Does the world really need another online community for communicators?

Communicators are busy people. They have day jobs, responsibilities, bosses to please, families to feed. So do they really need or have time for yet another place to go network with other communicators and (yawn) discuss their challenges? This is one of the many questions (I may have exaggerated a little!), Neville Hobson asked me for an interview that he recorded yesterday for the podcast For Immediate Release he does bi-weekly with Shel Holtz to discuss the launch of the CommsNetwork. You can download and listen to the full interview here. Two similar sounding sites, CommsNetwork and MyRagan, launching so close together inevitably invite comparison and this is being broadly discussed on a number of blogs such as Tom Keefe’s CommaKazi Speek, Dan York’s Disruptive Conversations, Brad Grier’s blog, among others, along with what this means for professional associations like IABC whose core purpose is networking over on Shel Holtz's blog. Is Melcrum just keeping up with the Joneses and following a fad? Like I said to Neville, was the reason I became a father again in March because Mark Ragan had a baby daughter (congrats again Mark)? Oh p-lease! These things take a little longer to plan than that! Not quite nine months, but close. Social networks are launching all the time. The barriers-to-entry are low, out-of-the-box ASP services are cheap, so there’s little stopping others launching a branded community for their customer base too. The major obstacle is the communicator’s precious time. Who needs yet another site to check and participate in, unless the CommsNetwork really offers something truly different? So unless the site is need-to-have and not just social, then it’s likely that custodians of the corporate firewall, not to mention communication team leaders, will judge them harshly. The CommsNetwork is much more than just an online networking tool. Being able to connect to other like-minded communicators is ‘cool’. Being able to self-organize around topics is ‘useful’. Getting answers from experts is ‘valuable’. But none of these things are ultimately that new and different from what’s been possible previously. The technology just got better. So the real reasons communicators should try out the CommsNetwork are: 1. The quality of the conversations: there are discussions going on right now on leadership communication, measurement, channels and new media, employee engagement and change communication. 2. The quality of the participants: the membership so far reads like a who’s-who of the industry, from Angela Sinickas, Russell Grossman of HMRC, Neville Hobson, Katharina Auer from Shell, Carol Kinsey Goman, David Berger of IBM, Lee Smith, Steve Clayton from Microsoft, David Ferrabee, Terry McKenzie of SunMicrosystems, David Grossman, Debbie Weil, Matt O’Neil, Liam Fitzpatrick, Lee Hopkins, Brad Whitworth from Cisco, Rodney Gray, and Tudor Williams to name but a few. 3. The opportunity to steer the site’s development: this site is only 72 hours old, so you get to have a say in how it develops. There’s a long list of features we are evaluating and you get to help decide what comes next. The site you see today is just the beginning. We are still in our beta phase, so you will not see a press release or any marketing about this site. It's invitation-only. Once we've added the ratings and review functionality, this site will acquire a whole new dimension. Why? Because it will allow communicators to list useful resources wherever they are and rate them. So you'll be able to see the top ten blog, books, podcasts, articles etc for communicators as voted for by you. Suddenly, the CommsNetwork becomes not just a place to chat or network, but a goldmine of resources from hundreds of sources, that's free to use. So instead of just adding to a long list of online communities, it will fulfil its goal:

To aggregate the knowledge, know-how and expertise that lies scattered throughout various groups for professional communicators around the world and share them for the benefit of all

The CommsNetwork is really all about mass collaboration and advancing the industry by pooling ideas into one easy-to-use directory. We have invited various membership groups around the world such as IABC or CIPR in the UK to collaborate in this initiative and, by working together, we hope to present something altogether different and necessary. Isn't this a goal worth supporting?

Comments

[Judy Gombita]

Besides the more-typical representation from the UK, US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, I’ve seen registrations by practitioners working in companies located in Abu Dhabi, France, India, Italy, Lithuania, Spain, South Africa, Sweden and Switzerland, which is really quite fascinating and encouraging. (I'm sure there is more countries in the mix, but the number of registrants to check out has grown substantially since I last had a noodle around, so this was a quick spot check this Friday morning.)

Are you monitoring the extent of interest on a global basis, Robin?

[Robin Crumby]

Hi Judy,

You are obviously paying closer attention than me! (Note to self: Must try harder).

Someone referred to the site as the United Nations for Communicators, which I thought was quite fun. So, if Melcrum's customerbase is likely to reflect on the geographical make-up of the CommsNetwork members, then we can expect more than 90 countries to be represented.

But as this service is free, may be we can go for gold and break the 100 country mark.

Who knows? Thanks for your geo-analysis.

Robin.

[Tom Keefe]

Great post, Robin. To continue your baby analogy, how could anyone look at a newborn and accurately predict its future? Less than one week after it went "live," The Communicators' Network is becoming more vibrant.

I'm a member of both TCN and MyRagan, and some clear differences exist, which will almost assuredly mean that both social networks, themselves, will continue to exist--and serve their members well. I plan to expand on my thoughts this weekend; I wanted to let TCN get some time to develop.

Anyway, now that your baby has been "birthed," try to catch up on some of the sleep that you've been missing!

[Robin Crumby]

No rest for the wicked Tom. These online networks are curiously addictive. Though continuously hitting refresh to see who else has signed up at 3am is not good for one's health. Off to Washington tomorrow morning, and hoping the hotel doesn't have internet or e-mail! I need the rest. Robin

[Russell Grossman]

Have't had time to load down (probably still listen to) Neville & Shel's latest FIR (they are good, but long) but yes, we communicators are busy people. Nevertheless, if there's something of value then it's worth at least skimming. Why I think RSS is so valuable (if only I could get it to work properly).

[Bernie Charland]

Though I think the idea of a social network for communicators is great, I have two concerns. One is that in many of these forums the same 10-15 people keep showing up again and again. Though these are fine professionals, not sure that reflects well on the breadth and diversity of our business. Second, I fear we, as PR professionals, will become even more insular than we are already if we don't actively join in other conversations and forums. How do we ensure we bring in the best ideas and news from other online communities? And inviting the usual consultants does not qualify.

[Judy Gombita]

Interesting comment, Bernie. When you refer to "the same 10-15 people," are you including comms/PR practitioners in the mix (i.e., salaried, full-time employees) or only those in the consulting end of the biz?

Regarding your second concern, you may wish to read an older blog post (one month!) by Dan York (Disruptive Conversations) where he talked about the dangers of "walled gardens," except he was referring more to e-mail:

http://www.disruptiveconversations.com
/2007/05/facebook_myspac.html

Judy

P.S. Disclosure: Dan was one of the very first people to register for The Communicators' Network and that's because I sent him an invitation to come visit. (At present, TCN and LinkedIn are my only social/business networking platforms by choice. I value quality over quantity, as I've expressed on this blog before.)

[Robin Crumby]

Hi Bernie,

When you say the same 10-15 people, who do you have in mind? The usual suspects adept at exposure for their consultant businesses or do you also point the finger at in-house practitioners?

If you take another look at the Comms Network site this week, you'll see close to 1,000 people have signed up. And the great thing is that I don't know even a fraction of them. They are for all over the world, from every industry, at various levels. And this is just week one. So we'll see how this develops, but plenty of variety and contribution so far.

Let's hope it continues.

Robin.

[Sandra Fransen]

I have a bit of social network fatigue...I joined Friendster in 2004, then MySpace, and now Facebook and LinkedIN. Not to mention my internal comms network (which is really more a bio page on our internal wiki...still working on getting a "real" social network going there). What is this going to give me, I'm not getting somewhere else? I'm interested...but I already have a lot of addictions (on and off-line :)

I understand you approached IABC...but does this mean that they're not going to create a social network and more likely use Melcrum's? I know it's counterculture to suggest this...but can we just have one comms networking site...please!!!! Then I'll sign up. :)

[robin Crumby]

Hi Sandra,

I confidently predict that there will be at least 3 more social networks for PR/corporate comms people to choose from by the end of this year. Each new launch will need to differentiate from the last and improve on the model. So I would say that what we have seen so far is just the beginning.

But The CommsNetwork is not just a social network for communicators, it's purpose is the sharing of knowledge, know-how and expertise, so it will have a very different feel in a few months and be a signposting service for resources, Melcrum or third party, fully rated and reviewed by the community.

Well worth a look at www.communicatorsnetwork.com

Let us know what you think.

Robin.