Attributes of the T/TAC Online Community

· Common goals and interests – seek to add value

· Focus on the members’ needs

· Social components – social interaction

· T/TAC sees themselves as a community – how can we build on that?

· Chat room, conference discussion, E-mail (use of tools)

· Definition of “community” – what makes it distinctive?

· Many-to-many relationship

· E-mail interaction

· Mechanism to engage and involve members

· Participation is it’s own reward

· Dominant roles versus Informal roles (community advocate, leader, knowledge manager, instigator, etc.)

· Control can kill

· Guidelines – how to conduct yourself in the community

· Resources – exposure

· Definition of members

· Are they isolated?

· Do they share information already?

· Do they need information to complete work?

· Do leaders support the idea of OLC’s?

· Are they passionate about the work they do?

· Best practices

· Acknowledge members for sharing

· Awards?

· Highlight contributions

· Recognition matches sharing

· Criteria for acknowledging

· Look and feel – representation – not only visually…Language!