Each week, marketers from around the world join the ExactTarget Nexus partner ecosystem on Twitter for a conversation about trends and best practices in the interactive marketing industry. We call the virtual coffee chat the Nexus Café.
Josh Plaskoff is a learning and organizational strategist with 20 years of experience working with cultivating communities in the workplace. He joined ExactTarget last summer as a Senior Manager of User Community Enablement. In that role he focuses on nurturing participation and connection through development of the 3Sixty platform, 3Sixty Live, and other community-based learning experiences and resources. Josh shared his knowledge of communities with us in a recent #NexusCafe chat, and a summary of the conversation is below:
@ETNexus: What is community? What does it look like?
@ETNexus: When execs ask marketers to build a "community" do they mean build it on a specific platform like Facebook?
@ETNexus: What are the first things one must consider to begin developing a sense of community among employees?
@ETNexus: Are there brands that do Community well?
@ETNexus: What are the boundaries that marketers should be aware of when working with their communities?
@ETNexus: Any examples of forcing identities to a community, who rejects it because they don’t buy-in?
@ETNexus: What if conflicts come up? How do you handle it?
To view the entire conversation, check out the full chat transcript.
Follow @ETNexus and join us for #NexusCafe every Thursday from 11am - 12pm EST to discuss emerging topics and trends from across the digital marketing world.
Josh Plaskoff is a learning and organizational strategist with 20 years of experience working with cultivating communities in the workplace. He joined ExactTarget last summer as a Senior Manager of User Community Enablement. In that role he focuses on nurturing participation and connection through development of the 3Sixty platform, 3Sixty Live, and other community-based learning experiences and resources. Josh shared his knowledge of communities with us in a recent #NexusCafe chat, and a summary of the conversation is below:
@ETNexus: What is community? What does it look like?
- @jdfordha: When marketers are asked to create a "community" it seems they often turn to Facebook to do so.
- @jplaskoff: @jdfordha You must realize that the #community is not Facebook -- it is what happens in Facebook. Common mistake.
@ETNexus: When execs ask marketers to build a "community" do they mean build it on a specific platform like Facebook?
- @jplaskoff: I start with the #community first and then go to the platform later. Technology is much easier than the social
- @jplaskoff: You must balance two things: the business goal and what #community members will find meaningful and valuable.
@ETNexus: What are the first things one must consider to begin developing a sense of community among employees?
- @jplaskoff: Questions I ask: who are they? What do they value? What do they do in common? What is relevant to them?
- @jplaskoff: I start with a core team who create a charter -- what they are about, value, how they operate, objectives, etc.
- @karafindley: Would it ever be possible to start big? Or do they always have to start small?
- @jplaskoff: @karafindley Possible, yes. Difficult, yes. Stronger sense of community involves intimacy which is hard in crowds.
@ETNexus: Are there brands that do Community well?
- @jdfordha: Brands like #Apple seem to have a natural energy. I would imagine creating a large community around that is much easier.
- @jplaskoff: @jdfordha Yes, but they took time to get there. Harley Davidson is another -- brand (identity) on their sleeves, literally!
- @briandshelton: I would also argue that @Zappos is another gleaming example - community inside and out.
@ETNexus: What are the boundaries that marketers should be aware of when working with their communities?
- @jplaskoff: Businesses are still new the notion of community. I took my lead from clergy, non-profits, and social organizations.
- @jplaskoff: Companies have to get out of their own heads/interests and realize that identity is the purview of the customer.
@ETNexus: Any examples of forcing identities to a community, who rejects it because they don’t buy-in?
- @jplaskoff: Think about doctors who have a very strong doctor #identity. Doctors first, organization people second.
- @jplaskoff: A hospital/company tries to attach to company culture as a #community expecting them to abandon their doctor identity.
@ETNexus: What if conflicts come up? How do you handle it?
- @jplaskoff: Most think that #communities are conflict-free. Wrong. Conflict helps evolution and growth. How it is handled is important.
- @jplaskoff: Conflict requires open dialog, negotiation, trust, and respect. Need to be talked out and alternative tried.
- @jplaskoff: Must be open to change, experimentation, give/ take, and care of all members. The whole is greater than the sum of parts.
To view the entire conversation, check out the full chat transcript.
Follow @ETNexus and join us for #NexusCafe every Thursday from 11am - 12pm EST to discuss emerging topics and trends from across the digital marketing world.
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