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Kids Rock - a celebration at Town School for Boys

I love seeing kids join together with a common goal. Whether it's to play soccer, baseball, provide community services or entertain; kids know how to share and work together to meet their common goal. I was really impressed and moved by this group of 5-6 year old boys at the Town School of Boys in Pacific Heights in San Francisco. When we enrolled Zack in private school we were tentative, but public school in certain neighborhoods in major cities is, sadly, just not an option.

We couldn't be more pleased with Town or more proud of Zack and his classmates. Suffer through the poor video quality for the important message.

Get out and do something important TODAY - not tomorrow, today!

cheers.

mike

Town School for Boys Winter Concert from mike walsh on Vimeo.

The Value of Community - Craigslist

Here is a story about the tangible value of the Craigslist community - it may be unique, but let's hope not.

My buddy, Andy, had set out for a 45 mile bike ride to Marin on a beautiful San Francisco day in February. When he went to jump on his $3,500 bike, however, it was gone. The bike had been stolen from our garage (we own a building together). We have no idea how it happened, really, but it did. We immediately thought, how could it have happened, what about insurance, etc.

Andy thought he would check Craigslist to see whether the bike had been placed for sale - and it had been! ok, big deal - this happens all the time.

Here comes the magic of Craigslist and any kick-ass community - people helping people!

The guy who listed the bike for sale purchased it from the thief, a homeless guy, for $40 for the purpose of returning it to it's owner. Andy made the call, arranged for pick-up and paid for bike and kicked in some pizza. What an amazing thing for someone to do - go through all that effort with the goal of helping out another.

On behalf of Andy, thanks to the community rock-star and thanks to you Craig!

Community through the eyes of a 2nd grader

The primary focus of my blog is to provide offline examples of community that provide, in my opinion, excellent examples or anecdotes to consider when creating an online community or social network. I began my day, today, touring a neighborhood school for my boy Zack whom will be entering kindergarten next year. Though it's an important personal task, I don't typically consider it work related (although the entire process really is about community since everyone is experiencing the same process, anxiety, decision making, interactions, etc.). Today, however, it was much more tangible.

Similar to the first tour that I had taken at a different private school (the school's strategic themes are globalization, sustainability and technology - pretty impressive, or daunting, for k through 8) this school also emphasized the importance of community. As the tour progressed, we checked out the interactions among students and between students and teachers and student and parents. The sense of community was absolutely apparent though posters and messages hanging on the walls. Most impressive and most relevant were the ways in which the 2nd grade class defines what is important to them in their classroom and in their environment . As you see below they have defined the most important

criteria of their environment. They have also defined their "privacy circle". Both of these conversations are important to have when defining the criteria and goals of an online community.

They also have a very impressive approach to helping each other foster community throughout the school. They create mini-communities or groups which they call a Grove. A Grove consists on 9 kids, 1 kid from each grade, k through 8. These Groves meet every couple of weeks to mentor, share, help, learn and develop friendships across grades. What a fabulous idea - gathering all stakeholders and discussing how they can create a stronger and more valuable community - I love it!

I learned quite a bit during the 60 minutes that I spent with a bunch of little kids - and enjoyed every minute of it. This is a great reminder of keeping eyes wide open. Turn off the Blackberry and listen to your little kids. It turns out that they're pretty smart.

Virgin America Misses Opportunity - Lessons Learned

I flew Virgin America last week from San Francisco to New York. I was very excited to experience what I have been reading about and awaiting for months. I'm a big fan of low cost airlines including Jet Blue and Southwest because they typically provide me the mix of flexibility and value that fits my ever-changing schedule.

I was so excited about Virgin America that I decided to fly first class. I arrived at SFO at 6:30 am, in plenty of time for my 7 am flight. Virgin's first missed opportunity was at the check-in counter (the Boarding Pass printer wasn't working so I had to proceed to the counter). I was expecting a terrific greeting with lots of enthusiasm and cheer but was greeted with, well, nothing. This was a huge lost opportunity as I am a big believer in Word of Mouth. I'll let it go.

I proceeded to seat 1c after an enthusiastic greeting by the flight attendant. Long story short is that the attendant was very pleasant, but poorly qualified. She dropped several items, was not attentive, and just provided very poor service. They failed to deliver on their promise to me.

Virgin really gets the marketing part. Anomaly, among others, have created a very cool environment, want you to feel special and believe in community as witnessed by the ability to chat with other passengers through the entertainment console (see image). Since meeting Richard Branson at the TED conference, I am a huge fan and am routing for Virgin America.

The Lesson - Marketing delivered really well but the service team dropped the ball in a big way. It's important to align marketing with delivery to ensure a positive word of mouth experience. I will say that the return trip was a very positive one - much better. Will I fly Virgin America again? Yes, as I do believe in 2nd chances. I just won't recommend them as I expected I would have - and wanted to. In fact, I saw 50 people this past weekend, and shared my experience with 20 of them, all of whom travel. Word of Mouth marketing is so powerful. Don't miss your next opportunity to shine!

Oracle OpenWorld 2007 Selects Leverage Software To Power Event's Online Community

We're pleased to announce that Oracle OpenWorld Connect (the event's online community) is now open for business. To join the community, you need to first register for Oracle OpenWorld 2007. Yeah, yeah, yeah, we know it's still early to register but one of the variety of passes is free so it's a no brainer. Register and then join the community to start networking with fellow Oracle developers (like Justin Kestelyn, OTN Editor-in-Chief), share and learn best practices, and begin scheduling appointments in your Oracle OpenWorld Connect calendar. The early bird gets the worm.

Social Computing - Forrester Boot Camp

I was recently honored to have spoken at the Marketing Conference hosted by Forrester Research. I spoke on a Social Networking Panel hosted by Charlene Li and Brian Havens, research analysts with Forrester Research, titled “Social Computing: Tapping Into The Power Of Connected Customers”.

                                     

Charlene’s goal was to introduce the audience to a few online community and social networking company enablers. I sat alongside Mark Kingdon, the CEO of Organic, a leading Interactive agency and Anil Dash, Vice President of SixApart.

We had the opportunity to share our customer experiences, vision for community and interact and learn from the BootCamp participants, primarily marketing executives. One of the primary takeaways was that every participant had a different definition of and purpose for community. While some were interested in viral marketing others were interested in feedback from an intimate group of users. While some wanted full service from a hosted provider like Leverage Software, others (a smaller percentage) were interested in solutions that would be installed on the company servers.

The primary takeaways were:

1)      Define the goals of the community. You goals may include listening, energizing, participating, speaking and supporting your audience

2)      Define the community stakeholders, owners and champions

3)      Begin with a plan with a high probability of success and build on that

4)      Monitor and measure the community

Online Community Goal Setting - Be a Rebel - Joie de Vivre style

I have a minimum of 50 discussions per week about online communities and social networks. These discussions are typically with customers, prospects, partners and employees. It occurs to me that establishing goals is quite a challenge for those considering the launch of an online community. In many organizations, several stakeholders exist and those stakeholders have different and sometimes competing objectives. It is important to establish the community owner, and set goals that meet the needs of the owner and the audience that will be served by the community - customers, partners, internal employees, readers, etc.

I would like to offer an exercise that is used by Chip Conley, the CEO of Joie de Vivre. Joie de Vivre is the largest boutique hotelier in California with plans for rapid growth. I gained a great deal of respect for Chip after reading his book, Rebel Rules, which was forwarded by Richard Branson. When Chip considers launching a new hotel, he thinks of it in terms of a magazine or two and the five words that will describe it's personality. For a description of the hotel used in this example, go to Hotel Vitale. As Chip explains in this Business 2.0 article, "The Vitale was a hybrid of Dwell and Real Simple; the words were 'modern,' 'urbane,' 'fresh,' 'natural,' and 'revitalizing."

This same approach can be used while thinking about the community that you will enable. Of course, the community will take on a life and personality of its own, but you will be off to a great start if you first set goals that can be well defined. An example of these descriptive words may include fun, educational, active, thought-provoking and zealous. As you embark on community, have fun with it and with the audience it serves.

In full discloser, I had so much respect for Chip and his marketing genius that I called him to discuss, and they became a client. Look for their community and that of their guests, to launch soon. Remember - communities are about people and people have personalities (well, most do) - what is the personality of your audience?

Salesforce.com and Social Networking

Marc Benioff recently announces the limited availability of AppSpace. It is excellent that Benioff understands the value of enabling the voice of the customer in an authentic way and this initiative is an admirable one. It is off-target, however, to consider forum discussions and product input and feedback (via Crispy News which I'm quite certain has been acquired by Salesforce.com) as MySpace-like functionality. MySpace is successful because individuals can share both information and build relationship. The relationship building features are seemingly not available via AppSpace - at least not as of yet. You can, however, currently find these full-features online community and social networking solutions on the AppExchange. I would imagine that Benioff will recognize this omission and build or buy this functionality in a hurry. Marc Benioff, the PR machine, is hard at work to insert a stake in the ground as the CRM thought leader, a position which clearly belongs to Benioff.

Benioffs' move should send a message, loud and clear, to Salesforce.com competitors that they need to think about providing more value to the customer, and that their customers do want to enable online communities and social networking. Nice work Marc!

Community 2.0 - Where is the ROI on Community?

I was invited to speak at the Community 2.0 conference this week on a panel titled "The New Technology Toolbox for Community Building". My takeaways from the panelists and the 250 or so attendees are as follows.

1) Everyone seems to have a different definition of community. To me, an online community is one wherein relationships can be developed and information can be transfered among a peer group. John Hagel defines the keys to community as an environment wherein relationships, discussions and identities are shared. Several participants seem to believe that information sharing within forum discussions constitute a community. I don't believe the value of an online community can be maximized without the opportunity to develop and share relationships among it's audience members. It's a bit like having a neighborhood community without being able to say hello to your neighbors and borrow a cup of sugar from them, or like attending a conference without the ability to interact with the participants. The relationship building component is a primary reason for the success of MySpace, currently at more than 160,000,000 profiles.

2) It seems that 50% or so of the audience is in the process of or has already implemented an online community (or forum discussion) or social network while the other half seem to be wondering where to begin. For this half, please be assured that you can implement a branded community at a low total cost of ownership and low risk. The primary considerations are:

a) the goal and purpose of the community - without a goal, you cannot measure success

b) the community requires ownership and buy-in - you need a project or community lead

c) the potential beneficiaries (the audience) need to be aware of the community - please build awareness around it

d) reciprocity is key - the community will succeed only if the host benefits (roi) and the audience benefits

3) Return on Investment - It is quite obvious that a thorough ROI tool is not available to those considering an online community. We will create one. As marketers, publishers or community hosts in any industry - you not only have to satisfy your audience, you have to satisfy the number crunchers. The variables that drive the return on investment vary based on your industry and may include decreased support costs, decreased attrition rates which lead to increased revenue, improved customer loyalty which increases lifetime value of a customer, outstanding word-of-mouth-marketing, competitive differentiation, a more valuable partner ecosystem, rapid product innovation, improved communication, etc.

Leverage Software will publish a white paper which will allow community hosts to evaluate ROI for specific communities. Check back here or on our website for the paper. It will likely happen in mid-April.

The key take-away from Community 2.0 is that it's always about the people, conversations, interaction and sharing. Tools are very important, but the same business rules of people, process, objectives and ROI apply.

Community From The Perspective Of A TEDster

I am fortunate to be spending my week at the TED conference. Though I know that I should have been blogging for more than I year now, TED compels me to begin today. TED is community. As President Clinton, one of this year’s TED prize winners, describes his current passions and goals, he conveys a perfect description of what a successful community is all about. President Clinton’s passion is bringing resources and systems to those who need it, particularly within Africa. While describing the gaps between the rich and poor, not only between nations but within countries, he describes the need to build stronger communities.

Though his description of community is based on the physical world and not the online world, I believe his description is spot on and directly transfers to the online world. He describes the purpose of community as sharing in the benefits of collaboration, sharing in its responsibilities and having a sense of belonging. These themes are also the building blocks of TED. Having the privilege of attending TED for my second year, it seems that everyone is interested in collaboration, participation, giving and receiving. The ratios vary by person, of course, but seem to be common among everyone with whom I have interacted. Whether it’s Dean Kaman's amazing contribution of new prosthetics to the recovery of the injured returning from war or world renowned photographer James Nachtwey's asking for help from the TED community to help him meet his goals, everyone wants to participate, share and contribute.

These themes are exactly those that are required to build an effective online community. Successful online communities and social networks are those wherein all stakeholders have the opportunity and desire to benefit, share responsibility and feel a sense of belonging. It is the responsibility for the community host to enable and nurture this environment. When done well, everyone benefits, including the host.