Collaborative Development Software

AvectraLabs Attends Web 2.0 Expo - Our thoughts...


Time flies! It’s hard to believe that this action/content-packed expo went by so quickly. I was impressed to find many of the sessions inspiring, exciting and relevant; kindling some ideas, (at least within me), that caused me to step back and take a second look at the big picture, a panoramic view if you will, of the amazing technology of our day! 

AvectraLabs made a strong appearance at Web 2.0 Expo (@w2e). It’s safe to say we stood out in the infamous Purple Pumas! The three of us pictured here include Luiz Lopes, Rocky Segarra and yours truly (Sterling Raphael).

Here are a few observations and ideas we gained at the expo. 

Luiz attended Tuesday’s session on Flickr PuSH: Real-time Updates on the Cheap for Fun and Profit by Neil Walker (@nolancaudill), Nolan Caudill. 

Neil had us taking a look at how Flickr developed around the pubsubhubbub (https://code.google.com/p/pubsubhubbub/) -protocol for it’s new API which handles near real-time access to images and tons of other objects from Flickr. 

Ideas presented here open up a whole new experience for developers and for users, who won’t have to sit and wait for an API response.  The API will push data whenever it’s available. 

View the Recap and Slides...

Next Luiz attended Code As Craft: Building a Strong Engineering Culture - by Chad Dickerson (@ChadDickerson)

This was an impressive presentation.  Chad is the new CEO of Etsy. This talk was all about the culture he and his team cultivate at Etsy, and how things worked organically to match the type of company they are creating.  His discussion focused on ‘culture’.

• Culture is the game.
• Culture is what brings great people to your company
• Define the culture and show it, let everyone express it wherever and whenever.
• Not everyone is going to agree, but the culture will dictate respect when you do disagree. 

Chad reinforced the idea that "Engineers are Creative people” and because of that he encourages his engineers to give talks/presentations and helps them when submitting call to papers and trains them on presentation skills. Outstanding!

Collaborate with OpenSource world.

View the Session Slides. 

More at: http://codeascraft.etsy.com/

Luiz also attended the session “The Secret Path to Success in Online Video” - by Dina Kaplan (@dinakaplan)

Dina is one of the 3-founders of Blip.tv.  She discussed in some depth about the surge in online video series, an industry with much potential. I was interested in her discussion about blip.tv, and the reasons for failing on the first try.  I was impressed to hear how by tapping into an established community (Online Video Bloggers) they were able to listen to their requests and build a platform their users loved. Five hundred sign-ups in one day.  She encouraged posting content regularly, even if it’s not part of the series.  The use of Social Media has been a real success for them..  Eyes are drifting from TV to online.

 

Ignite NYC was the highlight of the week for me. 18 renowned speakers took the stage in rapid paced keynotes. One of the most entertaining was by Alexis Ohanian (@kn0thing) from Redddit.

One of the favorite sessions I attended was on Guerilla Marketing – by Jay Conrad Levinson @zakiwarfel 

It was a treat to hear from Jay Conrad Levinson, Father of Guerilla Marketing. "Guerrilla methods are faster, less expensive, less rigorous versions of their non-guerrilla cousins. They offer an acceptable trade-off between rigor and cost effective techniques" - @zakiwarfel  "I'm referring to the soul and essence of guerrilla marketing which remain as always -- achieving conventional goals, such as profits and joy, with unconventional methods, such as investing energy instead of money.  http://www.gmarketing.com/

A few notable quotes from my sessions include:

• @MBLOOMSTEIN discussing Content Strategy and says “Hoarding and Aggregating Content IS NOT the same as Curating” 
• @PeterKim says the key to using Facebook is a 3-step process. Starting with creating Awareness, then focusing on Engagement, finally the goal of Conversion.
• @adamconnor shares on giving better design critique by “Use a filter. Gather initial thoughts and reactions. Revisit them in the right context.” And “Lead with question show interest in the process.” I’m sure Rocky (the AvectraLabs UX Designer), is happy I learned a few things in this session!

Speaking of Rocky… he attended a few sessions including HTML5 the WOW and HOW – by @petele a Developer Advocate @ Google.

Pete was an interesting fellow and very clever in how he explained the HTML5 revolution and his enrollment with Google. He also went through a demo/tutorial on a small application using HTML5 and Javascript where he referenced the webkits and HTML5 elements we need to be using at this stage of the evolution.

HTML5 Tools, References and Kits we should be using include:

• We should be watching Paul Irish videos on htmlrocks.com
• HTML5 Cross Browser Polyfills - for less modern browsers
• Chrome Frame plugin
• Linear gradients rgba
• var els = document.getElementByClass
• .classlist api
• @font-face & Google API's learn more
• binary attributes
• Web Sockets - For sending and receiving messages
• Socket.IO to wrap around web sockets

References:

• http://www.html5rocks.com/en/
• http://petelepage.com/blog/2011/07/showing-hiding-panels-with-html-and-css/

Slides:

• http://bit.ly/pGGGn3
• http://petelepage.com/blog/2011/07/showing-hiding-panels-with-html-and-css/

Rocky’s favorite session was Mobile First, presented by Luke Wrobleski (@LukeW)- Co-Founder, Bagcheck Inc., LukeW Ideation & Design. 

Luke’s session talked about my favorite web topic "Mobile First". I am a hardcore advocate to this notion that Developers/Designers should be thinking about the Mobile version first for any web app.

Luke discussed three reasons for considering mobile first:  

1. The Mobile Growth
2. The Mobile force of making you focus
3. Mobile Extends your capabilities.  He mentions that in iPhone apps, the main function should be immediately apparent. Minimize the number of controls from which users have to choose and most importantly, create this first before getting to the desktop version of the app.

Key points:

• Google programmers are doing work on mobile applications first, because they are better apps and that's what top programmers want to develop.
• Mobile Web growth has outpaced desktop Web growth 8x. Smartphone sales will pass PC sales in 2012

Resources & References:

• The Touch Gesture Reference Guide is a unique set of resources for software designers and developers working on touch-based user interfaces.

These are just a few of many thought-provoking ideas we gained at the Expo, but suffice to say – this was a knowledge-packed event – a great learning experience!  Between yesterday’s miracles and tomorrow’s dreams, we live in a tremendous day and age!  

And that’s our recap for #w2e!

Don’t forget to follow @w2e and visit http://www.web2expo.com/ to register for future Web 2.0 Expos!

September 27 – 29, Silicon Valley Marriott, Fremont, CA

Sticky Content

‘Loyalty means nothing unless it has at its heart the absolute principle of self-sacrifice’

Woodrow T. Wilson

You guessed it! My topic is loyalty and my argument is that member loyalty to an online community is all but dead in this day and age.  Commitment to an online community, simply for the sake of being a part of a community, is gone.   Members are no longer assumed eternally loyal to an online community. Now that there are so many options online, commitment is diminished…competition is fierce!

For example, look at MySpace... do you think there's still many MySpace loyalists out there? Facebook is still holding strong, but Google+ is on the rise. Social Networks, regardless of the purpose cannot expect their members to stay and be loyal if the value isn't there or a better alternative becomes available.  Organizations cannot assume members will be loyal and connect to their community without some long-term, lasting value.  Organizations and community management must take a servant approach to engaging communities around content value creation. Above all, your community must resonate with the governing factor - loyalty, integrating all the trustworthiness and thoughtfulness associated with this remarkable trait. 

So, consistent with my themes in previous posts and speeches, content creates community creates COMMERCE... allow me to ask:

• What's sticky about your content that keeps your community engaged?
• What's allows them to collaborate or connect to that content, and
• Can they build relationships with other like-minded community members?

If so, relationships can be developed between community members.

Believe it or not, ‘loyalty’ is not a separate topic from my speech, to be delivered at ISSMM Converge, on ‘How to Monetize Your Online Community.’ In fact and indeed, loyalty is the backbone of Avectra and at the core of everything we do! 

During my session, will you, as an attendee, learn new, clear cut ways to turn your online community into revenue-generating enterprise?  Absolutely!  And, at almost every stage of my talk you will hear the overtone of commitment and loyalty relevant to members and organizations.  

Now on to ISSMM Converge:  

It is an exciting time in our field, and during Converge, I am looking forward to hearing from, and hopefully meeting, Lyle Fong (@lylefong) to get his perspective on the future of "gated" communities and how Lithium and other community platforms fit into this increasing crowded software category. (topic: Gamification of Social Media)  Lyle Fong is the CEO & Co-Founder of Lithium.

And .. I definitely anticipate meeting Angela and Jamie from Campbell Ewald and explore how advertising and digital agencies are using social to drive product enthusiasts communities. Also, I’d like to see how are they collecting data authorized from Facebook, LinkedIn, etc... And, are they putting this data back into a CRM to tell the bigger customer or lead story? Angela Zepeda, Managing Director, and Jamie Lewis (@hinj19), Digital and Social Strategy at Campbell Ewald – is one of the largest advertising and digital communications agencies in the United States. ( topic: From the Boardroom to the Sea; Real-world Case Studies)

Hope to meet and greet you at ISSMM!
 

Don't miss my presentation, How to Monetize Your Online Community.

Thursday, September 29th @ 10:30 am to 11:15 am

Sterling Raphael, President and Founder AvectraLabs / Avectra
@SterlingRaphael
LinkedIn.com/in/SterlingRaphael
 

If you need more information regarding Converge 2011 and the Institute for Social, Search & Mobile Marketing (Issmm), visit www.socialsearchmobile.org   If you are planning to attend and haven’t registered yet, today’s the day! 

Tags: conferences, sales, marketing, search engine marketing, social media, aol, mobile marketing, co, altimeter group, current tv, brian solis, gamification, issmm, social search mobile, mobile monetization, blogher network, lithium technologies

Richard Millington is the founder of FeverBee Limited, an online community consultancy, and The Pillar Summit , an exclusive course in Professional Community Management. Richard's clients have included the United Nations, The Global Fund, Novartis, AMD, BAE Systems and several youth & entertainment brands. Richard is also the the author of the Online Community Manifesto. 


Avectra, the leader in web based membership management software, is proud to partner with FeverBee Limited to help organizations around the world understand best practices for creating thriving online communities and build invaluable communities of their own.  For more information on MemberFuse, Avectra's private online community platform, and Avectra Social CRM for Associations, click here.

Bring Your Chapters Under Your Association's Online “Umbrella”

As an Avectra partner, we were able to exhibit at the Avectra Users and Developers Conference (AUDC) in Orlando. In addition to the great weather, we were able to talk with a lot of Avectra customers and see what they are looking for in regards to online communities.

There was a recurring theme we heard, and that was the desire to bring the associations chapters and components within their website. When you think about it, leveraging the netFORUM association software and online community functionality across all facets of your organization makes a lot of sense.

Currently, many chapters of associations, even though part of the group, are run as almost separate entities. Some will utilize the dues features of the national organization and netFORUM, but many are collecting their own dues, using different tools to run events, using Google Groups or Yahoo! Groups for communication and Google Docs for file storage.

They pull it all together with a website that was created in FrontPage and hasn’t been updated in weeks. This is no fault of the chapters, these are passionate volunteers that are doing the best they can with the limited resources that they have available to them. However, as an organization, you can continue to allow them to use tools that cause them to take more time managing technology than they are forwarding the cause of your organization and members.

Or, you can utilize the Avectra association management software, integrated with an online community to enable your chapters to run like well oiled machines that put a polished look on your organization at the national AND local levels.

There are a number of benefits when you look at doing this:

One central place for all organization communication & collaboration

With association software like Avectra’s connected to an online community system, your members can access their dues information from the membership database, annual conference or other event information, general member communication and information, chapter and committee communication and collaboration all with one login and within your membership website.

The chapters then get all the features of the full online community at the chapter level. This includes integrated forums and listservs, file storage, poll/surveys, wiki platform, blog platform, media libraries, advocacy tracking, marketing pages, event management, calendars and more.

So by coming under the ‘umbrella’ of the organization, the chapters get much better tools. The organization now has all communication and collaboration in one place, so it is much easier to manage, support and see trends in those communications from one tool.

Consistent Look and Feel

No matter if a user goes to a chapter site, your main site or an event marketing site, you want the same consistent look and feel to present your brand in the best light. If they go to a chapter forum, or your main forums, you want them to be consistent. If they are looking for a file, no matter of it is a chapter, member or committee file, you want it to be easily found, accessible and searchable in one place and with the same format. The only way to do this is to have all of this in one integrated web presence.

Secured Information

When your chapter leaders are using these free sites to manage their communications and file storage, do you have any idea if it is secure? Are you allowing access to information that would put your organization at risk? When you link an online community system to netFORUM, you can be assured that no one outside of the organization will have access to sensitive information because access is controlled by the permissions authorized by the association management system. You can also manage, directly within netFORUM, who can have access to areas of the online community so the right people get access to the right information.

Simplicity of Support

When your chapters are all using different tools, support can be a nightmare. Your chapters are all trying to accomplish the same things, so give them the same tools that are powerful, yet simple to use. Your support people will thank you and now chapters can actually help each other, because they are all on the same tools. Through the online community, chapter leaders can have their own support forums and files areas to help each other.

No matter what online community partner you use, the benefits for your organization are profound when you look at bringing your chapters and components under your ‘umbrella’. 

Paul Schneider is the Co-Founder of Socious, an online community software company that specializes in working with associations. You can read his blog at: www.socious.com/paulschneider or you can learn more about Socious at www.socious.com

Our sales team often uses the phrase that Avectra’s association management software “captures the best practices of almost 1,000 associations and puts it to work for you.”   The best thing about that line is… it’s absolutely true.

In fact, more than 1/3 of the new features added in each product release come from customer suggestions user requests. (The rest are innovations and technology tools or industry driven improvements)

At Avectra, we believe user input is central to the success of our innovative membership management systems and have multiple channels for collecting the feedback drives improvements and new features.

• Customer Support Systems – As part of Avectra’s customer support system, our users submit requests for new features into our computerized tracking system. This adds them to our production systems and helps capture and quantify requested features. If we see enough requests for the same thing, that functionality moves higher on the list.
   
• User Group Feedback – TeamProCommunity.com, Avectra’s online user group for netFORUM Team and Pro users, includes a discussion group for users to discuss potential system enhancements. It provides an opportunity for users to collaborate and give feedback on potential system improvements, see if an idea is a “one-off” or would benefit other users, and help the development team prioritize requests.   Additionally, our teams meet with the Avectra Users Group (for our netFORUM Enterprise users) to review the product roadmap and discuss new functionality.
   
• In-person meetings – We regularly get groups of customers together to discuss the netFORUM product and the features they want. (In fact, this month we are having several of those meetings.) This is an opportunity for Avectra leadership and the development teams to discuss product improvements in one-on-one environment and get feedback and prioritize efforts.

In addition to these quantifiable resources, our entire team is constantly speaking with customers to identify what’s working, what isn’t and what’s needed.   This feedback is added to the mix in deciding about new tools and features to be added to our association software.

The bottom line is that product development and deciding what features to add to our association management software is a collaborative effort – a blend of customer feedback and developers who bring it to reality. 

And the end benefit is that each client is able to benefit from the best practices, insight and experiences of the entire community of users.