We read (and write) a lot about how to start communities, and where to find community members. But what do you do when your community has grown way past your expectations or plans? How do you scale that community and keep your members bonded together? How do you keep the community feel that first connected members with each other? You’re bursting to know aren’t you … I can tell.
Well wonder no longer. I was very pleased to be asked to collaborate with Patrick O’Keefe on a presentation proposal for South by Southwest Interactive (SXSW) which takes place in March 2013. Patrick lives and breathes online community, and has not only founded and managed a number of communities, but has also written a book about it. We’ve both been in the trenches for over 25 years between us, and we know first hand what it’s like to scale a growing community.
Some of the questions we are going to answer in this presentation include:
- As more and more information is added into the community, including potentially repetitive contributions, how does the organization of the community evolve?
- When a community grows substantially in size, there is a risk of losing or disenfranchising your core audience, and long term supporters. What steps can you take to minimize that risk?
- With greater contributions comes a greater burden on moderation. How can you scale your moderation team, and your policies, to ensure they are fairly and evenly applied to members?
- How does the community manager role change as a community grows?
- What can you do to tap into the power of your growing membership to help you scale your management of the community?
Now I have to add, I have never spoken anywhere before, so this is going to be a whole new experience for me and I am excited about the opportunity. (Although have to admit to some knee knocking at the same time )
So … if you have a vote going spare, and want to learn a thing or two about how to scale your community, and keep it active and vibrant, I would love it if you would vote for our panel. Voting ends August 31
Thanks so much for taking time to read this and for considering our panel.
If we can sneak in, it should be fun!
Thanks,
Patrick
Hi Sue, when you say community, do you mean discussion forum?
Hi Adi,
A discussion forum is one of the many platforms that one can host communities on. So if you are asking if I meant to use the term “discussion forum,” rather than community, the answer is no.
Brill
I think things like Wikis and Idea Markets deserve some loving from the community community.
Hope you don’t think I’m anti-forums btw
Guys like Galaxy Zoo have built fantastic communities that have delivered tangible results, with a forum a major part of that effort.
Absolutely, I know communities that totally exist on wiki software (and I’m not just talking about wikipedia
)