Dateline:  05/02/98

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One of the most exciting and inexpensive business development tools a firm can initiate and develop is an active online community.  Here's what you need:

1.  Staff time
2.  A web site
3.  Bulletin board or chat room software
4.  A focus

These topics will be covered in detail in Part 2.  For now, here is some background on the dynamics of this useful and potentially dynamic development in web technology.

What is an ``Online Community"?

Online communities are groups of people who share an interest in a certain topic and come together, either in real time discussions online or in the form of posted messages to a bulletin board, to discuss their interest.  If a web site offers discussion topics to its key audiences, the participants find their way to the discussion group by means of a search engine or referral by someone in the community.  If the messages are current and the discussion is lively, newcomers will begin to join in and expand the community of interest.  Over a period of time, an active and well-managed discussion group can result in business referrals, free education for participants, business promotion and an expanded business network.

Online Community Formats

``Communities" typically take one of two forms:  a message/bulletin board or a live ``real time" chat room. 

Message Board.  The message forum or message board is similar to a bulletin board.  Anyone can start a message ``thread" by submitting a question or observation, and anyone can answer by simply posting a reply to any other message.  All who access the message board can see all the messages and all the replies.  A big benefit of this format is that people can participate any time of the day or night, from home, the office or the road, using only their browser.  Another benefit is that people posting messages don't have to be fast typists.  It is also low cost and requires little time to maintain, once established.

Live Chat.  Live discussions or ``real time" chat rooms are more dynamic and can be a little intimidating to people not yet familiar with the technology.  Most discussions are ``keyboard" based, meaning you type your comment as you watch others' comments scroll by on the screen.  Some chat rooms and software permit audio discussion and live video pictures of participants as well, for example, Microsoft's NetMeeting and White Pine's CU-SeeMe--two of the most popular business meeting applications.  Participants log on to a predetermined location in order to have their meeting. 

Another community format you may encounter is a 3-D virtual environment in which various participants are represented on the screen by ``avatars"--personalized animated graphic images -- which you actually move around in the screen environment in real time.  Avatars can take humanoid forms, or may be animals, abstract shapes or just about anything you choose. Three interesting examples of 3-D interactive environments are The Palace, Blaxxun and Active Worlds.  3-D communities like these can provide realistic private meeting rooms where your participants can ``see" each other, which opens opportunities for:

• Online promotion and branding.  Develop a visual setting like your offices, and conduct social meetings or focus groups conducive to meaningful discussions about your firm, your services, or other interests.
• Online sales center. Give your clients an opportunity to browse your packaged products and interact in real time with your own ``salespeople" about your services.
• Online client care center.  Provide your support staff and clients an informal  place to nurture client relationships and get first-hand feedback from your clients about what they need.
• Online teamwork.  Create virtual project centers where your professionals from anywhere in the world can solve problems and develop problem-solving skills.
• Online training.  Create virtual classrooms where your professionals can interact with other participants and gain CPE from accredited instructors--without leaving the office or incurring travel expenses!

If you have not experienced a 3-D chat room, it's very easy to download and install the Blaxxun CCPro plugin  (a 3 megabyte download) for either Netscape or Microsoft browsers. Give it a try and see if you can't imagine creating your own business environment for a variety of firm applications! 

Next week's feature: Tips for Building Online Communities, Part 2

Practice Management Discussion Group
Haven't tried a message board discussion yet?  Try this one from Electronic Accountant to get a feeling for the kinds of issues and discussions that are typical from an online community in a ``threaded message" format.

Yack's Legal Pad
Try out a live chat on a variety of topics with lawyers and law students for an hour any Monday night.  All you need is a browser.

Richard Selzer's Weekly Business Marketing Chats
The topics change weekly, as do the participants, but unlike most real time discussions, you can read the archived and sorted transcripts of this live weekly forum on Richard Selzer's eclectic, all text web site. 

Talk City's Communities
Choose an area of interest and enter a chat room to talk live with people who share your interest.  The opening page tells you how many people are ``chatting" live online at any time. Other similar ``communities" may be found at Marimba, Earthlink, and Electric Minds.

Electronic Meeting Systems: 10 years of lessons learned
Scholarly paper from the University of Arizona that has some very useful diagrams and observations.

10 Tips for Building Online Communities
Solid advice from C/NET and several case studies to learn from.

Chatter's Jargon Dictionary
Yes, there is jargon used in chat rooms, just like other specialty areas.  Get a headstart with this handy reference for some of the more common (and very obscure!) terms you will run into. MTF--CYAL8R. :)

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Copyright 1998 by Kaye Vivian (kvivian@cloud9.net).  All rights reserved.  Permission to reprint is granted provided this article is not altered and the copyright notice remains attached