CILT needed a community strategy at least as much as the technology itself.

Working with a small budget for 2020 digital investment, CILT leaders considered many competing options. While the website was approaching 10 years old and would benefit from a full review, the need for members to have meaningful online collaborative spaces was pressing.

Like many professional membership bodies, CILT maintains dozens of member special interest groups (CILT Forums) across various sectors including Logistics & Supply chain, Bus & Coach, Rail, and Operations Management. Lacking an online framework for facilitating interaction, the CILT Forums were tied to in-person meetings and email lists.

Seeking to meet the needs of members directly, bringing CILT Forums to life through online community was the highest priority. The solution would need to be fully integrated with CILT’s powerful Silverbear CRM and DNN website. While many vendors and platforms were considered, Cantarus offered the right combination of experience, timeframe, location, and price.

“We know online community,” Cantarus CEO Lee Adams said, “and our partnership with Silverbear goes back years with many integrations performed. We can stand up Silverbear online community integrations in days not weeks. When the data and SSO pieces are in place, we’ll also make sure website/community journeys with .NET and other CMS systems are brought together in a unified experience.”

United within a small project team, Cantarus consultants collaborated with CILT staff to confirm a path forward. The community website, utilising Discourse Forums open-source community platform, was quickly live, infused with CILT branding, and facilitating hands-on guided training for CILT staff. Set to private during the initial build, the community was used to manage the community project itself, including timelines, meeting minutes, training videos, and integration testing reports. A launch target coordinated with a CILT leadership meeting was set and achieved. Initial engagement was solid, ticking up steadily thereafter as community notifications and email proved the value of the new resource.