After a brief networking break the strategy track welcomed Bill Johnston of Dell, Mark Studness of Verizon, Adam Petrick of Puma and Caroline Dangson of The Dachis Group. This panel convened to discuss open versus closed communities. Some notable take-aways from the panel included:

Determining factors for building a private or public community include the purpose of the group and the content. Groups looking to do research or receive feed back on products might trend private, but groups looking to engage as much as possible or provide support might wish to be more open.

Debating the idea of building a branded community vs existing in public communities like Facebook?
Communities such as Facebook are like leased apartments - you can only make so many changes within the structure. Branded communities can be built to fit your needs.
The panel noted that communities that grew out of support forums can exist alongside twitter, Facebook and other properties-and each can serve a purpose towards driving sales or engagement.
Having different content plans for different platforms helps to keep users engaged across multiple touch-points. This strategy can include driving users back to a branded community.

Opportunities to integrate: Social logins such as facebook connect, and sharing buttons can be a starting point for integration. Credit or tangible rewards for participation on open or closed communities can also get or keep users engaged. Have a strategy for each community, and integrate as well.

Has your company built a branded community? What is your strategy?