Help for AYWMC Admins
Thank you for volunteering to admin a Facebook group. This page has been set up to help you with the most commonly asked questions. If you have another question, or a suggestion, or anything that will help the AYWMC Facebook community be a better place, use the contact form at the bottom of the page to get in touch.
What does an Admin do?
Day to day, an Admin simply approves or rejects joining requests for the group, based on answers to the screening questions you will have set up for the group.
But you will also want to create a non-competitive, compassionate place where people of all stages of their photography journey can feel part of a supportive community. You are all linked because you are doing (or have done) A Year With My Camera. You will all want to chat about progress, set backs, kit problems, ideas and issues. As an Admin your job is to moderate discussions if needed, and maybe prompt discussions if the group goes quiet.
If yours is a meetup group, there is a separate post with help on organising a successful meetup.
How to moderate
If someone is rude, offensive or posts inappropriate photos, you can simply delete them from the group and block them from joining. I don't believe anyone has had to do this, but you can do so to protect the other members of the group. If you are in any doubt, drop Emma an email at admin@emmadaviesphoto.com.
Most of the time you will just be encouraging people who are nervous or have lost their mojo, congratulating people who have made progress, and chipping in with suggestions to keep conversations going.
Remember that you will have complete beginners in the group as well as photographers who might have finished AYWMC, so if in any doubt before replying to a question, you can always ask where someone is on the course.
Suggested posts
1. Weekly or monthly header competitions
Most groups either ask for submissions from time to time to change the group header, or run competitions. Ask in the Admin's Facebook group for suggestions if you want help with this.
2. Themed threads
Because everyone will be at different stages of the course, sometimes it's nice to bring everyone together with a common theme. You might start a thread off with a flowers theme, or black and white, or portraits - anything you like.
3. Ask questions
People love to have their say. Ask broad questions or invite contributions, to get the conversation going:
- when did you get your first camera?
- share a photo of where you live
- what do you use to edit?
- if you could go anywhere, where would you take your camera?
- what advice would you give to someone just starting AYWMC?
4. Have a poll
These are just 1-click options to a single question, and usually get a good response because they are so quick to fill in. You could ask what kit people use, or if they ever shot film (yes/no), or when they started AYWMC.
HELP!
Join the Admins FB group if you need help with anything, and ask in there. Anything from, "My group is too quiet" to "My group is too enthusiastic" - there will be plenty of suggestions.