by Barbara Whitlock

Created on: November 30, 2007   Last Updated: June 19, 2009

Serving and building community are the mottos of Helium's Site Steward Program. Helium helps match stewards' content expertise to niche communities they serve. The bonds that hold it together are professional and personal relationships, built one member at a time. Have you received a shout out or feedback from a site steward yet? It's only a matter of time until you meet Helium's frontline community team.

What site stewards do

Stewards exercise a sense of ownership over a content area of the site. They look to the writers who contribute to a given channel area as a niche community of specialized writers. One by one, they get to know those writers by their articles and through contact writer emails. They offer help and encouragement. They collect feedback to help Helium improve.

They develop a vision for growing the content in that channel by seeding titles to encourage writer contributions. They reach out to writers with demonstrated expertise and invite them in. Many create Zones and start Betaville groups for writers in topic areas relevant to their channel. In sum, they seek to make their channel area the best of its kind on the web, and they work hard to create collaborative opportunities among writers with common interests. They build relationships that form a web of networks throughout Helium and across the Internet.

Why you may want to connect with a steward

Stewards have specialized knowledge about topics within their channel area. They have a wealth of information to share and find ways to support your efforts to maximize knowledge-sharing on Helium. They can help you with content problems and transform your suggestions into action items.

Stewards are connected to other writers who share similar writing passions. They can help you connect too. What's better than meeting fellow writers passionate about the same topic?

Stewards are veteran Helium members who've found success writing, rating and competing at Helium. They welcome mentoring opportunities, too. Use Helium's site stewards as ready resources. You can meet them here.

If you have expertise to share, let us know. Join the site steward team, or just make suggestions to a steward. We welcome your ideas.

History of the Site Steward Program

Helium's Site Steward Program celebrates its 1 and a half year-old birthday in April of 2009. The program has grown from a handful of channel-level stewards to a network of approximately 200, which includes teams of channel-focused

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