Networks and Transformational Communities - With Bill Johnston and Dr Lauren Vargas
Aug 13, 2021
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Bill Johnston and Dr Lauren Vargas discuss the evolution of online community development, exploring good communities, engagement practices, last mile internet access, and the value of networks.
The importance of embracing cultural competence and inclusivity as more people come online and the implications of global internet access on community strategy.
The need to reclaim control over relationships and networked data from platforms like Facebook, and the impact of exponential technologies on community development and extended network development.
Deep dives
The Evolution of Community Strategy
The podcast episode discusses the evolution of community strategy and highlights three focal areas that community leaders should consider. The first focal area is global internet access and its implications, including the need for increased cultural competence and inclusivity as more people come online. The second focal area is the concept of the humanities graph, which explores the idea of reclaiming control over relationships and networked data from platforms like Facebook. Lastly, the impact of exponential technologies is examined, and how it influences community development and extended network development. The episode emphasizes the importance of moving away from letting technology dictate strategy and towards a transformational strategy guided by networked stakeholders.
Recap of Previous Episodes
The episode briefly summarizes previous conversations with guests, highlighting key points made in each episode. Gail Ann Williams, an early community manager at the well, shares insights on the life cycle of a long-lived online community and the positive and negative aspects of technological changes. Carrie Melissa Jones, a community leader, discusses building empathetic and engaging communities, as well as the challenges and responsibilities faced by community professionals. Jim Cashall explores the implications and opportunities of global internet access and exponential technologies, urging community professionals to consider cultural competence and the impact of their strategies.
Looking Ahead
The episode announces upcoming interviews with Charlie Lee and other guests, focusing on leadership in a networked environment. The hosts express their intention to explore topics such as digital disruption, network science, and the future of community development. They emphasize the need to rethink and reshape community strategies to adapt to new technologies and changing dynamics within communities. The hosts also mention their own written works, including a post on the evolution of community strategy and reflect on the importance of intentional positioning and value creation within communities.
On this episode of the Cohere Podcast, Bill and Lauren review highlights from Season 2 guests, look back on formative roles in their respective careers and dig into the topic of transformational communities. From Bill: The plan for this season of the Cohere podcast is for Lauren and me to use the podcast as a means to learn and make meaning in public. Our plan is to do a series of 3 interviews, followed by an interstitial episode to review and discuss the preceding series. This is our first interstitial session, and is a long-form conversation between myself and Lauren - and we cover a lot of ground! We begin with a look back at our respective early career experiences that led us into community development - Lauren at the Army and Air Force Exchange Service (part of the Gov 2.0 movement), and my first large role at TechRepublic.com. We then review and discuss the first four episodes of the podcast from this season: Episode 1 - where we tee up the concepts of network science and the potential value this discipline brings to community practitioners Episode 2 - we interview Gail Ann Williams, and discuss her long-standing relationship with The WELL, one of the longest-running commercial online communities Episode 3 - we interviewed Carrie Melissa Jones, in what Lauren describes as a "masterclass in community leadership" Episode 4 - Jim Cashel returns to update us on "The Great Connecting" and the implications of bringing the next 3 billion people online We end the episode by discussing my recent post about the end of the Social Boom and the coming era of transformational communities.
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