Community 2.0 Community Bootcamp: the technology part by Tara Hunt

Slide 1: the technological & social infrastructure for community building by Tara “miss rogue” Hunt, Citizen Agency www.citizenagency.com

Slide 2: the building blocks • how I define community • the geeky stuff: technology • the relationship stuff: getting social • summary: sense of

Slide 3: virtual community A virtual space supported by computer-based information technology, centered upon communication and interaction of participants to generate member-driven content, resulting in relationships being built up. (Lee & Vogel, 2003)

Slide 4: basic site structure for virtual communities • personal homepage/profile (ie. url.com/ people/missrogue) • personal content creation • ability to interact with others’ content • ability to ‘friend’ and share content

Slide 5: succession community visitor customer member

Slide 6: 3 levels of community 1. Lightweight Social Processes 2. Collaborative Information Structures 3. High End Collaboration

Slide 7: lightweight social processes Low-barrier social involvement like voting and the recording of personal participation. • DIGG • Del.icio.us • Last.fm • Amazon • Craigslist • Netvibes

Slide 8: collaborative information structures Core product enhanced by a social component, deeper participation to interact. • Flickr • Facebook • YouTube • Odeo • Threadless • Developer networks

Slide 9: high end collaboration Groups utilizing systems to make sense and share complex materials and data. • Open Source • Wikipedia projects • Lostpedia • Couchsurfing

Slide 10: common themes • sense of fun/play • constant community attention • experimental & agile development • maximized the power of word of mouth

Slide 11: more common themes • simple platforms/ideas for building on • compelling founder stories • rewards for community members (not necessarily $$)

Slide 12: the geeky stuff • blogs • social networking • podcasting • community tools • wikis • apis • forums • measurements • chat • other stuff • search

Slide 13: blogs • Three reasons to use blogging: • track who is talking about your product • find, read & understand blogging experts in your subject area • join the conversation by blogging yourself

Slide 14: blogs • platforms to use: Wordpress, Moveable Type, Blogger • RSS: really simple syndication • trick out your RSS (Feedburner) • using blogsearch to see who is talking about you & find blogger experts: Technorati, Google Blogsearch, Serph

Slide 15: blogs • blogging into oblivion or joining the conversation • linking out: read other blogs...interact • blog readers: Bloglines (web), Feedo (web), Netvibes (web), Net Newswire (mac),Yoono (pc), Thunderbird (all) • commenting: when to comment, when to email

Slide 16: pod & vidcasting • content: make it interesting (ie. winelibrary.tv) • editing tools: Final Cut Pro, Adobe Flex, iMovie (free), Garage Band • hosting tools:YouTube, blip.tv, Revver, Photobucket, Odeo, OurMedia • watching tools: Dabble, Fireant, iTunes • searching: podzinger

Slide 17: wikis • what: webpages with edit buttons • how to: wiki syntax wackiness • [page | page] ... *bold* • when to: when wikis are wonderful • collaboration on documentation • community information sharing • organizing events & thoughts • you need to garden the wiki!!

Slide 18: wikis • examples: • self-installed: Confluence, Instiki, MediaWiki • hosted: JotSpot, PBWiki, SocialText, WetPaint, Wikia [good source: wikimatrix.org]

Slide 19: forums • what: a-synchronous discussions • when to: where forums still rock • tips & tricks between community members • feedback & bug reporting • you need to tend to the forums regularly!!

Slide 20: forums • examples: • self-installed: Vanilla, bbPress, Quicksilver, SMF • hosted: FusionBB, Jive Forums, PunBB (free) [good source: forummatrix.org]

Slide 21: chat • what: synchronous discussions • where/when to use chat: • instant ‘help’ • between friends/members • alongside the forums • pre-scheduled roundtables • tip: have the ability for people to chat with you live through widgets that show availability

Slide 22: chat • examples: • group: IRC, Campfire, Skype, Tangler, • one-on-one: Meebo, Jabber, AIM,Yahoo! Messenger • voice: Wengo, Gizmo, Skype, Jajah • sms: Twitter, Mozes

Slide 23: search • white-hat SEO basics • content is king • use descriptive page titles (don’t lie!) • use the heading tag • use sitemaps • employ a solid URL structure (opt for static looking): www.site.com/ hikingboots.html vs. www.site.com/ products.asp?product_no=25

Slide 24: search • more white-hat SEO basics • avoid using flash or ajax for navigation...or building your entire site in them • html standards are good for you • don’t try to scam google (you’ll get blacklisted) • don’t use frames

Slide 25: social networking • not everything has to happen on your site • effective use of established social networks to build interest/relationships: • Flickr: posting screenshots, flickr groups • YouTube/blip.tv: posting screencasts • Facebook: posting groups/events • MySpace: create a product page

Slide 26: social networking • more established social network tips: • social bookmarking: • DIGG: don’t game it...but do submit your site/posts/publicity • ma.gnolia/del.icio.us: follow tags & bookmark interesting stuff in your domain • niche networks: participating in similar markets

Slide 27: community-based tools • Creative Commons • how cc licensing works • ways you can use it to enhance user experience • Tagging • what is tagging? • examples

Slide 28: community-based tools • Microformats • what is a microformat? • how you can use microformats to enhance user experience • (p.s. it’s good for search engines) • OpenID • what is OpenID? • how you can use OpenID to enhance user experience

Slide 29: api’s • what: application programming interface • what it really is: allows for content on your site to be ‘mashed up’ with other content to produce really cool stuff • advantages: • cool extensions • test bed for new features • the ‘new’ partnership

Slide 30: api’s • resources: • How to design a good API and why it matters: lcsd05.cs.tamu.edu/slides/ keynote.pdf • www.programmableweb.com • O’Reilly book: Web 2.0 Principles & Best Practices www.oreilly.com/radar/ web2report.csp

Slide 31: measurements • what you measure matters most • informs you about user behavior (usually different than feedback) • gauges usability • helps you with feature & improvement roadmap • teaches you about the needs of your community

Slide 32: measurements • measurement tools: • attention data collection (eg. last.fm, DIGG labs) • Task Tracer • Attention Trust Firefox plugin • no Spyware! good cookies only! • Google Analytics & MeasureMap • CrazyEgg (heatmaps)

Slide 33: measurements • measuring healthy communities: • qualitative mixed with quantitative • not always positive • scaling will change the community...fracture it • look at it like a graphic equalizer • three levels: Environment, Product & Communications

Slide 34: other techie stuff • why not consider: • leaving your bug tracking out in the open? • publishing a conference # for your dev team meetings? • using Twitter to give network status updates?

Slide 35: the social stuff • barcamp • coworking • meetups • conferences • karma • fun stuff

Slide 36: barcamp • what: a conference organized by members of the community where there are no observers, only participants • video: • http://www.archive.org/download/ Ryanne-BarCampSF816/Ryanne- BarCampSF816.mov

Slide 37: barcamp • advantages: • early adopter cred (worldwide phenomenon) • you aren’t in charge, but seen as a peer

Slide 38: coworking • what: physical spaces opened up for independents to collaborate and work in • Where the Coffee Shop Meets the Cubicle (Businessweek): http:// www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/ content/feb2007/ sb20070226_761145.htm

Slide 39: coworking • advantages: • opening your space brings in fresh ideas & energy • become part of a worldwide growing movement • building trust in your local community has huge repercussions

Slide 40: meetups • what: gathering in a social place (pub or community space) to meet other people with the same interests • tools to use: meetup.com, upcoming.org, eventful.com • post it to your forums, blog & send a message out to your VIPs • give schwag away, no big speeches • let people interact + be available

Slide 41: meetups • the best meetups are organized by the ‘fans’ and community members themselves. providing the tools, a couple of pitchers of beer and some presence (not central, though) is the best.

Slide 42: conferences • there are tons of conferences putting out calls for submissions everyday • resources: confabb.com, eventful.com, upcoming.com • take all pitches out of your submission • research subject areas that matter to conference-goers and find one that you are an ‘expert’ on • tell a compelling story

Slide 43: conferences • once you get invited: • if you want to be invited back to the conference circuit, keep all pitches out of your presentation • tell user stories • talk about your competition • attend all mixer events and build relationships, don’t pitch

Slide 44: karma • what you give to your community, you get back tenfold • don’t have a business objective, have a business objective, an employee objective, a local community objective, an environment objective and a customer experience objective (Clif Bar)

Slide 45: karma • be part of a larger movement that relates to what you are doing • “If you see a parade, get in front of it” Tim O’Reilly • Be part of the change you want to see in the world • Creates amazing goodwill

Slide 46: fun stuff • good vibes: • thank you’s (i.e. ma.gnolia, maya’s mom, facebook ‘pokes’) • vip programs (i.e. ma.gnolia gardeners) • member highlighting & discovery (i.e. featured members, new members) • hold feedback contests, etc. and send out schwag as thanks • greeting program for new members

Slide 47: summary • all great tools for promoting your site, but what about community? • how do these tools relate to creating a sense of community?

Slide 48: sense of community 1. Feelings of membership 2. Feelings of influence 3. Integration and fulfillment of needs 4. Shared emotional connection (McMillan and Chavis, 1986)

Slide 49: feelings of membership • includes: personal profile pages, 'friending', defining groups within the larger group (groups), invitations to groups • allow for lots of personal & group expression (personalization) • greet new members and introduce them to others with similar interests

Slide 50: feelings of influence • includes: forums, chat, comments, blogging, personalized mail • create many ways in which members can connect and platforms for expression • respond to all feedback, good or bad

Slide 51: integration and fulfillment of needs • includes: status rewards, featuring members, vips, karma points, etc. • 'in crowd' knowledge - acorns, tricks, traditions & rituals

Slide 52: shared emotional connection • can't be created, but shared experiences with members can help (continual, deep interaction with community) • meetups, barcamps, coworking, celebrations and developer days help

Slide 53: more information: tara@citizenagency.com http://www.citizenagency.com http://www.horsepigcow.com (blog) tarahunt747 (skype) 415.694.1951 (ph)

Slide 54: licensing: