Synopsis:  Transformed an ad hoc discussion database into a vital community, now with more than 1,200 participants worldwide.

Business Challenge

     Lotus is the undisputed leading vendor of groupware products.   It's also noted for having created one of the most effective product deployment and support channels in the software industry.  There are now 18,000 worldwide Lotus Business Partners (LBP).

     In 1991, Lotus contributed a lone server for the purposes of facilitating communications among LBP and Lotus.  That Lotus Notes server became the preferred place for LBP to share technical information.  That discussion, called the "Partner Forum" was unmoderated, and Lotus employees seldom contributed because it was perceived as a fairly hostile environment (technologists can be highly critical, even of products and companies they admire).

     In 1993, LBP maanagement forsaw the need to forge the rapidly expanding LBP base into a viable, self-sustaining community.  A loyal community would provide more value for LBP andin turnfor Lotus.  Deep Woods Technology volunteered to take on the responsibility of transforming the ad hoc information sharing discussion into a vital asset to Lotus and its Business Partners.

Technical Challenge

     During the same time period, Lotus transformed the ad hoc server arrangement at Lotus into the nucleus of Lotus Notes Network (LNN), a robust, commercial venture that has evolved to become one of the primary vehicles for communicating with Lotus Business Partners.  We also consulted with LNN, but they relieved us of the need to deal with the development of a reliable computer operations center and communications network.

Cultural Challenge

     The conditions under which we operated were most restrictive:   We had absolutely no authority to act on Lotus' behalf to deal with unacceptable behaviors.  We independently decided that what we could not achieve through concensus was probably not worth achieving.

     The active users of the 1993 discussion had established patterns of communication and customs that had been developed without any guidance, counsel or moderation.  We had to be careful to protect that operating base of participants, and guide them toward new methods and approaches.

     Through 1996, the Partner Forum was exclusively composed of LBP in North America.  In 1997, the gates were thrown open to any worldwide Partner able to read and write "business English."  That created a number of new problems, as a common language does not assure a common agreement on meanings of words or appropriate behaviors.

Implementation

     We commenced active participation with the intent to change the Partner Forum in October of 1993.  Over the next two years, Carol Anne Ogdin of Deep Woods Technology took an active role in facilitating the forum. encouraging discussions about community and customs.  Within a year, one Lotus employee, on his own volition and initiative, had started being an active participant in the forum as a co-facilitator.  By 1997, the community had grown to 1,000 active participants (and an estimated 3,000 other some-time visitors or readers), and important members of the Lotus product development and management teams were active in the Partner Forum on a regular basis.

     In mid-1997, a key Lotus programmer posted some tentative design alternatives to the Partner Forum for comment and advice of the participants.   At that moment, recognizing that a robust, bidirectional community of LBP and Lotus employees had been achieved, we wound down our active facilitation efforts.