Have I mentioned that this migration to a new platform and design has been a royal pain? I could never have imagined all the little things that crop up. Just today I noticed a bunch of pages that existed solely for my old site. I zapped 'em and rejoiced. The new design is up and mostly complete.
At the same time, looking at the oldest posts gave me a chance to reminisce. I looked back at some of the very first posts on Common Craft, many dating from the first half of 2003. Not that long ago, I know - but enough to give me flashbacks.
To set the scene, I had just made the transition from being an online community manager for three years (1999-2003) to getting Common Craft off the ground. Here are some of the original posts from that time:
- Introduction to Weblogs for Professionals and Small Businesses
- Customer Communities: Negative Feedback Can Be Your Friend
- Leaving Yahoo! Groups: Switching Online Community Platforms
- Tips for Writing Effective Community Announcements
- What is an Online Community?
I'm surprised that I'm not tempted to delete those old posts. In fact, I'm quite surprised at how much I still agree with my 2003 self.
There is one quote (originally from here) that has stuck with me and I still use all the time. It's from the venerable Cluetrain Manifesto :
Look at it this way. Assume your customers are going to talk about you no matter what you do. When they talk, they are going to talk about what is wrong and what they don’t like about your company. You have a choice: you can let them continue talk using their own network and let the negativity multiply blindly, or you can sponsor a network, become a part of the discussion and show the customers what you’re doing to help.
Indeed. The more things change, the more they stay the same. Common Craft will be heading in some new directions soon. Stay tuned!