[Note: This is a distilled version of the conference call segment on our upcoming online communities. It includes some links to mockups of Climate Crossroads and the Activist Network, as well as an faq page about Project Renewal, Campaigns and Programs, and the Activist Network.]

1. The big picture – what the Club is doing in terms of social networking,

I’d like to show you a couple of examples in a few minutes, so if you are in front of your computer, please open your browser and go to the Clubhouse home page.

Starting in the next couple months, we’re going to be launching a series of social networking web sites, online communities, which will allow us to reach a broader audience and engage those people in talking about and working on our issues.

The first will be Climate Crossroads, and will focus on curbing global warming. There will also be a Sierra Student Coalition online community as well as one focused on trails and hiking. A place where people can go to find out about as well as share their favorite hiking trail or bicycle route or kayaking river. And then there will be the Activist Network, which will be where many of the national issue teams will be "living."

What makes these online communities different than what we have now is that (1) there will be lots of ways that visitors to the site will be able to contribute content and comments, videos, photos, take part in conversations, and (2) a far greater percentage of the content will be user-generated.

I’m assuming most of you have seen YouTube. Pretty much everything on YouTube is put there by users. The people who run YouTube don't create content, but build a structure so that pretty much anyone can post a video there. That’s what we mean by user-generated content. On Clubhouse or sierraclub.org, most of what’s there is put up by a small group of a couple dozen staff and volunteers -- actually more like hundreds when you count chapters and groups. In these new social network, it will be more like thousands.

2. Mockups of Climate Crossroads and Activist Network

From the Clubhouse home page, please click on the conservation tab – you should now see a polar bear swimming toward you.
Under the photo is a heading for Activist Network. Click on that.

I urge you to explore the other elements on this page when you can, but for now, please click on where it says “some mockups of our soon-to-be-launched online communities.” You will be opening a pdf.
I only have a few minutes here so I want to touch on a couple pages – if you go to page 2, you’ll see a profile. The goal with these networks is that each member has a page where he or she lists skills and interests, and any logged in member can search and contact that person. So if you’re looking for someone who’s written an environmental impact statement, you could search for it.

There are some other Climate Crossroads pages here, but please go to page 8. Activist Network home page. I want to point out a couple of things.
Let’s imagine this is the home page to the Activist Network. In the right column, you’ll see some random group of members, and a random group of teams. In the center we have a list of recent actions people have taken, followed by a list of resources.

And on the left we have links to “recommended blogs and forums.” We don’t know the exact formula right now, but the idea is that the blog or forum that has the most activity, the most member, the most comments, the best rating, or some combination thereof, will show up there. So those teams that do the best job will show up most prominently.
Underneath will be a more random grouping.

Now let’s look at a specific team page. Go to page 9. Similar features on the right except that all members are from this particular team. And on the left at the top are wildlands related groups or forums, and underneath are other teams. One of the ideas behind this is that if you end up on a page where there’s not much going on, you’ll be able to easily get to a page where there’s a lot of action.

Oh, and here's a link to FAQ: Project Renewal, the Activist Network, and Programs and Campaigns