Chris Pirillo on Community & how you can grow one

So here I am at WordCamp SF 2009, listening to Chris Pirillo, English major, who says of himself “I am nothing than just a geek” talk about community. And I’m monitoring the conversation on twitter like this tweet from @daynah:

“The connections I make from ppl from all around the world still amaze me to this day.” -@chrispirillo talking about Communities

And taking photos, And learning. It’s very invigorating.

Chris says, community isn’t about a company, it’s about a culture: Apple. Who is, by the way, 35, and has been online since 1992. You do the math. He remembers newsgroups and bbs’s.

Chris says, community is becoming increasingly distributed.

Chris says, community requires tools that can’t be built. Just because you build a blog or start a forum doesn’t mean people will join you. Developing a community takes heart, has a heart. A community listens. Without heart, it is just a tool.

Chris says, community is a commodity, but people aren’t. Anybody can set up a site. Not everyone can build community.

Chris says, community cannot be controlled, only guided. It’s organic.

Chris says, community is no longer defined by physical boundaries. He points out he has more in common with people in other parts of the world than he does with his next door neighbor. Back before the web, it was difficult to find people who shared your interests. Now the whole connected by the interweb population of the world is available. Even finding other people still traumatized by rotary phones. (If you don’t remember or can’t imagine, google is amazing–hahaha! I think I’m getting tired.).

Chris says, community is the antithesis of ego.

Chris Pirillo: I am nothing more than just a geek

Chris Pirillo has been participating in Internet conversations since 1992, having launched Lockergnome.com as a content publishing network and building Gnomedex to be one of the blogosphere’s highly regarded conferences. He publishes a personal blog and lifecast to tens of thousands of viewers, and is a top subscribed partner on YouTube. When searching Google for “Chris,” his site is listed as the first result. He’s a monthly columnist for CPU Magazine, and has authored books on business and personal technology. Chris also produces weekly video segments for CNN.com Live, where he offers tech advice to a savvy audience.