You are here: Home / Archives for Web 2.0 Expo

Lessons from real world communities

December 16, 2008 By 2 Comments

To open our workshops about creating online communities, we at Beeline Labs start with an exercise that asks people to reflect on what it was like to be part of a real world community or group that they loved — could be anything from a summer camp to a college group to  a sports team.

After people share what was great about their group experiences, we explain that those same attributes are what make online communities great.  The magic is the experience with people, not the technology/venue, not the number of members or the amount of participation or activities.

Here’s what people at the Web 2.0 Expo/New York loved about their real world groups and communities:

  • Shared purpose and experience
  • Trust
  • Feel like it’s safe place to share
  • Respect for differences of opinion
  • Passion for purpose or vision
  • Friendship
  • Ability to take or give
  • Cool place to hang out
  • Failure-free zones
  • Excitement of finding diversity in a common group
  • Openness of people in group
  • Constantly something new going on
  • Affirming: being part of group adds to your own identity
  • Opportunity to learn
  • Common ground rules respected by all
  • Common problems
  • Thrill of achieving something big together
  • Initial investment, emotional or monetary, needed
  • Good coordinator of leader

Filed Under: Communities, Social media strategy Tagged With: , , , , ,

Events! Word of Mouth, Innovation, Web 2.0

July 10, 2008 By 1 Comment

I don’t know about you but I feel overwhelmed by the number of events and conferences out there. So here’s some editing: here are three where you’ll learn a lot, meet some interesting people, and feel that it was well worth your time and money.

  • Word of Mouth Crash Course: My friend and WOM expert Andy Sernovitz is hosting a small-group word of mouth marketing seminar on July 30 and Sept. 4 in Chicago. Usually he only does private training for companies at a very large price, so this is a rare chance for 50 people to get a good overview of WOM. (If you use this code when you register you’ll get a $250 discount: “welovebeelinelabs.” For more: http://events.gaspedal.com.
  • BIF-4 Collaborative Innovation Summit: Oct. 15-16 in Providence, RI. This is an amazing two-day conference that I think is better than TED. Hosted this year by Bruce Nussbaum, editor of Business Week and author Bill Taylor, speakers are fascinating innovators from business, science, education, the arts, non-profits. It will open your head up in a big way.
  • Web 2.0 Expo is coming to New York for the first time, Sept. 16-19. We at Beeline Labs are running a three-hour experiential workshop on the morning Sept. 16 on how to create and run thriving online communities. Based on private community-building workshops we’ve recently done you’ll come away with a blueprint for creating a community for your organization. Hope you can join us! Drop me a line, lkelly@beelinelabs.com, if you want to know more.

Filed Under: Communities, Innovation, Word of mouth Tagged With: , , , , ,

Sun's Schwartz: not about blogging, but what you say

April 26, 2008 By Leave a Comment

[photopress:Schwartz_1_2.jpg,full,pp_image] The novelty of blogging is about to wear off, said Sun CEO Jonathan Schwartz at this week’s Web 2.o Expo in San Francisco. It’s becoming just another way to communicate.

The bigger point, said Schwartz, is having something provocative to say.

“If you say undifferentiated things that are expected, then you shouldn’t expect anyone to care.”

Amen. So many businesses are obsessed about how to use blogs or social networks that they overlook the fact that you have to have something interesting to say. The point of my book Beyond Buzz is just this:

in today’s “talk” world — online and in person — having an interesting or provocative point of view is as essential, maybe more so, than traditional marketing and communications “messages,” elevator statements, value props, etc.

A provocative point of view gets attention, gets people involved, and speeds understanding. As Schwartz knows, if you want to get interest, be more interesting.

Filed Under: Communicating, Conversational Marketing, Language, Leadership, Point of View & Messaging Tagged With: , , , , ,