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Thursday, February 09, 2006
Toral: Growing community networks
By Janette Toral
Digital Filipino
Rule Makers. Last Tuesday, XMG launched their ICT (information and communications technology) Executive Forum subscription program.
It intends to act as a venue for decision makers to pursue the advancement of management expertise and best practices in ICT with the goal of developing leaders of the future. It is interesting to find a subscription such as this, which includes briefings, analyst interaction and researches, among others.
As business survival becomes a combination of what you know, who you know and being able to persuade your target clients, the more knowledge and implementation assets you have, the better your chances are in achieving your goals.
PhilNITS Society. Yesterday, Maricor Akol, president of the Philippine National IT (information technology) Standards Foundation (PhilNITS), launched the PhilNITS Society. The group has 225 members — IT professionals who passed the PhilNITS/Japanese IT Standards Examination of the Philippines Foundation exam.
The group aims to foster technical knowledge and consultation among members. As it is composed of some of the best of the best in software development, I look forward to what this group of people has to offer in bolstering the competitiveness of the Philippines in this particular area.
Starting a Virtual Network or Community. I recently got asked to talk about the mechanics of running an online community. Although it may be easy to plug a forum or discussion board in a website, not having a clear purpose or goal in mind may not help you in building something that will last and grow in the long run. Remember to note the following when you plan your community:
* It must have a purpose. This will help keep you on track and not be distracted. If your purpose is to increase skill capability and generate business, do not allow it to get sidetracked.
* Campaign for quality membership. Eventually, it is a numbers game, especially if you are using it as an ace in getting sponsorships and resources.
* Quality topics. Keeping a discussion group active is not as easy as it sounds. The topics should appeal to the members’ interests and benefit them as well. There must be something for them to gain to convince them being part of the group is worth their time.
* Empower your community. The people in the community should be allowed to achieve a level of comfort where they can share their insights and knowledge among themselves. A silent community is a dead community. Be active in fostering and sharing knowledge.
* Innovate continuously. Offer value added services and activities to your members. Make your members proud to be part of the community. You know you succeed in this area if your community members are already inviting their peers to join the group.
* Set clear policies. Make sure to have clear policies on what actions will be taken against abusive members. The lack of policy may get back to you later on when problems start coming in.
Remember that you can be subjected to lawsuits, once copyright violations committed by members happen in your community. Policies should be made clear to those in the mailing list right from the start.
The moderator is the leader and peacekeeper of the community. He she is the last person expected to violate e-mail ethical rules, otherwise he will lose control. The moderator should set an example and be a role model.
* Be a role model. Also an important factor is for the moderator to keep his feet on the ground and remain humble at all times. An arrogant community leader will never grow and the community will lose relevance in the long run.
* Socialize and network. If you are charging membership fees, take time to meet and talk to your members. Find out what they want. What can you do to help them? What can you do to make the community more worthwhile or useful for them?
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (February 9, 2006 issue)
Write letter to the editor.Click here.
Join the Sun.Star message board.Click here. |
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