How do we create a group? I think I would like to create one for my ward. Has anyone created a group
Answers
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Mandy,
You can submit a request for a group by using the form mentioned on this link:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/14TTdoA04SP38yMfh4tFJkZGFzloBtUqsfl98um2-d1I/edit
We do have a few wards that are using Community groups.
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Speaking to your 3rd question above, which is a really good one, "does it work?" I am going to share some perspective here based on my work in the community over the last couple years and say it *can* work, but it depends on what you want to see happen and how patient you are.
Let me preface this by saying that I love communities. I love the ability that they have to bring people together. At the same time, I know that in some situations it can be hard to get them to work.A few questions for you - What do you want to see happen? How active is your ward in family history already? Do you already have Facebook groups for ward things? How well are they working?
I'm going to assume for a minute that what you want to see happen is for ward members to come in and talk to each other and ask questions about their family history. That said, here are a few thoughts:
- It's really hard to get people to come to a place that they don't normally come to, to make it part of their routine to come and check it out. It has to provide them with a huge amount of value.
- It's really hard to get people to talk online. Especially in a place where others aren't already talking.
- If you can find 2-3 other people who are as interested as you are in creating this group, and are willing to put in some time to make it work, you could have more success. You can together have interesting conversations and ask questions of each other, to show an example of how it can work, so that others coming in will know how to act. That's actually important - people want to know what they are supposed to do and how they are supposed to act when coming into a new community, and they learn it by watching what others are doing.
If, on the other hand, by "work" you mean that you'd be ok with this being a place where you post announcements, general information, ideas, etc., and know that ward members may or may not see the updates in their email every Sunday morning, and if they do they probably won't respond (but you're ok with that), then this could still a valuable thing to do! And wouldn't need as much coordination like in #3 above, though that never hurts.
I believe you can provide a lot of value for ward members by doing so. Over time, those who are actively doing family history will come to see the value of this community and join in. I don't want to discourage you, I just want you know what to expect going in so you aren't discouraged later. And of course go by the Spirit! No matter what logic says.
@Shanna S. Jones & @RichardRoach RichardRoach - I think your perspective here would be really helpful.
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I set one up for my stake a few months ago. I have over 60 people in my stake group so far. I have only marketed it to ward temple and family history consultants, the T & FH leaders, the bishops, and the Elders Quorum and Relief Society leaders over family history so far. They like it, they have asked a few questions. I always post about our monthly training meeting. I try to post at least once each week. They told me they like when I post because they get an email they can read. I am not seeing a lot of views on the post but they are reading the emails. Sometimes consultants comment and ask questions. It didn't take off as fast as I had hoped, but it is still new.
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Thank you!
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Thank you! This helps me think through things. When we still had 3 hour church, I used to hold a family history class that was really successful. Now I struggle with anybody even asking me questions. I was wondering if creating a group would allow me to "teach" family history and give them a chance to ask questions.
I think before I do I will need to educate my ward that community is even here. I've been a Temple and Family History consultant for over 4 years and just found it. If I didn't know about it they probably don't either.
Thank you everyone!!!
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I wish my stake had a monthly training meeting. This helps, thanks for your feedback.
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I think it could allow you to do that. It would be a great way to share little tips and tricks with ward members from week to week. Give them something to think about.
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Just to let you know about the Views, a View is only counted if people come directly to the post itself, on the page where all they see is the post and nothing else. If they click to go to the group where they see the full group feed instead, it doesn't count those as views. So you are likely getting more views than what is being shown.
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Thanks Janell, that is good to know. Do you know what the email says that is sent out to have people join your group? I sent some more invites this morning since we had a ward split and I have new people to train. One called me and asked about it needing access to her profile and the ability to view her information, that made her nervous about joining communities. I couldn't find any agreement to review in settings?
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@Shanna S. Jones Try posting things that encourage comments. Maybe talk to a couple of people ahead of time to post a comment so the post becomes active. Try posting things that include an image - images tend to engage people better than just words. Try a poll! I am impressed with what you are doing. You are making me think we need something like this for our stake where I am the trainer there too.
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Ah, yes - this community is run on the Salesforce servers, so it's required to allow the Salesforce system to see the individual's information. It's all run by FamilySearch people, so their data is still kept within FamilySearch. It's just hosted on the Salesforce servers.
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My view when starting a community group was to first create it, then to get all members of our Stake Temple and Family History Committee to join. Next step was to extend invites to all Ward Temple and Family History Leaders to join. My hope was that they would buy into this new resource and extend invitation to all ward consultants and the community would grow as interest abounded. The consultants would then share this group as they met with members they were working with.
Though I have not given up on my path, it has been a longer journey then anticipated. Some Ward T&FH Leaders opposed joining feeling that this was another brick on their load. Others joined and few have participated. I continue to add articles beneficial to researchers and the new to the work. I need to be more proactive in recruiting and advertising the group.
I feel once this gets out to the membership of our Stake, with the members knowing the possible benefits it will become the great tool in which it is intended.
You can visit our community if this will help. Lindon Utah West Stake.
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you click on find group and it says find or create you click create and you name your group after your ward or stake and get everyone to join.
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