If you’re planning to attend, be prepared to tag and be tagged . Here’s how Jeff puts it:

Guests will be asked to fill out a name badge with their name, company and “personal tag line.” Please come prepared to engage in real-time social tagging during breakfast.

Or, to explain with a picture:

Interested? Please RSVP via Facebook.

Technorati Tags: Jeff Pulver

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Here are the two main reasons why:

1. Lack of compelling content. The initial flood of posts to a new Facebook group typically drops off to a trickle after couple of weeks. Essentially, a bunch of people rush to join a group, say hello, and then disappear.
2. No RSS. Even when there are new posts to a group’s wall or discussion board, I can’t monitor them through an RSS feed. I have no way of knowing what, if anything, is being said in a particular group without manually checking its page from inside of Facebook. To be honest, that’s just too much trouble. (I admit: RSS has spoiled me.)

And I’m not just throwing stones from a glass house here. I acknowledge that I haven’t done much to keep my own Facebook group — the New Comm Road Travelers — active and thriving.

But you tell me: Is my experience with Facebook much different from yours? Is there a magical component I’m somehow overlooking? If I put a little more effort into my Facebook group, would the collective membership suddenly be moved to do more than make a sporadic posting?

I’m hoping you’ll share a success story or two to erase my doubts. I want to hear about a Facebook group you lead, participate in, or know about that is working well.

Either drop a note in the comments section below, or shoot me an e-mail to bperson – AT – gmail – COT com.

[Facebook groups]

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Hosted by Bryan Person. Recorded from Boston, Massachusetts, USA and published for Saturday, June 16, 2007.

Subscribe to the New Comm Road podcast. It’s free, and it ensures you won’t miss a single episode! Click on the iTunes image above, or paste this feed into iTunes or your podcatching software of choice: http://feeds.feedburner.com/NewCommRoad

MEDIA MONITORING MINUTE

• A word from Chip Griffin, CEO of Custom Scoop, New Comm Road’s sponsor.
• For a free trial of Custom Scoop’s ClipIQ Service, visit http://www.customscoop.com/NewCommRoad

COMING EVENTS

• Audio promo for Podcasters Across Borders, taking place June 22-24, 2007 in Kingston, Ontario, Canada.
• I’ll be attending the conference and will deliver a presentation called “Managing Your Social Media.”

FEEDBACK
Audio comment from Christopher Penn on Soundtrack Pro.

NEW COMM ROAD MAP
Building a community in Facebook.

1. Ask the initial question: Is Facebook the right place to build your community? Who’s the audience you’re trying to reach? Are they already on Facebook? Think about your goals. What are your objectives? What does building a community involve? What do you want the group members to do?
2. Where do you build the community? Around your personal profile or around a Facebook group? There are differences. Groups are more findable and have a higher profile, while individual pages offer the advantage of embedding Facebook applications, and there are hundreds to choose from.
3. If you are building a community around your personal page, add applications that will engage your community. Two that I’ve seen and like are My Questions and Quizzes.
4. If you’re using a group, keep it active. Specific tactics include:
   • Start and maintain discussion threads.
   • Appoint officers and give them responsibilities in the group.
   • Schedule and promote events for the group.
   • Send the occasional direct message to everyone in the group to drive them back to the group page and to take an action.
   • If you have photos, add them and encourage group members to comment.
   • Create a good group description.
   • Keep your contact information and Recent News up-to-date.
5. If you have the budget, consider setting up a sponsored group. It is costly — a minimum of US$50,000 for three months — but enables you to create more dynamic content and control the advertisers on your group pages.

NOTES

• Visit the New Comm Road Travelers group in Facebook.
• This show can also be found on Blubrry.

MUSIC
From GarageBand.com: Still Holding On, by Rantings of Eva

CONTACT US

• Leave your text and audio comments below this post
• Send us audio files or text e-mails to comments-AT-NewCommRoad.com
• Call us on our comment line: (206) 222-9130

Technorati Tags: Boston, Bryan Person, New Comm Road, Chip Griffin, Custom Scoop, Podcasters Across Borders, PAB2007, Christopher Penn, Financial Aid Podcast, Facebook groups

LISTEN
Running time: 19:25

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