Traces of Inspiration

SXSWi: Word Domination Via Collaboration

• March 10th, 2007
• Filed Under: Community, Marketing, SXSW

While the room was a pain to find, I was able to make the trek with the wonderful Brits Paul Boag and Marcus Lillington of Headscape. Paul and Marcus run the wonderul web design and management podcast, Boagworld. Marcus is a former rock star who is now a project manager for Headscape while Paul is a co-founders/designer.

I attended this panel mostly because of how it relates to one of my ongoing projects at Aptima. I’m not sure what I’m looking for going in—mostly some tips on how to cultivate the soil so that a community has the best chance to grow and prosper.

Panelists:

• Jory Des Jardins (BlogHer)
• Betsy Aoki (Microsoft)
• Jessica Hardwick (SwapThing)
• Lisa Stone (BlogHer
• Jenna Woodul (LiveWorld)

Notes:

• Web 1.0: Community was a “nice to have”, something you added to a business
• Today: Community IS the business
• Doesn’t grow like a regular business: organic, living breathing thing
• People who do it best are like sociologists
• What is a killer of community?
  • Non-participation. Has to be something people want to participate in
  • If they have ownership, they will participate
  • Any community is a social thing (like a party or meeting)
    • You have to think of culture
    • Who are the leaders?
    • I have my place here, I know people here”
  • Having no mechanisms for defense (spammers, etc.)
  • Ask, don’t tell.
    • Get people involved
    • “Do you want to try X, Do you want to do Y?”
    • 9000 members know more about what they want than the community leaders
• Building a community within a corporation
  • Built communities wihtin Apple, became critical to culture
  • There’s a tendency to think it’s about technology
  • It’s the people, stupid.
  • Dove campaign: asked What is real beauty?
    • Showed real people, not models
    • not pushing product, but shows respect for customer
• Reviving Community
  • Microsoft CodeFlex
  • Servers were crashing
  • Provided a voice to complain to
    • Nobody at Microsoft would read it - but she did
    • Keeping constant dialog back and forth
  • Put someone out in front
  • Be honest about what is going on
    • People would offer to help
• Q: How do you find your experts?
  • A: Jessica: Write through blog
    • Experts post comments, keep tech support questions low
• It’s good to plan on what your user base will be
  • But whoever shows up IS your community
  • Be sure to make the first people to take part feel comfortable
• Customers will talk about you on their blogs
  • Or other social networking sites
• Paul asked: For some clients, he things “a community would be hugely beneficial for them.” But they fear letting go.
  • Had a customer that wanted community, so they set up a forum
  • But it died because the customer insisted on moderating every single post
  • How do you pursuade them to let go of control?
  • A: If you require that everything be previewed, you will cut down your volume drastically
    • To the point peopled don’t participate at all
    • You have a lot to gain from community
    • People are talking about you and your brand anyway
    • Better for you to listen in and be able to respond to what they are saying
    • That indicates an open attitude towards conversation with customers
    • Talk about ROI—acquisition, PR
      • Participants in community will buy 57% more than other people
      • Harvard Business Review: Set up a bunch of newbie eBayers
        • Those involved in community bought 56% more
        • Those involved in community sold SIX TIMES more
    • Liability concerns? Check the laws (may be different in UK)
• Insurrection: When community turns sour
  • How do you handle mis-perceptions or misunderstandings
    • BlogHer: Men actually ARE invited
  • Let the community know about misunderstandings so they can help clear it up.
  • NEVER LIE
  • Brought up Edelman/Wal-Mart fiasco.
    • Many said they would have read it even if they knew it was paid
  • MS Live Q&A: Community members sometimes refer others to code of conduct
• Lurkers are just as important as posters
  • How is a newcomer perceived and treated?
  • Use pull-quotes, featured posters to show lurkers that there are people like them here
  • You’ll never have a community where 100% of them are comfortable communicating
    • Provide alternative means of feedback, ratings, etc.
• Don’t call it “community”
  • Just pose questions “What do you think?”
  • It won’t feel like walking into a room of people you don’t know
• Is anonymity cryptonite for a community?
  • Moderators know who they are “This isn’t SpamHer or PornHer. This is BlogHer.” –Lisa
  • Identity (even a pseudonym) brings accountability
  • If there’s no character building, there is no persistent identity. Less benefits.
  • SlashDot has a generic “Anonymous Coward” login.
    • Shows they respect an identity much more.

Update: Christopher Carfi’s notes.

Update: Read/Write Web’s coverage.