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	<title>Redcatco &#187; community</title>
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		<title>A Perspective on Community</title>
		<link>http://redcatco.com/blog/leadership/a-perspective-on-community/</link>
		<comments>http://redcatco.com/blog/leadership/a-perspective-on-community/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 01 Apr 2011 16:54:31 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Benjamin Ellis</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[leadership]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[communication]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[community]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Social Computing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[social networking]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://redcatco.com/?p=1995</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[This post is a narrative on thoughts about community in and around the on-line world. It&#8217;s not complete, possibly not coherent, and is long. However, it does represents the output of a fascinating and thought provoking roundtable discussion convened by Bernie Mitchell, in the company of Misae Richwoods, Simon Darling, Filip Matous, Julie Hall at [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>This post is a narrative on thoughts about community in and around the on-line world. It&#8217;s not complete, possibly not coherent, and is long. However, it does represents the output of a fascinating and thought provoking roundtable discussion convened by <a href="http://twitter.com/berniejmitchell">Bernie Mitchell</a>, in the company of <a href="http://twitter.com/#!/minxymoggy">Misae Richwoods</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/captaindarling">Simon Darling</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/filipmatous">Filip Matous</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/julie_hall">Julie Hall</a> at the <a href="http://twitter.com/moogrill">Moo Grill</a>. Use it for reflection and debate. Tear it apart,  support it or add to it &#8211; that is what it is here for! These reflections are driven from my perspective that all business are communities that operate within communities, and the experience of a few years of running local community meet ups, both digital (TVSMC) and non-digital (as a former Toastmasters International president). It also draws on my recent talks at <a href="http://www.community.wearetechmap.com/" rel="nofollow">Techmap</a> and the <a href="http://www.networkinginberkshire.co.uk/xn/detail/4342604:Event:9232?xg_source=activity">Berkshire Social Media Conference</a> (Paul Allen&#8217;s blog on it <a href="http://www.paulallenmedia.com/2011/02/204/" rel="nofollow">here</a>). Consider it a kind of late Beta!</p>
<p>One of the recurrent themes whenever I get drawn into discussions around community, specifically the &#8216;on-line&#8217; sort, is that of <strong>audience versus community</strong>. It is all too often that I hear marketing folks talk about their audience as if it was a community, and occasionally their community as if it was an audience. To my mind the two are very different things: an audience is gathered to listen; a community gathers to contribute. One is there to consume. One is there to produce. I don&#8217;t see one as any more worthy than the other &#8211; <strong>sometimes I want to be in an audience, sometimes I want to be in a community</strong>. You probably wouldn&#8217;t fancy trying to co-create with Take That or the Foo Fighters &#8211; you&#8217;re there to jump up and down and go deaf, or something like that. Conversely, if I go to a vendor&#8217;s user group event, I wouldn&#8217;t expect to get shouted at or drowned out.</p>
<p>What emerged from the evening&#8217;s discussions was that there are many different types of community. That might seem blindingly obvious, but you wouldn&#8217;t think so from much of the writing in the social media world. There are motivated communities &#8211; self motivated, or externally motivated (i.e. lead) &#8211; and there are unmotivated communities. Unmotivated communities rarely last, and are rarely &#8216;rewarding&#8217; to be part of. Communities fundamentally exist to do something, or at least to support or preserve something.</p>
<p>My personal favourite minimal definition of community is <strong>&#8216;a group of people gathered around a purpose.&#8217;</strong> I like it because of its simplicity, and because it is so actionable. The purpose might be to change the world (thank you to <a href="http://twitter.com/#!/minxymoggy">Misae Richwoods</a> for raising the bar on that one), or it might be to exchange tips and stories about a new gadget. Another flash of the blindingly obvious was the realisation that communities are for a period in time. People join, their circumstances change, and they move on. They may stay for a long time, or they may move through swiftly. Similarly, a campaign-based community may have a relatively short life or a lifestyle-driven community a very long one.</p>
<p>The process of joining and leaving a community is not usually a binary one. <strong>It is a journey, and those who run communities need to be conscious of that</strong>. The moments of leaving or closing are points of difference, and potential friction (or explosion) if they aren&#8217;t handled well. That thought touches on many things, which the discussion came back too&#8230;</p>
<p>If you have an office without walls or desks, how would you know that you are in it? It&#8217;s the same with communities. While most on-line communities don&#8217;t have obvious rites of passage, they are there &#8211; even if they aren&#8217;t explicit. The users worked out how to get on-line, they found the site, they signed up, they managed to post a message. We&#8217;ll talk more about rites of passage and tokens of membership in a bit.</p>
<p><strong>The higher the walls, the stronger the community</strong>. As the walls erode, the community weakens. Look at Usenet groups in the 90&#8242;s, and now Twitter. As the barriers come down, the community fragments, weakens, and finally is engulfed in relational noise. Of course, at the other end of the scale are communities that are [too] exclusive. Barriers to entry, i.e. exclusivity, can drive people&#8217;s desire to be in a community, as much as they keep them out. If it is hard to get in, people will stay. If it is too hard to get in, people won&#8217;t bother, and may even form their own &#8216;anti-communities&#8217;</p>
<p>Technology has radically transformed community life. The Internet has bulldozed geographic boundaries, eliminated cost and enabled even the most niche of interests to sustain sizeable communities. If you don&#8217;t believe me, go for a trawl through <a href="http://www.meetup.com/">meetup.com</a> (an online market place for arranging and managing community meet ups). There is something there for everyone &#8211; and I really mean everyone. Newer on-line services like <a href="http://lanyrd.com/calendar/">Lanyrd</a> and <a href="http://plancast.com/">Plancast</a> have made it easier to discover events and join the communities around them. See where your Twitter friends go to meet, search events in your area, or on your topic of interest. <strong>If you want a community, online or offline, you can probably find it, and if you can&#8217;t find it, you can create it for marginal cost and effort</strong>.</p>
<p>Social platforms like Facebook have made relationships objectively visible, and transformed &#8216;liking&#8217; into more than just making a connection. They have become a means of association, and a form of visible <strong>badge</strong>. I &#8216;like&#8217; Brand X says as more about my identity than just the fact that I have purchased their products. Communities have an &#8216;identity&#8217; and people need to know what that identity is, so that they know what they are in, and more importantly, people need to know if they are &#8216;in&#8217; the community or not. They also want to know if other people are inside or outside of the community too. It is all part of forming a group identity, and having a good sense of group identity is a key part of any thriving community. That identity might be supported by the shared stories that people tell, or by the provision of props (e.g. badges, uniforms, and so on). Having an iPad, an iPhone 4 and a MacBook identifies you as likely part of a certain community, just as having a suit and a Blackberry might identify you as part of a different one!</p>
<p>Some badges are ambiguous, some are not, some are conscious, some are not. All are earnt. The Flickr badge on my bag has started conversations, the WordPress badge has got me business. Those badges were obtained through relationships and through being at certain events. They have a story and meaning to them. They are explicit tokens, artefacts of being a part of something. They have a value far beyond their physical worth, they connect to memories and demonstrate participation. Most communities have some form of badges. They aren&#8217;t always as obvious as a piece of metal and paper, but they are there all the same.</p>
<p><strong>Community defies our instant reward, popup culture.</strong> Communities take a LONG time to develop. Although sense of community can happen within 6 months, or even less, building a viable community, of any type, is a long hard journey. One of the things that definitely helps along the way is recognising the contributions of key community members. A big part of the evening&#8217;s discussion circled around the idea of making &#8216;heroes&#8217; within the community. It works because it strengthens the identity of both the group and the individual, and also because it models the behaviours that are desired within the community. It is in our nature to copy leaders and those that we view as successful. That can be a constructive dynamic in a community, but it can also be a destructive one. An over reliance on the leader or key individuals can leave others feeling unwanted or even excluded.</p>
<p>There was and is much debate as to how much of community building is inductively learnt and subconsciously applied, and how much is conscious, constructed application. Many community leaders are &#8216;naturals&#8217; rather than consciously constructed. It&#8217;s rare to find someone who learnt their community management skills in a classroom, and so that means passing on their skills is something best done through mentoring and working alongside, rather that in a taught course in a classroom. But you knew that already, didn&#8217;t you?</p>
<p>At one point there was a heated debate about WordPress versus Drupal. It was notable not for the technical content, but for how much of the debate was driven from the communities that were around each of them. There are certainly big technical differences between the platforms (I&#8217;ve built community sites using WordPress, BuddyPress, Drupal and Elgg), but the biggest difference is in the communities of users, developers, content producers and consumers around each. Products, inherently, have communities.</p>
<p>Looking at the &#8216;insides&#8217; of a community, it becomes obvious that not all community members are equal. There are various different taxonomies that can be used to group members. I lean towards looking at levels of engagement: audience (the edglings),  participants, contributors, through to co-leaders. Similarly, communication happens on a continuum from &#8216;top-down&#8217; communication from leaders, to peer-to-peer discussion between members. Bernie talked about the impact of sending out weekly emails to one of his communities. The community became more active and engaged. People got more involved. Broadcast communication can be helpful, as well as harmful, in maintaining community cohesion and the energy levels within the community. It is all about striking a balance. Too little, and the community fragments and disperses, too much and it diminishes to an audience.</p>
<p>The spectrum for audience to community is a highly graduated one. We discussed many examples of the broadcast/performance vs community/contribution dynamic. For example, the Coke Facebook page that was started by two actors. Community or audience? Participation or entertainment? <strong>They aren&#8217;t dichotomies or dilemmas, they are  characteristics of moments in the story that becomes the community</strong>. How important is the brand of the community leader? Can they be invisible, leading from the shadows, or must they be known by name? Is there a continuum from audience to community? Real world examples don&#8217;t reveal simple yes&#8217;s and no&#8217;s. In the words of Ben Goldacre, &#8220;<a href="http://www.badscience.net/2008/12/i-think-youll-find-its-a-bit-more-complicated-than-that-and-other-excellent-christmas-gifts/">I think you&#8217;ll find that it&#8217;s a bit more complicated than that.</a>&#8221;</p>
<p>So what triggers action in a community? Conversation needs to be peer to peer, not just top down. It&#8217;s one of the defining differences between an audience and a community. People want to have meaning, and to make a difference. <a href="http://redcatco.com/blog/communication/broadband-maslow-hierarchy-of-human-needs/">Maslow&#8217;s hierarchy of human needs</a> came up quite a few times. People have a need for significance and people want to feel wanted/needed. Many community drivers are around human emotional needs.</p>
<p>The evening&#8217;s discussion touched on issues of mono-culture and sustainability. Consistency is important &#8211; it creates and supports identity &#8211; but difference is also one of the key drivers of community too.  Communities can be long lived. Like some strange insect that can go without food for years, even if left sleeping communities can sometimes be revived. One of the stories I have heard a number of times about the Obama campaign is how it managed to bootstrap itself from the communities formed during the previous campaigns. <strong>Once a community is made, the individual relationships and connections created by it persist</strong>, long after the community has gone away.</p>
<p>So what is the role of a community leader? Are they leaders or are they facilitators? The answer seems to be yes and yes. The more challenging question was about the ability of community leaders to establish new leads, and the way that can lead to communities fragmenting or taking on a different path &#8211; even splitting apart. Good community &#8216;managers&#8217; are passionate about the growth of the individuals within the community. The pattern is not about the growth of the community, <strong>the community only grows by the growth of the members</strong>. Good leaders establish sustainable behaviours: &#8216;this is how we do things around here&#8217; &#8211; and recognise and reward those in the community who are active in supporting it. Recognition goes a long way: It supports the contributors, and it indicates desirable models of behaviour to others in the group.</p>
<p><strong>Communities aren&#8217;t owned, and unlike an audience, they can&#8217;t be bought.</strong> Did technology enable niche communities, or did it actually cause the fragmentation that lead to them? On-line communities, freed from geographic restrictions, can fragment and merge more easily. As humans, we&#8217;ve been doing community since we started writing on cave walls, but technology is making (and enabling) us to look at the processes of community differently. Community is part of a cultural megatrend. In the off-line world, many places have forgotten how to do community &#8211; The motor car, the television and the privet hedge have enabled use to live socially in the most isolated of ways. In the later part of the last century we learnt to become individual actors, rather than group players. As we escape from broadcast media, and discover the Internet, we are starting to rediscover togetherness. There is a growing desire to create communities, and reintegrate society.</p>
<p>Of course it is all ripples against ripples&#8230; We have always been in communities, it is the new lens of social media and the rise of Twitter and Facebook that have turned the cameras, quite literally, back on to ourselves.</p>
<p><strong>In a cruel form of irony, it way well be the mass data from these platforms that starting to create mass customisation/personalisation that breaks up community again</strong>. What you read in your Twitter stream or in your Facebook updates is personalised for you. No one else reads the same things in the same context. In social networks, everyone is part of a community of one. It is a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scale-free_network">scale free network</a> that puts you at the centre of your world. Traditional communities don&#8217;t work that way. They are about shared experiences and shared stories &#8211; they are more universal than personal. It&#8217;s all about creating the shared experience, the stories that people tell about the community and that they have in common. Shared challenges, external threats and common victories bind communities together. They create emotional connections between people.</p>
<p><strong>The nature of what &#8216;global&#8217; means is changing</strong>. Geographic barriers are breaking down&#8230;. However &#8216;Global&#8217; has come to mean a trans-country set of niches&#8230; Physical communities are still challenged by geography, but global ones are challenged by a sea of niche interests and a dwindling commonality in what people are interested in.  As opposed to the universal markets that broadcast media and a global film industry created, social media creates micro-worlds with micro-celebrities and loosely bound connections.</p>
<p>Is community growth formulaic? There are certainly patterns. We discussed the early church, Toastmasters, the Mormons and dozens of examples of communities that have grown and persisted. Sometimes communities are for a reason, a season, occasionally for a life time. Communities and members aren&#8217;t forever. There is a time, a place and a purpose.</p>
<p>What does community mean to you?</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3  class="related_post_title">Related Posts</h3><ul class="related_post"><li><a href="http://redcatco.com/blog/communication/one-thing-to-do-to-get-through-tough-times/" title="One Thing To Get Through Tough Times">One Thing To Get Through Tough Times</a></li><li><a href="http://redcatco.com/blog/productivity/what-will-enterprise-20-look-like-some-thoughts-from-crystal-balls/" title="What will Enterprise 2.0 look like? Some Thoughts from Crystal Balls">What will Enterprise 2.0 look like? Some Thoughts from Crystal Balls</a></li><li><a href="http://redcatco.com/blog/communication/communication-becoming-fluid-by-getting-uncomfortable/" title="Communication &#8211; Becoming Fluid by Getting Uncomfortable">Communication &#8211; Becoming Fluid by Getting Uncomfortable</a></li><li><a href="http://redcatco.com/blog/communication/community-relations/" title="Community Relations">Community Relations</a></li><li><a href="http://redcatco.com/blog/social-media/social-media-week-london/" title="Social Media Week London">Social Media Week London</a></li></ul>]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://redcatco.com/blog/leadership/a-perspective-on-community/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>12</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Community Relations</title>
		<link>http://redcatco.com/blog/communication/community-relations/</link>
		<comments>http://redcatco.com/blog/communication/community-relations/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 17 May 2010 21:25:29 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Benjamin Ellis</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[communication]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[community]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[SMiB10]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://redcatco.com/?p=1912</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Friday is Audana&#8217;s Social Media in Business &#8217;10 aka SMiB, in London, and just like last years Social Media in Business event, I&#8217;ll be interviewing many of the speakers via ipadio in the run up. The theme of this year&#8217;s event is community relations. I think the term nicely encapsulates how &#8220;forum moderation&#8221; has grown [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Friday is Audana&#8217;s Social Media in Business &#8217;10 aka <a href="http://socialmediainbusiness.co.uk/">SMiB</a>, in London, and just like <a href="http://redcatco.com/blog/communication/social-media-in-business-in-london/">last years Social Media in Business event</a>, I&#8217;ll be interviewing many of the speakers <a href="http://www.ipadio.com/">via ipadio</a> in the run up.</p>
<p>The theme of this year&#8217;s event is <strong>community relations</strong>. I think the term nicely encapsulates how &#8220;forum moderation&#8221; has grown up through community management to community relations. The relationship between businesses and their customers has changed, and the relationship between businesses and their employees is changing too. People expect engagement, and that means listening as much as talking.</p>
<p>Recent <a href="http://redcatco.com/">Redcatco</a> projects have shown us, and some brave pioneers, that creating engagement works for a business, bringing massive returns from a modest investment. What happens when you give tens of thousands of employees a place to rate, comment and share what your business is about? Our experience has been that it creates <strong>huge value</strong>, a sense of <strong>community</strong>, and a great deal of <strong>success</strong>.</p>
<p>Earlier today I spoke with Heather Taylor about her work at <a href="http://www.paypal.co.uk/uk">PayPal</a>. She has been living at the forefront of community building for a business that has to deal with both the positive and negative experiences around users transacting money. Her key takeaway? <strong>Be adaptable</strong>. You might not get what you initially set out to achieve, but if you adapt, you&#8217;ll end up with a stronger business. Focus on putting the community, rather than the product or service, in the middle, and on listening rather than telling. Lots of really sound advice from Heather, click and have a listen.</p>
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<h3  class="related_post_title">Related Posts</h3><ul class="related_post"><li><a href="http://redcatco.com/blog/leadership/a-perspective-on-community/" title="A Perspective on Community">A Perspective on Community</a></li><li><a href="http://redcatco.com/blog/productivity/bootstrapcamp-starting-from-nothing/" title="BootStrapCamp &#8211; Starting From Nothing But a Community">BootStrapCamp &#8211; Starting From Nothing But a Community</a></li><li><a href="http://redcatco.com/blog/communication/engaging-employees-social-media-inside/" title="Engaging Employees &#8211; Social Media Inside">Engaging Employees &#8211; Social Media Inside</a></li><li><a href="http://redcatco.com/blog/marketing/dance-your-way-to-a-crowd/" title="How To Dance Your Way To A Crowd">How To Dance Your Way To A Crowd</a></li><li><a href="http://redcatco.com/blog/communication/one-thing-to-do-to-get-through-tough-times/" title="One Thing To Get Through Tough Times">One Thing To Get Through Tough Times</a></li></ul>]]></content:encoded>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>BootStrapCamp &#8211; Starting From Nothing But a Community</title>
		<link>http://redcatco.com/blog/productivity/bootstrapcamp-starting-from-nothing/</link>
		<comments>http://redcatco.com/blog/productivity/bootstrapcamp-starting-from-nothing/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 04 Aug 2009 18:56:32 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Benjamin Ellis</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[productivity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bootstrapcamp]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bootstrapping]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[community]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://redcatco.com/?p=1692</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[August is meant to be a quiet month, but it definitely isn&#8217;t here &#8211; things are starting up left, right and centre. I like that. I&#8217;m generally a fan of starting things, especially starting them with minimal means. I know that might sound less than exciting, but my experience has been that creativity starts where [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img class="alignright" title="BootStrapCampJuly09 5" src="http://redcatco.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/3774833570_f95144e4da_m.jpg" alt="BootStrapCampJuly09 5" width="240" height="153" />August is meant to be a quiet month, but it definitely isn&#8217;t here &#8211; things are starting up left, right and centre. I like that.</p>
<p>I&#8217;m generally a fan of starting things, especially starting them with minimal means. I know that might sound less than exciting, but my experience has been that creativity starts where budgets run out &#8211; constraints can be one of the greatest spurs to creativity.  That, in a nutshell, is probably the main reason for last week&#8217;s <a href="http://bootstrapcamp.pbworks.com/">Bootstrap Camp</a>.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s a tough environment for startups at the moment, with VC money hard to come by and customer budgets tightened, so a little bit of creativity &#8211; and boot strapping &#8211; is called for. Boot strapping means starting up with what you have at hand. I first came across the term when I started designing computers back in the 80&#8242;s. It was used to talk about starting the system up from bare essentials to the point where it was fully functional, having loaded its operating system and connected to its support peripherals. It is an apt term to use for getting a business or project started these days. Grab what you have, and use it to connect to the resources you need.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.bootstrapuk.org/" rel="nofollow">BootStrap Camp</a> is a community, and now an online service too, built and supported by a network of entrepreneurs from the UK&#8217;s digital sector. Its main aim is to help early-stage entrepreneurs and startups boot strap their businesses, by exchanging skills and knowledge. <a href="http://www.meetup.com/StartupEssentials/calendar/10893054/">Last week&#8217;s meeting</a>, hosted by the inimitable <a style="color: #003de8;" onclick="pageTracker._trackPageview('/exit/to/stewarttownsend');" href="http://twitter.com/stewarttownsend" target="_blank">Stewart Townsend</a> and <a style="color: #930d85;" onclick="pageTracker._trackPageview('/exit/to/simongrice')" href="http://twitter.com/simongrice" target="_blank">Simon Grice</a>, saw the launch of the new <a href="http://www.bootstrapuk.org/" rel="nofollow">bootstrapuk.org</a> application. As an added incentive, <a style="color: #930d85;" onclick="pageTracker._trackPageview('/exit/to/benkeene');" href="http://twitter.com/benkeene" target="_blank">Ben Keene</a> was on hand to offer up to 25 weeks on Vorovoro (the <a href="http://tribewanted.com/">tribewanted.com</a> Island in Fiji, South Pacific) in exchange for development, design and deployment service. Although personally he won me over with a copy of his book. I&#8217;m a sucker for books and food, but I digress&#8230;</p>
<p style="font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 13px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">The service enables entrepreneurs to list their needs and offers of services, it then enables them to find members with matching needs or offers. The demonstration video shows how it works today:</p>
<p><object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="480" height="385" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><param name="src" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/iDSKHDyUfvI&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1&amp;" /><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="480" height="385" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/iDSKHDyUfvI&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1&amp;" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></p>
<p>For me, the BootStrap Credits aren&#8217;t the main thing here, rather it is the concept of a community of entrepreneurs that can tangibly support each other. Community trading is much stronger than point to point trade, and potentially provides a richer form of protection for the businesses involved. A reputation with a community is more valuable than a reputation with a single individual or business. A connected community also offers greater opportunities to create value and discover opportunities.</p>
<p style="font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 13px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">
<p style="font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 13px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">If you want to get involved, then follow <a style="font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 13px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: #114488 !important; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;" href="http://twitter.com/bootstrapcamp">@bootstrapcamp</a> on twitter and request access to <a href="http://bootstrapcamp.pbworks.com/">the Wiki</a>, and dive on in.</p>
<p><object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="480" height="360" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"><param name="flashvars" value="offsite=true&amp;lang=en-us&amp;page_show_url=%2Fphotos%2Fjamin2%2Fsets%2F72157621777981993%2Fshow%2F&amp;page_show_back_url=%2Fphotos%2Fjamin2%2Fsets%2F72157621777981993%2F&amp;set_id=72157621777981993&amp;jump_to=" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="src" value="http://www.flickr.com/apps/slideshow/show.swf?v=71649" /><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="480" height="360" src="http://www.flickr.com/apps/slideshow/show.swf?v=71649" allowfullscreen="true" flashvars="offsite=true&amp;lang=en-us&amp;page_show_url=%2Fphotos%2Fjamin2%2Fsets%2F72157621777981993%2Fshow%2F&amp;page_show_back_url=%2Fphotos%2Fjamin2%2Fsets%2F72157621777981993%2F&amp;set_id=72157621777981993&amp;jump_to="></embed></object></p>
<p>Benjamin&#8217;s Photos from Bootstrap Camp</p>
<h3  class="related_post_title">Related Posts</h3><ul class="related_post"><li><a href="http://redcatco.com/blog/leadership/a-perspective-on-community/" title="A Perspective on Community">A Perspective on Community</a></li><li><a href="http://redcatco.com/blog/communication/community-relations/" title="Community Relations">Community Relations</a></li><li><a href="http://redcatco.com/blog/communication/engaging-employees-social-media-inside/" title="Engaging Employees &#8211; Social Media Inside">Engaging Employees &#8211; Social Media Inside</a></li><li><a href="http://redcatco.com/blog/marketing/dance-your-way-to-a-crowd/" title="How To Dance Your Way To A Crowd">How To Dance Your Way To A Crowd</a></li><li><a href="http://redcatco.com/blog/communication/one-thing-to-do-to-get-through-tough-times/" title="One Thing To Get Through Tough Times">One Thing To Get Through Tough Times</a></li></ul>]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>Engaging Employees &#8211; Social Media Inside</title>
		<link>http://redcatco.com/blog/communication/engaging-employees-social-media-inside/</link>
		<comments>http://redcatco.com/blog/communication/engaging-employees-social-media-inside/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 16 Jun 2009 10:18:52 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Benjamin Ellis</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[communication]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[community]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Social Media]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://redcatco.com/?p=1629</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Are you happy in your job? Do you know what is expected of you in your role? If you answered yes to both, you are in a privileged minority. According to John H. Fleming, Chief Scientist at Gallup Consulting, 43% of employees in the UK are not engaged at work, while 17% are actively disengaged &#8211; [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-1635" title="openspaces" src="http://redcatco.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/openspaces.jpg" alt="openspaces" width="480" height="319" /></p>
<p>Are you happy in your job? Do you know what is expected of you in your role? If you answered yes to both, you are in a privileged minority. According to <a href="http://www.gallup.com/speakersbureau/19348/john-fleming-phd.aspx">John H. Fleming</a>, Chief Scientist at Gallup Consulting, 43% of employees in the UK are not engaged at work, while 17% are actively disengaged &#8211; and over a third of employees are unsure what their job actually is.</p>
<p>The figures come from a 2006-2008 survey discussed during <a href="http://www.melcrum.com/">Melcrum&#8217;s</a> <a href="http://www.melcrum.com/engagement/2009/">5th anual conference on employee engagement</a>. Whilst social media wasn&#8217;t the focus of the event, it came up many times as a way to change company culture. <a href="http://theblueballroom.com/downloads.php">&#8220;Collaboration in action&#8221;</a> &#8211; a white paper on social media inside of organisations &#8211; was launched by <a href="http://theblueballroom.com/">theblueballroom</a> at the event, more on that shortly.</p>
<p>In working with businesses in transformation, what becomes apparent are the strong links between the success of a business, and how staff and customers feel about it. The interactions between the three factors are far from intuitive, but social media is becoming the tool of choice for improving all three.</p>
<p>Although most of what is written about social media and social networking platforms is focused on external marketing activities these days, the most transformative uses are in internal communications. So, when the folks at theblueballroom invited me along the Melcrum Employee Engagement Conference, I grabbed my bag and headed along.</p>
<p>Employee engagement is a much maligned term, and provokes a negative reaction in many. It isn&#8217;t a well understood term, and I&#8217;ve certainly seen it misused. However I think all agree that how employees feel about the business that they work for is important. Are they bringing their &#8220;whole selves&#8221; to work, or fighting against the system? It just isn&#8217;t something that companies get right often enough.</p>
<p>John Fleming gave an overview of Gallup Consulting&#8217;s &#8220;HumanSigma(R)&#8221; program at the conference. It was originally published in Harvard Business review in July/Aug 2005, and is now a book in it&#8217;s own right. As with many Gallup tools, it aims to measure a complex set of dynamics, with a survey generated number. I&#8217;m not a great fan of the methodology, but John made some interesting points during his presentation. The employee-customer encounter is fundamentally an emotional one &#8211; &#8220;people are people first, and employees and customers second.&#8221; So it has to be understood that way.</p>
<p>Interactions that have an &#8220;emotional&#8221; element are increasingly squashed by high-velocity email and broadcast marketing techniques, even inside of the company walls. John argued that interactions should be managed locally &#8211; essentially a distributed form of management. Social tools support this working model. He suggested four levels of operation for employees:</p>
<ul>
<li>Growth &#8211; how can we grow?</li>
<li>Team work &#8211; do I belong?</li>
<li>Individual contribution &#8211; what do I give?</li>
<li>Basic needs &#8211; what do I get?</li>
</ul>
<p>It is loosely based on <a href="http://www.maslow.com/">Maslow&#8217;s</a> hierarchy of human needs, but is a helpful framework for building communities. Disengaged employees expose company boards and owners to big financial risks &#8211; Choose your favourite horror story from the media. Social networking tools have amplified those risks (as <a href="http://redcatco.com/blog/marketing/dominos-pizza-why-everyone-is-in-pr-now-and-employee-engagement-matters/">Dominos Pizza</a> disovered), by giving everyone access to a &#8216;global stage&#8217;. Inside of the business, social media can create effective communication channels that let staff feel part of a community, and actively contribute as part of a team. Yet very few businesses have got to grips with social tools, or training staff in using them responsibly.</p>
<p>There are businesses that are embracing the technologies, and embedding them into the business infrastructure to great effect. I&#8217;m leading a <a href="http://www.melcrum.com/products/training_courses/workshops/uk0609.shtml">Social Media Workshop for internal comms</a> on June 24th in Hammersmith, together with <a href="http://twitter.com/abisignorelli">Abi Signorelli</a> of Virgin Media. You can read more about the workshop <a href="http://www.melcrumblog.com/2009/06/the-social-media-workshop-buzz-hots-up.html">on the Melcrum Blog</a> and here is a <a href="http://qik.com">Qik</a> video I shot in the bustle of the Virgin Media offices with Abi on Friday:</p>
<p><object id="qikPlayer" classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="425" height="319" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"><param name="align" value="middle" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="sameDomain" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="quality" value="high" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#333333" /><param name="FlashVars" value="rssURL=http://qik.com/video/dba2241dba044b5cabc6969fcf97c8a0.rss&amp;autoPlay=false" /><param name="src" value="http://qik.com/swfs/qikPlayer4.swf" /><param name="name" value="qikPlayer" /><param name="flashvars" value="rssURL=http://qik.com/video/dba2241dba044b5cabc6969fcf97c8a0.rss&amp;autoPlay=false" /><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><embed id="qikPlayer" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="319" src="http://qik.com/swfs/qikPlayer4.swf" name="qikPlayer" flashvars="rssURL=http://qik.com/video/dba2241dba044b5cabc6969fcf97c8a0.rss&amp;autoPlay=false" bgcolor="#333333" quality="high" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="sameDomain" align="middle"></embed></object></p>
<p>From blogs to phlogs and wikis, used well, social technology creates open communication channels across a business, breaking down barriers between different organisations, and providing the feedback that leaders need to be effective.</p>
<p>I&#8217;m looking forward to being joined by Redcatco collaborator, <a href="http://meaningfulmakings.com/">Debbie Davies</a>, who will be exploring how video can be used in the business context, so I&#8217;m sure there will be some clips coming over during and after the event!</p>
<h3  class="related_post_title">Related Posts</h3><ul class="related_post"><li><a href="http://redcatco.com/blog/leadership/a-perspective-on-community/" title="A Perspective on Community">A Perspective on Community</a></li><li><a href="http://redcatco.com/blog/communication/an-award-winning-performance/" title="An Award Winning Performance">An Award Winning Performance</a></li><li><a href="http://redcatco.com/blog/communication/community-relations/" title="Community Relations">Community Relations</a></li><li><a href="http://redcatco.com/blog/social-media/social-media-week-london/" title="Social Media Week London">Social Media Week London</a></li><li><a href="http://redcatco.com/blog/social-media/the-social-media-business-case/" title="The Social Media Business Case?">The Social Media Business Case?</a></li></ul>]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>How To Dance Your Way To A Crowd</title>
		<link>http://redcatco.com/blog/marketing/dance-your-way-to-a-crowd/</link>
		<comments>http://redcatco.com/blog/marketing/dance-your-way-to-a-crowd/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 04 Jun 2009 07:59:36 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Benjamin Ellis</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[marketing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[community]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[early adopters]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[product life cycle]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[rodgers]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://redcatco.com/?p=1587</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Yes, it&#8217;s a YouTube video. But do watch it, it&#8217;s a 3 minute 6 second lesson in launching a product or building a community. Filmed during the Sasquatch music festival last weekend, the character in this video danced his way to a following. However, the lesson isn&#8217;t about him, it is about the crowd. Here&#8217;s a [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><object width="425" height="344" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.youtube.com/v/GA8z7f7a2Pk&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1&amp;"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><param name="src" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/GA8z7f7a2Pk&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1&amp;" /><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /></object></p>
<p>Yes, it&#8217;s a YouTube video. But do watch it, it&#8217;s a 3 minute 6 second lesson in launching a product or building a community. Filmed during the Sasquatch music festival last weekend, the character in this video danced his way to a following. However, the lesson isn&#8217;t about him, it is about the crowd. Here&#8217;s a graph of the number of dancers over time (as best as I can do from the clip and a couple of other videos of the event):</p>
<p><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-1588" title="dancinggraph" src="http://redcatco.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/dancinggraph.png" alt="dancinggraph" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Time</p>
<p>It&#8217;s a type of graph I use in lots of training sessions. Now, using this video, I can explain the same things in three minutes, without saying a word. Perfect. The video shows what happens to most products from their launch, and to most on-line communities during their introduction and growth phases. It is a classic view of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:DiffusionOfInnovation.png">Rodgers bell curve</a>.</p>
<h2>The Innovators</h2>
<p>For the first 20 seconds of the video there is just the one person, we shall refer to him from here on in as &#8220;the Sasquatch Dancing Man&#8221; &#8211; or SDM for short. SDM is a little different from the rest of the crowd. If you are unconvinced just check out some of the footage in the related videos at the end of the clip. That&#8217;s all I&#8217;m saying on the matter!</p>
<p>After those first twenty seconds he isn&#8217;t alone, but it is still a small group of people, prepared to do &#8216;something different&#8217; &#8211; they certainly aren&#8217;t the crowd &#8211; They are the anti-crowd.</p>
<p><a title="Everett Rogers" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Everett_Rogers">Everett Rogers</a>, in his 1962 book <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0743222091?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=woouwhnedoand-21&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1634&amp;creative=19450&amp;creativeASIN=0743222091">Diffusion of Innovations</a>, suggests that innovators make up less than 2.5% of the population. You aren&#8217;t going to make a mass market or a huge community out of them, but they certainly get the party started!</p>
<h2>The Early Adopters</h2>
<p>These folks would like to be the innovators, and probably think of themselves as such. However, they don&#8217;t have the appetite to be first with something unproven, but they are happy to be ahead of the crowd. For me, these people are the critical glue in the process, I&#8217;ll explain why in a moment.</p>
<p>You see the early adopters kick in at about 80 seconds, just a few at a time. Rogers puts them at 13.5% of the population. They were in the crowd, but only loosely. Now they are out of it, they are with SDM in an elite group of their very own. Hang on, what&#8217;s this next?</p>
<h2>The Early Majority</h2>
<p>There&#8217;s a sudden burst. So many new people it&#8217;s hard to count. It seems there are  more people dancing than not. There&#8217;s little social risk in standing up and dancing now. The early majority make up about 34%, so here come&#8230;</p>
<h2>The Late Majority</h2>
<p>They&#8217;ve been sitting on the floor, but now they are in danger of being in the <a href="http://www.cw.utwente.nl/theorieenoverzicht/Theory%20clusters/Interpersonal%20Communication%20and%20Relations/Social_Identity_Theory.doc/">social outcrowd</a>, rather than the incrowd. So, up and dance they get. You can see oa tipping point &#8211; a term made famous my Malcolm Gladwell&#8217;s eponymous book, but pre-dated by much<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tipping_point_(sociology)"> social theory</a> &#8211; see Thomas C. Schelling, <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0393329461?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=woouwhnedoand-21&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1634&amp;creative=19450&amp;creativeASIN=0393329461">Micromotives and Macrobehavior</a> &#8211; 25 years later, in 2005, he won a Nobel prize. So, suddenly everyone wants to dance. The movement has reached critical mass.</p>
<p>Many, if not most, products and communities never get to reach their tipping point. The transitions from innovators to early adopters to the majority are hard ones to make. The innovators are all about not being in the majority. The majority are all about not being innovators. Bring the right people to the party at the wrong time, and it&#8217;s all over.</p>
<p>The challenge of moving between the groups was codified in Geoffrey Moore&#8217;s 1991 book &#8220;<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1841120634?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=woouwhnedoand-21&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1634&amp;creative=19450&amp;creativeASIN=1841120634">Crossing the Chasm</a>&#8220;. A book that I despise, not because of it&#8217;s amazingly long title: &#8220;<em><strong>Crossing the Chasm: Marketing and Selling High-Tech Products to Mainstream Customers</strong></em>&#8221; but because the concept was badly applied by so many product and marketing managers. If you don&#8217;t know your innovators from your adopters from the majority, then it is far too easy to end up thinking you are on a different side of the chasm than you really are. The result? #fail as they say on the interwebs.</p>
<p>So, back to SDM. Paul Johnston has a nice take in his post <a href="http://www.aristossocial.com/2009/06/03/how-to-start-a-movement-literally-through-the-medium-of-dance/" rel="nofollow">how to start a movement</a>:</p>
<ol>
<li>Go somewhere people can see you</li>
<li>Start Dancing</li>
<li>Hope that (or invite) 1, 2 and 3 others to join in with your dance… start small &#8211; if they’re as crazy as you, don’t worry!</li>
<li>Attract and invite other small groups to join in</li>
<li>Make room for growth</li>
<li>Keep engaging with your new movement even if the music stops</li>
</ol>
<p>The knack is helping &#8220;the crazies&#8221; and the growth (the majority) to co-exist with each other, at least for a while. That is why early adopters are so important. They form a kind of neutral glue between the innovators and the majority, transforming &#8220;the crazies&#8221; into &#8220;the crowd&#8221; &#8211; without them growth is almost impossible.</p>
<p>A side note on point 3 and SDM: I don&#8217;t know for sure, but from watching the video I would say the first few dancers knew SDM. You need a few innovators, even just to get started, so don&#8217;t ignore them or leave them standing alone.</p>
<p>Although this dance was a one off, products and communities aren&#8217;t one shot events. In real-life (if you can call marketing that), the very thing that causes the majority to join, will cause the innovators to leave and go to dance with someone else: The innovators came to be different, while the majority came to be the same. When you&#8217;ve cracked that paradox, you&#8217;re ready to cross the chasm.</p>
<h3  class="related_post_title">Related Posts</h3><ul class="related_post"><li><a href="http://redcatco.com/blog/leadership/a-perspective-on-community/" title="A Perspective on Community">A Perspective on Community</a></li><li><a href="http://redcatco.com/blog/communication/community-relations/" title="Community Relations">Community Relations</a></li><li><a href="http://redcatco.com/blog/productivity/bootstrapcamp-starting-from-nothing/" title="BootStrapCamp &#8211; Starting From Nothing But a Community">BootStrapCamp &#8211; Starting From Nothing But a Community</a></li><li><a href="http://redcatco.com/blog/communication/engaging-employees-social-media-inside/" title="Engaging Employees &#8211; Social Media Inside">Engaging Employees &#8211; Social Media Inside</a></li><li><a href="http://redcatco.com/blog/communication/one-thing-to-do-to-get-through-tough-times/" title="One Thing To Get Through Tough Times">One Thing To Get Through Tough Times</a></li></ul>]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>One Thing To Get Through Tough Times</title>
		<link>http://redcatco.com/blog/communication/one-thing-to-do-to-get-through-tough-times/</link>
		<comments>http://redcatco.com/blog/communication/one-thing-to-do-to-get-through-tough-times/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 20 Feb 2009 03:25:07 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Benjamin Ellis</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[communication]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[community]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[meeting]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[social networking]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://redcatco.com/?p=1365</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[There&#8217;s a spate of posts on &#8220;things to do to get through the current economic climate&#8220;. I have to confess most of them washed past me. It is not that they didn&#8217;t have good advice, it is just that it was mostly things that should be done at the best of times too. Likewise, at each [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>There&#8217;s a spate of posts on &#8220;<strong>things to do to get through the current economic climate</strong>&#8220;. I have to confess most of them washed past me. It is not that they didn&#8217;t have good advice, it is just that it was mostly things that should be done at the best of times too. Likewise, at each business lunch and talk I&#8217;ve given recently, the discussion has been about what strategies should be used. How should businesses be marketing or managing differently? Then, three times in a row, the same piece of advice came up: <strong>Meet up</strong>.</p>
<p>I don&#8217;t mean the <a href="http://meetup.com">meetup.com</a> service. I mean <strong>meet up for a coffee. Meet up for a lunch. Meet up for a drink</strong>. &#8220;Benjamin!&#8221; you say, &#8220;that&#8217;s a bit frivolous. Shouldn&#8217;t we be working harder, rather than out socialising?&#8221; But think about it. Business demand is down in many sectors. That means getting smarter about finding new customers and keeping existing ones. It means ensuring you have a good network in place, should things take a turn for the worse.  It is about <strong>scarcity</strong>, not <strong>capacity</strong>. The long-term winners will be those with that extra insight that enables them to make smart decisions and avoid mistakes. It won&#8217;t be the ones running 10% faster in the wrong direction. </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jamin2/2909680747/"><img class="size-full wp-image-1373 aligncenter" title="whatleydude_warriorgrrl" src="http://redcatco.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/whatleydude_warriorgrrl.jpg" alt="whatleydude_warriorgrrl" width="500" height="342" /></a></p>
<h2>Keep on Meeting</h2>
<p>Discussions are great for a business, especially in tough times. Identity your most important customers and meet up with them. Not email. Not a phone call. Arrange to meet for that coffee or drink. At a personal level, think about your most valued friends. Book in some time with them, just to meet up and chat. Find out how they are doing. It&#8217;s about protecting valuable <strong>relationships</strong>, as well as sharing issues and insights.</p>
<p>I&#8217;m a massive advocate of social media and technology-mediated communication. I blog, tweet and video my way through the day. Often I&#8217;m teaching others to do the same, or I&#8217;m building blogs and community sites, networks and communication systems. I love the stuff. However, I value face to face communication more. There are somethings that only face to face communication will provide, and they are things that we need right now.</p>
<h2>Something is Missing</h2>
<p>When you talk to someone, rather that type to them, you <strong>hear</strong> a sea of additional information. Technically, it&#8217;s called <strong>prosody</strong>. The inflection, rhythm and tone of their voice change, from &#8220;yes, things are ok&#8221; to &#8220;yes, things are ok&#8221;. Did you spot the difference? Of course not. There wasn&#8217;t any. But if you heard me say them, you&#8217;d be able to tell if business was turning good, or if business was turning bad. Not because I was trying to mislead you by what I was saying, but because words may tell you where things are, but emotions tell you where things are heading. You don&#8217;t need to consciously think about interpreting the information coded in the prosody of someone&#8217;s speech. You&#8217;ve been learning to do it every day since you started listening. It happens unconsciously, but <strong>only when you talk</strong>.</p>
<p>When you <strong>see</strong> someone, you  see their body language. Their posture and movements tell you even more about what they are thinking and feeling. Are they looking at you, or gazing away? Are they fidgety or still? If you can&#8217;t see the person, you loose that information. I&#8217;m not talking about advanced body language reading skills, just understanding &#8220;how is my relationship?&#8221; or &#8220;am I spending enough time with them?&#8221;</p>
<h2>And That&#8217;s Not All</h2>
<p>I haven&#8217;t got to the most important reason for meeting up face to face. Non-verbal communication is great, but there is something else that only happens when you physically go somewhere to meet up. <strong>Chance conversations</strong>. When I was working in Asian cultures, it took me a while to realise the important conversations were the ones that happened when the formal ones were over. Actually it&#8217;s no different anywhere in the world.</p>
<p>While email and phone might be informal compared to the written letters of old, they still aren&#8217;t as informal as we like to think they are. We are trained to be efficient on the phone, and conversations are stilted, even in video conferences with the very latest high definition equipment. Our brain knows that valuable bits of communication are missing, and it longs to have the gaps filled in. A conversation, in a relaxed atmosphere, is something unique. We crave it, but too often we deny ourselves the opportunity for it. In difficult times, it is the only way to figure out what is going on. It is the only way to build strong relationships that will protect you and your business. It is the only thing that provides the confidence to get on and get things done. It also surfaces the extra nuggets of information that enable the entrepreneur to succeed.  Trust your instincts on this one.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://twitter.com/farhan/status/1228421290"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-1367" title="screenshot1" src="http://redcatco.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/screenshot1.png" alt="screenshot1" width="428" height="218" /></a></p>
<p> </p>
<h2>Balancing Online and Offline</h2>
<p>There was a peace in the Mail Online today - <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1149207/How-using-Facebook-raise-risk-cancer.html">How using Facebook could raise your risk of cancer</a>. Ordinarily it isn&#8217;t something I would rise to citing, but it has been interesting to see the reaction on-line. <a href="http://www.aricsigman.com/">Dr Aric Sigman</a>, quoted in the article, probably hasn&#8217;t made any friends in the on-line world, but I doubt he is bothered about that. Don&#8217;t worry, he has written about how <a href="http://www.whale.to/b/sigman.html">TV is killing us</a> too. In case the comments people have added to the piece don&#8217;t provide enough entertainment for, you, check out the spoof &#8220;<a href="http://tommorris.org/wiki/Daily_Mail_says_Postal_System_Causes_Cancer">Daily Mail says Postal System Causes Cancer</a>&#8220; by the incorrigible Tom Morris. Needless to say, neither represents a systematic research piece!</p>
<p>I&#8217;m definitely not reducing the importance or the power of digital communication. The mass media makes much of &#8216;the battle&#8217; between online (social media and social networking) and offline. While they might appear to be warring for our time &#8211; or budget in the case of business &#8211; in a healthy set up, they are complementary to each other.</p>
<p>As a business, for almost everything except on-line retail, you want to end up face to face with potential customers. You want potential customers and your sales channel to meet and transact business. For personal relationships, eventually you want to push past the technology and meet the people &#8220;in real life&#8221;. Social media scales your ability to reach out to new contacts, and preserve existing ones.</p>
<h2>One Thing Leads to Another</h2>
<p>Vibrant on-line communities lead to face-to-face meet ups. It is almost inevitable, and has been since the earliest digital communications. In the same way, online tools act as a sustaining mechansim for existing relationships, when distance or time limit contact. The best way to build an on-line community? Get people meeting face to face. Want to preserve a time-scarce or geographically dispersed community? Use on-line tools. One of the reasons that social media is such an effective tool for growing business, or your personal social network, is that it acts as an efficient funnel between &#8220;the big wide world&#8221; of contacts and our intimate circle of relationships. Which takes me back to where I started&#8230;</p>
<h2>Meet Up</h2>
<p>Now is the time to invest time into important relationships. Check in with your most important customers. Look up your friends. How are they doing? Is there anything that you can be doing to support them? &#8220;Chill out&#8221; away from the day to day hype and get a proper read on what is happening.</p>
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