Taking Your Community Offline

Matt Warburton

Director, Community

May 2010

Objectives of Engaging your Community Offline

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Objectives•Engage and recognize power users•Education•Collect Feedback•Communicate news•Build loyalty and WOM•Put a face on your brand

Ways to interact offline

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Types of Events•User Advisory Panels•Meetups (Company Sponsored or Member Sponsored)•Parties•Town Halls•User Conferences•Official Member Organized Events

User Advisory Panels

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Objectives• Enable real-time, qualitative user feedback on a variety of

topics including product development and marketing.

Components• In-Person Meeting• Private Group/Discussion Board• Monthly Phone Calls

User Advisory Council Best Practices• 10-15 Users (in-person meeting) • 12 month term• All sign NDA• Communicate insights throughout organization• Close the loop with participants

Measurement• # ideas/suggestions generated• # ideas/suggestions implemented

Town Halls

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Description• Structured regional events

• Networking• Presentation• Town Hall style Q&A panel discussion

• Staff participation

Example• Yahoo! Group Moderator Town Hall

• Regional event• Select Group Owners/Moderators invited to attend• Networking game to encourage interaction• Presentation of product direction• Open mic Q&A with cross-functional team• Yahoo! branded gifts distributed

Meetups/Parties

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Description• Casual gatherings in restaurants, bars, etc• Regional• Can be company sponsored or member sponsored• Mostly social, with opportunity to incorporate educational elements• Important to align theme with business purpose• Staff participation

Examples• TVG Breeders Cup Meetup

• Casual event at sports bar near Breeders Cup event• All community members invited to attend• TVG branded merchandise was distributed• Members of community team and on-air talent attended

• Flickr Birthday party• Birthday party held in San Francisco gallery• Users submitted photos in advance that were displayed at

event• All Flickr Users were invited• Flickr staff participation

User Conferences

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Description• Large scale user conferences• Conference activities aligned with business• Multifaceted events with education, networking, and social

components• High level executive participation

Examples• eBay Live

• Annual user conference open to all users• 10-15k attendees• eBay charges small fee to ensure accurate headcount• Education, networking, social• Users collect & trade limited edition trading cards and pins• Keynote with CEO

• Microsoft MVP Conference• Annual conference to recognize and reward MVPs (users

that are very active in helping others in the MS forums)• Microsoft pays for the conference, but the MVPs pay for

their own travel• Education, networking, social• Keynote with CEO

Enabling “Official” Member Organized Events

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Description• Officially sanctioned member organized events• Company anoints individuals as ambassadors• Guidelines are established to ensure standards are met• Company provides signage and collateral• Company promotes events online• No Staff participation

Examples• Official Xing Events• Xing provides licenses to Ambassadors

• Active and dedicated Users who moderate large regional or topical groups

• Ambassadors organize events according to Xing guidelines• Regional or topic-based events• Xing promotes events on the website• Events focus on networking

• LinkedIn Live Events• Similar to Xing Events• Regional events• LinkedIn promotes events on website• Events focus on networking