Session one at the unconference was led by David Terrar and looked at building web communities – after his experience building one for the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales (ICAEW).
Some interesting thoughts around "why to build communities". I pointed out that in fact we were discussing why to build online communities. Comments around managing organisations with aging populations and online communities being a way to retain knowledge with moving resources.
Need to find new measures – the 1-9-90 rule. Need to find entirely new measures for online communities – not page views or visitors….
How to "encourage" commitment and contribution – you can’t force it (and if you try it will fail)
- Users won’t just come
- What is the purpose?
- What’s in it for me?
- Who are the champions
- Need teamwork
- Coherent technology framework
- Prepare to lose control
- Moderation guidelines
- Community manager needed
The more CONTENT you have the more MEMBERS you will get but the more MEMBERS you have the more CONTENT you will get – keep things balanced. Don’t focus on the technology focus on the users.
