Forum One Networks' Bill Johnston and Media Bistro's Laurel Touby enjoy a glass of wine at the conclusion of the 2008 Online Community Summit.

You're going to see plenty of content from me this week recapping the 2008 Online Community Summit that I attended last Thursday and Friday in Sonoma, California. OCS is an invitation-only event where online community practitioners and vendors come together to share their challenges, best practices, and knowledge of industry trends.

To start off: the headlines. Here are the OCS discussions that resonated most with me:

Defining 'community' is still a challenge
I've blogged in the past about the amorphous definition of community, and the issue was raised again and again at OCS. Part of the problem, of course, is that the term "community" itself has become a buzzword, leading vendors and clients alike to misuse and abuse it. But secondly, the range of online communities is just so vast and the corresponding forms that they take are so different (three examples: The WELL, the Cisco Developer Community, and Autodesk's 3D Animation user community), a single definition really becomes difficult to nail down.

Community hosts must give back
In her "Proven strategies for community growth and success" session, Laurel Touby from Media Bistro urged community owners to "give things away" and "do favors" for their members, including organizing face-to-face gatherings. After all, just how vibrant can an online community be when the hosts never acknowledge, thank, and reward members for their participation?

Make 'em laugh
Sony Online Entertainment's Alan Crosby emphasized the need for companies to put real human beings -- and not corporate drones -- behind their community efforts. And if the employees' style is to be funny and entertaining with the members, even better!

Finding meaning in the numbers
There was plenty of talk about the importance of a "community health index," and in making sense of all the data that can be captured from users and their behaviors. Read the post that Mzinga's Aaron Strout published during a Joe Cothrel-led session on "community metrics," and also check out my forthcoming audio interview with Autodesk's Kathy O'Sullivan, who has come up with a measurement index of her own.

Mobile's hot
If you're a community practitioner and you're not thinking about mobile applications, you should be. By year's end, according to Loopt's Evan Tana, the number of mobile subscribers will have increased by some one 1 billion (3 billion > 4 billion). Evan even referred to the mobile phone as the most "social, personal, and intelligent device we'll ever own." A bit of hyperbole, perhaps, but is there really any doubting the explosive potential of mobile handsets as powerful devices for community building?

Podcasts on deck
Up next: four podcasts that I produced from the Online Community Summit. I will publish them all in subsequent posts this week. Here are the links each of the podcasts:

* Chrystie Hill: Community for library professionals
* Kathy O'Sullivan: Community Engagement Index
* Ron Casalotti: Business Exchange
* Christine Perey: Mobile communities