Session Notes: If You Build It, They Might Not Come

Lead by Eric Squair and Cristen Perks

Agenda
- MANIFESTO
- STRENGTHS
- WEAKNESSES
- BEST PRACTICES
- EXAMPLES
- DISCUSS
- FACEBOOK!

MANIFESTO
Why organize in pre-existing online communities?
Why use pre-existing software tools?

• If you build it, they may not come
• Fish where the fish are.
• My message IN their life, not their life
• Optimize resources (time & money)
• Silo Destruction
• Low barrier to entry

WORKING GROUP: WHY TO BUILD YOUR OWN TOOLS

• Branding
  • Immersive experience
  • Consistent aesthetic and use experience
• Control
  • Keep people on our site (e.g. avoid YouTube "Related Videos")
  • Create something that doesnt exist
  • Custom functioanlity / features
  • Privacy
  • Own Your Own Data
  • Access Your Own Data

• No third-party organizing success stories
• Reach communities that are not quantified online
• Avoid supporting corporate bloodsuckers

WORKING GROUP: WHY TO USE PRE-EXISTING TOOLS

• Meet people halfway
• Changing existing culture
• People trust: Friends first, Experts second, Celebrities third (Edelman's research)
• Permanence, Long-term growth
• You can still brand to some degree
• Saves money
• Less risk

BEST PRACTICES OF USING ONLINE TOOLS
(how to mitigate the disadvantages)

• Brand your tools
• Plan + collect your data
• Subvert the bloodsuckers
• There is no perfect solution: use a strategy-based hybrid approach
• Know your audience
• Participate in your organic networks

MISC

- Care2 has a "Social Network ROI Calculator" -- http://www.frogloop.com/social-network-calculator