One Month In: "Crowdsourcing Ain't Easy"
It's been 30 days since the3six5 project started. If you haven't heard of the3six5 then you must be new to following me on Twitter...I mention it at least 3 times a day. Daniel and I weren't quite sure what to expect when planning this project. Don't get me wrong, we put 4 months into preplanning, building up an authors list, talking to lawyers, and the list goes on, but you never know what a project is going to throw your way until you are in the middle of it.
1. Back up EVERYTHING. When you're dealing with a database, and believe me 300+ people and their contact information is very much a database, you want to make sure that no mishaps take place that might make you have to redo your efforts. We had a slight issue where we lost some names on our list. Luckily it was only two months worth and people were quick to email us corrections. That being said, we've now backed up our author list in the "cloud" using Google Docs. This failure will not happen again.
2. Learn to say no nicely. We have 365 spots. We received at least 10 times more people who asked to be authors. Doesn't take a mathematician to figure out that a lot of people are going to get an answer they don't want. That being said, there's a good and bad way to convey that message. I caught myself in one instance coming down a bit too hard on someone who didn't (in my mind) appreciate the project and what it stood for. In a moment of passion, I was much too harsh on that person and said "no" in a way that I now regret. Since then, I've learned my lesson and most communications, whether affirming or declining have been very positive.
3. Teamwork. If this project wasn't done as a team, it wouldn't be able to function. Daniel and I rely on each other heavily to manage this because it requires us to be "on call everyday." But, fortunately we have lives too. We have a set schedule for when we each will be manning the3six5 accounts. Recently I went on vacation and he covered me. Now he's on vacation and I'm covering for him. People who start businesses often go years without taking a day off. While I can appreciate that dedication, this is a side project not a job or a startup.
4. Gratitude. I went into this project not thinking it was a big deal. Despite the hours of work at night, to some degree, I still don't. But regardless of what I think, a lot of people have really embraced this concept and shown clearly that it is very important to them. People like Bob Knorpp, Mel Exon, Ben Malbon, Maria Papova, Angela Natividad, Bill Green, and of course the lovely ladies who put up with their boyfriends attention to this project Sara and Mollie, have all offered their voice to help share the3six5 with other people because they believe in it. This deserves being thanked. On some days it's hard to keep up with all the tweets and blog posts about our project, but when possible we try to thank each person for helping support us.
5. Collaborate. I've never led what you may call an "artistic project." Let me tell you, once you enter that world you gain the attention of people you never would normally encounter. I can't go into details right now because things are just in the planning stages, but know this, artists LOVE to collaborate and mash up their work with like-minded individuals. Be open minded and hear people out.
6. The Bigger they are, the harder they are to get a hold of. Our authors span the spectrum of people. In that span are people who one might call "celebrities." We've got a handful of these folks including Today Show host Ann Curry slated to write later this year. We've also got celebrities in their own industry. Not as a popular to the general consumer but rockstars at what they do and equally as difficult to coordinate with. All I can say with these folks is communicate early and often. In some cases we have to work through middlemen because the authors in question are extremely busy. There are certainly times when giving up and finding a replacement seems like the best answer, but I suggest if you're ever in this situation, be persistent (but not annoying). Big name people are very approachable and accommodating when you catch them in that instance of time when their attention is yours.
7. Accept Free Help: Daniel and I are managing this project. But because of people's enthusiasm for the3six5 people have volunteered their time and advice. The great bunch at Denuo created a piece of "fan art" for us, a logo which I think is simply fantastic, another author gave us some free legal tips, and another offered a lesson in the publishing business. Some advice you want, some you don't. Regardless, keep your ears open and show appreciation. You never know when the day will come when you need help with a specific item and there was someone in the past who promised you they could do it.
8. Think Macro: We're on day 30. We have 335 days to go. At first we scrutinized over every post and contacted each author 4 times a day to make sure they were ready to go on time. To some degree, we still do, but we learned to stop looking at the3six5 as a daily diary and more of a story of an entire year composed of segments. We don't have the time or the heart to micromanage every aspect of this project and especially every post. Frankly, some posts are going to be better than others. That's ok. In the end we'll have a snapshot of our population and in not everything in the world is equal. The lesson was quickly learned that it's important to accept people work as is and think fast if a replacement is needed. (It was needed only on 2 occasions so far.)
9. Don't fuel stress. Imagine a scenario where you have 365 other people working on a project with you and the only way it will work is if everyone does the job they've promised to do? It's a LOT of stress. I don't think we would let it happen, but imagine if you were an author and you missed a day, or perhaps you half-assed your post? You have to then live with the fact that 365 other people now have a blemish in a project that means very much to them. Authors have told me they feel this, and I've learned to both 1) not escalate that feeling and 2) assure them that we're their to help them along. Ultimately this is just fun little project that has some interesting potential. No one should be getting an ulcer helping make this happen.
10. Go Where No One Is. Crowdsourcing is no longer a new concept. Neither is storytelling, blogging, or curating. Frankly nothing about the3six5 is all that original other than how it is packaged in this "new media" kind of way. The first thing Daniel and I decided on was to run this project on Posterous. To this day, I believe that if this project weren't being conducted on the lifestreaming tool Posterous it wouldn't be 10% as popular as it is now. A lot of times people go where the most eyeballs are in effort to get the biggest potential reach. But the problem with that scenario is that they are competing with many like-minded content creators and additionally they get ignored by the owners of that venue. The guys at Posterous have been extremely supportive of our project. They appreciate the fact that the3six5 is bringing attention to their blogging platform and were kind enough to even add us to their "featured lifestreams."
