Hello,

My name is Patrick O'Keefe and I wrote "Managing Online Forums." Thanks so much, MrEyes, for mentioning the book and for your interest. I really appreciate it.

You don't need a book to learn how to manage an online community, that is absolutely true. After all, I didn't have one. I learned by doing and so can everyone else, probably (though, different people learn in different ways). So, you don't need this book, or any other. This applies to most subjects.

What I do believe, though, is that there can be great benefit derived from the experience of others and that that experience can help you to be better equipped to deal with questions and challenges or can add to your existing experience, even if you are a veteran of something, I believe that I should always be learning, no matter how much experience I may have in something.

I look at Ted, a friend of mine, and I say that this guy is a genius. He knows marketing and merchandising and so many other things. So, I ask him, will you contribute something to it? He kindly agrees. I benefit from his experience in an area where I have much less than he does. I don't see this as bad thing, I see this as a good thing. Ted is a smart man.

What the book is, is my 8 years (now about 9) of experience in community management. It is literally everything that I have dealt with in those 8 years, from the smallest issue to the biggest one. I talk about them in detail, relaying my real life experience and the solutions that I used and use in actual practice.

The book is not a software book, it is a management strategy book, primarily, though I did recommend vBulletin as a paid solution in it. I did this for a couple of reasons. First, I'm not a programmer. And a software book would have the potential to become outdated rather quickly. Second, though, is that what I am passionate about is managing the community, talking with people, handling problems and so on. That is what the book is about and it is my hope that this allows it to maintain a sense of timelessness where it can be beneficial for a long time to come.

My goal in writing it was simply to create a manual that someone could pick up and learn from, to get a leg up on what they are about to undertake or to build on the vast wealth of knowledge they already have. To create a helpful book and to help people confidently manage their online communities. I love it, I'm passionate about it and I want to help others do it, if I can.

So, I hope this explains a bit about the book and where I'm coming from. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask. Thank you for reading this message and, again, thanks so much for mentioning the book.

Thanks,

Patrick