This document summarizes a presentation about building engaging communities on a hyper-local scale through social media and technology. The presentation discusses how hyper-local journalism has emerged to fill voids left by mainstream media, using the example of LoganSquarist, a hyper-local news site serving Chicago's Logan Square neighborhood. It provides lessons on creating niche content, reimagining content formats, meeting audiences across channels, gaining feedback, hosting offline events, and leveraging partnerships to build community.

1. SOCIAL MEDIA WEEK CHICAGO
#SMWHYPERLOCAL
BUILDING ENGAGING COMMUNITIES ON A HYPER-LOCAL SCALE
AN EXPERIMENT IN COMMUNITY, JOURNALISM AND VOLUNTEERISM
Director of Digital Strategy + Social Media of IntraLink Global
Founder + Publisher of LoganSquarist
9/22, 3:30pm 140 S. Dearborn Street, 17th Fl
with KATE HAMILTON
@katemhamilton

2. BUILDING ENGAGING COMMUNITIES
What to expect in today’s session
Hyper-local Journalism
Building Community
Technology + Social
BUILDING ENGAGING COMMUNITIES ON A HYPER-LOCAL SCALE #SMWHYPERLOCAL
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How the way people seek news and information online is creating
an opportunity for niche communities to fill the voids.
How to create long-lasting, meaningful and unique communities
through content and engagement.
How to leverage digital technologies and social media to reach,
engage and sustain audiences.

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ABOUT ME

4. ABOUT ME
Kate Hamilton
Director of Digital Strategy +
Social Media
Founder + Publisher of
LoganSquarist
BUILDING ENGAGING COMMUNITIES ON A HYPER-LOCAL SCALE #SMWHYPERLOCAL
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@katemhamilton
Journalist + blogger
with 10+ years
experience specializing
in B2B and hyper-local
Digital strategist for
content precision
marketing agency
IntraLink Global
Founder and publisher
of LoganSquarist
serving Chicago’s
Logan Square ‘hood
since 2011
Trainer of content
marketing and social
media
Professional Experience
Personal Interests
Marathon runner, karaoke enthusiast, avid
knitter, kale ambassador and cat roommate
Digital strategist, journalist + founder

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HYPER-LOCAL
JOURNALISM

6. HYPER-LOCAL = UNIQUE CONTENT PLATFORMS
Why talk about + learn from hyper-local journalism
BUILDING ENGAGING COMMUNITIES ON A HYPER-LOCAL SCALE #SMWHYPERLOCAL
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Hyper-local serves as a
microcosmic example of
h o w n i c h e c o n t e n t
platforms can work for
brands and organizations
and become a solution to
being heard over all the
other noise.

7. CHANGES IN JOURNALISM + CONTENT DISSEMINATION
Mainstream media left a content gap + ignored audiences
• Increase in homogenized news
reported by mainstream media using
relatively smaller staffs.
• Reduced coverage leads to decreased
content relevance among audience.
• Growth of hyper-local community
outlets pop up to fill void. (15-20 in
Illinois)
• Rise in “block-to-block” community
outlets such as EveryBlock and
Nextdoor.
• Large media investments in hyper-local
models, such as the Washington Post’s
now closed LoudounExtra.com.
BUILDING ENGAGING COMMUNITIES ON A HYPER-LOCAL SCALE #SMWHYPERLOCAL
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Local Chicago Community Outlets
Gapers Block
Our Urban Times
Center Square Journal (defunct)
!
Investment-Backed Groups
Chicagoist (Gothamist)
DNAInfo (Ricketts)
Patch (formerly AOL, now Hale Global)
!
Media Spinoffs
Sun-Times’ Aggrego LLC
Chicago Tribune’s Blue Sky
Innovations

8. WHAT IS HYPER-LOCAL JOURNALISM?
How changes in journalism are redefining the meaning of community + engagement for everybody
BUILDING ENGAGING COMMUNITIES ON A HYPER-LOCAL SCALE #SMWHYPERLOCAL
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Hyper-local journalism, commonly called citizen journalism and
sometimes referred to as micro-local journalism, refers to the coverage
of topics, news and events on a relatively small, local scale that is also
often ignored by mainstream media.
Hyper-local
Journalism
Communities are no longer defined by geographic boundaries, big or
small. Although hyper-local journalism has focused on ultra-localized,
typically neighborhood-based reporting, digital communities are
defined by the interests of its audience members. Local and
community become interchangeable.
Redefining
Community
Changing
Engagement
Commenting and social promotions allow community members to
contribute and share to the overall community message.

9. CHANGES IN TECHNOLOGY + SOCIAL MEDIA
Changes for content producers + brands
BROADER REACH: engage with audiences
interested in content no matter location
SPEED TO PUBLISH: with the right resources,
mainly technology, connectivity and staff, push
content immediately
AMPLE DISTRIBUTION OPPORTUNITIES: email,
social media, social discovery sites, rss, search and
micro-personal-publishing sites (Flipboard)
NEW VOICES: in the form of hyper-local media,
citizen journalists and other groups—there are no
more gatekeepers
NEW CONTENT: community-supplied, user-generated
and crowdsourced ideas and feedback
becomes a conduit of content
MOBILITY TELLS STORIES IN NEW WAYS: video,
photo galleries and infographics—reimagine
content from text-only to text-supported
BUILDING ENGAGING COMMUNITIES ON A HYPER-LOCAL SCALE #SMWHYPERLOCAL
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“TECHNOLOGY IS
CHALLENGING
TRADITIONAL
UNDERSTANDING OF
LOCAL NEWS AND
INFORMATION BY
GIVING US FRESH WAYS
TO THINK ABOUT WHAT
‘LOCAL’ CAN MEAN.”
—Brett Oppegaard,
Poynter

10. CHALLENGES WITH HYPER-LOCAL COMMUNITIES
Small audiences, funding challenges + scalability issues
SCALING HYPER-LOCAL
DOESN’T WORK. ”You can't
Amazon local news.”
—Dylan Smith, co-founder of cloud
service Box, on why ventures such
as Patch have encountered
problems, USA Today
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AUDIENCE DESIRE DOESN’T LEAD TO
WORKING BUSINESS MODEL. “There’s
a lot of hunger for it, but finding enough
consumer eyes and ears to pay for it is
still a challenge.”
—Thom Clark, Community Media
Workshop trainer at Columbia College
Chicago, Crain’s Chicago Business
FINDING FUNDING IS DIFFICULT; OFTEN
RELIANT ON SMBS MARKETING BUDGETS.
“The problem of hyperlocal always gets back
to the cost-of-sale for local advertising. It just
costs a lot more to go door-to-door selling
ads to small businesses than it does to sell
regionally or nationally.”
—Charles Hale, CEO of Hale Global, current
Patch owner, Street Fight magazine

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LOGANSQUARIST:
THE EXPERIMENT

12. BUILDING A COMMUNITY FOR LOGAN SQUARE
How LoganSquarist all began
NEED FOR INFO
In early 2011, no local resource covered the quickly
growing Logan Square neighborhood, and
mainstream media didn’t either.
DESIRE TO LEARN
WANT TO CONNECT
BUILDING ENGAGING COMMUNITIES ON A HYPER-LOCAL SCALE #SMWHYPERLOCAL
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WHY DID
I START? Interest in learning to creatively leverage digital
technologies and social media to promote content
and engage audiences.
Having lived in the neighborhood for a few years,
wanted to connect on a deeper level with like-minded
neighbors.

13. GROWTH: 4 YEARS IN THE MAKING
From Twitter handle to hyper-local publication
Apr 6, 2011 Twitter handle
launches, resharing local biz +
org info, + connecting with
active community members.
Feb 29, 2012 Website
launches with an events
calendar + directory.
Jan 2013
Meetups held
monthly.
2011 2012 2013 2014
JAN APR JUL OCT JAN APR JUL OCT JAN APR JUL OCT JAN APR JUL OCT
Growth + Evolution Community + Outreach
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Over time, LoganSquarist grew
+ evolved into a hyper-local
media source.
Through community feedback,
topics + events have been
created to meet needs.
Accolades + Milestones
Through support of local
media, businesses + neighbors,
LoganSquarist has evolved.
Oct 21, 2011 First Neighbor
Meetup takes place—
launching a recurring event.
Apr 7, 2012 RedEye Chicago features
@LoganSquarist in its Follow Friday feature.
May 2014 Fundraiser gains community
support from businesses + neighbors.
Feb 29, 2012 Second
Neighbor Meetup held.
July 2013 LoganSquarist
incorporates as an LLC.
Aug 2012 First
volunteers begin to
contribute.
May 2014 New look.
Today About 30
volunteers support
via writing, editing +
event planning.

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LoganSquarist today

15. SOCIALIZING THE NEIGHBORHOOD
Adapting to serve the community’s changing needs
Provide unique, quality articles written
by neighbors, for neighbors 5x weekly.
Serve as a neighborhood resource by
providing information on events,
businesses, organizations + neighbors.
Socialize by coordinating + hosting
events that bring different community
members together.
Mission: LoganSquarist is a hyperlocal news site covering the events, businesses, politics
and people of Logan Square. Our aim is to provide a genuine view into the everyday lives
of our neighborhood’s residents, and to be a resource that they can trust and rely on.
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16. OUR CONTENT VARIETY
Vary content for audience variety
BUILDING ENGAGING COMMUNITIES ON A HYPER-LOCAL SCALE #SMWHYPERLOCAL
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Articles, interviews, photo
galleries, lists, curated-content
roundups and
user-generated content
stories (Storify).
To come: infographics +
videos

17. HIGHLY ENGAGED ONLINE COMMUNITY
By leveraging web + social, LoganSquarist reaches audiences across channels, on and offline.
10 digital tools
+ networks
18k page
views
10k social
fans
726 + shares meetup
13k comments
BUILDING ENGAGING COMMUNITIES ON A HYPER-LOCAL SCALE #SMWHYPERLOCAL
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2.1k newsletter
recipients
Receiving weekly update emails +
upcoming event notifications every
month.
Website yields an average of 12.6k
unique users—56% returning—per
month.
For Chicago’s largest neighborhood,
LoganSquarist engages 12% of
Logan Square’s 89.5k population.
Leveraging web, social (seven main
networks), Eventbrite + Mailchimp to
reach + engage community.
Average engagement interactions
with 235k impressions every month
across social networks.
attendees
Attending 26 events during the past
two years, all managed through
EventBrite.

18. CREATING SOCIAL MOVEMENT THROUGH VOLUNTEERISM
An atypical organization model that develops a unique solution for all parties
Logan
Square
Community
LoganSquarist
Staffing
Needs
Volunteer
Individual
Growth
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COMMUNITY-BUILT,
COMMUNITY-DRIVEN,
COMMUNITY-FOCUSED
Over the course of 3.5 years, 80+ volunteers
(writers, marketers, digital technologists) contributed
to LoganSquarist’s success, while pursuing their
professional and/or personal growth goals.

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BUILDING
COMMUNITY

20. LEARNING FROM “THE EXPERIMENT”
Lessons on how journalists and marketers can build community
Niche content matters. Identifying
information gaps offers unique
opportunities to serve a market.
Reimagine what content is. Think
outside the box with regard to content
creation. Think visual and text.
BUILDING ENGAGING COMMUNITIES ON A HYPER-LOCAL SCALE #SMWHYPERLOCAL
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Meeting audiences counts. Connecting
across digital channels ensures you
meet the audience halfway.
Feedback is essential. Listening to
feedback ensures you adapt to the
community’s needs.
Offline events deepen community.
Creating live events strengthens
individual relationships and the brand.
Leverage relationships. Finding
opportunities to take advantage of all
resources maximizes results.
MEASURE
+ ADAPT

21. CREATE NICHE CONTENT
Identify information gaps unique to your area of expertise
CONT ENT OV E R LOO K E D B Y MAIN S O U R C ES
AUDIENCE INQUIRIES + QUESTIONS
BLOG, SOCIAL + FORUM POSTS
UNDERUTILIZED CONTENT ON HAND
SYNDICATED
MULTIMEDIA
INTERACTIVE
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CURATED + SYNDICATED CONTENT
CURATED
BLOG
SOCIAL ?s

22. REIMAGINE WHAT CONTENT IS
Create content that is visual, audible + text-based to tell the complete story
VIDEO
PHOTOS+ GRAPHICS
USER-GENERATED
INTERACTIVE
AUDIO
BUILDING ENGAGING COMMUNITIES ON A HYPER-LOCAL SCALE #SMWHYPERLOCAL
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• Video
interviews/
testimonials
• Event footage
• Video podcasts
+ vlogs
• Screencasts +
live events
• Interactive
videos
• Short films
YouTube, Vimeo, Vine,
Ustream, Screencast,
Interlude Treehouse,
Hangouts on Air
• Photo essays +
galleries
• Slideshows
• Memes
• Quote images
• Infographics
• Ads + banners
• Interactive
images
Instagram, Pinterest,
Flickr, Visual.ly,
PicMonkey, Piktochart,
Exposure, Bannersnack
• Recaps of live
events
• Fundraising +
donations
• Surveys, polls
+ votes
• Product
development
• Design
competition
Storify, Quora, Snapchat,
hitRECord, Kickstarter,
SurveyMonkey,
Threadless, Red Bubble
• Timelines
• Density maps +
trends
• Live blogging
• Presentations
• Books, white
papers +
reports
• Games
• Contests
Dipity, Google Maps,
Prezi, Slideshare, Haiku
Deck, Snapguide,
iBooks Author
• Podcasts +
text-to-podcast
conversions
• Sound clips
• Audio tours
• Music playlists
• Stories with
soundtracks
iTunes, Audacity,
BlueGrind, Mindie

23. MEET + ENGAGE AUDIENCES
Promote your content across multiple mediums to reach the most
Microblogging sites
Events
Advertising
Banner, Google, Social,
AdRoll, Print, Broadcast
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One-size-fits-all marketing doesn’t work for hyper-local
communities, and doesn’t work for big brands.
FIND WHAT
WORKS FOR YOUR
AUDIENCE
Email newsletters
RebelMouse, Tumblr,
Posterous, Yammer
Blogs
Crowdsourcing
Social discovery sites
Stumbleupon, Digg,
Reddit, Delicious, Diigo
Social networking sites
Facebook, Twitter,
Google+, LinkedIn
Engagement
Strategy

24. SET YOURSELF UP FOR FEEDBACK
Enable communities to engage with each other + with you
BUILDING ENGAGING COMMUNITIES ON A HYPER-LOCAL SCALE #SMWHYPERLOCAL
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Distribute
interesting
content
Audience
comments
+ feedback
User-generated
content

25. HOST OFFLINE OPPORTUNITIES
Find a way to take your community offline
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Digital communication can be fleeting.
Bringing people together can equal
longer-lasting brand engagement.
Meeting offline doesn’t have to be in-person.
Find ways to “meet in real
time” using digital + social tools.
!
Find ways to engage in unique ways,
such as:
• meetups, parties + teaching
seminars at conferences
• host and/or sponsor industry events
• create virtual events: webinars, live
chats, hangouts

26. LEVERAGE AVAILABLE PARTNERSHIPS
Look for opportunities to capitalize on existing strategic partnerships, resources + staff
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Identify ways to get the most out of your resources
VOLUNTEERS STRATEGIC
PARTNERS
EMPLOYEES
+ BOARDS
STUDENTS
+ INTERNS
IDEAS:
• co-host webinars,
parties + teaching
events
• exchange content
(curation +
syndication)
• cross-promotion +
co-branding
• sponsorships,
prizes +
giveaways

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TECHNOLOGY
+ SOCIAL

28. GET THE MOST OUT OF TECHNOLOGY + SOCIAL MEDIA
“It is the reimagining of content through technology. Technology and content
are now in a symbiotic play that favors cross-platform expertise in both.”
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Make sure to
distribute
content for
web + mobile;
accommodate
the way your
audience
interacts.
ACCOUNT
FOR WEB
+ MOBILE
Monitor how
your content
performs +
audience
engages
through web
+ social
(Google
Analytics).
MEASURE
+
ADAPT
Find ways to
use digital
tools in
creative ways
that deliver
your content
in a way your
audience will
respond to.
CREATE
CONTENT
WITH DIGITAL
TOOLS
Don’t just talk
to your
audience, talk
with your
audience in
order to take
advantage of
their
feedback.
TALK
WITH
YOUR
AUDIENCE
—Trevor Butterworth, Forbes

29. 29
Q&A
Get this presentation at:
slideshare.net/katemhamilton

30. CONTACT + CONNECT
www.katemhamilton.com
katemhamilton@gmail.com
katemhamilton on …
Socialize with me
Get this presentation at: slideshare.net/katemhamilton
BUILDING ENGAGING COMMUNITIES ON A HYPER-LOCAL SCALE #SMWHYPERLOCAL
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www.logansquarist.com www.intralinkglobal.com

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THANK YOU