Mobilizing
Homelessness
Research
Toronto - February 2011
Presenters
Stephen Gaetz
Associate Dean, Faculty of Education, York University
Director, Canadian Homelessness Research Network
(CHRN)
Allyson Marsolais
Project Manager, CHRN
Stephanie Vasko
Manager, Homeless Hub
Outline
1)Presentation
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Mobilizing homelessness research
The Canadian Homelessness Research Network (CHRN)
KMb – The Homeless Hub
KMb – Media and Marketing Strategy
2) Workshop
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Designing a marketing strategy
Key messages
Content development
Using social media
Mobilizing
Homelessness
Research
In an effort to create
and nurture effective
responses to
homelessness . . .
. . . how do we
strengthen the
impact of
homelessness
research?
RESEARCH
• Decision Makers
• Service Providers
• General Public
Impact on
Homelessness
RESEARCH
GAP!
• Decision Makers
• Service Providers
• General Public
KEY CHALLENGE:
Homelessness research has NOT
had the impact on policy, practice
and advocacy that it should.
HOW DO WE CREATE THE IMPACT?

Canadian
Homelessness
Research
Network
SSHRC Strategic Knowledge Cluster Grant Program
Our goals:
1. Collaboration:
Provide opportunities for collaboration
among the diversity of groups and researchers involved in homelessness
across Canada.
2. Knowledge Mobilization: Make existing research on
homelessness more accessible and reduce the geographical, sectoral, and
socio-economic divisions that impede knowledge exchange.
3. Public Engagement:
‘Make research matter’ by
exploring ways that research can more effectively engage the general
public, policy makers & other decision-makers in the homelessness sector.
If the goal of KM, then, is to
make research relevant
to policy makers, service
providers and the general
public, it is arguably most
successful when:
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Research is valued
•
Research is accessible
•
Different kinds of knowledge are
respected
•
Mobilization strategies reflect the
needs of different kinds of learners
•
Barriers between stakeholders are
reduced, and partnerships are
facilitated.
•
Research is Applied, leading to
tangible outcomes.
KMb
Relationships
Building links between
researchers and the
users of research
KMb
The “PUSH”
Getting the message out
to your audiences.
the
homeless
hub
www.homelesshub.com
Our Audiences
Students
Service
Providers
General
Public
Policy
Makers
News
Media
Researchers
2008 … Now
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Partnership with U.S. sites
30,000 resources
Large audience for Canadian content
New features
Use of social media
Key Features
• Home page
• Library page
• Education section
• Experiences
• Gallery section
• Doing Research
• Events Calendar
• Personal pages
Home page
Library
Education
Experiences
Doing Research
Events
Networking
Homeless Hub
Next Steps
Added features:
• French Hub
• Webinars
• Enhanced networking section
• Trends in social media
New sections:
• Service Providers
• ‘Solutions’ to homelessness
Evaluation…Continuous Improvement
Marketing &
Communications
Strategy
Creating new content
Social Media
New content:
e-Newsletter
New content:
Research
Summaries
New content:
Blog
Social Media:
• Facebook Page
• Twitter
WHY
Social Media?
Social Media
FACEBOOK
Social Media
TWITTER
Questions?
. . . And then
on to the
workshop
Exercise 1
Plan a social media campaign around the example
provided: The Family Reconnect report. To consider:
1. Who is your audience(s) (i.e. who do you
want/need to know about this report)?
2. Who are your partners/allies (i.e. who can
help you get the word out)?
3. What are the elements of your strategy?
Consider the elements CHRN uses and feel free
to add others not mentioned.
Exercise 2
Continuing with the Family Reconnect report, what would
the title of your blog post be? What would be
contained in your first paragraph? To consider:
1. A title is used to grab people’s attention and
will determine whether or not they choose to
read your blog post. Being provocative (but
honest) is an essential strategy in creating blog
titles.
2. The first paragraph is used to set the tone for
the rest of the blog, but also keep people’s
attention and entice them to continue reading.
Exercise 3
Compose 2 or 3 “tweets” that can be used to promote
and raise interest in the Family Reconnect report.
To consider:
1. Tweets can be no longer than 140 characters,
including spaces, punctuation and the link you
provide to the report, which is usually about 15
characters.
2. Consider the use of “hashtags”. A hashtag is a
tag embedded in a tweet and consists of a word
prefixed by a hash sign (i.e #homelessness).