Community Building Tips

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Bunker Project Episode 141
The Bunker Project is brought to you by Okanagan Spring Brewmaster Black.

Bunker Mavens in attendance:

Bonnie Sainsbury @bsainsbury
Margaret Reynolds @bc_insurancegal
Andrew McGivern @podcasthero
Bob Garlick @bobgarlick
Randall Orser @numbercrunchers
Kurtis Lockhart @kurtislockhart
Marilyn Anderson @mande2
Marcel Lapointe @ unknown
Sanj Sukerkar @genesysdesigns
Ken McGrath @kenamcg
James Karg @twisted_majic

We are fresh off the #SMCMEETUP event where Bob and Andrew set up a podcast studio at The Fan Club during the expert panel discussion about building community using Meetup.com.
So we decide to continue the conversation from that meetup. Listen to the last episode if you want to hear what we talked about during that show. Listen to the episode and read the full show notes to get all the details.

Show 141

Round Table Intros:

Round Table Intro Question: Name, Twitter Handle and a tip on how you build your community?

• Margaret said don’t be a social media douche.
• Bonnie said don’t spam which basically means don’t be annoying and especially don’t be annoying three times in a row.
• Randall said don’t post 50 times in a row or don’t post on Linked In, Facebook and Twitter all at the same time.
• Kurtis said to build community focus on having great content.
• Sanj updated his blog plugin and previously had disabled auto-posting but the upgrade turned it back on… so he posted to all networks at the same time.
• Margaret said don’t put a ton of hashtags in your tweets.
• Bob said take your core network of 150 people and get to know them and interact with them.
• Andrew said to give more than you take.
• James said don’t let Sanj show up… because he didn’t show up to the event last night. He said do what you do because you want to do it not because you’re trying to get something out of it.

Voicemail feedback from…. NORM!!!

• Norm heard on another podcast that Google + can take images and organize them and auto suggest (identify) your friends to tag them. And it detects smiles and which pictures are the best.
• Bob talks about how great Google’s technology is compared to the competitors.
• Some talk about Camera Phones and Smart Cameras. Bob said if you don’t understand light you won’t be able to take a good picture no matter what hardware you have.
Traversing the Digital Divide
• James and Bob said trying to get to know your online community personally is the key to building a strong community.
• Bonnie said that is fine if you’re doing business locally but not most people aren’t these days.
• Bob said meeting your community when you travel for conferences to Las Vegas or New York is what he’s talking about.
• Bonnie disagrees and says online is good enough with G+ Hangouts and the ability to communicate online.
• James brings up the Craft Beer Nation hangout community has grown to 6000 members and Bob said James would definitely meet those guys in person for beers if he was visiting their city. James agrees.
• Andrew said the point isn’t necessarily to meet your community in person but to get know them, who are they, what do they do, etc.
• Bonnie said this a little to Kumbaya for her… She isn’t going to send a personal tweet to all her 104 000 followers.
• She said generally people who say this don’t like to be friends with only 150 (Dunbar number) people.
• Bonnie said that having a huge following and following a lot of people got her on two Forbes lists.
• She said it would be great if ALL her followers were focused ONLY on her profile…
• James said some people with large followings get a ton of engagement.
• Bonnie likes Twitter Chats and she gets to know a lot of amazing people. Blog Chat is an example where every Sunday night at 7 pm and you can get some good insights.
• Sanj asks what a Twitter Chat is and James says it uses hashtags to follow the conversations.
• Bob likes to follow the comments on Blogs and Social Media posts to get added value.
• Andrew asks if you have a podcast or web show with 5000 subscribers but only have a very small percentage of people who interact with you. Should you focus your show on that small group of listeners to please them or should you think about the group as a whole when you’re planning your show.
• Margaret said that you need to stay true to what you were doing.
• James said you need to vary your content and we love Norm. He talks about Craig being the first fan of the Bunker to interact with us.
• Bob talks about the beer that Craig sent us from Australia and the video we made about it.
• James talks about the Startup Weekend.
• Kurtis said that the only reason he met Bob and Bonnie at the SMCMEETUP event is because he was at the same table with Margaret.
• The voice of God speaks during the podcast. (Ken)
• James talks about Social Media Club Vancouver.
• Bob said there are tons of platforms now to keep up to date and network with people online after you’ve met them in person.
• Bob said he is Mouthless.. caused by our sponsor…
• Bob talks about the correct way to market yourself in person at a networking event.
• Marcel shows up for the show and we bring him up to speed with what the show is about.
• James was a master moderator at the #smcmeetup event. We talk about how good a job he did. The Bunker Show was asked to be quieter during the show.
• Bob and Andrew talk about doing the show upstairs at the fan club. Margaret wants to know how we found taking the show on the road?
• Lindsay Smith joined us at the end of the show (last episode)

Gaming with James

• XBox One – James found it interesting that Microsoft is positioning themselves as competition to Apple and Google rather than Sony and Nintendo.
• They received a huge backlash over rumors about the device.
• Bob started playing Star Wars Empire Academy and he really likes it. He thinks that the gaming community is like heroin junkies and play the game like crazy when it first comes out and then move on to the next one. But they are the minority… the mainstream market is looking at games but also at Netflix and Youtube, etc.
• Are Gamers experiencing game burnout?
• The Oculus Rift –  the first virtual reality gaming headset.
• We talk about how children using the Oculus Rift will damage their eyes.
• You can’t patent shooting days of our lives characters in the face?  What?
• Mobile Crossover – will you be able to save a game on your counsel and continue it on your smartphone?
• Using your smartphone as your gaming controller.
• Andrew asks if there are many games being developed for table top PCs?
• Zynga is losing more users.

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Thanks to Okanagan Spring Brewery for sponsoring the show!

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About The Bunker Project
The underground Bunker Project is a meetup focused on Social Media, Internet Marketing, New Media, and Podcasting. Set in the Bunker at the Barklay Hotel on Robson St. in Vancouver, The Bunker Project will appeal to those looking for cutting edge social marketing and new media information and to those who just want to socialize over a beer and exchange thoughts and ideas about social media.
Members will have the opportunity to participate in the Bunker Project Podcast which is recorded live at every meetup.

Hope to see you soon at The Bunker!

Your Hosts,
Andrew McGivern & Bob Garlick