5, 6, 7, 8...

Chapter 9 of Groundswell describes how to help the groundswell support itself through online communities and forums. The most important point to remember in maintaining an online community is that once you build it, you need to support it. A community that was created but has only 3 posts in a forum thread is not going to last very long. People who are looking for help will not turn to a sparsely-used community for answers.

While reading this chapter, I was strongly reminded of a community that I helped maintain - DanceStudioOwner.com. In order to get the whole picture, you'll need a little backstory... so here goes!

My family has been involved in dance for several years now. My younger sister started dancing at Kathy Blake Dance Studios after attending a friend's birthday party there in middle school, and my mother was hired as the KBDS Costume Manager a year later. I became involved when I started working as an office assistant, and eventually I worked my way up to working as the sound technician for recital week. My dad works as KBDS' "tech guy." As you can see, we all spend a LOT of time at the studio.

Over the summer of 2010, I had the pleasure of working for Suzanne Blake Gerety, the vice-president of KBDS and co-owner of DanceStudioOwner.com, a community for dance studio owners. While working for Suzanne, I learned the ins and outs of running an online community. I plan on completing my internship for the MSPC program with Suzanne this summer as well.

DanceStudioOwner.com's home page gives users quick access to its wealth of resources.

I like to call DanceStudioOwner.com a "dance studio in a box." It provides dance studio owners with any resource they could ever need. Dance studio owners can purchase a membership to the site to access all its features, including articles, support forums, podcasts, and printable resources (such as handbooks and coloring pages for younger students). The resources on the site cover virtually any question a studio owner could come up with, from "How do you deal with bossy parents?" to "How do you handle late payments?" to "How do I prevent injuries?" DanceStudioOwner.com (DSO) covers the gamut of issues that could arise in the dance world.

Similar to Massachusetts General Hospital's CarePages system, DanceStudioOwner.com allows dance studio owners to focus on making their business profitable by helping them with the smaller (but still important) details. CarePages allowed patients to focus on resting and getting better while allowing them to stay in close contact with their family and friends (pg. 155). DanceStudioOwner.com also inspires people who are passionate about dance, and brings them together in a virtual community where they can share their passions.



DanceStudioOwner.com created this video to share the passion of dance.
By building passion, DanceStudioOwner.com can build up their reputation through users' testimonials. Like Li and Bernoff say, "Why not let your fans buzz about you and build passion for your programs?" (pg. 164). Similar to Proctor & Gamble's beinggirl.com community, DSO addresses dance in a more encompassing way, not just by advertising products. Because the DanceStudioOwner.com forums discuss the entire dance studio ownership experience, it creates a safe space for users to discuss their experiences without feeling like they are being shouted at.

Suzanne Blake Gerety, a co-owner of DSO, has mastered the concepts of being a trust agent. She is especially good at being a human artist - or someone who is able to communicate with people in a real and meaningful way. (Follow her on Twitter!) Along with Kathy Blake, her mother and the other co-owner of DSO, she is able to relate to the members of the community and help them through their small business journey. By helping the groundswell support itself, DSO was able to create a vibrant and welcoming community of dance studio owners around the world!