Guardian Masterclasses - what will you master?

An introduction to building online communities

How to build your business from an online community up
An introduction to building online communities
Image by webtreats via Flickr Photograph: Webtreats/guardian.co.uk

Date and times: Sunday 22 September 2013, 9.30am-5pm

Overview

Some of Europe's biggest names in community engagement offer compelling insight on how to harness the power of online communities using social media and comments. Experts from Buzzfeed, Reddit and Google+ show how authentic, sustainable online communities are a powerful tool for driving revenue, building brand loyalty, and creating a company with users at the focus.

The day will be a mix of talks and open Q&As, covering the why and the how of engaging with people online, covering with topics including making your message shareable using social media, moderating effectively, how to build a brand from the community up, and how to plan a social media strategy to achieve your specific aims.

Plus you'll hear from the Guardian's pioneering social media and community team about what has worked – and what hasn't – when it comes to building relationships with readers.

Course content

• The power of online communities, how they might benefit your business
• How to make something utterly shareable
• Building communities around content
• How to build a successful brand from the community up
• How to moderate online communities

Speaker profiles

Hannah Waldram is community coordinator for news at the Guardian. She previously set up a hyperlocal blog for her hometown, Bournville in Birmingham, and pioneered use of social media and engagement for news reporting as the Guardian Local beatblogger for Cardiff. She now works in the Guardian's vibrant newsroom, bringing in new online communities and deepening relationships with readers through web engagement.

Joanna Geary is social & communities editor for the Guardian. She is responsible for setting strategies for the Guardian's team of community coordinators and moderators, as well as developing new tools and processes to help journalists better understand, reach and work with readers. A regional business journalist by background, Joanna built her reputation by connecting local journalists and communities online. Prior to the Guardian, Joanna focused on engagement as community & web development editor at The Times .

Luke Lewis is UK Editor of Buzzfeed, responsible for building an audience in BuzzFeed's first territory outside the US. Prior to joining BuzzFeed he edited NME.COM, the world's most popular editorial music site. During that the time the site won a number of industry awards for its innovative use of social media. Luke has a First Class degree in English from the University Of Oxford. He has written on culture and technology for The Guardian and The Daily Telegraph, given talks on audience development at Facebook and the BBC, and appeared as a guest on BBC News, Five Live, and Radio 4's Today Programme.

Laura Oliver is community manager at the Guardian. She oversees a team that is dedicated to finding new ways to bring the readers of Guardian.co.uk into its journalism, experimenting with opening up the reporting, writing and publishing processes. Prior to joining the Guardian, she was editor of media news website Journalism.co.uk.

Marc Burrows is a Guardian senior community moderator, heading up the central moderation team. Prior to his two years at the Guardian he ran social media campaigns in the music industry and has helped build online content and community for Myspace and Funny or Die. He also works as a freelance music journalist, stand up comedian and musician.

James Maw was born in Glasgow, lives in Yorkshire, and works in IT support. He has always had a keen interest in online communities, from phpBB, to wikis, to modern the modern communities of reddit. He works in his spare time as a volunteer moderator for the link sharing site reddit.

Tamara Littleton is CEO and founder of eModeration where she heads up a team of over 450 community managers, moderators, social media experts and content marketers. She founded eModeration in 2002 to share her passion for making the internet a safer place. She has experience in social media, marketing, crisis management and child safety online. She is a member of the UK Council for Child Internet Safety (UKCCIS), advising the British Government on the moderation of communities.

Sarah Drinkwater leads a European team of community managers for Google+ Local, Google's local reviews product, which is integrated with Google Maps. Previous experience includes a similar role at European review site Qype, social media management for brands like Nokia and Land Rover, and a background in print/online journalism.

To book


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Details

Date: Sunday 22 September 2013
Times: 9.30am-5pm
Location: Royal Society of Medicine, 1 Wimpole St, London W1G 0AE
Price: £99 (inclusive of VAT, booking fees, lunch and refreshments)
Event capacity: 300

To contact us, click here. Terms and conditions can be found here.

Returns policy
Tickets may be refunded if you contact us at least 7 days before the course start date. Please see our terms and conditions for more information on our refund policy.

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