Merry Christmas one and all. The TAIB doesn't stop for the holiday! Recently, I've noticed increased interest in the subject of community in the association world, so I'm going to post "on community" more regularly. Here is my first brief post.
A couple of weeks ago, Association Trends published a short item on a recent survey that revealed 61% of associations believe "online" communities are important to their business strategies. My question is this: what "strategies" are associations trying to advance by pursuing communities? Are they trying to support learning? Is it about knowledge? Are they trying to catalyze innovation? Whatever the specific strategy, it is absolutely essential that our organizations be crystal clear about it before pursuing the challenging work of building and sustaining community. Technology can provide a powerful collaboration and communications structure for community, but it can't ever be a substitute for a well-articulated strategy that provides the substantive approach and operational focus communities need to succeed.
Happy Holidays!
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