I’d like to propose a session that covers some of the options, guidelines, and pitfalls of using focus groups to provide feedback on digital history sites at various stages of the development process, from early planning to beta testing. How can we do this in a useful way that doesn’t derail the project schedule? How do we maintain the proper tension between our goals for the site and simplicity/usability so that we make room for audience feedback and participation without devolving into watered down “groupthink?”

So we’re on Twitter, Facebook (some of us are on Google+), We blog, use Tumblr or  post on Pinterest. But as historians, how do we use these tools to tell our story, our vision of the past in a very public realm?

When we do research or write a paper we use a variety of sources to tell a particular history. Each of these sources gives a different perspective supporting or negating each other.

In our work in the non-profit sector, the federal government, as consultants, students and educators, how do we make these tools work for us–how do we use each element to create a personal/organizational brand?  How exactly do we brand ourselves as historians online?

I would propose that we spend this session talking about lessons learned, and figuring out what the best way is to set up a digital brand dealing with history. I recently attended a conversation on personal branding for the DC Social Media club and I thought that it might be worth having a similar conversation at THATCamp about what works, what doesn’t work, and how to avoid obvious pitfalls.