This video combines our Driver Statement and Digital Onboarding Level 1. The digital onboarding section begins at 31:20. 

Digital Onboarding - Level 1

A “how to” document describing how we use communication tools to keep guests, helpers, and online supporters up-to-date on what’s going on on the farm. 

How we use Social Media (Facebook, Instagram, Mastodon, TikTok)

We post weekly about our ongoing events (Lifeboat Circles, Webinars, and Navigation Sessions) to Facebook, Instagram, and Mastodon. We also post sign-up reminders a day or two before an online event. We also announce the activities for our Work Parties and other events. We usually post the same information to all three places, so you can follow on the channel of your choice. 

We try to post a weekly video on TikTok sharing a project we worked on the previous week. We share this video to the other platforms as well. These are “just for fun”

We also post a “daily meme” to keep a consistent online presence and encourage engagement with our accounts and events. 

How we use YouTube

We realize it’s hard to coordinate schedules when you’re working across networks, so we record our Coordination Circles and Guild Meetings and post them to our YouTube channel so you can catch up when you have the time. We post links to the most recent videos in our social media channels. 

As we move forward, we hope to create more video content including updates on our on the farm projects and helpful webinar content. 

If you’d like to be a Helper:

• Share our posts on your own social media accounts. Here are the links to our social media pages:

  • acebook.com/lifeboatacademy

  • instagram.com/lifeboatacademy 

  • mastodon.social/@lifeboatacademy 

  • tiktok.com/@lifeboatacademy f

• Use our hashtag! Add #lifeboatacademy to your posts so that they will be associated with our account.

• Share any photos and videos you take on the farm to our social media content folder. These will be used to create social media content
  

How we use Slack - how to follow along with the everyday nitty-gritty?

We use our Slack channel for “walkie-talkie” information around the farm. 

Every guild has its own channel, so you can choose to follow the channels that you are interested in for “as it happens” information. It’s a “must have” if you are an intern or fellow farmer, but anyone can join us there. It’s a great way to follow along and participate in our farm life no matter where you are. We love some extra “chatter” on the channel.  

Click here to join our Slack channels. 

Slack How-to’s

• Setting Notification Preferences

  • Click on the channel, then click the down arrow “V” next to the name of the channel at the top. 

  • This brings up a pop-up menu. From here, you can 

    • Star the channel

    • Set notification preferences

    • Mute the channel

    • Leave the channel

• How to “tag” a message

  • Click on or mouse over the message. (You can only tag a message after it’s posted)

  • A pop-up menu will appear in the upper right corner. Click on the smiley face with a plus sign “add reaction” button and pick the icon that you want. You can also search for an emoticon if you know the name. 

  • Each guild has an associated emoticon and if you tag a message with that emoticon, it will be cross-posted in the associate channel. 

    • ?= heartwork & philosophy

    • ⚖️ = principles & governance

    • ?= finance & legal

    • ?= farm, food & housing

    • ?️ = outreach & network

    • ♻️= coordination circle

  • In addition, you can tag messages to indicate:

    • ?= needs documentation / next step

    • ?= consider for social media

    • ❓= requires a response

• We use threads when responding to a message to keep things tidy.

  • If the discussion gets to a conclusion that should be more widely shared, use "share to channel"

  • Include @individual or @everyone if it requires feedback.

  • Everyone should “thumbs up” when they see it or make a comment.

• If it's an agreement, tension or issue for coordination, then:

  • Tag it with :book: so it's tagged to make sure it's documented and can be added to the appropriate agenda

• ❓requires an answer - even if the answer is "I don't know"

• Use "announcements" to for things everyone should be aware of including links to meeting notes
  

How do we use our newsletter - how to get the gist every once in a while?

We currently produce a farm newsletter every two weeks. The newsletter announces events and work parties and often provides an update on a current project. You can sign-up for our newsletter here. 

As our plans evolve, we are hoping to beef up our newsletters a bit with more content that would be helpful to people who are trying to build their own lifeboats. 

How do I know what events are happening?

We provide information about upcoming events (work parties, workshops, etc.) in our newsletter and through our social media channels. 

We also share events and our meeting schedules (Coordination Circle, Guild Meetings, HiveMind, etc.) on our shareable google calendar.  

What if I want to go deeper?

If you would like to go deeper, check out Digital Onboarding - Level 2