This is a presentation I gave at a Community Conference in 2010

1. Taking Your Community Offline
Matt Warburton
Director, Community
May 2010

2. Objectives of Engaging your Community Offline
Objectives
•Engage and recognize power users
•Education
•Collect Feedback
•Communicate news
•Build loyalty and WOM
•Put a face on your brand
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3. Ways to interact offline
Types of Events
•User Advisory Panels
•Meetups (Company Sponsored or Member Sponsored)
•Parties
•Town Halls
•User Conferences
•Official Member Organized Events
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4. User Advisory Panels
Objectives
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Enable real-time, qualitative user feedback on a variety of
topics including product development and marketing.
Components
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In-Person Meeting
Private Group/Discussion Board
Monthly Phone Calls
User Advisory Council Best Practices
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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
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5. Town Halls
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
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6. Meetups/Parties
Description
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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
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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
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7. User Conferences
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
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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
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8. Enabling “Official” Member Organized Events
Description
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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
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Similar to Xing Events
Regional events
LinkedIn promotes events on website
Events focus on networking
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