Flashback Friday: Key Take Aways from Community Pros Panel

Social Media and Community 2.0 Strategies is taking place April 4-6, 2011, in Boston, Massachusetts. Fridays leading up to the event, we’ll be recapping one of the sessions from the 2010 Social Media & Community 2.0 Strategies Event. For more information on this year's event, download the brochure.

A Look Back at SMC2010: Monday, May 3, 2010, Key Take Aways from Community Pros Panel

The concluding session of the day at the Social Media & Community 2.0 Conference was a panel of seasoned community managers. The panel addressed questions ranging from stakeholder support to community culture and transparency to recruiting internal evangelists. Key points from the discussion:

• When you launch a community, you’re saying, “We’re willing to listen ... and listen in public.”
• The biggest Do Not Do for a new online community is over promise what the community will provide or do.
• A water cooler is often the number one entry point into a community—it goes a long way toward getting people on board. It’s opinion based ("I like this, I don’t like that"); it's a safe start.
• Determine who the fish are and who the sharks are and structure the community to protect the fish.
• A lot of participation and community work doesn’t appear on the Web site; it's behind the scenes.
• There’s still nothing like getting on the phone or chatting face to face.

Looking forward to a great day tomorrow!

Looking back at the past year, did you incorporate this advice into your community management strategy? What advice would you share moving forward?