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- Online Communities: Surviving and Thriving in a Downturn (Part 1)October 3 2008
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Unfortunately, there has been a lot of very grim economic news of late. The purpose of this post isn't to give an overview of the current situation, but to highlight possible implications of a slower economy on business, and by extension on online community budgets. More importantly, I want to start a discussion about Community Managers can help their community's survive and thrive during the downturn.
We have seen this cycle before, and relatively recently. When the web 1.0 bubble burst, many "community"-based startups ceased to exist, and spending on online community development in the enterprise all but dried up. From personal experience, most of the community initiatives at Autodesk were suspended in the closing months of 2001, and we shifted focus to our discussion groups and some customer-generated content activities.
What was different with Community 2.0?
By late 2004 and early 2005, key changes in in the marketplace, in organizations attitudes and in customer (user / people online / etc) behavior led to an explosive growth of social media, use of social networking and increased online community building activities by many organizations.
Key factors were (IMHO, I won't list all):
• Cost of platforms dramatically decreased, and in some cases fell to zero
• Consumer and workplace broadband reached ~100% penetration
• Consumers accepted less formal content, trust in "people like me" exceeded authoritities - Online Community Expert Interview: Tom Diederich, Cadence Design SystemsSeptember 24 2008
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This month's Expert Interview is with Tom Diederich, social media/Web community manager at Cadence Design Systems in San Jose, Calif. Tom recently relaunched the Cadence online community with great success, and he shares insights from the launch in this interview.
Tom was drawn to online communities during the Internet's early days. He began "blogging" in 1996 (though he called it his "online journal") when working in Tokyo as a journalist to keep friends and family informed of his adventures there. Since then, Tom has worked to build online community at various companies including Intuit, Symantec and Cadence Design Systems. He holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the Ohio State University.
Q: You recently re-launched the Cadence community, and have had a great success in attracting members. Can you talk about the techniques you used for launch and growth?
I spent a lot of time working with power users – educating them about the new community (which unlike the old site incorporates Web 2.0 technologies). Many of the enhancements came from the community, so they were eager to see their ideas brought to life. Once they had a sneak peek, they became evangelists and really did most of the promoting.
But I also spent a great deal of time talking to bloggers in Cadence’s market, the so-called “electronic design automatio - Marketing & Online Communities 2008: Initial Speakers & Topics AnnouncedSeptember 22 2008
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The agenda for the Marketing & Online Communities conference is coming together nicely. The conference will be held November 5th at the Tribeca Grand in New York City. The event is intended to be an informative and interactive discussion of the intersection of marketing and online communities. If you are an agency seeking to better understand the possibilities of online communities, a brand manager looking to engage in community-building activities, or a community expert seeking to expand marketing relationships, this conference will be of value.
Session and Breakout Topics will include:
• Designing for Conversation
• The Social Web: How Consumers and Brands are Connecting Online
• Secrets of Successful Community Campaigns
• Community Generated Media: Giving Customers a Voice and Companies Insight
• Integrating Customer Communities in to the Marketing Mix
• Measuring Social Marketing Programs
• Best Practices for Adding Advertising to Your Community
• Engaging with Mass Social Media
• Worst Case Survival: What To Do When Things Go Horribly Wrong
Confirmed session leads include:
• Heather Gold – subversive.com
• Elisa Camahort Page – BlogHer
• Deb Shulz - Independent
• Heather Lutrell – 3jane / indieclick
• Belinda Lang – Amer - Online Community Compensation: Salaries By RegionSeptember 18 2008
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The Online Community Compensation study was initiated in July of 2008 as part of our ongoing research efforts with the Online Community Research Network. Our intention of the study was to get a broad look at online community compensation, factors that effect compensation, and the current environment of the community team and community staff roles.
I posted key highlights from the report a few weeks ago.
Since then, we have been looking at other cuts of the data. One of the most interesting has been how salaries differ by region.
Key findings from the data
• The highest average / median annual salary in the USA comes from the research participants located in the northwest region. The average salary for the northwest region was $90k with a median of $90k.
• The lowest average / median annual salary in the USA comes from the research participants located in the southeast region. The average salary for the southeast region was $72k and the median was only $67k.
• There were general peaks on both the low ($0-$25k) and high ends (more than $150k) for all regions except the southwest regions.
• The northwest region peaked at t - Online Community: Compensation StudyAugust 26 2008
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The Online Community Compensation study was initiated in July of 2008 as part of our ongoing research efforts with the Online Community Research Network. The intention of the study was to get a broad look at online community compensation, factors that effect compensation, and the current environment of the community team and community staff roles.
We received approximately 225 responses. Participants represent a healthy swath of the types of organizations participating in online community building activities, including: large software companies, large community destination sites, niche community sites, platform providers, interactive marketing firms and independent consultants.
Key findings from the report:
• The majority of the respondents are: Female (55%) vs. Male (45%),
• The majority (61%) of respondents ranged in age from 31-50 years of age.
• Most of the respondents have more than 5 years of experience, completed a Bachelors Degree, and work 41-50 hours per week.
• The average Salary of the respondents was $81k with a median of $72.5k. There were peaks on both the low ($0-$25k) and high ends (more than $150k), and then also at $60-$65k.
• Women are earning only 91% of what men are earning; women averaged $77k, and the men averaged $85k. The average annual salary for all participants was almost $81k.
• Most