Every community needs a place to gather, that’s how they are built and nurtured. Businesses -including partners- are no exception.
In a virtualized world, where it is increasingly difficult to gather around a table, making available a virtual watering hole can fill the void. Where I have seen that the challenge lies, is in the adoption.
There is no natural drive to get to your “portal” or “online community” and invariably has to be created, by providing content that is useful, relevant, up-to-date, and increasingly, fun and engaging.
Sometimes, it is the community itself who takes this upon themselves, from the very beginning offering something that others may be longing for. Sadly, and in a weird twist of how our minds are wired, this is how conspiracies take on.
It is generally very hard to intentionally get a community jumpstarted quickly and it has to be approached with a “build it and they will come” mentality, not expecting too much in the beginning.
At the end of the day, the identity of a community is tightly linked with the way they gather and become known for “doing these things”.
Where do you hang out? Why?