BarCampTTW kicked off its flagship event at UofT on Saturday May 26, 2007. The event brought out technology buffs from all walks of life. We had marketers, PRers, Coders, Designers, Consultanters, etc…. Nonetheless, the mash up of industries led to great conversations that further led to plans of future meetups!

As a consultant to media companies, the session at the unconference that stood out the most in my eyes was the session led by Will Pate entitled ‘Building Community Online’. As any marketing and PR consultant will tell you, “How do I build an online community?” is the number one question asked by clients today.

Will Pate gave a great talk and broke down his ideas of building community into 12 concise points.

1. Go where the community is.
2. Listen attentively to feedback from those seen as the community.
3. Find the champions in the community and engage them for feedback.
4. Be a good host.
5. Be real. Be true to how you are. If not, others will be able to tell.
6. Don’t Astroturf.
7. Be honest and own up to your mistakes.
8. You cannot buy real friends.
9. Forget the word vertical – think more about people and individualism. Don’t try to lump your audience into a ‘group’.
10. Viral marketing is not sustainable.
11. Have a thick skin. When engaging others to gather feedback you may here some things that can be hard to swallow.
12. There is no such thing as short-term community.

Whether you adopt the Will Pate’s advice or not, given what is happening with new media, traditional media, if they’re aware, should be looking to create their form of social media and community.

written by Beverly Crandon