The ride itself almost became incidental.
The key element of the team of riders and support coming together was the blog. We took the decision early on to enable all riders and the support team to post and comment.
This one decision, meant instead of the blog being the broadcast medium for the organising committee, it became the hub for ideas, desires, fun and seriousness. All members of the team were able to dip in and out as they were able and engage to the level that suited them.
After the ride, in May 2008, we just kept on using it, we couldn’t help ourselves. Weekend rides were posted, information and advice shared, amusing videos linked to. We kept on cycling together with the website at the centre of our new group.
Thanks to the wonder of Google, other cyclists started finding the blog and would leave comments, arranging to join us on the next ride. Very soon they would become members of our growing cycling community.
Fast-forward a few months and we’ve formed Beeston Cycling Club centred around a new website with the blog at it’s heart.
Time and time again, the cyclists who join us have done so because they saw us as a living, breathing club. They’d looked at other club web sites that were stale, out-of-date and weren’t encouraged to get involved.
So, to NottTuesday.com.
I would like to open up NottTuesday.com to all of you.
I would like you to share your thoughts, ideas, success stories, aspirations, advice, vacancies, posts on personal blogs, other blog posts you recommend, etc with the rest of the group.
The more we share and interact, the more we demonstrate to the wider community that we are alive and active, the more members we will attract.
The more members we attract the more opportunities we have for finding the partnership opportunities and advice that can make us all more successful.
The more we can demonstrate to the outside world what a vibrant and active community we are, the more our collective voice can be used to get the stories of each of you heard.
Unlike the cycling group, many/most of you will have something to sell. The danger is that this turns into a market place with people indiscriminately hawking their wares.
While this initiative is about making us all more successful, I believe turning this site into a advertising forum will devalue it and kill the potential before we’ve even started.
We’re going to have to feel our way through this but I firmly believe the rewards from making NottTuesday.com an active hub for our community will make the journey worthwhile.
Let’s interact, share and help our way to being part of the most rewarding business community on the planet.
What do you think?
