When you put up a community web site like the Chandler Guild that is geared toward a techno-geek demographic, and if you do a decent job of spreading the word that the site is up, you are almost guaranteed that the site will come to like with spontaneous activity in no time. Geeks are not intimidated by web-based content authoring systems. Geeks have strong opinions and a culture of shooting their mouths off about any and everything at the drop of a hat. Systems like Drupal, which is the Open Source platform underlying this site, have features to allow site owners to hose down the flame wars and to mute the trolls.
The Chandler Guild and its on-line community will be different. Craftspeople like our community of soy wax candlemakers have a large proportion of folks who are not super geeky, folks not casually comfortable with computers, the Net and web-based content authoring. Sure, there are some who are, but not too many.
It will be extremely interesting to watch the Chandler Guild community evolve. In every on-line community there is a tendency to lurk before we get the gumption to speak out, to put our thoughts in print. Folks not overly comfortable with technology and on-line content authoring will have an even stronger tendency to lurk and take a 'wait and see what happens' approach to their participation in the Chandler Guild community.
The problem is, if we all lurk too much, nothing will happen. Lurking is reasonable, to a point. But there will come a point soon where we'll need some spontaneous combustion. Some lurkers will need to take the plunge and become leaders.
The Chandler Guild is a microenterprise network. That means that it is up to us to make this business work. There are no deep pocketed Venture Capitalists behind the scenes pouring money into professional management. There aren't three layers of middle and upper management deciding what we should do and how to do it. Money won't fall out of trees into our laps because we've got artistic products and a kinder, gentler way of doing business.
We'll have to work for our success. It sounds counter-intuitive, but we'll need leaders in a leaderless organization. Making a community of interest work like the Chandler Guild microenterprise network will require new kinds of business practices, new ideas, new ways of working together... new ways of leading through determined peer action, not through wielding authority.
Lurk or lead, it's up to you. We don't all have to be Generals, but we each do have to find a niche and make a contribution.
I want to have a LOT of fun being a part of the Chandler Guild community. I expect to develop a reasonable income stream from participation in this community, but not at the expense of having fun and finding fulfillment through creative activity.
How about you? We don't all have to be leaders. But we can't afford to all be lurkers, either.
As we enter the 21st century, the Small Is Good Business Revolution is happening in many places in many ways. Let's make The Chandler Guild an active front in the campaign to create a new of doing business.
What do you think?