• Communities in the Crowd Economy: #CSWEurope15

    This week I am participating in Crowdsourcing Week Europe 2015 in Brussels. The conference has an amazing range of speakers from both the public and private sector sharing their ideas about, and experiences from, the Crowd Economy. My session focused on the critical role of Communities in the Crowd / Collaborative Economy, and covered: Why…

  • New Industry Report: The New Rules of the Collaborative Economy

    Jeremiah Owyang of Crowd Companies and Vision Critical have released a follow up report to their 2014 Sharing is the new Buying. In the 2015 report, The New Rules of the Collaborative Economy, over 50,000 people across the US and Canada were surveyed on their attitude towards, and use of, the collaborative economy. There are many clear…

  • Thoughts on the State of Community Management 2015 Report

    Last week my friends and colleagues at The Community Roundtable released their annual “State of Community Management” report. This is the fifth year for the report, and the Roundtable team surveyed over 200 global organizations. Key Points & Findings include: An overview of the excellent Community Maturity model, as well as case studies on ho Microsoft…

  • Preview of the Brands & Collaborative Economy Research Project

    In March I embarked on a series of qualitative research projects to help organizations prepare for the disruption and opportunity emerging from the Collaborative Economy, and understand what resources they need to be successful. Wave 1 responses are in and the analysis is almost finished. I wanted to share a preview of the results to date. The full set of results will be published…

  • An Award Winning Community Strategy… 30 Years in the Making

    An Award Winning Community Strategy… 30 Years in the Making

    Two weeks ago my former team and colleagues at Autodesk won a Forrester Groundswell award for “Social Relationship Marketing (Business-to-Business)”. I am very proud of the work the collective team did (and continues to do), and heartened to see that the online community strategies I put in to place continue to bear fruit. A Rich History Community…

  • Opportunities for Brands in the Collaborative Economy

    Opportunities for Brands in the Collaborative Economy

    You’ve probably been hearing a lot about the Collaborative Economy lately. The key question many brands are asking: How do I get started? The good news? You may already have. Most organizations have an existing online customer community (or communties). Most are as simple as technical support forums, but many organizations have explored community engagement…

  • Brands & The Collaborative Economy Research Project: Call for Participation

    Brands & The Collaborative Economy Research Project: Call for Participation

    Update 3/2/15: The survey (Wave 1) will remain open until Friday, March 6th. We’ve had great response from brands, startups and a handful of non-profits. If your organization would still like to participate, you have until EOD 3/6/2015 bitly.com/collabeconbrands. — Today I’m kicking off a qualitative research project exploring the level of understanding, interest in, and…

  • Announcing Structure3C – Strategies for the Collaborative Economy

    Announcing Structure3C – Strategies for the Collaborative Economy

    Today I’m taking a big (and scary) step in my professional practice – I’m going out on my own to launch a new venture: Structure3C. It is becoming clear that a new wave of activity, the Collaborative Economy, is poised to have a large impact on global markets. Many organizations are not prepared for the coming shift,…

  • A New Kind of Community Management #CMAD 2015

    A New Kind of Community Management #CMAD 2015

    Community Manager Appreciation Day, for me, is an opportunity to reflect on where we’ve been as a practice and as a formative industry, and where we are going. There are vibrant & global conversations happening today and that makes me very happy. As someone who has invested most of their career building online (and offline) communities, it…

  • It’s Time to Flip the Social Media & Community ROI Equation on its Head

    It’s Time to Flip the Social Media & Community ROI Equation on its Head

    It’s time to move to a more equitable participation and recognition model for Brand Online Communities.