Nonick continues: the first European Community Manager Session

Petur Oskarsson

Petur Johannes Oskarsson created EVE Online, a - take a deep breath - player--driven persistent-world massively multiplayer online-role playing game thas grown each year since it was launched online in 2003. The game has over 300,000 players in 200 countries.

EVE Online is set in a science-fiction space setting where a huge war is going down. The unique feature of the game is called ''the sandbox'', an unlimited universe that only needs one server. So every action that you as a player make has its consequences for the universe.

On top of that, the creators of EVE Online believe in a democratic system where a top council of representatives is chosen by the players of the game. The 9 players with the most votes are in direct contact with the crew of EVE Online - for direct feedback or live support - plus they can moderate the game on a certain level.

"Trust in the players is the most important thing", Oskarsson said. "But it takes time and mutual trust."

"Content is king, Social Media is queen"

In 2003 Alberto Knapp Bjerén founded The Cocktail, a company that tries to offer their clients the talent that is necessary to fully understand the web and allows them to make the most of the business opportunities that the internet offers.

"Most Community Managers say that the content is king, and I fully agree with that, but for me, Social Media is the queen. We don''t need the fight that, but we should embrace it", said Alberto Knapp Bjerén.

"The problem nowadays is that companies all want to be active on the field of Social Media, but they lack strategy. Strategy is the key element as it comes to Social Media."

According to the CEO of The Cocktail, it''s also very important to analyse the metrics. "This is a very hard thing to do. How much cash does one follower on Twitter brings in for the company? Is it worth spending that amount of money on Social Media, and so on. These are question we have to ask ourselves, unfortunately there isn''t a simple answer."

Round table discussion

Normally there would have been three speakers, but due to the volcanic ash Luca Messagio, European Manager of the user-generated advertising company Zooppa, could not make it.

Following the presentations, there was a round table discussion with communication managers from all over Europe. Kirsten Wagenaar (Netherland''s Community Management Association), Mark Relea (German Community Management Association), Blaise Grimes-Viort (Head of Communities &' || 'amp; Social Media for The National Magazine Company) and Gabriel Aldamiz-Echevarria (Chicisimo.com) held a lively discussion about community management, moderated by Jose Antonio Gallego (Spanish CM''s Association).