This is the second post in a series focusing on how to get the message out to the user community. This channel focuses on how to educate people on the collaborative solution or offering. Here is a link to the first post focusing on the technology channels.

Brown Bags
Lunch and learns have always been a great way to presenting your offering to the enterprise. We do about 3-4 per month where we focus on a specific topic within SharePoint or the Social Software. Each session is described in detail on the web and email announcements go out regularly. These sessions are very interactive and allow for a forum for new customers to interact with veteran users.

Official Training
What’s the difference between a Brown Bag and an Official Training? Usually, brown bags are managed by the Collaboration Team and offered through their communication mediums. Official training programs are controlled by the training organization and usually cover topics like diversity, hiring employees, and writing techniques. They usually have a registration type system that can be used as well. Still, they offer another method of getting people engaged.

Podcasts
Assuming you have the software, podcasting is an excellent way to get your message out to others in the community. Podcasts allow you to distribute recorded messages via RSS and allows people to download for listening later on their iPod.

Demo Site
The demo site is a sandbox environment where you can quickly create environments where the customer can play. They should also have access to “Getting Started” and “Business Scenarios” that can help guide them through the application. In most cases, customers can get a few techniques under their belt and off they will go.

Case Studies
Microsoft provides a great list of case studies including Mary Kay and Del Monte Foods. However, there is nothing that says you can’t write up internal case studies for your organization. If your organization is as big as mine then there are thousands of uses to review. Why not pick a few of them and write them up.

Leverage MS Material
Microsoft provides a large collection of material that you can leverage including white papers, videos and training. Get these on your client-support site to help the end user. Remember, the idea is to not let them leave your site to get information on the Internet. Always control the customer experience.

Staff Meetings
Ok, let me be the first to admit it. Staff meetings are boring. Why not create some really fun 20 minute presentations that you can give to liven up those staff meetings. The employees would enjoy the break, managers welcome the interaction, and you get to expose your products and services.

Community of Practice
Finally, you should always run a community of practice. Last week, our CoP drew more than 350 people. This is a great place to announce new products, provide tips, and best practices to your user community. Since most won’t be able to attend, be sure the material is available online afterwards.