TiER1 Performance Solutions » Community

$40k Prize for 40th Anniversary of the Internet

John Krebsbach — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 17:00:28 +0000

On Saturday, December 5th, 2009 at 10 a.m. ET, the DARPA Network Challenge will launch, literally. To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Internet, the DoD research agency is hosting a contest to see how social networking can aid in solving time-sensitive problems with a geographically dispersed team.

To claim the $40,000 prize, you (and presumably some some friends spread across the country) have to be the first to find 10 red weather balloons tethered to the ground. So if you’re in need of $40k (you’ll have to split it with your friends, of course) and weekend plans, check out the official DARPA link above. CNN also has a story about it here: http://edition.cnn.com/2009/TECH/12/04/darpa.balloon.challenge/

Good luck!

Social Community Leap Frog And Tips For Retention

ebrown — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 18:40:10 +0000

[I almost named this article, Why Social Communities Are Fickle.]

There is a trend amongst online social community environments. As new features and functionality are added to the sites, users are “jumping ship” (or more accurately – “jumping from ship to ship”) for the lure of the latest and greatest. This trend seems to have some baffled. It’s a migratory time.

New Game in Town
I liken this to the software application wars reminiscent of Macromedia FreeHand and Adobe Illustrator, QuarkXpress and InDesign, or Microsoft Word and WordPerfect, that leap-frog over one another in new features and functionality with each release. However, the difference then was that fiscally you were tied to a certain software package and were least likely to jump over to another because you knew with the next upgrade you’d have access to some of the same competitor features, if not more.

Then along came “competitive upgrades”. Now, here was the chance for many to switch to the other manufacturer without a huge outlay of cash. Software companies found themselves in a new game.

In today’s world, with RIA, Ajax, Python, and other Web 2.0 applications and environments, the ease to switch can be accomplished on a whim. Is it any wonder that the abandonment rate of community sites is so prevalent? Why stay with one when you have new and better features with another?

Fickle Crowd
Today’s Web-savvy generation can be a tough group to predict. Viral communication and change for the latest-and-greatest seem to be commonplace.

How are community developers going to retain their communities? Should retention really be the end goal? If your business model is monetary gain, you’re probably screaming, “Yes, the goal is to keep people!”

If so, how?

Below are a list of questions to ask yourself, followed by a list of tips that you might find useful.

Questions:

What are you currently doing to retain members? Is it working?
What are you planning on doing to keep members? Is that your goal?
Who is your competition and what are they doing?
What member loyalty programs do you have in place? Are they working? Why/why not?
What are you doing to reward new members?
Is your target niche too narrow? Too broad?
Is your backend technology flexible enough to promote change? Do you have the funds to change?

Tips:

Define who you are and make no apologies for it.
Define who your members are and who you want them to be.
Stay on task and do not change with “every little whim”.
Be willing to change #1-2 if needed.
Talk to your members — treat them like royalty.
Put your money where your mouth is.
Build your technology in modular fashion — think plug & play.

I hope you have found this article of use. It is truly challenging garnering community members. Stay flexible, do not be afraid of reality, and above all have FUN!

Using Social Networks To Support Training And Competencies

Rod Ford — Tue, 20 May 2008 23:05:37 +0000

In a previous post, I asked the question: How can social network environments be used to support competency models that include attitudes and behaviors?

With the variety of social network environments (SNEs) available in today’s Web 2.0 milieu, the possibilities for leveraging them in the support of competency models and training initiatives may be infinite. In this post, I will focus on two or three of the SNEs and may choose to write about some of the others later. That said, I would encourage you to comment to this post about your ideas for these and other SNEs.

Weblogs and Blogging

Weblogs (blogs) are easy to implement but are challenging to leverage in support of competency models and training initiatives. I say “challenging” because blogging requires an individual or small group of knowledge experts to write content and keep it up to date. I think they are a very valuable tool, but when using them to support training initiatives, it is important to:

Identify potential authors
Create a writing schedule
Remind authors when its time to write
Link relevant courses to the blog
Encourage readers to comment
Assign someone to identify comments that need a response from an expert

Wikis

I’ve personally worked with at least 9 different wiki tools. Some of them I’ve simply written inside of, others I’ve implemented for clients or simply for my own understanding of their usefulness. While these tools are a bit more challenging to implement than a blog, I believe they are enormously important for supporting competency models and training initiatives.

I recently read an article, that described how P&G saved $500,000 annually by moving the technical support for a particular internal tool from phone based support to wiki-based support. I think the same can be true in supporting learners in the attainment of competencies.

Wikipedia offers an excellent example of how a wiki can be used to support the acquisition of knowledge. In a business environment, an internal wiki could give users the opportunity to locate content quickly and because any member can edit the content the community can monitor, correct and update the content.

Facebook

When I first logged onto Facebook, I really didn’t get how powerful of a tool this can be. I recall telling coworkers that its not really all that valuable for us. However, now that I’ve been using Facebook for a few months, I find myself on it nearly every day. I actually met some men from the church I attend on Facebook before I met them in person.

One way that Facebook can be used to support competencies and learning is through the groups and pages feature provided. These features allow users to interact about subjects that are important to them. But it also allows them to get to know one another through the information shared on personal pages.

Before Hurricane Katrina destroyed parts of New Orleans, I was an associate professor in Tulane University’s online program. Over the six years I taught in their online program, one of the biggest challenges I faced was encouraging students to collaborate and discuss the content. In a classroom, this happens almost automatically, but in an online course, it has to be fostered. If Facebook would have been available then, I would have used it to drive the discussions for my class. I believe when students know what one another look like and some of their interests, the sense of knowing someone and participating in something with them increases dramatically.

Through some of the Facebook groups I participate in, I have been impressed by how quickly you can find and get to know someone. And how it breaks down some of the barriers to online collaboration.

Conclusion

I’m sure there are more ways to leverage these tools just as there are many other tools available online that can be leveraged. What ideas do you have?

NextGen eLearning And World Of Warcraft®

ebrown — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 18:59:07 +0000

eLearning, Community development, Technology, and Fun — all these impact and work together in changing the exciting landscape of online learning for the next generation. Often, I talk with organizational leaders who look puzzled when I start discussing the unification of these practices. Most take each of the areas above and put them in separate silos. At best, they merge one or two with another, but rarely will they see all four areas working together. In an article I recently read, it was evident that Rob Pardo and the team at Blizzard Entertainment understand this unifying idea.

Community
With more than 6 million subscribers, Blizzard’s World of Warcraft (WoW) has hit on something more than just geeks and gaming. Pardo, himself is part of a subgroup (in WoW terms, a Guild) that communicates regularly outside the game.

“Outside the game we stay in touch using online forums, a wiki, blogs, and a mailing list – plus a group voice chat, which I have connected to my home stereo so I hear the guilds banter while I’m cooking dinner. I have never been this addicted to anything before,” says Pardo.

Keeping It Fun
According to Pardo, there are four basic draws to this online environment: the ability to socialize, an achievement system that gives users an incentive to improve, complex and satisfying strategy that makes playing fun, and an underlying narrative that users want to learn more about. Add to this the ability for the user to customize his/her experience and interface and you have a winning formula for retention and success.

According to Joi Ito, some call online gaming the new golf, but it is more than that…

“…it is millions of people with diverse backgrounds collaborating, socializing, and learning while having fun. It represents the future of real time collaborative teams and leadership in an always-on, diversity-intensive, real-time environment. World of Warcraft is a glimpse into our future.”

As evidenced in this environment, here is a case-study/incubator for NextGen learning paradigms. The disciplines of eLearning, Community development, and Technology under the umbrella of Fun are not separate functional areas. The fact is they all work together in tandem.