As I was thinking of a title for this blog I considered using the “… is King” analogy but it seems the CMS industry has beaten that term to death.

It’s clear with the major success of sites like MySpace, Facebook and LinkedIn that community and social networking is big business. The marketing world is working hard to find ways to leverage this model for clients. It’s no doubt that when community and social networking tools are thought through and integrated successfully the investment can pay for itself rather quickly by connecting you directly with your customer to grow a relationship that allows you to gain amazing insights.

There are a lot of different concepts to consider when looking at social networking for brands. Instead of listing them all I’m going to borrow from (and summarize) the framework provided in Razorfish’s 2008 Digital Report using their “The six “C’s of social influence marketing” model.

• Content
  Content can come in many forms: video, wallpapers, badges, avatars, widgets and information. Authenticity and transparency is critical. Allow your content to be de-centralized (Syndication via RSS or embed).
• Customization
  Include elements where users can define themselves. Allow users to generate and customize their own content (blogs, comments, threaded discussions, etc). Empower consumers to express themselves.
• Community
  Give users a reason to interact. Provide unique content, value or engagement. Leverage relational social networking content on brand sites.
• Conversation
  Build a network of advocates. Using advocates to build new relationships = sales. Accept negative feedback and conversation. Intervene in a problem before it escalates.
• Commerce
  Must be soft sold. Consumers do not want a hard sell; any integration from your e-store must be subtle not blatant. Offer coupons, related content or links to store.
• Commitment
  It requires ongoing customer communication. Solicit feedback on products & services. Add more value to customers. Enhance brand reputation. Enable brand advocacy.

Before looking to embrace the benefits of community and social media you need to consider a solid strategy. A commitment to community requires an all or nothing approach. Provide your customer with a framework and tools that enable conversation and interaction. Don’t forget to invest in updating content that is rich and authentic and adding features that will keep your users coming back.

A disproportionate segment of my adolescent life was spent doing one of three things: Skateboarding, talking about skateboarding, or watching skateboarding videos. This was back before the internets, when skateboarding culture was still misunderstood and seen as a general menace to civilization akin to the Russian paratroopers in Red Dawn. To be a skateboarder in the late 80’s, you needed some sense of entrepreneurial spirit to practice your craft. To skate, you generally had three options.

First, you could go to the skateparks. The Turf Skatepark in Milwaukee and Rotation Station in Rockford, IL both benefited from receiving large chunks of my minimum-wage earnings. These places were a skater’s paradise, but the true benefit of going to the parks was usually the people you met. You’d connect with other kids who shared the same passion you had for riding around on a plank of wood with four wheels. Turf’s “Elvira” pinball machine and exquisitely curated jukebox were perks as well.

Secondly, you could build your own terrain. I had the benefit of living in the countryside, where one of my close friends just happened to have a huge, empty barn laying around. A couple summers, dozens of trips to the lumber yard, and a few hundred hours of work and we had ourselves a veritable private skatepark. A forty-foot wide, masonite-sheathed, private indoor skatepark in cold, snowy Wisconsin. My childhood was closer to heaven than I’ll ever be again.

Lastly, you could skate the streets and hope you didn’t get caught. This was by far the most popular option.

Luckily, communities across the globe are now realizing that skateboarding is actually a viable sport. And like many sports, it requires the proper environment to practice it. I’ve heard rumblings for last few years that a group of young skateboarders, Tosa Skateboarders United (TSU), were working on a proposal for a skatepark in Wauwatosa, the city I moved to a few years ago. Well, apparently they’ve been working hard, and through the right channels. I just read today that a plan has been selected for a brand new public skatepark. It’s an amazing design by the Site Design Group, which specializes in design and construction of action sports terrain. Click the image above to see a larger view of the plan.

TSU has been working with the community to plan the new skatepark, which will be located in the newly-expanded Hart Park, in the heart of the city. They’ve really done their homework and have held community meetings to discuss the plans, get feedback from citizens and involve people interested in the project. It’s a great example of a small group of passionate citizens pleading their case and the municipality listening and responding. This is the kind of project that makes paying property taxes worth it.

The question is: will my 30-something year-old body be up for it now? I’m no spring chicken anymore. I mean, this is the same city park where I play tennis with my wife and start my marathon training runs from. That being said, it’s great to see this type of thing happening in my own back yard.