about a month ago, jason lauritsen—hr leader and one-half of the talent anarchy blogging team—tweeted to ask whether others were interested in a discussion forum about workplace wellness. as you know, that’s right up my alley, so i raised my hand and reached out to greg matthews to pique his interest.
since then, greg and i’ve been plotting. we’re now ready to introduce cohealth, a wellness knowledge co-op made up of two social networks: a monthly twitter chat and a ning community group. the intent is to offer individuals interested in improving the effectiveness of company wellness efforts a space to share and learn.
monthly cohealth twitter chat
greg and i’ll co-facilitate cohealth chats every third wednesday from noon to 1 p.m. (EST). we’ll cover one or two topics each chat, with the community bringing questions, ideas, and perspectives based on their experience. topics will be set by the community, yet i think it’s safe to say they’ll include at least the following:
- effective workplace wellness design
- influencing behavior change
- communication strategy
- use of social media
- peer-to-peer influencing and support
- health gadgets and other shiny objects
- innovators in the field
- measurement and roi
inaugural chat, wednesday, january 20, 2010
for our first chat, we want to talk about what bothers and inspires us about workplace wellness. we also want to define our purpose and review guidelines. at the moment, the working rules are:
- tag all your tweets for the chat with #co_health (unfortunately for us, the simpler “cohealth” has been taken).
- we’ll use the @co_health twitter account to moderate the chat, with greg or me guiding the conversation.
- if you have questions you want discussed, DM @co_health any time throughout the month. we’ll keep a log of requested topics.
- this is a co-op, which means we all share the load to make it successful. no selling, no attacks. respectful dialogue and debate are always welcome.
ning community
if you miss a chat, you can read a summary on our cohealth ning community where we can post recommended blogs, books, vendors, and other resources; pose questions to one another; and talk at greater length about topics of interest. the ning community will launch later in january.
until january 20th
if you’ve never joined a twitter chat, let me know (in the comments, by DM, or via email) and i’ll show you the ropes. if you’re interested in being kept up to date, follow @co_health or leave a note in the comments. we’re compiling a twitter list of cohealth members, and we’ll add you to it.
please spread the word and invite others to join. the community will be stronger with more voices and experience represented.
f
p.s. i want to acknowledge the dakota group for their pro bono graphic services. dakota develops strategic communications for print and web. as you can see, they do beautiful work. they’re also good people. thanks, peter et al!
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
Fran – how exciting! Love the idea and I’m looking forward to the chats.
crystal, thanks.
glad you’ll be joining.
f
I plan to join – keep me up to date. Getting my twitter and ning set up now -
Jan
super! once your twitter account is all set, be sure to follow @co_health for updates. we’ll also facilitate the monthly twitter chat from that account.
f
Mazel tov–and at some point, I’d like to pick your brain about how to make best use of a Ning site.
All the best from Brussels,
Mike
thanks, mike. be happy to chat about ning. let’s set something up.
f
This sounds great! I am new to twitter and have never followed a chat…please help!
deborah, great! happy to help. i really like tweetchat.com as a tool for twitter chats. once you log in, it automatically adds the chat’s hashtag to every tweet you write. it also shows you only tweets from others who are in the same chat. it’s virtual blinders. give it a try and let me know what you think.
f