One of our best attended evening events over the last year was called Goodness 2.0. It attempted to map out some of the ways in which charities and campaigning organisations can use new and old web tools to increase engagement with supporters and with clients.

Many of the organisations that attended were keen to adopt some of these social media devices in order to move from the stereotypical model of a committee that decides everything and then tells supporters what they’re going to do. People expect to have a sense of involvement in the organisations that they ally themselves to nowadays. And that’s fair enough. They are willing and able to help, but expect some sense of ownership in return. Also, on the client side, if you can’t speak with the people you are reaching out to on your own site, then they’re inevitably going to be conducting the conversations that you should be having with them elsewhere.

But there is a potential problem. Inviting your former audience to contribute to your website carries certain risks. What you want is a constructive, healthy community that is contributing to and supporting your efforts. What you could end up with is a divisive and destructive realm of anarchy that leads to media scandals, court appearances and hefty fines.

Discussions, conferences and meetings over the course of the year have confirmed to us that these anxieties appear to surround almost every organisation and brand’s involvement with social media.

So it is with this in mind that we put together the latest NMK event, a seminar on Better Moderation. The event is targeted at anyone who is running or wants to run a community or user-generated content site and wants to know how to make it run as smoothly and as fruitfully as possible.

Better Moderation

Date: 27th September
Time: 2pm-5.30pm
Venue: University of Westminster, 115 New Cavendish St, London
Price: £110
Booking: At present, bookings must be made via email to ian.delaney@nmk.co.uk, who will contact you for further details, or by phone to +44 (0)20 7915 5412. Only credit cards can be accepted for payment.
Note: The event will be limited to 15 organisations, in order to allow for time to consider each organisation’s questions and dilemmas. More than one person from an organisation can book, however.

The seminar will be structured to provide three formal sessions covering key aspects of the topic followed by a less formal ‘clinic’ session in which attendees can ask about issues that are affecting or might affect their own community and user-generated content sites. We’ve drawn together three experts in online communities to provide the best information available on the topic.

Tamara Littleton will lead the first session with guidelines for creating healthy, safe and valuable community environments. How can you stop trouble from ever starting and use a velvet glove rather than an iron fist to guide the community. This will be followed by Paul Massey’s overview of how the law might affect the moderation of community sites. From copyright to defamation, he’ll advise on how to steer clear of the long arm of the Law. Lizzie Jackson will discuss the ways in which better facilitation can create the atmosphere in which moderation is almost unnecessary and the ingredients for creating that environment. Following these sessions, attendees will be able to quiz our experts regarding issues that they have or anticipate on their own sites, and also to learn from the experiences of other delegates.

Tamara Littleton is eModeration’s CEO and founder. She has an established background in editorial quality control, fault escalation and process management gained from previous work as the Product Delivery Director for Chello Broadband and Online Operations Manager for BBC Online. Tamara is a member of the Home Office Committee advising the British Government on moderation of communities to help safeguard children and she is also the Chair of e-mint, the online community for community professionals.

Lizzie Jackson created and ran BBC Communities. She is now a consultant for Online Communities at Children’s BBC. Lizzie was voted ‘One of the 100 Innovators of the UK Internet Decade’ in October 2004 by NOP World and e-consultancy.com.

Paul Massey is an associate at law firm K&L Gates and he practices in the Intellectual Property field. Paul’s experience includes advising on patent and domain name disputes, trade marks, copyright, and design rights with a focus on telecommunications, digital technologies and e-commerce.