Category: Community 101

  • The Future of Online Communities – Insights from the Online Community Unconference 2025

    The Future of Online Communities – Insights from the Online Community Unconference 2025

    The Online Community Unconference 2025 made one thing clear: the need for meaningful connection has never been greater, but the challenges of fostering it have never been more complex. This post explores the key insights from the event—where community leadership is evolving, where it’s stuck, and what we must do next.

  • Online Community Unconference 2025

    Online Community Unconference 2025

    The Online Community Unconference (OCU) is returning to San Francisco on January 8th. Join me, Carrie Melissa Jones, and Susan Tenby for a full day of in-person collaboration with 100 experienced and engaged community leaders. At the Online Community Unconference you will: All while having a great time experiencing the in-person community of community leaders.…

  • Expert Interviews From the Customer Community 1.0 Era (’07-’09)

    It’s clear that the Corvid-19 Pandemic will drive the global economy into a recession. Periods of economic turbulence tend to have a catalytic effect on the role of online communities and related social and network-based experiences. In particular, it seems public participation increases, followed by corporate investment. We saw this play out with the investment…

  • Speaking: #OCTribe Meetup | SF Jan27th

      Hi Folks – a quick post to let you know that I am leading a discussion at the #OCTribe Online Community Meetup in SF this Wednesday night. I’ve been involved with this meetup for many years, and it is an honor to be asked to speak! Description and registration information follow. I hope we…

  • Preview of the Brands & Collaborative Economy Research Project

    In March I embarked on a series of qualitative research projects to help organizations prepare for the disruption and opportunity emerging from the Collaborative Economy, and understand what resources they need to be successful. Wave 1 responses are in and the analysis is almost finished. I wanted to share a preview of the results to date. The full set of results will be published…

  • Attributes of Thriving Online Communities

    I got my start building online communities in 1999 with the launch of TechRepublic.com. We grew from a cold start of 0 to 2 Million members in less than 2 years before being acquired by Gartner – it was an insane ride. I was first asked the question of (more or less) “What makes a…

  • #CMAD 2013 and Sharing Some Appreciation

    Today (ok, technically tomorrow) is Community Manager Appreciation Day, or #CMAD. As I mentioned before, Jeremiah Owyang will be tracking the global celebration via his blog: 4th Annual Community Manager Appreciation Day: Jan 28, 2013 In my last post about #CMAD, I encouraged everyone participating to “find there own A”: I originally chose to support…

  • Supporting Community Manager Appreciation Day #CMAD

    First established in January of 2010, Community Manager Appreciation Day (#CMAD) is held on the 4th Monday of January to celebrate the role of Community Manager. The celebrations range from small acts of gratitude, like thanking a staff community manager with a note, to major events and meetups all over the world. Jeremiah Owyang, the event’s…

  • The Role of Brands in Online Communities

    There seems to be a wave of bad advice and misguided thinking regarding where and how brands should engage with their communities. Examples include pundits advising brands to prioritize social efforts “off domain”, being passive observers in their communities instead of active hosts, and a general sentiment that hosting a brand-based online community is high…

  • Thoughts on Managing Your Social Vendor Relationships

    Let’s face it – the vendors you rely on for social media & community platforms, services and advice have you outnumbered and surrounded. Between account reps, sales reps, relationship managers, executive success partners and the rest of the cast, most vendors have a veritable army of skilled professionals whose primary purpose is to maximize revenue derived from their relationship…