Archive for August, 2010
Combining real world events and your online community with positive results
Well I’m back from the FIFA 11 tour of the UK (and an event at Emirates Stadium) and the good news is that it was a great success. Aside from a few console installation issues the feedback has been positive and those that were able to play FIFA 11 have reported that they enjoyed the experience.
This feedback is something I wanted to touch on and how combining real world events with your online community can have a positive benefit. I had 5 events last week, all at different locations but with the same theme; getting people playing FIFA 11 before launch. The first event was a bit of a closed affair with senior community figures, bloggers, fan site owners and a few music artists thrown in for good measure (Kano anyone?). The rest of the week was a tour across London, Reading, Manchester at Glasgow that people applied to gain a spot at. This registration process and the tour itself was promoted online in a few key places and was well received.
The reason for this post though is that having attended the live events and the positive experience of doing so many of the players went back into the forum and wrote their own feedback posts and confirmed / answered several of the talking points or questions that had been asked by the wider community. This then helped settle some of the debates and provide a generally positive outlook towards the game ahead of launch with more people looking forward to the release of the demo on September 15.
So, what’s the point of my post this week? Well mainly that if you have a thriving community with lots of activity you can enhance that and spread good vibes by combining them with real world events and ensuring not only is your product up to scratch but that you have the key people in attendance at your event. They are then in a position to act as a font of knowledge whilst helping the CM more easily do their job.
FIFA 11 events galore and the importance of advocates
So, first post on the new site and time to talk a little about what I have coming up. Next week will be a pretty busy week for me with 5 events in 5 days across the UK. In a bid to aid in promoting FIFA 11 Monday will see me hosting a private event at the Emirates Stadium in London (home of Arsenal) for Retail and key community figures as well as a few musicians.
For the rest of the week I will be travelling from London to Reading, Manchester and Glasgow visiting the HMV Gamerbase centres to also provide an opportunity for people to play FIFA 11 before launch.
One of the key points for this tour though and something to note for those involved in community management, is that over a period of time I have identified who some of the key users are in my community and have looked to bring them a little closer and give them more opportunities. The main reason for this is that developing relationships with them and giving them information means they are in a better position to give constructive feedback and criticism whilst also being in a position to help me engage with the rest of the community by answering questions.
Advocates are essential if you want your community to thrive and develop and at EA we have been working to establish a “GameChangers” programme specifically for such people. Chances are, after meeting a few new important people from the EA community at these events, they will be invited to join this programme.