This a map of the new Rockville Town Center. It’s about 10 minutes away from my home. Ever since its grand opening a few months ago, it has been booming with people and become its own little community here in Rockville, Maryland.

Everything that you ever wanted to learn about online communities can be traced back to the proliferation of town centers.

Every booming town center has the following elements that contributes to its success;

1. A park. It’s a place where people can congregate and people watch and just feel like they belong. A park is part of the communal experience.
2. Shops. Shops are part of the commerce of a community. It’s where we buy and sell and exchange in commerce. A marketplace is needed to help the community thrive. Economics will always reign and it helps support the local infrastructure.
3. Restaurants. The ultimate and timeless experience. We break bread and have solid conversations over food. It nourishes our soul while we “connect” with others. Whether it is our friends, family, or co-workers, these are all people that make up our community.
4. Residential units. You can’t have a community and successful town center without people who live in them. Residential units such as apartments, townhomes, and condos are the ultimate in community building. They go beyond just encouraging people to visit the community. They tell people to stay for good and help become the community.

Wanna build an online community? Pretty easy. Just take a look at these four elements of a town center and decide what the online equivalents of these are.

What will encourage people to stay? What elements will get people to engage in commerce and improve their bottom line, assuming that is one of the goals of the organization. What will help people feel like they are truly connected to each other? What will help bridge the connection?

The proliferation of town centers is simply a reflection of the need of Americans today. There is an innate desire to reach out and be a part of each other’s lives. To touch and be touched. Connect, reconnect, and connect some more.

Is your community helping to bridge the connections?

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On the Meetup.com homepage, it says that there are over 3,500 meetup topics. Just in my area alone, there are more 1,546 Meetup topics within a 50 mile radius. Such topics for a group include the mainstream such as a nightlife group, womens only group, and political affiliation groups.

And then there are very eclectic and specialty groups such as The Closet Country Meetup. I joined that group and no surprise here that I’m the only minority in the group so far. That should be an interesting adventure.

Anyway. Some other groups include Lesbian Motorcycle Club of Northern Virginia and a DC Ultimate Fighting Meetup.

But what if there was a social networking meetup group for Type-A personalities? You can tailor it to, say young people in their 20s and 30s, as most of the successful meetups consist of this demographic anyway. Typical agenda consist of the regular social events such as happy hours, dinner events, and outdoor activities. But just brand and advertise it as for extroverted Type-A personalities. Introverts can still come but you want to brand it as a truly “outgoing” group.

Curious to know how that will go over. Would it attract more people because of the brand positioning? Have a room full of outgoing personalities and see if these guys and girls will truly be the life of the party. I’m interested in exploring the dynamics of this. I have lots of experience hosting and organizing events and they always have both personalities at these events. Sometimes, the Type-B are too quiet and bring down the energy. They don’t always know what to say, much less know how to make small talk. Conversely, sometimes, the type A talk too much and won’t shut up. You need a mix of both.

I may have to consider doing one event like this and see how that goes. Would the event be livelier and more fun because every one there is outgoing?

I’d do it more for curiosity sake than anything else. Call it an experiment in human behavior and social dynamics.

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I had the chance to attend the Capital Cabal Networking Mixer last night. CapCabal is primarily for professionals who work in new media. Think marketing, PR, internet, web technology and the like.

This was my first time but I was impressed with the crowd. I grew tired of the typical Chamber of Commerce scene where it’s too general of a crowd. CoCs are a little bit of everything from the self employed, the small business with no budget or a clue, the sales account executives, and corporate managers who think they know everything and are too good to talk to you. That’s no longer for me as I know whom I tend to work and collaborate best with; marketing communications and technology professionals. Goodbye CoCs and hello networking events with a focused demographic.

Looking back at the night, I know that it was a good networking event when;

1. I have at least three attendees take the initiative to follow up with me within a 24 hour time period. It’s usually me that has to send a courtesy email or follow up. I have a hard time recalling when was the last time three people send an email to me immediately. The funny thing is that I only managed to talk to less than 10 people. I’m used to talking to 15-20 people and I’m lucky if anyone wants to give me the time of day afterwards much less do a follow up.
2. I actually enjoy the majority of the conversations. As I told Margaret Schwartz, it’s a lot easier to relate when we speak the same language. In this case, the language of marketing and new media. As I always tell people, I don’t expect to do business at a networking event. I’m just there to try and have as many interesting conversations as possible. The majority of my clients come to me for web design, blog design and consulting, along with localized search engine optimization strategies. As hard as it may be for some to believe, I don’t attend events to find prospects. Though, that would be nice. I attend events like CapCabal to find collaborative partnerships with professionals who work in similar synergistic vertical industries whereby we can serve both each other’s needs.This explains why there would be more synergy at an event like this for many of the attendees. We are all in the same industry and are just looking for the right partnerships.
3. The demographics are varied but still focused. New media is a very broad term that encompasses quite alot of industries and professions. We had a good mix of account executives, entrepreneurs, and small business owners. Even the small business owners such as Julia Wilkinson, aspiring writer and ebook publisher, were pretty savvy.
4. The attendees aren’t clueless and show networking courtesy. I don’t mind people talking about themselves and their business but just as long as there is some level of reciprocation. Most of the attendees were highly educated and showed courtesy. Plenty of bright intelligent people to talk to. Thanks Sarah
5. I win a door prize. As I told Jose Laguna, I was feeling the vibe last night. As the master of ceremonies, Hank Dearden, was making his announcements, I told Jose that I had a feeling I was going to win a prize. And sure enough, I did. I won a gift certificate to Gua Rapo Restaurant. Yummy.
6. The organization doesn’t overcharge you for admission. Admission was rather cheap- $15. This included a drink ticket and some hors d’oeuvre. That’s all I need. I get tired of networking organizations that go through all sorts of trouble for an extravagant feast and charge $50 for it. I can afford $50. That’s not the problem. The problem is why bother when half the people aren’t going to have a full dinner at the event. If you want fine dining, go out afterwards. It’s called networking, not netseating or neteating. It’s virtually impossible to have a dinner and meet people at the same time. I hear networking groups say that they want to provide an experience. Experience? If you want people to remember your group, just create an environment that is networking conducive. Not that hard, folks. Thanks for understanding that, Hank.

My only criticism of the event is that the music was too loud. It would be nice to turn it down so that I don’t feel like I’m screaming at the top of my lungs when having a conversation. I know others said something similar. But if I’m gonna scream over loud music, then at least they made it 80s music to scream over. How bout some music from Eddie Money next time?

If I didn’t have to bolt out early, I would’ve stayed alot longer. Otherwise, two networking thumbs up.

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If you are looking to build an online or offline community, you can start by deciding who you want to serve. Don’t be a generalist and be everything to everybody. There is a big enough pie out there that you can serve a niche market and still be around a year from now.

Based on my 4 years experience of being involved in community building, I have listed the five ways that you can segment your community. You don’t have to pigeon hole your community into just one of these 5. The more of these criteria that you select for your group, the more niche it becomes. They are as follows;

1. Profession/Industry Vertical (financial professionals, web professionals,)
2. Age, (seniors, teenagers, 25-35 year old),
3. Region (city, state, neighborhood, country),
4. Religion (atheist, Catholics,)
5. Topical interests (sports, scrapbooking, knitting, marketing),
6. Sex or sexual preference (male,female, gays, lesbians)
7. Culture/Race

I am trying to develop an acronym for these seven criteria but the best that I can come up with is, PARRTS-C. I need to turn one of these criteria that begin with a consonant into a vowel to make it flow better.

I had reviewed some of the newest Meetup Groups in my area and I realized just how esoteric and niche some of these communities are. Many of them will segment their community by using more than one criteria of PARRTS-C.

For example, there is the newest Fairfax County UFO Meetup (#3 and #4 ), Indians in their 20s (#2,#5), the Northern Virginia 20s/30s Boardgame Meetup (#2,#3,#4) or the Divas with Drama group (#5, #6). Incidentally, I thought this last group was redundant because if you call yourself a diva then you most likely have drama in your life. But it turns out that DWD is about women who wish to discuss movies of the Drama genre. Go figure.

If there are other ways to segment a community that I am missing, let me know.

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I was thinking about some of the holiday well wishes that I got from various people over email recently. I had considered sending out holiday cards but I wanted to go for something more poignant, less time consuming, and just as heartfelt. And so I came up with The Dean’s List. Back in college, if you made the Dean’s List, then it meant that you had reached a high level of academic excellence. In this case, if you make my list, then it means you have made a high an impact on my life personally or professionally.

Once you read past this list, I also explain below it’s importance and I hope that it inspires you to do something similar. I hope you take on a similar resolution.

1. Jennifer: You may be my oldest niece, but you’re like a little sister to me. You’ve come so far so fast and I’m proud to have seen you mature so much in these past few years. You’ve got alot going for you. Good luck with college. It’s my hope that before you graduate that you’ll understand that while books are good, people are better. People is what will power your career and your life. I’m really interested to see what aspect of a career in design that you’ll pick. I’m a bit bummed that you may not go into fashion as I was hoping to hobnob with all the models that you’d meet. It should your duties as a niece to do that for your uncle . But hey, even a career in graphic design ain’t too shabby. Who knows, you just may be my future business partner. I can hear your mom groaning already.
2. Leesa Barnes: Frack! Need I say more? In case I do, I’m just glad that we’ve kept in touch with each other after all this time. I appreciate how articulate you can be but yet still have a good ear for listening. Most can talk, but can’t really listen. Yet, you seem to have both and you are only a few years older than I. What’s your secret? And thanks for the funny business anecdotes that you’ve shared with me over the year. I swear that the stuff you describe can only happen to you!
3. Joenn Khoo: Remember that joke that I made about how beautiful your dress was and trying to unwrap it? I think of you in a similar respect. You always seem to pleasantly surprise me. The more I run into you, the more pleasantly surprised I am at learning something about you. It’s like trying to take the Christmas wrap off and figure out what’s inside of you. And when I get to the end, I am pleasantly surprised to find something else interesting about you. I feel like it’s Christmas everytime we meet.
4. Maria Sipka: What can I say that the two of us haven’t articulated privately? It’s just amazing how two people from opposite ends of the world share a passion for community building. But when you think about it, it has little to do with the C word, does it? Because it really is all about people and the two of us enjoy doing that on varying levels. You’ve blown me away with your experiences, stories, and insight. You push forward without hesitation or fear. I am inspired. You share me your Sipka-isms and I will share you my Deanisms and we’ll have the making of a great book on people.
5. Denise O’Berry: We’re both busy and don’t really “see” much of each other nowadays. How did you manage to be so concise and succinct in everything that you say? If you know the answer, can you go teach that to everyone else to be just as articulate? It’s such a precious gift to have.
6. Scott Allen: Speaking of articulate. I’ve never known anyone to be pissed off at you. My wish in 2007 is that you’ll manage to piss at least one person off so that the rest of us can feel secure about ourselves. Can you do that, Scott? Pretty please.
7. Lien Nguyen: You truly live up to “softie” status. Kind, compassionate, and understanding is how I have always known you. I know you’re so busy saving lives as a doctor, but I know that every person you run into, be it a friend, stranger, patient, or otherwise, you will have an effect on them as you have on me. Any guy would be lucky to have you. By the way, you’re very huggable too! I’m getting 2 of that shirt- one for you and one for me.
8. Lin Chen: It hasn’t been very long for the two of us. There is still a lot more to know and learn but I appreciate the time spent so far. I think you underestimate your abilities in certain areas and you just need someone to recognize those other great qualities that you have. I hope that doesn’t sound cryptic. I see certain things in you that I really like and respect. And thanks for letting me use the photo below. I realize like the pic.
9. Sunny Cervantes: You live up to your name in every regards. But you’re also strong and very loyal. I can’t think of a lot of people who embody those two traits. I appreciate your loyalty, friendship and all the laughs along the way. But I’m still funnier than you are. Keep on LOLing for me.
10. Zhiyi Yu: You were my first impression of your company. You didn’t disappoint and I’m glad that I stuck around because that caused me to make some great connections. I’ll never forget the impression that you made on me.
11. Kevin Barrett: Youthful and wise at the same time- great combination to have. I wish there was a chance that I can learn more from you but alas some things are beyond our control, eh? I still think you have a slight accent, though
12. Krissy Jackson: Your spirit and resilience knows no bound. Your son has a great role model. I thank you for helping me build up the community that we have so far. I really am inspired by your personality and spirit. It is something that I can learn to shoot for. Don’t change, babe.
13. Russ Howard: You talk about how you’ve learned so much from me, but you are far more kind and compassionate than I can be at times. You live up to your billing as a Texan. Don’t change those qualities about you. Be bold. Be confident. Let every step you take convey those qualities and you’ll do just fine.
14. Lisa Ocone: I will always affectionately refer to you as my as my em. While some people may see as two very different people on the outside, I think we have more in common on the inside than meets the eye. And while it may be hard to believe, I’ve learned quite a bit from you. Ive learned your little secret in how you manage to make friends wherever you go. I’m not as good as you are yet, but I’ve learned a few tricks from you and I’m getting there. Thank you, em.
15. Susan Ciccantelli: You are sooooo Sachi! That phrase should summarize it all. Thanks for the inspiration.
16. Danielle Bailey: You were so instrumental in helping me get the business off the ground. I know you had a lot of personal issues to take care off and it was hard for us to keep in touch after that. But my door is always open to you. I enjoyed all the jokes that we shared. You are truly selfless not too bad for a redneck. Sorry, I couldn’t resist.
17. Krista Goon: If we lived closer to each other, you could almost be like my older sister. Like Danielle, I appreciate the help and advice that you’ve given me throughout this past year. Thanks for your patience in the project but most importantly, thanks for just being there.
18. Bengt Wendel: I think there is a lot that I can learn from you. But for whatever reason, we really haven’t made the time to connect as of yet. When we do, it’s either that we’ll both learn a lot from each other or we’ll both end up facing off in an intelligent and heated debate every single time. Either way, they should both prove to be fun.
19. Jared Martin: Thanks for letting me come on with the group. Didn’t I tell you that by December, we would kick some serious butt? 2007 is going to be exciting and I’m looking forward to continue building up this community of people we have so far.
20. Des Walsh: As hard as a time that I give you and the fact that I’m far younger than you, I’m surprised you’ve never wanted to just strangle me. I’m glad you take my challenges and queries as just that and it is a testament to your patience and wisdom that you’ve gained through life. Despite the age gap, you’ve never treated me as a lesser of two equals. I’ve always enjoyed our talk on business and strategy. Cerebral and articulate is how I best describe you.
21. Vandana Purohit: I’m telling you girl- this ain’t no coincidence that we are just running into each other again after a long hiatus. I’m just as excited about what 2007 holds for you as you are. I always say that networking is serendipitous in every respect and it’s my hope that this is another example of that level of serendipity.
22. Carol Williams: To one of my “originals.” You took a chance on my idea. Not alot of people would’ve done so but that’s a testament to the faith that you have in people. It’s because of your faith in me that I was able to fine tune that big idea and make it profitable for others. Thanks for being the “guinea pig” that I needed at the time. Of course, based on the growth that I see in your business for the past year, I don’t think you have a problem with being my little guinea. Here’s to future guineas!

I came to understand that the greatest need for any human being is to feel wanted and connected. It’s what I refer to as the the longing for belonging. It took me such a long time to learn that lesson of people. Be it a girlfriend, business associate, friend, client, church member, or stranger on the street, I know there isn’t a person in this world that doesn’t want to feel validated and acknowledged.

This is the most important lesson that I’ve had to learn in my young life. We all contribute to each others success and failures. We are our own community. I realized just how important building communities and connections are now. Whether it’s a relationship with your spouse, your circle of friends, or your co-workers, we all want to feel like we belong and matter.

For this New Year, I resolve to building up this list. As Maria and I once said to each other; to meet more people and build more quality relationships. If you take care of that, then so many of the other typical resolutions will be taken care of on its own. Through more relationships, you’ll probably find someone who can motivate you to stop smoking or lose a few more pounds. You can probably find a business contact that can help you make more money or move up in your career. You can probably find someone to travel the world with.

As for 2006, I thank you for making me feel rich beyond words. You move me and I hope I’ve reciprocated in kind. This little list is my own way of acknowledging your contribution to my life and my purpose. When you see the beauty in others, they start to see it in you. I don’t know how to explain it, guys. But it’s like I see the world in a new way that I’ve never seen before.

I hope that this inspires you to reflect on your own circle of influence, continue building your list, and start paying it forward. Who has moved you? Who has contributed to your wealth? Are there people out there who you are totally grateful for running into? And most importantly, do they know about it?

By December 31st, 2007, this list will be three times bigger than what it is now.

And for those wondering- no, I didn’t have anything to drink while writing this. Believe it or not, I’m not always serious and I do have a soft side. What can I say, I’ve softened up quite a bit over the past year. I have you guys to blame for this.

If you choose to duplicate this initiative, please drop me an email and I will be happy to include a link to your personal list. I hope to see more people do something in a similar fashion and make this part of their New Year Resolution.
With the right people in your life, all things are possible.

With affection,
Dean Hua

Update: To celebrate her most recent birthday, Leesa Barnes created a list of people who have influenced her life over the past year. Very nice and poignant. And I even got an honorable mention!

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First, I’ll be arranging a dinner with a bunch of friends. Once we’re done feasting, we’ll be heading over to a friend’s home in Bethesda, Maryland for the Ultimate NYE Bash for 2006 [evite link]. It’s a party that is being co-sponsored by the Meetup 20s/30s group that I help co-organize on a monthly basis.

I had talked to some friends and I think people are really tired of spending hundreds of dollars to go out to some hotel or nightclub party and be disappointed. Carla, one of the hosts for the NYE Bash, recently told me that it’s not the event that really matters but who you are with that night. I agree. A community of friends is far more important than a lavish party with free flowing booze. Though, booze certainly never hurts.

However, this party will be the exception to that rule because it’s friends of friends coming. Everyone is going to know someone. Some have met through the 2 meetup group that are hosting it. The other is Carla’s 20s/30s Girl Meetup group. Both Meetup groups are very popular amongst the young professionals community in the DC area. So either you belong to 1 of the 2 groups, know the organizers [Carla, Tia, & Beth], or you are invited because you are a friend of a friend. Regardless, you can’t lose and no one should be alone that night. And that’s why this will be one of the best parties out there.

I easily expect a crowd of over 200 people in attendance. We’re already at 100 “yes” and two weeks still to go. Whether it’s a community of your church, family, or friends, community does matter. Everyone wants to belong and certainly no one wants to feel alone during New Year’s Eve.

If you spot an Asian guy taking photos of people “belonging” at the party, then that’s me. Be sure to say hi. Community building is alot of fun

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I’ve been moderating forums for the past couple years. Most of them have been successful ventures. But this would depend on how you define success? As of this writing, I run two different online forums at Xing.com- a social networking site for business professionals . I run a forum for Entrepreneurs and another for marketing professionals. One has over 2000 members and the other has over 400 members, respectively.

I don’t run these online forums to gain knowledge. At least, that isn’t my main objective. My primary goal to joining a business focused social networking site like Xing.com is to find business contacts. I find that running an online forum helps me achieve this objective at a much faster pace.

This is the typical motive for most moderators. When faced with the opportunitiy to increase our exposure, we would jump at the chance of having our own community. While this isn’t a bad motivation per se, I find that most owners of an online community fail to realize what type of work is involved in running one. And more imporantly, they fail to realize who is involved as well. The who is just as important as the what.

When running an online community, you need to know who your stakeholders are and what is important to them. In my siituation, there are three stakeholders involved in running an online forum. There is the founder, the co-moderators, and the general membership. The needs of all three stakeholders must be satisfied in order for the online community to continue to flourish. The needs of my co-moderators are most likely the same as mine– to find and develop new business contacts and contracts. The needs of the membership is most likely to engage in healthy discussion and gain knowledge related to the forum at hand. Between myself and my moderators, we all know how to engage and raise the participation of the forum. In the case of my forum, The Entrepreneurs Playground, it is consistently ranked as one of the top 7 busiest forums for English speaking professionals on Xing.

Having moderated successful forums in the past, I’d rank myself as being in the top 20 percent of network leaders who know how to run busy and successful forums. It’s no easy task, mind you. I’ve seen people moderate forums who could serve their own needs but couldn’t satisfy the needs of their community. And yet, I’ve seen other moderators serve the needs of their community very well, but go broke doing so because they couldn’t satisfy their own needs. I’ve seen discussions where moderators bragg that he has given so much of himself while not getting much in return. Note to readers who are thinking about building their own online community– don’t follow this model. Think win/win. It’s ok for you to benefit from your forum. It’s ok to use it as a proxy or vehicle for your own business needs. But before you do that, learn to identify the stakeholders involved and what their needs are. Once you identify the stakeholders involved, work out a win/win model whereby everyone involved is happy.

A thriving and flourishing community is one where people are involved, engaged, and connected to each other. The absence of this can often be traced back to the beginning where the owners of the community didn’t outline who the stakeholders are and how to best satisfy their needs.

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