I’ve moved HERE! I have upgraded from a WordPress hosted blog to this one. I love it. I’ve been learning lots more about WordPress and how to utilize it more. I’ve moved my personal blog and my recipe box to WordPress too. I’m also working with a non-profit to help them update their site. They were looking for something they could edits and update easily. They thought it had to be something like Dreamweaver… I thought differently, WordPress. With all the customization and things you can do it’s possible to make a WordPress blog look like a WordPress website. It’s been so fun working on it. In fact, I’m heading to WordCamp PDX the 27th of September. How cool is that? I’ll be able to hook up with fellow WordPressers and learn more. I can’t wait.

In other news, I’ve been working on writing several courses related to Joint Commission training and hospital accredidation. That topic is so huge and so important that it kept me pretty busy. Two weeks ago it was so nuts I think I worked more than I slept because the wave of work all came at once. In addition to my usual instructional design stuff I’ve been working with my boss and a few people in my group to develop a wiki for internal purposes. We’ve been working using MediaWiki…. adding extensions… customizing it a bit so it’s already for my boss to share with his bosses to get buy off so we can pilot and implement the wiki for our use and to add it as a service we can offer to our clients. I’m pretty excited because if all goes well with the project, I’ll be working on the pilot, training, implementation plan and everything to get it ready for go live in 2009. How cool is that!!!

Looking forward to blogging more.

I know I’ve talked about it before but I have to say. I am so excited about the implications of wikis in the business world. I have been fortunate to participate in investigating wikis and their uses in the company I work for. It’s been so interesting to review the wikis that are out there for purchase, their pros and cons. It’s also very interesting to see the sample wikis that companies have steered me too.

While working on my wiki investigation, I found this article – 7 Strategies for Implementing Wikis - amongst my rss feeds. The article outlines strategies for implementing wikis as outlined by Industry Week.

These strategies couldn’t have come at a better time. I really liked the 7 points the author pointed out but I also felt it could be shortened and adjusted a bit. Here’s my list below.

1. Integrate
2. Understand
3. Optimize
4. Assign
5. Recognize
6. Value
7. Encourage

Honestly, I think those 7 words say it all. I started thinking of those 7 words and tried to pick out “the one” action or behavior that has to happen for a wiki to be successful and honestly, I can’t pick just one. Good solid wiki adoption depends on so many things. It would be so easy to say that it just requires leadership support and some rules, but there’s so much more. Wikis thrive on people and not just the “big wigs” or the “people in the trenches” but all people. A wiki is the catalyst for collaboration, sharing of ideas, meeting people with like interests or ideas and much more.

For a wiki to be adopted by all you’ve got to address all aspects; everything from the new user of technology to the early adopter. You need to speak their language and really show the value of the tool. For many the wiki becomes a paradigm shift. I know for some it is hard to make the transition from writing a word document and uploading it to making a wiki page that IS the document.

I am just so very excited that I get to participate on the team working toward a wiki solution for our company. Every day I see new uses for it in our environment. I can’t wait for the day that I can say, we have xx wiki.

It’s been almost two months now that I’ve been working for BCD Travel and I’m loving every minute of it. I have the opportunity to participate in a lot of activities, etc that I never got to in my previous adventure. One of the things I’ve had the opportunity to implement is the use of a wiki for several “manuals” that we have. It’s a great starting point for the use of wikis in an environment that’s pretty new to the concepts and ideas. Right now it’s just a few of us in teh group that have author privs and can change content. What’s neat too is that I also have it set up that when they’re changes we all get notified. Pretty cool stuff. OK I’m digressing on the purpose of this post. SO I’m sitting here today thinking about wikis and the issue of what’s the next step and how to you set up the most successful environment for wikis to be utilized and successful? THAT is where I started today.

I’ve been reading several articles today on wikis and what makes them successful and found some interesting articles.

In Chris Taylor’s article Why commercial Wikis don’t work he shared some really good reasons why some wikis don’t work or are not successful. What I liked more than the examples of those wikis that don’t work was his explanation of what makes successful wikis and the idea of the concept of “walled gardens”.

When you think in the sense of Web 2.0′s success being “walled gardens” it’s sort of an ah ha moment, at least for me. I like the term garden because in a lot of respects what we do with collaboration tools and shared learning is a garden, We’re cultivating an environment where we share learning, help each other out and provide insight.

I think about some of the tools I use, like Flickr, and how I really do only look at specific sections, topics, etc in that “environment”. When I go to locations that seem to have no walls it’s very overwhelming and I’m not sure what I’m doing, how I can contribute or what the goal is. According to Chris,

The future of Web 2.0 belongs to sites that give its users directions and goals as well as total control. People need a common focus, a shared obsession, to be productive as a crowd.

I really think this statement has a lot of validity to it. Without an understanding of the purpose of a wiki, some direction and goals, a wiki has the high potential to become a “dumping ground” for content. I mean isn’t one of the many benefits of wikis that it enables immediate information sharing and collaboration? With this in mind it is vital that there be direction. Look at some of the examples out there of unsuccessful wikis and consider if they met the three criteria.

After reading this article and thinking about our team wiki, I really think we got it right, perhaps without even realizing it. I’ve created a wiki for us where we have a select group of us that are authors, our purpose and pages. I think because we do have a small group of users and pages are specific and the goals clear we’re set up pretty well. Now I think the fun part is to see what happens of the next few months.

Resource Links:
Why commercial Wikis don’t work