Don't consult over Christmas; It's rude.

Here's a graphic showing cumulative traffic to all of the sites we manage over the past three years.

EngagementHQ traffic L-R 1 July until 30 June.

The starting point on the left-hand side is July 1st, trailing up and down through to June 30th on the right-hand side.

That canyon in the middle of the line... Christmas week.

The community hasn't suddenly decided NOT to take a break (just like you and me) over Christmas.

Everyone is putting their feet up. No one (well, almost no one) is checking your website daily to see if there are any new projects to talk about.

So, please, take a break over Christmas and please, please, PLEASE let your community take a break too.

If you are working, then take the time to plan for a golden year of community engagement ahead.

Things will get back to normal by mid-January and you'll be able to launch all of those projects that seemed so very important the week before Christmas.