• How Do Corporations Embrace the Collaborative Economy? #collabeconadsk

    UPDATE 10/13/13: We have folks from AirBNB, Autodesk, GE, Google, Levi Straus, Lithium, Lyft, Salesforce, Sidecar, Vintank, Vodafon and more. There are ~ 20 spots left for this free event in the Autodesk Gallery. If you would like to come please email  atbilljohnston@gmail.com. I’m pleased to announce a salon-style event in the Autodesk Gallery on…

  • Book of Proceedings from the Online Community Unconference 2013

    The Book of Proceedings from the Online Community Unconference 2013 is available. 100 pages of great community content!

  • An Update on the Online Community Unconference 2013 #OCU2013

    I wanted to provide a quick update regarding the Online Community Unconference that we are putting together in Mountain View on May 21. It has been an amazing experience to reconvene the “community of community managers” that were first brought together during the period Forum One hosted these events, and inspiring to see the new…

  • Announcing the Online Community Unconference 2013 – We’re Back!

    File under: blog posts I never thought I would be writing – but excited that I am. It’s been an interesting journey to get here (and I’m certain it will continue to be), but I’m very pleased to announce that we will hosting the Online Community Unconference in Mountain View, CA on May 21ist. > You…

  • #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…

  • Presentation: Developing the Next Generation of IdeaStorm

    These are my slides from the Intranet Reloaded Conference in Berlin on April 17th. My presentation was on the evolution of Dell’s IdeaStorm open innovation community.

  • Serendipity: A Key Theme for 2012

    Serendipity sure seems to be a key theme for me in 2012. First, I was on a panel at SxSWi with a few very smart folks titled “Get Lucky: Create Serendipity to Spur Innovation” – Panel organizer Rawn Shah posted a great recap post here: Serendipity and Innovation at SXSW . This week, I’ll be having a…