A big part of my role is figuring out what makes :mondo: special - what makes us stand out - and finding ways to amplify that and encourage it to develop.
Since joining Iāve been bowled over by how passionate everyone involved is - the team in the office, all of you lot (our community contributors), everyone using the product and on social media.
I tend to like to read forums. Iāve only just discovered this here. So Iāll try this.
I love the two way interaction that forums allow between the company and the users.
Oneplus does a pretty good job.
Also having regular talks about progress with development cough android app cough
I tend to listen in the car on the way to work. I think something similar to what ADN produced when they started up - although youāll be a lot more successful than them!
It was a weekly show that consisted of:
Update on what had happened since the last show
Introduction of someone on the team and their role
Q&A session with questions sent in prior to the show
What they are planning to work on/ long term goals.
Sounds good to me - it might also be useful to those still in the queue who havenāt got their cards to know that Mondo is still moving ahead faster than anyone else in this area.
Yeah I love visiting thereā¦ The community is brill. The staff get involved, talk to thier community, run giveaways, competitions, and get togethers. They have been known to hire out a pub in london and invite everyone down to meet in personā¦ I managed to go whilst I was down there, brilliant night. great way of giving direct feedback, And get a bit of āswagā or Goodies as we call it. hahah
I think the thing I love the most was just giving a weekly update on whats going on. If you take their update from this week for example:
Mentioning the fact that the new and improved forum has come out of beta
talking about the question of the week. - a weekly poll to help improve the services and products they provide
Launching a giveaway competition - to enter you had to talk about a great memory you have from years ago.
talking about mothers day in the US
showing off an animation someone in the community made
A quick update on the dogs they have. - They started off with one āunaā she was their āhappiness specialistā she now has a litter off puppies. You guys should get a dog - perfect mascot hhaha
Anyway my point is they tell us whatās going on, every week. Most weeks there isnāt any real news on developments, but itās just to say āhi, we are still here and still want you to keep interestedā
So in terms of android progress, I understand that you are early in the progress. But just keep us in the loop. Teasers of how itās getting along. Get our input on design choices, what to include what not to include. etcā¦
I know that there is a lot to think about when trying to create a bank, as I work in the banking industry Cough LBG Cough but just use your community. Itās something that I wish my bank would do.
A Podcast would go down well for me. Doesnāt have to be regular, just when thereās something big to discuss.
I like the regular blogging that goes on, especially the infographics.
This forum is a good place to keep the community engaged. Spreading it across various social media platforms can mean people are seeing the same message in multiple places or missing info because it wasnāt suitable for the platform theyāre following on.
Podcasts for the win here - on the endless commute (or when insomnia hits) they are the best way to get on top of changes and content and keep up with a forum like this.
If the story is visual, YouTube videos are great. Content here I generally find either on Twitter or through YouTube subscriptions/suggestions. Iāll often watch these in the mornings on my TV.
For longer form, podcasts are fantastic. Again, found through Twitter or existing subscriptions. I listen to podcasts ALL THE TIME. Especially while working or relaxing at the end of the day. Best I can think of in terms of specific companies telling their story is Studio Neat with Thoroughly Considered. Podcasts have to be done right though, the best podcasts I listen to are just lightly edited conversations about interesting things between friends with no strict format.
Blog posts are good to link other people to but I generally donāt tend to find myself reading many of them all the way through. This has only gotten worse with how bad the general reading experience on the web has become lately across many sites.
I love audio podcasts, however I usually save them for a long train or car journey to listen to a load at once. I think it would be a fantastic idea to do one for the general story and how weāve been progressing. I have to admit, they are a bit of a niche - but people who love them, really love them!
A good, more mainstream alternative, is YouTube video podcasts with the same theme.
You could also do both, and make the YouTube video podcast short and sweet - appeal to the masses, while audio podcasts can have more detail for people who are interested.
A personal interest of mine lies in the technology field. Iām a software engineer by trade, and I absolutely love reading tech blogs such as Netflixās (http://techblog.netflix.com). I think it would be amazing if some of Mondoās engineers were to have a similar blog where they talk about interesting challenges theyāve come across technically and how theyāve overcame them. It would make for a really insightful and interesting read, especially for engineers like myself who are relatively young to the trade.
Have you considered doing a live video stream where users can post questions to the team? I believe Hangouts are limited to 10 people max but I think YouTube can do livestreaming.
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Oneplusās forum, it looks great! A nice potential evolution of ours, by including events and blogs/contests. Any other recommendations?