In 2007, I launched the .orgCommunity (www.orgcommunity.com). At that time, the Association Forum promoted the online community with a title “To Be Social or Not to Be Social” (http://www.associationforum.org/News/ThisWeek.cfm?ItemNumber=1285). While I felt the online community would be useful for the community, it was clear after a couple of years that the answer was “not to be social”. So, the online community was put on the backburner.

From 2007 until now, there has been a lot of discussions amongst the association community about online communities and social media. Many educational sessions, webinars and conversations around whether or not to engage in private LinkedIn groups, private online communities, etc. has been an ongoing discussion.

Fast forward to the end of 2015, we re-launched the .orgCommunity. Within three months, we have more than 150 members and robust conversations in the online community and at our events. Additionally, within two days we have 43 people who have joined our LinkedIn group.

It takes time to foster online conversations but in doing so there is an opportunity to obtain member engagement.

While we may be more social online today, it seems as though professionals in the industry also want to connect more face to face yet seem busier than ever.

I would love to hear your thoughts on being social in professional networks both online and offline and what is important to you and why there has been a significant change in being social online in such a short time.