Moving Forward: The PMBA Forums
As I mentioned in my last post, many of you told me that you think the current PMBA forums are sub-optimal for discussing the PMBA and related topics. I agree, and have looked into a few things I can do to improve the quality of the forums.
Regarding forum structure, the forums are currently managed by a software package called Vanilla. I like the package for many reasons, but the lack of a linear folder structure has made it hard for many people to find the topics they’re interested in.
To fix this issue, we’re going to need to migrate to another forum software package (most likely punBB), but there’s no good way to save the old posts and import them into the new forum. We’d likely lose all of the posts that are currently in the forum. (I could keep the forum on the server as an archive, but it’d be completely disconnected from the new forum.)
The other thing that I’d like to improve if/when we move to a new forum is the quality / frequency of the conversation.
Currently, most of the conversations that take place on the forums are relatively infrequent and superficial: links to interesting content, input on the books, etc. There’s no real personal experience sharing or asking for advice going on, which can be attributed to the forum being public. (I don’t know about you, but if I ran into a problem at work and needed advice, I’d be pretty wary of posting details on the current public PMBA forums.)
Here’s the idea: the new PMBA forum would be a private, members-only affair. Taking the forum private would offer three main benefits: (1) higher quality conversation; (2) privacy / confidentiality; (3) networking opportunities.
1. The quality of content and participation in a private forum would likely be much higher, given that each member would have to make a commitment to participate. Instead of being able to create an account, post a single message (or none at all), and never visit again, members of a private forum are much more likely to take an active role in the discussions and contribute to the group.
2. A private forum would give PMBA members the opportunity to discuss work-related experiences, problems, and ideas in a confidential space with other professionals. This informal coaching aspect of the forums could be quite valuable to the entire PMBA community.
3. Networking opportunities would increase with a private forum. The number of users in the forum would be smaller, allowing people to really get to know each other. Each member could also post their contact information, enabling direct contacts with other PMBA members if desired.
I’ve been a member of a private discussion board for almost three years now, and I’ve been astonished at the level of conversation and commitment the members show, particularly in contrast to competing free public boards. Based on your feedback, I think it’s worth a shot.
Of course, PMBA members who decide not to become members of the forums would still continue to have access to the blog and comments, enabling them to continue to participate in the discussion.
Financial details: the private forums would be a premium PMBA service, and would cost approximately $10/month, depending on how much I need to spend to set up the membership system. (I’m still researching options.)
If you’re interested in potentially becoming a member of a new private PMBA forum, please e-mail me at forums [at] personalmba.com. I’d also appreciate general well-reasoned feedback about the concept. Thanks!
If you're new to the Personal MBA, you'll want to check out the manifesto and recommended reading list to see what we're all about.
Also, be sure to become a PMBA Insider (it's free), as well as subscribe to the RSS feed to be notified when new posts are published. Thanks for visiting!
5 Comments, Comment or Ping
Gannon Beck
I’m not so sure if the problem with the forum is format. I think it may be a critical mass issue. In other words, there just might be enough of us yet to keep the forum active. Particularly since our efforts are spread out over 40 books. So in terms of the forum, we can only get feedback from those who are reading or have read the particular book we’re on. I could be wrong, but I think making it private instead of public would make it less active, because it would be less open and might make the PMBA concept less viral. I think that would be a mistake.
I’ve had pretty good success networking in public forums. The forum, DrawingBoard.org comes to mind in my own case. If I had to pay to enter the Drawing Board, I never would have done it. I don’t know how long it took to get started, but the community there is thriving. Moreover, I’ve made meaningful connections on the site. I think the PMBA can thrive just as much, if not more, as long as it stays open.
Gannon
Apr 18th, 2007
Tyler Carbone
I’m not sure I agree. I think a big problem is that the conversation is currently structured on a book-by-book basis, rather than by concepts. Which is to say, if “management” is currently represented by a thread on Peter Drucker’s book, only people who had read that could participate. Someone who had only read Jack Welch’s Winning would be unable to participate — despite, doubtless, having thoughts on the topic of management itself.
So as far as the 40 books issue, I think that’s a forum organization thing. My impression is that Josh is trying to address the frequency of posts, not just the number of users issue — and that would probably improve with the addition of a subscription, because those who subscribed would want to get their money’s worth.
Apr 19th, 2007
Gannon Beck
I would agree that organizing the forum by subjects like “management,” and “marketing” etc. might make the forums more active. Maybe that’s the answer to getting the forums more active.
I would still encourage keeping the forum open though—or if private, at least make it free. If money is a concern there may be other answers. I’m a part of a site that collects donations to help pay server costs and it works out well for them. They do a drive once or twice a year and people who have gotten value out of the site contribute. It’s strictly voluntary, and they always get the donations they need.
I’d like to see the idea of self-education spread like wildfire because I think it can help a lot of people, which is why I’m pushing to keep this as open as possible. Am I in the minority in this view? Should this be viral or do we want this to be a more exclusive experiment? I’m not trying to be facetious; I’m genuinely curious if we’re all seeing this the same way.
Apr 20th, 2007
Josh Kaufman
Gannon,
I don’t think you’re in the minority at all - that’s why I wrote the PMBA manifesto and started this blog. Spreading the message of self-education is and will continue to be the goal.
The forums, however, I’m starting to see a bit differently. The PMBA forums should be a place where people who are truly committed to self-education congregate to discuss what they’re learning and what they need help with. The first version of the forum was open to the public, but that didn’t happen - most of the people who joined posted between 0-1 times and stopped visiting the forums completely within 1 month of joining. As I mentioned in the post, the level of discourse was at a lower level than I hoped, and I’d like to remedy that if possible.
Money isn’t necessarily the issue; I can handle the server and bandwidth costs. It’s more of a proxy for commitment - signing up for a membership is a relatively small hurdle that will help me differentiate who is really serious about this from who is not. (Think of it as a way to implement the 80/20 rule.)
I’m most interested in focusing my time and attention on people who are really committed to educating themselves about business, and the private model helps me determine who that is. For the less committed, the comments section of the blog will always be open.
In addition, I have other projects on my radar screen (work-related and otherwise) that are competing with the PMBA for time and energy. I will continue to work on the manifesto and blog, but to justify a significant increase in my personal investment, I’d like to see if there’s demand for additional services beyond the manifesto and blog.
The best case scenario is for me to be able to support myself and my family via the PMBA and other projects, which would allow me to spend the vast majority of my time and energy spreading the message of self-education. That’s why I’m proposing premium services; they are a means to allow me the freedom to ramp up my efforts exponentially.
I’m going to talk about personal coaching in my next post, which is something I can see a lot of PMBA members benefiting from. A private forum could end up being an online extension of intensive, personalized 1-on-1 coaching, which would be interesting.
Thoughts?
Apr 20th, 2007
Joss
Sorry to be late in putting my 2 cents in—just catching up on PMBA after a couple of intense months’ work.
I agree with Gannon.
Cash doesn’t equal dedication. How many of us have bought health club memberships with the best of intentions and then never used them?
If participation and dedication–not dollars–are the key goals, then membership criteria should reflect this. Instead of paying cash to register, prospective members could be required (for example) to submit a book review of one of the PMA titles.
An applicant who reads a title and produces a report proves their dedication and willingness to participate—they get access to the site, their work increases the knowledge base of the BB and provides an opening point for conversation.
Just a suggestion to illustrate a wider point: if we want our self-education to be democratic, collaborative and innovative, we should focus on systems that make it so.
Hey, all the best,
Joss
Jun 9th, 2007