Although I missed CMX Summit last week and was forced to survive on tweets alone, I got to attend ForumCon this week. I attended ForumCon two years ago and honestly thought it was rubbish. It speaks volumes about Lucy Bartlett that this year’s ForumCon had an amazing lineup and was overall excellent.

I’ll let others collect their favorite ForumCon tweets, but I wanted to capture two major thoughts. They might seem contradictory, but they’re not.

#1) Go in with a plan and goals. I quipped about this during my moderation segment, but it’s true. So many communities are thrown together because a CEO says “we need a community”. As the incomparable David Spinks and Richard Millington attested, perhaps the most crucial part of creating a community is making sure you should. They tout the Minimally Viable Product (or Community) model, as well as the 5 Why’s: ask why someone wants a certain community or has a certain interest until you understand their base motivation. The guy who wants a Giants forum actually wants a place to relax and trade baseball tactics…which is not at all what he’ll say when you ask the first why.

#2) While #1 may have convinced you that the big strategic elements are important, the second-most important part is the daily work. Richard’s presentation (and his book) are full of this goodness. How do you addict someone to your community? Through minute, daily work. Through responding within 5 hours to your new members’ contributions (which will result in a 53% chance they’ll contribute again, according to Richard’s studies). Through living with your community, rather than treating it as a task, algorithm, or line item.

We get very obsessed with tools, be they forums or social media. But at the end of the day, nothing beats a great strategy and fantastic interpersonal engagement with your community. Thanks to everyone who helped educate us on these points today!

Update: for more in-depth coverage, check out this collection of ForumCon tweets.