This is a talk I gave on community engagement at the Community Summit at the 2011 Open World Forum conference.

1. ...
Hello! You may notice
that this title card
doesn’t actually contain
a title.

2. Before starting in on the
“meat” of this discussion,
let’s take a few seconds
to provide some context.
[ setting the scene ]

3. The topic for today’s
discussion is that sense
of citizenship that
makes open source
communities really
communities.
topic: sense of
citizenship

4. ...as opposed to clever
marketing, designed to
evoke the sense of
community. Sometimes
that’s difficult to
discern, especially by the
marketers.

5. 2000: engineer 2002: engineer
I’ve spent my career at companies who endeavor
to build community around their products, first in
engineering, then in community management.
2007: community 2005: engineering mgr
2009: community 2010: community
2011: community

6. These companies feel
that if they can
surround themselves
with an
“ecosystem” (with
sarcastic quotes), they
can increase their value.
Sometimes they’re right.

7. But I’m not sure the word
“citizenship” applies. It suggests
membership, possession, special
privileges, responsibilities, and
rules. It sounds exclusive and
restrictive, and companies
ultimately cannot afford to be
so presumptuous.
define: citizenship

8. Developers will show
allegiance to communities
based around commons, but
not based around firms.
Well, sometimes it
happens...but it should be a
pleasant surprise if it does.

9. citizenship The right word to
devotion
describe what companies
are striving for,
therefore, is not
citizenship. It’s
engagement.
attachment
belongingness
togethertude
engagement

10. community
engagement
A ha! we have a title for
this talk now.

11. This isn’t just about open source.
Lots of companies want to
engage with technical
audiences...some of that is
based around open source, some
of it isn’t. Either way, the same
social truths prevail.
this topic is broader
than open source

12. [ reasons to engage ]

13. So why do companies want to build
community?
Maybe it’s because building community
allows them to connect with people who
are cooler than they are? After all, how
else could they connect with San
Francisco hipster intelligentsia like this
guy?

14. Or maybe it’s because
someone told them to?
Their investors might
have suggested it, or a
customer.
Some people just like to
check boxes.

15. Because they think an assembly
of unpaid code robots will
magically assemble, willingly
take direction, and make their
product more valuable?
We’ve all debunked that over
and over again, but that doesn’t
mean people don’t still believe it.

16. Or - and this is my
favorite - because
underneath their mean
callous heartless
exterior they really just
want to be loved?

17. These are all awful reasons,
and one of the reasons why
we have a community
bubble today. The number of
people who think they need
community is far larger
than those who actually do.
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
companies who think they need a community strategy
companies who will benefit from their community strategy

18. I hate to do this to you,
but I have to complain
about something that
irritates all community
managers.
[ a tangent on wizardry ]

19. Business people who
understand the potential
of community but
fundamentally
misunderstand its spirit
often ask you to do some
“community magic”.
“community magic”

20. This is patronizing and
disrespectful. Our users
are not orcs. If you ever
hear the term “community
magic”, start asking
questions because whoever
said it doesn’t understand
how people work.

21. engineers
are not all
esoteric
geniuses

22. engineers
are not all
anti-social

23. engineers
are not
rock stars
“Rock star” is not a term that
engineers apply to themselves.
It’s a term that other people
apply.
Don’t call an engineer a “rock
star”. The smile you receive in
return is not happiness, it’s pity.

24. Engineers are PEOPLE. People like
you and me. They like what people
like and they behave how people
behave. They are all different.
People in my profession stand in
giant auditoriums and say stupid
things like “oh, developers love
getting compensated with beer”.
Really? All of them?

25. engagementius totalus!
...so there is no magic. Only
reason. If there’s one secret to
community management, it’s
this: put your effort into truly
understanding the people
around you and then simply do
what makes sense.

26. There are things that all
community managers do.
These are a list of the
common tools that we all
use.
[ standard wisdom ]

27. mailing lists forums
tools SCM IRC
governance licensing
process I’m not going contributor agreements
to cover these
in much detail,
go read Jono
Bacon’s book.
contests certifications
programs hackathons meetups
hustle! trade shows speaking
PR social media

28. But someone has already
broken all of the rules.
Have Apple managed to
build engagement with
their app store? You bet
your ass they have.

29. Openness and
community are
inconsistent with their
corporate strategy. How
do you surprise people
with products if you don't
keep secrets and control
information?

30. People rail against Apple,
get pissed off, blog,
complain, say they’re
going to revolt and go to
other platforms - and
many of them do.

31. But the Apple App Store
continues to be wildly
successful and highly
engaging. Why?

32. Because they have a
desirable product with
universal appeal. Users lust
for it, developers flock to it
because of its market
penetration and innovative
capabilities. It inspires
people enough that they put
up with all the BS.

33. mailing lists forums
tools SCM IRC
governance licensing
process
Does Apple worry about any of
these things? Hell no. I mean, contributor agreements
they do these things, but let’s
face it...they’re not really
trying. At my last company, I
did all of these things...but I
failed because our team didn’t
contests certifications
programs
have a product that the
community could build on.
hackathons meetups
hustle! trade shows speaking
PR social media

34. no amount of hard
work or dedication can
overcome bad strategy
or bad timing

35. A guy asks his ailing
friend “what’s wrong?”
He replies, “I was trying
to make orange juice
from concentrate and all
I got was a really bad
headache”

36. [ basic ingredients ]

37. Just like you can’t make orange
juice by concentrating, you can’t
will a community into being
simply through willpower alone.
It’s like gardening...you don’t
make the plant grow...you just
create the space and scatter the
seeds.

38. So what are the seeds? I
would argue that there
are three key
ingredients: substance,
opportunity, and charm.
They’re all frustratingly
intangible.

39. I struggled with how to explain
what “substance” is. If your
product is useful, cool,
interesting, practical, or
other wise desirable, you probably
have substance. Let’s put it like
this... you can tell how much
substance you have when someone
asks you if your product is cool.

40. If you start tapdancing
around the issue and say
something like “oh well ya
it’s cool if you blah blah
blah and you are in a
particular situation blah
blah”, then something is
missing and you know it.

41. You also need to provide
the opportunity for
people to engage. Leave
room for improvement,
and make it obvious how
people should engage..

42. I’ve heard this described
as a “jagged binding
surface”...a product with
lots of ways for people to
stick.

43. But variety is also
important. You need to
provide opportunities for
lots of different kinds of
people who want to
engage at lots of
different levels.

44. Make
sure this
moderate forums chart is
full.
plan releases
write code
write docs
available time
web design
build extensions
translate docs
update docs fix bugs
review report a bug
translate strings help others
rate
report crashes
technical skill

45. The third essential
ingredient is charm. This
is the most intangible
one. The other t wo are
practical, this one is
emotional.

46. Charm is what will draw
people to your product or
platform, makes them
feel a connection to you,
and compels them to
engage with you.

47. Vision and tone go a long
way. “Making the web a
better place” is a
practical goal expressed
in a passionate way. It
makes people want to do
their part.

48. People look at this billboard
and think “I want to relax
with technology like that.
I want it to bend to my
will. That could be me.”
Developers think “someday,
people will integrate my
app into their life”.

49. Another inspiring
example. Fast, secure,
easy-to-use. Most
importantly, it’s
disruptive...that’s its
charm.

50. If your product causes an
idea to spring into
someone’s mind, that’s a
really good start.

51. Arduino has charm
because it allows people
to innovate with
hardware in ways they
never could before.

52. World of Warcraft has a
very extensive add-ons
ecosystem because the
game is well-crafted
enough that people value
the experience, yet
complex enough that there
is room for optimization

53. So I guess that if I have
to summarize this point,
it’s this: If you have
substance, opportunity,
and charm, but no active
community management
tactics, there is a chance
that you can succeed.

54. However, if you have
tactics but no
substance/opportunity/
charm, you will fail.

55. [ engagement resistance ]

56. Once you have the perfect storm of
engagement, you don’t have to strain
and stress over how to create
engagement from nothing. You can
simply manage the demand and
optimize people’s experience.
For example, at Talend, the next few
slides demonstrate all of the
different steps that people have to
go through in order to become
engaged.

57. these people need an integration solution

58. these people know about Talend

59. these people start to download Talend

60. these people finish the download
(523MB!!)

61. these people install Talend

62. these people understand how to use it

63. these people use it once

64. these people become regular users

65. these users help others

66. this user innovates

67. ?
what makes
someone become
a Talend user?

68. ?
what makes a user
engage?

69. ?
?
?
?
?
?
? what can go
? wrong along
the way?
?

70. ?
Once you understand
what is in your
community’s way, you’re
far better informed to
make good tool decisions.

71. rossturk.com/twitter
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www.talend.com