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Praise for The Art of Community, Second Edition

“In recent years, the growth of community management has been noted

across a range of industries, and there is no better mentor than Jono Bacon

and The Art of Community for unraveling this new profession. Jono provides a

comprehensive guide to growing and empowering communities and taking the

time to cover the many subtleties hidden in the details. Highly recommended.”

—Aaron Fulkerson, CEO, MindTouch

“One hundred years ago, there was no such thing as a “product manager” or

a discipline of “product management.” In The Art of Community, Jono Bacon

takes the best and boldest step toward showing the emergence of another

new discipline in business: community management. This is a non-optional,

pragmatic business function that every executive needs to understand and

invest in right now.”

—Sam Ramji, VP of Strategy, Apigee; President of the Board, Outercurve

Foundation

“It was a privilege and honor to be asked to provide a testimonial for the second

edition of The Art of Community, although at first I was a little bemused, as I

wondered what he would add to something he’d already covered so well with

such insight. Well, after reading the second edition, I certainly see it was time

well spent on his part, and even more so for the reader. As someone who has

been consulting in open source for almost 15 years, I’ve seen a lot of what

works and what doesn’t, as well as lots of trial and especially error. Reading The

Art of Community WILL make you smarter and at the same time more caring

and considerate of your community colleagues and allow you to reduce the

number of trials you go through. At the end of the day, we can’t all be Jono

Bacon, for whom much of this seems effortless, but through a carefully blended

combination of theory, practical advice, and illustrative stories, he’s managed to

provide us with a path to ultimate community nirvana.”

—Andrew Aitken, Founder, Olliance Group, a Black Duck Software com￾pany, and the Open Source Think Tank

Praise for the First Edition

“The Internet provides the potential to separate us into a cacophony of

discordant voices or to congregate us as purpose-driven communities. Jono

Bacon, in his insightful The Art of Community, teaches the latter path, detailing

the principles of successful community-building in a way that will appeal

to both neophyte and expert alike. Given the increasingly critical role of

community managers in the technology industry and beyond, The Art of

Community should find a place on any businessperson’s bookshelf, not to

mention that of the PTA president, book club organizer, or union activist.

Yes, it’s that good.”

—MATT ASAY, ALFRESCO AND C|NET

“Jono Bacon truly understands communities, and, more importantly, how to

build communities that thrive. This is the definitive guidebook to building

successful communities—definitive because it is based on Jono’s extensive

experience as community manager for Ubuntu, a product that inspires an

Apple-esque devotion in very large part because of its vast and dedicated

community. For developers and entrepreneurs who want to learn how to tap

into the power of community, as Ubuntu has done so masterfully, this book is a

must-read.”

—IANMURDOCK, FOUNDER OF DEBIAN AND VICE PRESIDENT OF EMERGING

PLATFORMS AT SUN

“One thing that’s impressed me about Jono Bacon—something one can notice

back when he and others were building a community around their pioneering

Linux podcast—is that he simply gets the concept of community. It comes out

in most everything he says and most every decision he makes. This is the kind

of a person you want writing a book on the topic. Open source community

building cannot be boiled down to a formula. It’s a constant effort, a soft

science, an art, and Bacon is an ideal art teacher.”

—DAN GOLDSTEIN, PROFESSOR OF MARKETING, LONDON BUSINESS SCHOOL, AND

PRINCIPAL RESEARCH SCIENTIST, YAHOO! RESEARCH

“The success of the open source software movement demonstrates that no

obstacle is insurmountable when people come together around a shared

vision. In The Art of Community, Ubuntu Community Manager Jono Bacon gives

readers a profound glimpse into his hands-on experience as the orchestrator of

one of the movement’s most powerful communities. His book offers valuable

lessons on effective leadership and community building. Its compelling

combination of useful theory, real-world best practices, and instructive

personal anecdotes make it a richly comprehensive guide for both aspiring and

experienced community leaders.”

—RYAN PAUL, ARS TECHNICA

“Communities are very complex ecosystems of human beings. Cultivating,

growing, shaping, and guiding the community to make it productive is

definitely as much (or even more) art as science. In The Art of Community, Bacon

does an excellent job of explaining in detail the considerations for managing

and cultivating a healthy open source community. He provides a blueprint for

developing and maintaining an open source community in a programmatic

way, and his attention to detail and understanding of the dynamics of

communities make this book an invaluable resource for anyone looking to

build and maintain a community. Drawing from his own extensive experience,

Bacon does a great job of explaining how to help foster a community, and

provides great advice, ranging from choosing infrastructure, measuring

growth, and even hiring a community manager. All in all a must-read for any

community manager.”

—MARK R. HINKLE, VICE PRESIDENT OF COMMUNITY, ZENOSS, INC.

“Jono Bacon has long been an insightful voice for the open source community.

Now his artful stories distilling the ethos of organizing people and activities

on the Net, at conferences, and in our daily routines provide a framework for

successful, community-building strategies.”

—PETE KRONOWITT, LINUX AND OPEN SOURCE STRATEGIST, INTEL

“In The Art of Community, Jono Bacon once again shows that his nom de guerre

is apropos. He breaks down the soft science of community management in a

way few others could. With his trademark British humor, he deftly explores

the intricacies and subtleties of his trade. The result is both informative and

entertaining, and is a must-read for those looking to better understand the soft

science that is community management.”

—JEREMY GARCIA, FOUNDER OF LINUXQUESTIONS.ORG

“To a soundtrack of heavy metal, free-software geekstar Jono Bacon recounts

the story of how he learned to gently yet productively manhandle groups

of unruly Internet folks gathered around a common topic or cause. His

process and methods are set out in his book, The Art of Community, where

Jono’s non-ego-driven account of community building will aid all manner of

bosses, since almost every subject matter these days has a community with

hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands, and even (as in the case of World of

Warcraft) millions of people clamoring around it. (Even David Hasselhoff!) Be

forewarned, capitalist! There is no chapter called ‘How to Turn Communities

into Dollars,’ but following Jono’s suggestions may yield you what every

leader (even a capitalist) wants: a loyal and passionate community willing to

collaborate to achieve a common goal.”

—IRINA SLUTSKY, GEEKENTERTAINMENT.TV

“If you listen to open source fans, you might get the idea that the community is

elves who come out of the woodwork to fix your broken software while you

sleep. In The Art of Community, Jono Bacon explains how reality is a little more

complicated, and what the community needs in return. This book will help you

get started with the diverse skills required to keep a collaborative community

on track, including copywriting, social software selection, conflict resolution,

and measuring if it’s all working.”

—DONMARTI, CONFERENCE CHAIR, OPENSOURCEWORLD, AND ORGANIZER,

WINDOWS REFUND DAY, BURN ALL GIFS DAY, FREE DMITRY, AND FREEDOMHEC

“Who would have known, when I first met a scruffy student from

Wolverhampton Uni at a LUG meeting all those years ago, that he would end

up being the name on the Internet synonymous with the word ‘community.’

The fact that the Internet’s Jono Bacon is now one of the foremost authorities

on building and nurturing a community shows that in a volunteer project no

one cares about your questionable dress sense, dodgy taste in music, or strange

choices in facial hair—all that matters are your contributions, and your ability

to get on with, and inspire, others.

“In this book, Jono draws upon a wealth of experience from projects small to big

(and when you consider the worldwide phenomenon that was LugRadio, and

the worldwide phenomenon that is Ubuntu, you’re talking pretty big) to lay

out a blueprint for creating and sustaining communities, as well as using real￾world examples from prime ministers to celebrity chefs to ground the topics in

a wider context. There is a nice balance in that many of the examples are based

on success stories, but Jono is brave enough to also illustrate his points with

some of his (relatively few) mistakes.

“This book will be useful for anyone looking to build a volunteer community

around any kind of project or cause, whether it involves software, open source,

raccoons, or none of the above.”

—PAUL COOPER, MOBLINUI & APPS ENGINEERING MANAGER, INTEL

“As a rock-solid book, The Art of Community is not only about communities,

but also management, organization, and even marketing—it is the bible for

community leadership. This book should have been out a long time ago, and

reading through the chapters made me reflect on almost every important

situation I had to face with teams, from conflicts all the way to handling buzz.

It would have helped solve some of the issues I was stuck in much faster than I

did (although all the issues solved in the end were exactly how Jono described

it). I am eager to apply more of this wisdom on the current projects I am

involved in.”

—SEIF LOTFY, GNOME FOUNDATION, ZEITGEIST COFOUNDER AND TEAM LEADER

“Few people, in my experience, understand how to create, build, and support

community better than Jono Bacon. With The Art of Community, Jono’s

taken his experience, his intelligence, as well as his great humor, and has

effectively distilled it into an indispensable book for anyone who wants to

start a community (whether around software or any other shared interest or

endeavor, really) or participate in one in a positive and productive way. Jono

understands that communication and authenticity are at the core of effective

participation, and goes beyond the theoretical to provide practical guidance on

things like governance, process, conflict resolution, and avoiding burnout that

is right on the mark. The Art of Community is an excellent book!”

—DAVID SCHLESINGER, DIRECTOR, OPEN SOURCE TECHNOLOGIES, ACCESS CO., LTD.;

GNOME FOUNDATION ADVISORY BOARD MEMBER

“Jono Bacon, in The Art of Community, takes you on a personal journey to the

heart of what it takes to have and become part of a productive and well-oiled

community.”

—AMBER GRANER, UBUNTU COMMUNITY MEMBER

“Jono Bacon’s The Art of Community is a wonderful meditation on building

communities using modern infrastructure tools and practices gleaned from

the Free and Open Source Software movement. Jono’s examples, taken

from his work on Ubuntu, give a good picture of a working community and

how it functions. The fact that the book is backed by a conference (http://

www. communityleadershipsummit.com/wiki/index.php/Session_Notes) and an

online community (http://artofcommunityonline.org/) means this fine effort will

potentially continue to grow into the watering hole for community gardeners,

leaders, and managers.”

—DANESE COOPER, OPEN SOURCE DIVA AND OSI DIRECTOR

SECOND EDITION

The Art of Community

Jono Bacon

Beijing Cambridge Farnham Köln Sebastopol Tokyo

The Art of Community, Second Edition

by Jono Bacon

Copyright © 2012 Jono Bacon. All rights reserved.

Printed in the United States of America.

Published by O’Reilly Media, Inc., 1005 Gravenstein Highway North, Sebastopol, CA 95472.

O’Reilly books may be purchased for educational, business, or sales promotional use. Online editions are also

available for most titles (http://my.safaribooksonline.com). For more information, contact our corporate/

institutional sales department: 800-998-9938 or [email protected].

Editor: Andy Oram

Production Editor: Holly Bauer

Copyeditor: Audrey Doyle

Proofreader: BIM Publishing Services

Indexer: BIM Publishing Services

Cover Designer: Mark Paglietti

Interior Designer: David Futato

Illustrator: Rebecca Demarest

May 2012: Second Edition.

Revision History for the Second Edition:

2012-05-09 First release

See http://oreilly.com/catalog/errata.csp?isbn=9781449312060 for release details.

Nutshell Handbook, the Nutshell Handbook logo, and the O’Reilly logo are registered trademarks of O’Reilly

Media, Inc. The Art of Community and related trade dress are trademarks of O’Reilly Media, Inc.

Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products are claimed as

trademarks. Where those designations appear in this book, and O’Reilly Media, Inc., was aware of a trademark

claim, the designations have been printed in caps or initial caps.

While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book, the publisher and author assume no

responsibility for errors or omissions, or for damages resulting from the use of the information contained

herein.

ISBN: 978-1-449-31206-0

[LSI]

1336571215

For my loving wife, Erica, and all the ways she

continues to make me smile.

C O N T E N T S

FOREWORD FROM THE FIRST EDITION ix

FOREWORD xi

PREFACE xv

1 THE ART OF COMMUNITY 1

Collaboration-Driven Ethos 2

The Essence of Community 4

The Basis of Communication 8

Unwrapping Opportunity 10

A Community Manager: Becoming the Community 13

Moving Forward 19

2 PLANNING YOUR COMMUNITY 21

Planning for Success 24

Teams: The Building Blocks of Belonging 31

Designing Your Community 44

Filling Out the Plan 53

Pulling Together the Threads 56

Documenting Your Strategy 62

Financially Supporting Your Community 63

Wrapping Up 68

3 COMMUNICATING CLEARLY 71

He Said, She Said 72

Building Your Communication Channels 73

Leading by Example 81

Summary 96

4 PROCESSES: SIMPLE IS SUSTAINABLE 97

Eyes on the Prize 99

Building Great Processes 101

Assessing Needs 108

Getting Buy-In for Your Processes 119

The On-Ramp: Creating Collaborative Processes 122

Process Reassessment 129

Moving On 131

5 SUPPORTING WORKFLOW WITH TOOLS AND DATA 133

Understanding Your Workflow 134

Building Great Infrastructure 143

v

Avoiding Resource Fetishism 147

Technical Considerations 147

Building and Maintaining Transparency 151

Regular Workflow Assessment 155

Moving On 157

6 SOCIAL MEDIA 159

Don’t Be That Guy/Girl 160

Being Social 162

Social Media Services in a Nutshell 163

Harnessing Social Media 170

Social Media on Your Terms 186

7 BUILDING BUZZ 195

Mindshare 196

The Building Blocks of Buzz 198

Setting Up Your Base 204

The Buzz Cycle 210

Buzz Targets 217

Building Alliances 223

Events and Conferences 234

Summary 244

8 MEASURING COMMUNITY 245

Community Self-Reflection 246

The Foundations of Feedback 247

Hooks ’n’ Data 248

Anonymity and Privacy 264

Moving On 268

9 MANAGING AND TRACKING WORK 269

Credibility and the Need to Track Progress 270

The Importance of Tracking Our Work 271

What We Need to Manage 278

Tracking Projects 278

Tracking Growth and Decline 294

Tracking Health 301

Reacting to Community Concerns 306

Moving On 309

10 GOVERNANCE 311

Accountability 313

Governance Does Not Suck 313

Governance and Community 314

The Case for Governance 315

Learning from the Leaders 321

Setting Up a Community Council 326

Ubuntu Governance Example 345

Expanding Governance 360

Summary 365

vi C O N T E N T S

11 HANDLING CONFLICT AND RELATIONSHIPS 367

The Nature of the Beast 368

The Calm Before the Storm 370

The Conflict Resolution Process 381

Dealing with Burnout 396

Handling Absence 401

Handling Bereavement 402

Summary 402

12 CREATING AND RUNNING EVENTS 405

Building Family Values 406

Events 407

Getting Organized 409

Organizing Physical Events 412

Getting Sponsorship 428

Case Study: The Ubuntu Developer Summit 434

Organizing Online Events 453

Summary 462

13 HIRING A COMMUNITY MANAGER 465

Why Community Building Has Become a Big Business 467

The Role of a Community Manager in the Corporation 468

Managing Your Community Manager 476

Summary 481

14 COMMUNITY CASE BOOK 483

Linus Torvalds, Linux 484

Mike Shinoda, Linkin Park 486

Mårten Mickos, MySQL and Eucalyptus 489

Mike Linksvayer, Creative Commons 492

Tim O’Reilly, O’Reilly Media 495

Carolyn Mellor, X.commerce, PayPal, and eBay 498

Ilan Rabinovitch, Southern California Linux Expo 500

Richard Esguerra, Humble Indie Bundle 506

Mark Bussler, Classic Game Room 508

Mary Colvig, Mozilla 510

Dries Buytaert, Drupal and Acquia 513

James Spafford, Media Molecule 516

15 ONWARD AND UPWARD 521

Building Our Own Community 522

The Community Leadership Summit 523

Keeping in Touch 525

INDEX 527

C O N T E N T S vii