Catch up on the "Good Ideas in Community" salon at YouTube

Last week, YouTube joined forces with trends research and consulting firm PSFK to host a "Good Ideas Salon" at YouTube's headquarters in San Bruno, CA. As with other salons, the panel was designed to be a creative exploration of a topic -- in this case, community -- amongst experts in the field. Senior community managers from Digg, Etsy and Flickr shared tips on building, managing, and harnessing the incredible power of vast online audiences. You can watch the video of the panel in its entirety below, or simply read the suggested takeaways:



Community management is the new brand marketing
All of the panelists (none of whom have traditional marketing backgrounds) recognized their users not only as the ultimate ambassadors for their brands, but also as the engines behind them. "[Community] is the brand; it differentiates us," said Matthew Stinchcomb of Etsy. "If not for the community, we'd be 'bad eBay with bad search'." Embrace and empower your users, and let them carry your messages for you.

Keep it real
Stay focused on your users' best interests, stick to your core principles, and always be open and honest. "It's important to be able to make bold decisions confidently," said Flickr's Heather Champ. "Sometimes, you know that you're going to piss off a very vocal minority, but as long you have the vibrancy of the community in interest and are transparent about your vision of the long view, people stay happy."

Don't forget the real world
Online may be where most of the interactions are happening, but the real world is important, too: meetups are a good way for users to meet each other and for staff to meet users, and they can help to deflate any negativity that might persist in places like forums. While the majority of these physical gatherings are user-organized, all three sites partake in events big (Digg's annual SXSW bash) and small (whenever she's in a new city, Champ will go out shooting photographs with local Flickr users; she says it's a great way to see a new town). Etsy even has a work space in its Brooklyn, NY, office for its community to create crafts together.

Set clear rules of engagement
If you're trying to build a community from scratch, it's important to let growth occur organically, but you've gotta have a solid framework while it happens. These usually come in the form of Community Guidelines, and they are a must-have for anyone looking for passionate communities to carry their products forward.

Posted by Mia Quagliarello, Community Manager