Communities are supportive networks of people that can be built around anything. You can tap into the power of community to meet new people, create relationships, collaborate on projects, raise awareness for a cause, improve your business, support your customers, and above all else, make a real impact on the lives of others.
Consider this session a fun kick-off into the world of community creation. We’ll start with some high-level theory, slowly descend into some examples of successful communities, and then gently touch down with practical resources for starting your own community initiatives.
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Hi! I’m Andy.
I’m a caffeine-addicted web geek
who loves marketing, design, code,
and building communities of all
kinds.
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2010-Present:
WPToronto &
WordCamp Toronto
All WordPress, all the time!
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Around 2010, I learned something important:
Creating communities
can be more than a
hobby.
8.
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What am I doing now?
● Community at GoDaddy Pro
● Organizing WPToronto & WordCamp
Toronto
● Content & Community at Agency Chat
● Supporting Lab T.O. Co-working
Note: This presentation is 100% me,
Andy McIlwain, and is not associated with
any of the organizations on this slide!
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Hopefully that gives
you some context!
Now let’s get into it, shall we?
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Three things we’ll look at today:
1. Community Theory
The “thinking” behind everything.
2. Community Planning
Things you can do to launch your own community.
3. Community Examples
For reference and inspiration.
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What is a Community?
“A persistent, extended network of supportive
people spanning multiple events, online hubs,
geographies, organizations, etc.”
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Why create a
Community?
Different question: What problems are you
solving by bringing people together?
...there’s your answer.
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Sense of Community
1. Membership. Knowing who is and isn’t a
member.
2. Influencing the group and being influenced
by it.
3. Fulfillment. Getting what you need.
4. Emotional Connection. Feeling like you
belong.
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Types of Community
1. Interest. Sharing a passion or hobby.
2. Action. Bringing about change.
3. Place. Geographic boundaries.
4. Practice. Same profession or activities.
5. Circumstance. External
events/situations.
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Community Growth Stages
1. Hierarchy. One-to-many. Think
“audience”.
2. Emergent. Responding to external
triggers.
3. Community. Participate and create.
4. Networked. Tied into everything you do.
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The People
Who are your community members?
Business: Customers, Employees
Podcast: Audience, Paid Subscribers,
Guests
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The Vision
Why does your community exist?
Speak with your stakeholder groups,
internal (company/team) and
external (members).
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Stakeholder Questions
● What are your overall goals?
● How can community support your
goals?
● How do we measure goal progress?
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The Principles
How will you create a supportive
environment?
Determine the values of your community.
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Protect Your Principles
● Content Guidelines for different
groups.
● Code of Conduct for expected
behaviour.
● Voice and Tone guide for overall
“vibe”.
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Presence with BOPs
● Base is your home (primary activity).
● Outposts are online (active, engaged).
● Passports are passive (low engagement).
Kudos to Chris Brogan for developing this framework!
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The Activities
What will you do to encourage
participation and contribution?
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Ideas for Activities
● Q&A Discussions (e.g. AMAs)
● Curated Content / Sharing (Reddit style)
● Member Stories (Case studies, interviews)
● In-Person Events (e.g. Meetups)
● Live Conversations (e.g. Google Hangouts,
Blab)
● Games & Competitions (e.g. contests,
challenges)
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Working in Phases
1. Planning. Answer the questions.
2. Foundation. Build, recruit, participate.
3. Early growth. Recognize members and
team up.
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Creating Communities: In A
NutshellSense of Community:
Membership, Influence, Fulfillment of Needs,
Emotional Connection
Five Community Types:
Interest, Action, Place, Practice, Circumstance
Community Growth Stages:
Hierarchy, Emergent, Community, Networked
Incentivizing Participation:
Status, Access, Power, and Stuff
Types of Community Members:
Competitors, Achievers, Socialites, Explorers
Planning a community? Answer the
following:
● Who are your community members?
● Why does your community exist?
● How will you create a supportive
community?
● Where will your community gather?
● What activities will trigger participation?
● When will all of the work be done?
Looking for more information? Check out:
● CMX Hub
● FeverBee
● Community Roundtable
● Coral Project
● Community series on Wikipedia
● Ant’s Eye View on SlideShare
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Some final words...
Communities take time.
They’re an investment, a long-term play*.
*Kudos to Dev Basu for the metaphor!
Communities evolve.
Embrace change and new opportunities.
Communities are complicated.
Prepare yourself for challenges. They’re half the fun!
Sense of Community
There are four elements that make up a “sense of community”.
Membership: Boundaries, emotional safety, identification/belonging, investment, symbols.
Influence: Members influence the group, and are influenced by the group.
Integration / Fulfillment of Needs: Rewarded for participation.
Emotional Connection: Shared history and shared participation.
Source: http://www.wright-house.com/psychology/sense-of-community.html
Types of Communities
And there are five types of communities:
Interest: People who share the same interest or passion.
Action: People trying to bring about change.
Place: People brought together by geographic boundaries.
Practice: People in the same profession or undertake the same activities.
Circumstance. People brought together by external events/situations.
Community Growth
There are four stages of community maturity, especially when we’re talking about branded/customer communities. (Note that different sources will provide slightly different takes on community growth or evolution; this is the first one that really “clicked” for me, so I use it.)
Hierarchy: “One-to-many” approach. Less about community and more about audience.
Emergent: “Respond” approach. Begin light participation, but still mostly one-to-many.
Community: “Engage and produce” approach. Community team works with others.
Networked: “Part of the DNA” approach. There’s a community aspect to everything.
Source: Community Maturity Model (Community Roundtable)
Feverbee’s model looks at the community in a vacuum, rather than as part of a larger organization.
Rewarding / Incentivizing Participation
For this we’re going to tap into a gamification model called SAPS, or “Status Access Power Stuff”. These are the motivational levers that encourage people to participate in a game, or in our case, in a community.
Status. Recognition and reputation.
Access. Information, people, or other resources.
Power. are abilities, things that a member can do.
Stuff. Physical items as a reward for participation.
Worth noting that “stuff” is the most expensive and least effective. Discounts and freebies only motivate people for a short period of time.
Types of Community Members
Sticking with the gamification references here: Bartle’s player types align nicely to the type of members you’ll find in a community: the competitors (killers), the achievers, the socializers, and the explorers.
Competitors: Focused on winning and competition. Motivated by leaderboards and ranks.
Achievers: Focused on status and accomplishing goals. Motivated by achievements.
Socialites: Focused on making friends and contacts. Motivated by friendslists and chat.
Explorers: Focused on discovering the unknown. Motivated by obscure achievements.
Source: http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/6474/personality_and_play_styles_a_.php?print=1
Illustration of the Community Planning ecosystem.
Think about all of the different groups that will be present in your community. For a business that may be customers, employees, partners, vendors, and the general public. For a podcast, it may be your audience, paid subscribers, sponsors, guests, hosts, and production team.
This is the grand vision for your community, the mission or goals that you’re trying to achieve. To determine what your goals are, speak to your stakeholders. If you’re working within an organization, the stakeholders may be the people who control your budget, or whose approval is required for the work to be done.
Some questions to ask:
What are the overall goals for what you’re working on?
In what ways do you think community could support those goals?
How do we measure progress towards those goals?
This is the grand vision for your community, the mission or goals that you’re trying to achieve. To determine what your goals are, speak to your stakeholders. If you’re working within an organization, the stakeholders may be the people who control your budget, or whose approval is required for the work to be done.
Some questions to ask:
What are the overall goals for what you’re working on?
In what ways do you think community could support those goals?
How do we measure progress towards those goals?
How will your community achieve this vision?
This gets into determining the guidelines / values / principles of the community.
Content guidelines for various groups (e.g. members, employees, moderators).
Code of conduct establishing rules for expected behaviour and related penalties.
Voice and tone setting the overall “vibe” for what your community stands for.
How will your community achieve this vision?
This gets into determining the guidelines / values / principles of the community.
Content guidelines for various groups (e.g. members, employees, moderators).
Code of conduct establishing rules for expected behaviour and related penalties.
Voice and tone setting the overall “vibe” for what your community stands for.
Where will the community gather?
Alright! So thus far we know who your community members are, why the community exists, and how you will engage with community members. This should provide some decent information to help guide your choice in where your community should have a presence.
There’s a model for this called BOPs, coined by Chris Brogan. It stands for Bases, Outposts, and Passports.
Bases are controlled by you and where you’re primarily present, like a community forum or blog.
Outposts are where you’re present and actively engaged, e.g. Facebook or Twitter.
Passports are where you’re present, but not actively engaged, e.g. Google Plus.
Where will the community gather?
Alright! So thus far we know who your community members are, why the community exists, and how you will engage with community members. This should provide some decent information to help guide your choice in where your community should have a presence.
There’s a model for this called BOPs, coined by Chris Brogan. It stands for Bases, Outposts, and Passports.
Bases are controlled by you and where you’re primarily present, like a community forum or blog.
Outposts are where you’re present and actively engaged, e.g. Facebook or Twitter.
Passports are where you’re present, but not actively engaged, e.g. Google Plus.
What specific activities will your community have?
These are the specific activities that you will facilitate through the community. Another way to look at it is to think of an activity plan or content calendar. Some content types to think about:
Q&A Discussions (e.g. AMAs)
Curated Content / Sharing (pulling from other sources)
Member Stories (case studies, interviews, showcasing projects)
In-Person Events (meetups, socials, conferences)
Live Conversations (e.g. via Hangouts, Blab, Skype, or elsewhere)
Games & Competitions (answer the question, “this or that”, caption contests, etc.)
Over time more organic activities will pop up as members begin taking the initiative to start things on their own. At the outset, though, it’s up to you -- the community builder -- to facilitate these activities.
What specific activities will your community have?
These are the specific activities that you will facilitate through the community. Another way to look at it is to think of an activity plan or content calendar. Some content types to think about:
Q&A Discussions (e.g. AMAs)
Curated Content / Sharing (pulling from other sources)
Member Stories (case studies, interviews, showcasing projects)
In-Person Events (meetups, socials, conferences)
Live Conversations (e.g. via Hangouts, Blab, Skype, or elsewhere)
Games & Competitions (answer the question, “this or that”, caption contests, etc.)
Over time more organic activities will pop up as members begin taking the initiative to start things on their own. At the outset, though, it’s up to you -- the community builder -- to facilitate these activities.
When will all of this be done?
This is your community’s timeline. You’ll go through multiple phases:
Planning: Essentially what we’re talking about here, putting all the pieces in place, answering all of the questions above through 1:1 conversations with stakeholders and potential members.
Foundation-Laying: Start setting up your BOPs, producing content, identifying earlybird community members, and making connections. Related: Be a tummeler.
Early-Stage Growth: Recognizing community contributors and setting up mutually-beneficial partnerships with other groups. This helps give your group more exposure.
When will all of this be done?
This is your community’s timeline. You’ll go through multiple phases:
Planning: Essentially what we’re talking about here, putting all the pieces in place, answering all of the questions above through 1:1 conversations with stakeholders and potential members.
Foundation-Laying: Start setting up your BOPs, producing content, identifying earlybird community members, and making connections. Related: Be a tummeler.
Early-Stage Growth: Recognizing community contributors and setting up mutually-beneficial partnerships with other groups. This helps give your group more exposure.
From that point on you’re balancing a mix of iterative improvement (listening to member feedback, looking at reports, and making tweaks as necessary)