The experts disagree!

Interesting the difference between what Millington and Spinks think about the future of community.  Spinks thinks that every single company will have one.  I posted before that I think that's kind of ridiculous - I think every company does have one, just because a company is a group of people with something important in common.  But I don't think that anyone will be paid to manage those communities.  What matters to me is those companies who want to hire a professional, or a team of professionals to run theirs.  

This morning Millington tweeted the exact opposite -   asking how many branded communities we're members of, or would care about based on the stuff we own or use.  Obviously, I agree with Millington more.  I think that there a bunch of companies that could benefit from communities that won't ever invest in them.   I think there are a bunch of companies who really couldn't receive serious ROI but will spend the money because they buy the hype.  

But there is definitely a sweet spot - companies (both current and to be created) that will be able to leverage community really well, and currently don't.  My own company could be doing a lot better in this regard today, but doing community is expensive and until we can lay out a specific ROI for it, beyond just ticket deflection, we're never going to get the opportunity to try.