#31677
A cargo cult website is a site that has all the bells and whistles of a dynamic community facing website but might as well be hand coded HTML for all the difference it really makes. The sites that imitate other sites and wonder why they too are not earning billions. A fine example of Cargo Cult CMS is Drupal. It is an overweight and underpowered system that tries to incorporate every kind of template system and every kind of website type in order to summon the gods of cool websites, community or success.
Lordmatt.co.uk (2007). Articles>Content Management>Community Building>Drupal
#27885
E-Communities, Community Knowledge, and Knowledge Management 
Collaboration and cooperation - real and virtual - among people with commonality of interests and practices have given rise to e-communities and web-based communities. This paper examines some intra- and inter-community communications and exchanges, other than scholarly and business communications, and the impact of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in this context. With particular reference to rural and marginalized communities, it considers positive aspects of ICT applications, such as acceleration of empowerment, creation of a more level playing field, facilitation of expression of and greater visibility to their needs and 'dreams', and utilization of the tacit 'community knowledge' for the greater welfare of society. It presents a few illustrative cases. It suggests that Knowledge Management (KM) ideas usually applied to enterprises can be extended to cover e-communities taking into consideration some additional parameters or dimensions.
Neelameghan, Arashanipalai. International Journal for Technical Communication (2006). Articles>Knowledge Management>Community Building
#30213
Focused Leadership in a Dispersed Environment 
Society chapters often involve members who live and work in a very wide geographic area. Even members of chapters with smaller physical areas face long commute times from work sites to meeting sites. Often, the time spent commuting is enough to discourage even the most stalwart Society member from participation. Chapter leaders and committee managers are left with the problem of how to offer their members the means to participate in meetings more effectively.
White, Don. Tieline (2007). Articles>Management>Community Building>STC
#27129
The nucleus of building an online community is a popular an well run forum. When building a community using php CMS software the forum is the first thing that should be configured. Unfortunately most opensource php CMS software is lacking in the area that it should be strongest, the forum. For users a lot of time and effort goes into choosing the right software to accomplish the task of building an online community. Missing is the effort by the CMS developers to ensure that the software is up to the job.
Hiveminds (2006). Articles>Content Management>Community Building
#31712
How To Justify Conference Attendance
As a manager you may often be faced either with your own need to attend a professional conference or requests by your team members to attend one. Professional conferences can be expensive and not all budget managers understand their importance or the benefits derived by conference attendees. In this article, Mike Doyle discusses how to go about justifying the expense of attending a conference and provides some handy worksheets you can use to do so.
Doyle, Mike. Writing Assistance (2006). Articles>Management>Community Building>Assessment
#30504
As a chapter leader, you work hard towards the goal of getting maximum interest and participation in chapter activities by the chapter membership. But are you on target? Probable accurate answers to this question are 'some times,' 'probably,' 'maybe,' etc. As any of us who have served in an STC chapter leadership role can attest, the fact is that the target is a moving one. What is on target today may not necessarily work tomorrow. And vice-versa. However, there are some 'tricks of the trade' which you can use to help you increase your on-target percentage. Come and interact with a panel of past and present chapter presidents as each shares specific ideas for increasing membership involvement and for tailoring activities to meet the needs of members and potential members.
Cantando, Mary Myers, Mark Hanigan Bruce E. Cone, Michael P. Bates and Judith N. Skinner. STC Proceedings (1993). Articles>Management>Community Building>STC
#31852
There is an aspect of leadership that’s just as important as knowing how to resolve conflicts. That is knowing when and how to listen. If we are leading a chapter or a SIG or a Society-level committee and one of our members raises an issue, we need to listen very carefully to what they have to say.
Farbey, David. Tieline (2008). Articles>Management>Community Building>STC
#30215
One definition of leadership that I like is 'the ability to cause other people to act in desired ways for the benefit of the group.' Those of us who are managers often have the authority to make other people act for the good of a group, but that power doesn't make you a leader--it makes you a boss. The people who choose to follow you decide if they want you as a leader and thus want to achieve the goals of the group. In the long run, folks in a volunteer organization follow a leader because they believe it's in their own best interests to do so. Those interests could be recognition, advanced career possibilities, learning a new skill, altruism, or any number of other personal perks. Good leaders know how to tap into an individual's personal interests and feed those interests so the person both enjoys and gains from helping the group reach a goal.
Oestreich, Linda L. Tieline (2007). Articles>Management>Community Building>STC
#30280
Leading a More Successful Chapter 
This leadership training workshop is designed to assist new and seasoned STC Chapter leaders with solutions to their chapters' most pressing problems. The agenda of this workshop is determined by the participants. Successful Chapter leaders will facilitate group discussion and roundtable problem-solving sessions.
Brinegar, John P., Steven M. Cascone and Roger A. Grice. STC Proceedings (1994). Articles>Management>Community Building>STC
#28159
Managing Valuable Chapter Content
One of the ways that STC chapters can improve their value proposition to present and prospective members is to make available some of the best content that is created by and owned by the chapter members.
Kinder, Meredith and Sheila Loring. Carolina Communique (2006). Articles>Content Management>Community Building>STC
#30140
The Marathon of Chapter Presidency
This panel discussion becomes what the audience deems it to be. Each panelist is a past STC chapter president. Issues are audience-dependent but may include topics such as handling volunteers, managing money, recruiting members, and so forth. Join this informal discussion to share ideas, quandaries, and solutions for successfully leading a chapter.
Graham, Bonni, Mark Hanigan, Linda Oestreich, Jeff Staples and Carolyn Watt. STC Proceedings (1998). Articles>Management>Community Building>STC
#25020
The Marathon of Chapter Presidency
This panel/discussion takes shape as the audience molds it. Each panelist is a past STC chapter president and has managed to successfully run the “Marathon of Chapter Presidency.” The past-presidents panel comprises senior members, associate fellows, committee managers, and other leaders of the society Issues are audience-dependent but may include topics such as handling volunteers, managing money, recruiting members, and so forth. Join this informal discussion to share ideas, quandaries, and solutions for successfully leading a chapter. All current, past, and potential chapter leaders are welcome.
Brogan, Barbara B., Steven M. Cascone, Mark Hanigan, Linda L. Oestreich, and Charlotte J. Ruenzel. STC Proceedings (1994). Articles>Management>Community Building>STC
#30592
The Marathon of Chapter Presidency: How to Compete and Win
Listen to and talk with past and present STC chapter presidents about the positive side of lessons learned in running a chapter. Each panelist will initially address a specific issue that he or she faced as chapter president. Issues vary but will include tips on getting volunteers, learning more about your chapter members, and maybe most importantly, reaping the benefits and joys of chapter leadership. Join this informal discussion and take some new, exciting ideas back to your home chapter.
Oestreich, Linda L., Steven M. Cascone, Mark Hanigan Carolyn L. Watt, John C. Hurd and Kathleen B. Aughey. STC Proceedings (1993). Articles>Management>Community Building>STC
#28503
Power from the People: Assessing the New Online Participatory Tools for Your Organization
New online participatory tools like blogs, YouTube, and MySpace can be powerful and valuable--if they mesh with your goals. Colin Delany walks through the benefits and costs of common participatory tools and suggests which are likely to be useful for you.
Delany, Colin. IdealWare (2006). Articles>Content Management>Community Building
#31537
As Leadership Community Resource (LCR) volunteers, we constantly receive requests to help a community with volunteer burnout. In the worst cases, we have seen entire councils walk away from communities, one volunteer doing all four elected positions, overworked volunteers snapping at each other, and many communities run by officers who have been in the same position for years. We want to help community leaders understand volunteer burnout and provide ways to help prevent it.
Stark, Mary Jo and Jackie Damrau. Tieline (2008). Articles>Management>Community Building>STC
#25479
Running a project Weblog is a great way to collect, organize, and publish the documents and discussions that are the lifeblood of the project and to shape these raw materials into a coherent narrative. The serial nature of the Weblog helps you make it the project's newspaper of record. This kind of storytelling can become a powerful way to focus the attention of a group. The desire to listen to a compelling story and find out what happens next is a deep human instinct.
Udell, Jon. InfoWorld (2003). Articles>Project Management>Community Building>Blogging
#30566
To run a successful STC Employment Information Committee, you need methods for matching job seekers and employers. You need to obtain information on the qualifications of job seekers, find available jobs, and inform employers and job seekers. You also need to advertise your job bank. The job bank for the Lone Star Chapter provides examples of the methods.
Masse, Roger E. STC Proceedings (1993). Articles>Management>Community Building>STC
#29688
Surviving a Busy Year: The Marathon of Chapter Presidency
Every year, the annual conference offers potential chapter leaders a session entitled 'The Marathon of Chapter Presidency'. They're not kidding. My year as president of STC Montreal was a long, steady, exhausting haul--but a very pleasant one now that I can look back on our achievements. In this paper, I'll pass along tips learned from other presidents and tips I learned while coping with my own duties. Try out as many tips as your time, energy, and volunteers permit!
Hart, Geoffrey J.S. STC Proceedings (2005). Articles>Management>Community Building>STC
#31536
Good leadership involves a responsibility to the welfare of the group. If you make choices based on popularity, you will avoid making tough decisions. You might even avoid confrontation and, as a result, deserving people may not be rewarded for their accomplishments. Sometimes leaders have to draw a line in the sand and take a stand.
Laurent, J. Suzanna. Tieline (2008). Articles>Management>Community Building>STC
#30121
The problem with many Web 2.0 applications is the assumption that the community's motives are good, or at least neutral. Perlin's column explores how one of the drawbacks of Web 2.0--potential loss of control over information--has manifested itself.
Perlin, Neil E. Intercom (2007). Articles>Web Design>Community Building>Content Management
#32702
Keep Everyone Informed with Twitter!
At this year's Technical Communication Summit, I introduced social networking at Leadership Day by telling those in attendance about Twitter. Some folks already knew about it, but for others, it was a new concept ... letting people know what was going on in real time? Setting up meetings? Getting the A/C fixed in the conference rooms? By the end of the Summit, about 20 people had sent messages, or tweeted, consistently throughout the conference.
James-Tanny, Char. Tieline (2008). Articles>Management>Community Building>STC
#33044
Six Steps to Effective Discussion Forums on your Intranet
When you have a small base of users (say, under 10,000), everything has to be perfect to create effective discussion forums. Here are 6 guidelines.
McGrath, Chris. One Intranets (2006). Articles>Content Management>Community Building>Intranets
#33642
Caught in the Current of Writer River: Building and Participating in Community-Driven Websites
When hundreds of people engage in content-generation and exchange, impressive results can happen — namely, you find a lot of interesting, accurate content. Writer River doesn’t have nearly enough community to be on par with these sites, but it’s a step in the right direction.
Johnson, Tom H. Intercom (2009). Articles>Content Management>Community Building>Taxonomy
