Office 2.0 Conference: Who Should Own Communities?

I have the distinct pleasure to participate in a panel discussion at the upcoming Office 2.0 Conference - September 3-5 in San Francisco. 

 

The topic of the panel discussion is “Online Community:  Who Should Own It” and will take place on Thursday, September 4 from 11:30AM to 12:15PM.

 

Robin Carey, CEO and Co-Founder of Social Media today will moderate the panel which will include Robert Duffy (Intel), Ross Mayfield (Socialtext), Mark Woollen (Oracle), and me.

 

The question of who should ‘own’ online communities (within the corporation) is a very interesting and loaded question.  I suspect that we will hear some great perspectives and experiences on the issue from the panel that will suggest that ownership is not necessarily a zero-sum scenario (in this case).

 

One of the exciting things about Social Media is that it gives everyone a stake in the game and makes the idea of communities relevant and invaluable to all audiences.  The real challenge is breaking through departmental politics and barriers (within the corporation) to find ways to collaborate on community initiatives where there is shared ownership and success.

 

Here is a description of the session:  “Online communities have become a cornerstone of any corporation's strategy, changing the way it does marketing, customer support, or even product development. This panel will address some of the social, political, legal, and technical challenges of developing and managing large online communities.”

 

I would love to get your perspective on this topic. 

Comments

[Erica Driver]

Hi Don. Funny I should see this post come across my Google Reader. Granted, you're talking about communities within the enterprise. But just today my partner Sam Driver and I launched a new online community -- the ThinkBalm Innovation Community, which is an inter-organizational community focused on one emerging technology area: the Immersive Internet.

You know, I never thought of myself (an industry analyst) "owning" this nascent community. Rather, I think of myself as a nurturer or gardener, encouraging it to grow and flourish. I think of myself as carrying around a wheelbarrow full of tools and fertilizer, doing whatever I can to help the garden grow.