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Specialized content sent to participants only in the Climate and Environment network
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Content sent to participants only in the Health Equity network.
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Content sent to participants in both the Climate and Environment and Health Equity networks
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A BSPH Alumni and Friends newsletter (sent to 19,000 alumni) with a Network promotion section o The promotion is included in the top block “policy and advocacy” through a “Join the Policy and Advocacy Interest Area Network” button.
Connecting a Diverse Global Audience through Interest Area Networks
Category
Alumni Relations > Alumni Relations Initiatives (More Than 25 Staff)
Description
Best of CASE District II Award
Institution: Johns Hopkins University
Title of entry: Connecting a Diverse Global Audience through Interest Area Networks
About this entry: The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (BSPH) Interest Area Networks connects a diverse global audience of faculty, staff, students, and alumni with shared professional interests through targeted communication. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the amount of virtual content and webinars that were suddenly accessible to all was overwhelming. To break through the noise and ensure members of the community were seeing personally meaningful content, we surveyed our audience and created 8 content-driven Interest Area Networks.
In March 2022, we launched our Networks in Microsoft Teams and quickly grew to 300 participants within the first three months. To provide continued engagement outside of the Teams platform, our Alumni Relations team compiled a list of upcoming events and new resources each month and then determined which network would receive email communication that month. Every network receives at least 3-4 emails per year, ensuring their inbox is not overburdened.
Over the past two years, our Networks have grown to over 1,000 participants, including at least 50 students each year. Regular surveys to members have shown they value receiving these monthly communications from our team, with one member noting she has up to 4,000 unread emails in her inbox at any time but always takes a moment to read our communication because it is targeted to her specific interests.
This ‘opt-in’ initiative style began as a completely new idea and, during the past two years, has strengthened relationships between members of our community and their affinity for the School.