Web Content 2008 Presentation

Wednesday was day two of Web Content 2008, and I presented in the afternoon on the rise of user-contributed content and community, and the impact that’s had on content management.

I had thought about calling it “From Content Management to Community Management” or maybe “Content Management is Dead” but ended up instead with: “Upload, Tag, Share, Discuss: Content Management in the Age of Participation.”
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Online Communities Whitepaper

New whitepaper on the Optaros site today (free registration required):

Online Communities: What Should a Retailer Do?

Abstract:

Most retailers have found success in providing online product ratings and reviews, and many have dabbled in engaging directly with participants in social networks. Many retailers are seeking to do more in the area of community, but the lack of clarity in both ROI and specific implementation ideas are causing many to pause and look for guidance.

This paper describes two specific community concepts that leading retailers are beginning to successfully deploy with positive economic outcomes—private event retailing and fan networks.

Prepare for the New Openness

Optaros is sponsoring (with Red Hat) a webinar on Wednesday: Are Your Products Open or Closed? How to Respond to the New Openness

Registration (free) is required.
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Think Globally, Meet Locally

It’s been a busy week in the Boston area for me, with lots of “meat space” (not my favorite description, as a vegan) or “real world” (not my favorite description as a net citizen) meetings to go with various online groups.
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What defines a community?

Via the “They Said It” column in Linux Journal Issue 161 (Sept. 2007 - I’m a bit behind in my reading), I came across this bit of wisdom from Adam Fields on The First Rule of Community:

There’s really only one rule for community as far as I’m concerned, and it’s this - in order to call some gathering of people a “community”, it is a requirement that if you’re a member of the community, and one day you stop showing up, people will come looking for you to see where you went.

Brilliant, though as he himself notes there are many offline communities where the same could not be said. (Come to think of it, I believe I’ve worked in companies which might fail that test).