One of our founding values at Trellis is our commitment to training and supporting community managers in their efforts to nurture their communities. We knew from the start of this project that you can build a desirable toolset, but without dedicated group admins, it’s hard, if not impossible, to see groups thrive.
What’s more, community management matters regardless of the type of group involved. It could be a community of interest, gathering loosely around a particular topic. Or it could be a community of practice, wishing to advance and develop skills together. Or it could be a specific collaboration with defined goals and deliverables. In all cases, a skilled community manager will bring out the best in the group.
And that’s why, today, we’re delighted to launch a new group specifically for those running Trellis groups: The Trellis Admin Community.
Tell me more about Trellis groups
Trellis groups each have a common suite of tools which include shared calendars, a shared group library, the ability to start discussions and more. But the composition and goals of each group vary widely. Some groups are private, visible only to invited members. Others can be discovered by the wider Trellis community and may be joined freely or following admin approval. Groups also vary in size from just 3 members (the Trellis community engagement staff group!) to over 100,000 (our AAAS MemberCentral Community).
Trellis groups gather members from all corners of the scientific community, including STEM educators, journalists, policy professionals, and current and former research scientists, and those in inter-disciplinary collaborations. They’re also local, national and even international in composition – reaching from Hawaii all the way round the globe to Australia.
Who are the admins of Trellis groups?
Trellis group admins are scientific community managers (even if they don’t know it yet!). They create, curate, and moderate content in their group, invite new members with fresh perspectives, and help their community take shape.
Often they’ve ended up in the role in addition to other responsibilities, and they may be the “people person” on their project, with good instincts for supporting group work, although without any formal training in it.
And that’s why we want to make sure they’re receiving all the support they need!
What is the Trellis Admin Community?
The Trellis Admin Community is a new Trellis group just for Trellis admins. We’ll be posting how-to documents, templates, and walkthrough videos, hosting discussions, and giving admins the opportunity to connect and share ideas. Every two weeks we’ll cover a different theme, from “Starting a group 101” to “Connecting your group members” and “Content Planning”.
We can’t wait to share what we know and learn from the over 200 admins in this community. We’ll be gathering feedback, collecting feature requests, and recruiting for focus group participants so that our admins can continue to help Trellis grow.
Want to join them in being part of the best supported network of communities in science? Drop us as email: info@trelliscience.com.