Managing Online Forums: Everything You Need to Know to Create and Run Successful Community Discussion Boards Review

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Managing Online Forums: Everything You Need to Know to Create and Run Successful Community Discussion Boards ReviewI had the opportunity to read through this book over the last week, and I'm just floored by how much good information it's got in it. This book is years of Patrick's experiences running successful forums (22 forums now, I believe!) and all the tips, tricks and wisdom he's picked up during those years. I ran a moderately successful forum years ago, and would have saved myself months of headache and heartache had I the information in this book at my fingertips back then.
The book is definitely opinionated - these are Patrick's recommendations based on his experiences, and it shows. His voice is natural, and the wording is down to earth. This isn't some theoretical treatise, but a 'from the trenches' view of what works, what doesn't, and why.
The book includes many sample forms which have example language to use for welcoming members to your forum, working with moderators, dealing with abusive or disruptive visitors, and much more. They're all available on the book's website too, so you don't need to retype it all in, but can quickly customize them to fit your own needs .
The one thing lacking in this book is that it doesn't go in to much detail about the major forum packages out there, so the reader who is just starting out will have to do some more research as to what packages have which features discussed in the book. Having said that, this keeps the focus of the book more on the human/people side of internet forums, and doesn't devolve in to a technical manual. I would have preferred a small feature comparison of the big forum systems out there, but I'm more of a technically-inclined person to begin with. If you're not technically inclined, you likely won't even notice the information not there.
Bottom line: if you're thinking of starting a web-based community, or have one and aren't sure how to manage it, this book is a must-have. It will save you weeks, if not months, of getting up to speed and being as effective as possible with your forums.
Managing Online Forums: Everything You Need to Know to Create and Run Successful Community Discussion Boards OverviewEvery day, millions of users log on to their favorite online forums and interact with others to get advice and discuss everything from the latest news and trends to their hobbies, professions, and whatever else strikes their fancy. Admin­istrators have to lead these communities, deal with difficult users, and choose moderators. Legal constraints, spammers, and technical issues can turn the excitement of running an online community into chaos. With the right guidance, however, running forums can be a pleasure. Patrick O'Keefe has spent years developing and managing online communities. Now, he shows readers how to make the right decisions about every aspect of their forums, including:' choosing a name and domain name' picking the right software' deciding on user options like avatars and private messaging' setting guidelines and dealing with violators' ensuring that posts stay on topic' settling online disputes among users' involving users and keeping the site interestingManaging Online Forums is the one book that shows site owners and administrators how to create a safe and entertaining community that users will return to again and again.

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Religion in the New Age: And Other Essays for the Spiritual Seeker Review

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Religion in the New Age: And Other Essays for the Spiritual Seeker ReviewI just finished reading "Religion in the New Age and Other Essays for the Spiritual Seeker," written by Swami Kriyananda (J. Donald Walters), written 2008 and released in 2009.
I am offering this review simply because the book meant so much to me. It is isn't often, in my experience, that I find a book that can stir my rather sautern heart to soar with joy; and in a few pages stamp my intellectually-puffed ego into the ground and leave me begging for more.
Actually, I avoided this book for a little while, because of the title, which insinuates that the book is about religion, which I found rather off-putting. But alas; I was guilty of the "judging the book by the cover" syndrome. I read it, cover to cover and mauled the pages with my highlighter, notes, underlines, boxes and a word list in the back. In other words, I befriended this book.
Sri Kriyananda starts by clarifying what is happening, why things are changing so rapidly, and why it is that the human expression of community seems to be dividing itself almost like a cell. To simplify his astoundingly accessible interpretation of Swami Sri Yukteshwar Giri's book The Holy Science - we are moving into a planetary shift in which humanity is once again being exposed to a very positive change in which the general upliftment into hope and light are inevitable events. This change will, as usual in the course of events, engender two extreme camps, and an infinite number of in-betweens: There will be those who search for meaning in the old rules and the old way of doing things, and those who eagerly move with the fluid changes in which we find ourselves daily. Not only are the bases for these patterns explained for the average reader, but the practical meanings are also explained. In other words, knowledge is great and good, but what does it mean to me, now? Be prepared for the introduction of some Sanskrit terms, one of which the reader should know right away: Dwapara Yuga. This is the arc of time and spiritual development in which we find ourselves, collectively, at the beginning of now in 2009 (or, 309 Dwapara).
Swami Kriyananda's book addresses the effects of this dispensation on what we believe, how we can square what we seek spiritually with what religion (and religionists) have taught us. He explains that the current trends we can plainly see around us of people being Spiritual without belonging to a set religion is predictable and what it means. There is, after all, hope for those of us who are searching for a Truth in which we can live and move and love. Kriyananda gives concrete evidence and guidelines for learning to love God as God needs to be for us as individuals; then God in ourselves, and from this basis, how to reach out to others as individuals, groups, and the world. In Kriyananda's interpretation of the teachings brought by Sri Sri Paramhansa Yogananda (an Indian mystic who came to America in 1920 to teach the congruity of the original Christianity with the teachings of Sri Krishna), it is not only possible but highly desirable for a modern spiritual seeker to learn to live a life in which trust, love, high thinking and right living are evident in daily life, and not packed nicely away for Sundays or Sabbaths.
This book includes observations from decades of service and teaching on behalf of the late Yogananda. Swami Kriyananda's lifelong duties also included establishing communities around the world, in which people who live out these teachings actually live and thrive together. This is the ultimate test of the teachings, in my regard - that people and families can live out their ideals and values.
There are plentiful instructions and stories on money and how to handle it, how to get along with others, how to love others, and how to behave as a responsible adult. Kriyananda has analyzed business models, leadership, management styles and suggested ways that the order of management within organizations can keep pace with the changes in expectations of people in Dwapara Yuga within the business environment. At one point, the author went into great details in describing how a hierarchy can be ruined quite innocently and without meaning by ineffective leaders, creating workers that do not know to whom they should report, muddled lines of communication, wrecked human relations, and leadership that still must do all the work and is left wondering why. I had to put the book down and read this section again after I digested it, as I had lived this sad story. Years later, I still had no idea what happened - but I will tell you this: it is as if the author had been watching through a magic telescope the goings-on at a certain company in a high-rise building in downtown Seattle. I lived this story and he captured and analyzed it. There's no blame to be had or placed, but the explanation of how businesses can fail with fractured human relations was a joy to my heart.
In short, this book touches broadly on just about every area of life in which one could find himself engaged. And yet, I found very specific examples, stories, and facts to support the living out of the ideals affirmed by this author. I would highly recommend this book for those curious about how metaphysical influences, the teachings of Lord Krishna, business ethics, money handling, developing self-confidence and Original Christianity (as opposed to "churchianity") all come together to support a person who wishes to explore an authentic and congruent life.Religion in the New Age: And Other Essays for the Spiritual Seeker OverviewThis a collection of writings on a variety of topics by the renowned and prolific writer Swami Kriyananda. Essays range from a description of the New Age to insights on September 11. Swami Kriyananda's view of life is thought-provoking and points the reader toward greater awareness, self-honesty, and hope. The fascinating essays touch on a wealth of subjects-spiritual, political, social, and personal-including Henry I, how to understand people, the importance of truthfulness, and much more.

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Guild Leadership Review

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Guild Leadership ReviewHonestly, I should have titled this.. a must for everyone as the information presented can be used in your personal and business life as well.
I gave this as a Christmas gift to all the officers in my guild and bought one myself, we quote it all the time when faced with decisions. It provides a wealth of information on what it truly means to be a guild leader, how you should handle specific situations, what you should focus on as a guild leader and how you can make your guild successful (and in the process become a better and more effective leader) whether you are just building it up now or have been established for years.Guild Leadership OverviewThis timely work shares valuable leadership lessons from the parallel universes of online games -- lessons that can impact the real world in meaningful ways. In addition, this book: Challenges some classically held leadership tenets; Strives to influence today's and tomorrow's leaders; Demystifies the art of leadership in a fresh new way. It is vitally important for today's leaders to prepare for the world of tomorrow. It is the author's hope that this book will assist them in their preparation. All of the author's proceeds are being donated to charity (specifically, Marathon Education Partners). www.guildleadership.com

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The Lean Startup: How Today's Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses Review

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The Lean Startup: How Today's Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses ReviewAs an experienced entrepreneur - inside of big companies in terms of the ubiquitous "change initiative," but also in new product or service development, and as a new subsidiary C-level executive - and now as a small business startup founder and owner - I really looked forward to reading this. Unfortunately, as much as I wanted to like this book and see how I could apply Ries' learnings to better my entrepreneurship and my innovation, I was deeply disappointed. The book is repetitive, light on specifics, with many generalized insights (that are really not too insightful), and even includes a number of passages that lead the reader to second-guess whether the author's point is to share actual advice and steps to take, or to encourage people to use his "Lean Startup program" (which, coincidentally, entails hiring his firm - who knew?).
Six key strengths/pros of the book:
1. It's a very quick read; I finished it in two sessions
2. A great premise: "the application of lean thinking to the process of innovation"
3. An excellent threshold question that goes beyond the usual, Should this product be built? to: "Can we build a sustainable business around this set of products and services?" Definitely more would-be entrepreneurs should be able to definitely answer this question long before they go seek funding or decide to incorporate.
4. The suggestion to see customer requests/desires as the opportunity to run innovation experiments, not as the actual need for a new product or service (i.e., maybe you only need to tweak a current product or service, not invent new). For anyone who's followed Voice of the Customer new product innovation techniques over the past two decades, this is hardly news, but Ries does a good job of simplifying one of the core learnings of Voice of the Customer: stated customer feedback is not always an accurate reflection of actual need/desire.
5. The concept of the "engines of growth" (i.e., entrepreneurs have lots of ideas, it's really more a matter of selecting which ones will actually work and strongly grow the company).
6. The need to use metrics of customer churn rate versus customer retention versus new customer attraction to assess customer behavior associated with your product/service, and thus the likelihood for good business growth.Four frustrating cons of the book:
1. Mr. Ries must mention at least a dozen times throughout the book (and sometimes several times a chapter) something along the lines of "My experiences are now part of the entrepreneurship curriculum at several business schools, including Harvard Business School, where I serve as an entrepreneur in residence. I've also told these stories at countless workshops, lectures and conferences." It's one thing to tell stories in a book to demonstrate principles and tactics, it's another to constantly remind the reader about the great stories and advice he/she is getting by reading the book.
2. All of the strengths I noted above are just about how specific Mr. Ries actually gets. For instance, over pages 215-220, Ries discusses the metrics of customer churn, customer retention, and how, in order to get good growth, you have to have significantly more customer retention and more new customers than lost customers. At the end of those five pages, you'll have learned exactly what I just stated (and in the process read a bunch of stories and case studies taught in countless workshops, etc., illustrating that sentence).
3. A number of the mistakes that Mr. Ries talks about are related to his dot-bomb experiences, and do not, unfortunately, relate very well to innovators and entrepreneurs today. For instance, most of the venture capitalists that I know will not loan money or invest in startups that do not have rock-solid business plans stating specifically how the new product or service will make money, how quickly, the specific known hurdles, and so on. And the VCs will re-run their own numbers and do their own market analysis. Try getting a line of credit today, and you'll quickly see how different the financial investment in the startup landscape is today from back in the dot-bomb era.
4. Much of the book is written not for small business owners or those who'd strike out on their own and start a new company, but those who work within large companies (who, incidentally, will have the money to hire Mr. Ries as an entrepreneurship consultant) and want to start innovating better, being more creative, and being internal entrepreneurs.
While these pros and cons balance out any assessment of the book (and thus I give it 3 stars), I don't think they make for a satisfying - or even very helpful read. There's much better fare out there that is much more specific, including the Heath brothers' "Made to Stick" or their latest, "Switch."
If you must get "The Lean Startup," wait for it in the bargain bin.The Lean Startup: How Today's Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses Overview
Most startups fail. But many of those failures are preventable. The Lean Startup is a new approach being adopted across the globe, changing the way companies are built and new products are launched. Eric Ries defines a startup as an organization dedicated to creating something new under conditions of extreme uncertainty. This is just as true for one person in a garage or a group of seasoned professionals in a Fortune 500 boardroom. What they have in common is a mission to penetrate that fog of uncertainty to discover a successful path to a sustainable business. The Lean Startup approach fosters companies that are both more capital efficient and that leverage human creativity more effectively. Inspired by lessons from lean manufacturing, it relies on "validated learning," rapid scientific experimentation, as well as a number of counter-intuitive practices that shorten product development cycles, measure actual progress without resorting to vanity metrics, and learn what customers really want. It enables a company to shift directions with agility, altering plans inch by inch, minute by minute. Rather than wasting time creating elaborate business plans, The Lean Startup offers entrepreneurs - in companies of all sizes - a way to test their vision continuously, to adapt and adjust before it's too late. Ries provides a scientific approach to creating and managing successful startups in a age when companies need to innovate more than ever.


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