CommuniShare: Start Your Own


Why use CommuniShare in your community? In any type of community, good relationships among community members are a good thing. When community members enjoy relationships with one another that are genuine and mutually beneficial, everybody wins. Individuals get their own needs met, and the community itself benefits by having a more interconnected network of members. Using CommuniShare can support the process of community building. How does CommuniShare support community building? Relationships are created and strengthened in an environment of trust and sharing. What CommuniShare does is to create more opportunities for sharing within the context of a specific community. Take, for example, a church congregation. A particular member attends every Sunday, and is active on a couple of committees. During these times, she has become familiar with the minister and fellow congregants. The church congregation is a community, and she is a part of it. But how important the church community is to her life, and how strong the feeling of community is within the congregation in general, often depend upon members’ other roles and relationships in addition to those of congregants. This particular member may also be a mother of three (one of whom has ADHD). She may have been taking care of her father with Alzheimer’s for the last 4 years. Perhaps she really enjoyed studying medieval history in college, used to love playing pinochle, and still tries to play tennis whenever she can. And for the last several years, maybe she’s had this vague notion about a program that might help adolescent girls better resist eating disorders. In other words, she and all the other congregants are “whole” people, with their own sets of experiences, interests and attitudes. People develop relationships with one another based on a variety of aspects of their identity. And as members of a community develop more numerous and diverse connections with one another, the fabric of the community becomes more tightly woven. The community becomes stronger. CommuniShare is a tool which helps members, if they choose and under their own control, to reach out to one another by sharing aspects about themselves. This is what happens naturally, as people get to know one another (like, when chatting after a church service). What CommuniShare does is to extend this natural process by enabling community member to voluntarily reveal aspects of themselves within the community, and maybe develop or deepen relationships with others. What CommuniShare is not. CommuniShare is not simply a directory of members’ interests or a “skills bank”. Using the practice of community self-indexing, CommuniShare is a dynamic, organic expression of how community members want to relate to one another. It is a tool for nurturing self-expression and empowerment, for creating new and diverse connections, and for building a stronger and more robust community. CommuniShare is not a listserv or discussion group. Listservs, mailing lists or discussion groups in general are wonderful tools that also help create connections and build community. They enable people to “post” a comment, and to have others comment upon that comment, and so on. But these “threaded discussions” are only one way that members of a community could usefully “engage” with one another. CommuniShare, on the other hand, is designed to facilitate any number of ways for community members to “engage” with one another. Depending on how the community sets it up, CommuniShare could help members of a community to disclose their professions, identities, hobbies, interests or passions; to offer to teach; to seek to learn; to postulate theories, to try to sell, buy or barter products or services; to find others for sports, games, events; to make recommendations; to find project partners; to arrange playdates; to exchange recipes; to post ideas and reviews; to tell jokes; to create book clubs... CommuniShare is specifically designed as a connection building tool, and connections come in many kinds.				Every CommuniShare application can be easily “shaped” to reflect the culture and requirements of the community it serves. In the Standard Version, some of the customizable features include: Having a logo and “branding” to appear on every page of the site (including additional room for acknowledging a sponsor, if appropriate). Determining the “Categories” for members to associate with each Entry. (In the demo, the Categories include: Activities, Events, Games....) Determining the “Intentions” for members to associate with each Entry. (In the demo, the Intentions include: Teach, Learn, Do/Discuss/Share ... .) Determining the "Groups" (if any) for members to associate with themselves. (In the demo, the Groups include Faculty, Students, Staff...) Selecting registration options (to require approval by a community administrator, to verify email address, or to allow instant access). Writing welcoming messages Writing/modifying Help and FAQ’s and others In addition, custom work can integrate CommuniShare with a community’s existing logins and add special features and other customizations. How much does it cost? The Standard Version has a set up fee of $750, which included the first year subscription. Annual subscriptions thereafter are $250. Low income and non-profit communities should inquire about subsidized subscriptions, and about packages which include hardware, training and special support services. Custom development is priced on a case-by-case basis. How to find out more Click here to submit an inquiry.

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