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Building our communities: what is really involved and why do we love them?

We ran a survey with our internal community managers to understand how they spend their time and what leads to success. Why we love building community. Our education and research communities are a lifeline for thousands of professionals. They create spaces for people to connect, learn and support each other covering different topics around the […]

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Champions Co-creation Digifest Top tips

Podcasting at the Digifest community hub

With plenty inspiring education and research communities, the community hub at Digifest 2024 introduced a podcast area to capture conversations about what motivates them. In this blog, learn how with the support of Jisc community champions, we prepared the podcasts and tips so you can try your own. The podcast buzz Hosting podcasts during the […]

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Champions Digifest

How 2024’s community champions are making a difference

Jisc’s 2024 champions share what motivates them and why community matters. What inspires our newest cohort of community champions? They help the education and research sector share knowledge, become more inclusive, while removing feelings of isolation and supporting learners and teachers through their communities. This year, champions are involved in creating practical tools for AI […]

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How the right values and strategy help shape our communities

How important is having the right values in your community? Do you have a common vision? How do you know when you are meeting your community’s needs? Our community member’s time is precious, with their attention constantly divided our communities need to be useful and relevant. With the right strategy, we put community members at […]

The UKEducamp unconference – how Sheffield University created buzzing conversations while connecting education professionals.

If you work in further or higher education, Sheffield University was the place to connect with likeminded professionals at their education unconference in June. I found out about the event when UKEducamp asked Jisc to help with promotion. Having been to similar community unconferences, I was keen to learn more about how in-person meets can […]

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engagement Top tips

How innovation helps our communities

What does it mean to innovate? What happens when communities are free to experiment? I have been tackling these questions to look at how we support community growth in education and research, raise their profiles and keep ahead of the next big thing. Community rarely grows without experimentation. Trying new things can be daunting, but […]

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Tips for using Microsoft Teams as a community platform

The right platform can make or break a community. For many education and research communities, Microsoft Teams is a common choice. It allows users to collaborate internally and externally, chat, host events, share documents, and create engaging pages to share information. No platform is perfect, but Microsoft has been improving the functionality and capabilities within […]

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engagement Top tips

Connecting with community managers at the community (un)conference.

This month, I attended my first community (un)conference to connect with like-minded community managers from different industries, share ideas and learn about other community groups. Hosted by James Cattell and supporting community enthusiasts the community (un)conference lets attendees collaboratively build the agenda on the day with lots of discussions on hot topics. Here is what […]

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Champions Digifest

Catching up with the community champions of 2022

In March 2022, we hosted the second community champion’s programme. We celebrated 17 incredible and dedicated individuals who go above and beyond to help their peers. Winners were treated a VIP trip to Digifest and have since become a community of peers who support each other sharing resources and tips to strengthen their communities and […]

What does it take to build a great community?

Welcome, to the first community blog. Communities bring us closer. They allow us to share, connect and learn.  They create a space that builds trust and when nurtured with compassion and careful planning, create vital support. I’ve been supporting Jisc’s and our member communities since 2020, watching them evolve from firefighting mode during the pandemic, […]