In the last article, enable introduced Internet discussion forums and their business uses, especially for getting to know your market. There are thousands of discussion forums already out there, and new ones being created every day. Fortunately, there is a site called Deja News that serves as a gateway to the world’s forums. This week, we will look at Deja News as a means of taking advantage of what discussion forums offer technology-based enterprises in the areas of product development and growing the business.
Deja News in Outline
Deja News provides one of the easiest ways to locate and then participate in discussion forums. You can access Deja News’ Member Forums, Deja Communities and Usenet. Deja News also lets users quickly search the archives of 45,000 discussion forums.
Finding the Right Forum – Power Search
To find the forum that covers your particular interest, go to Deja News and click on the Power Search Icon. You can then type in keywords that describe the kind of forum you are looking for. I searched "product development", and found an excellent, brand new, Usenet discussion forum – exactly on point.
The newsgroup, called misc.business.product-dev, was created to address the needs of the large professional community involved in product development within the US and globally. It is designed in such a way that new product development professionals can share their knowledge no matter what their industry, location, or discipline. Expected topics of discussion include:
- Strategies of product development
- Organizational issues
- Case Histories
- R&D
- Marketing
- Global product development
- Trends in product development
- Market and customer research
- Brainstorming
This newsgroup is a moderated group (see below). It has a gateway to a dedicated mailing list so that people who do not have access to Usenet newsgroups will be able to read and post messages via e-mail. The moderator is David Olson, and the administrative contact address is productdev-request@pdma.org. Articles should be submitted to productdev@pdma.org.
Deja News Business Communities
Another way to use Deja News is to click on the Communities Icon. You will then see a list of several categories of communities available to both view and participate in. Under the Money category you will find the subcategory of Business and Industry. Topics in this community range from Accounting Software to Women Who Are Working The Web. There are too many categories to list here, and their number increases almost daily. However, to save you some time and trouble, enable presents two excellent forums that are related to technology based businesses and start-ups. .
The first is called the MIT/Stanford Venture Lab. Its mission is to encourage the growth and success of technology-based entrepreneurial ventures. The MIT Stanford Venture Laboratory is a public forum through which entrepreneurs, managers, and executives can learn about the issues involved in starting and growing companies. Through an annual series of case study and special presentations, the Venture Laboratory becomes just that - a laboratory where interested professionals gather to observe other companies, dissect their business plans, offer their own ideas, and then watch as the companies mature in real-world markets.
Another forum is called The Inventor’s Cafe. The Cafe describes itself as "A comfy place for inventors to share ideas." The Inventors Cafe strives to give inventors a place to find advice, give advice and share ideas with other inventors, in a comfortable, non-stressful environment. All potential inventors are welcome.
Watch Your Etiquette, to Avoid Flame Wars
Posting to forums via Deja News is easy and free – but you must register with Deja News. This entails choosing a username and password to use on the Deja News site, and answering a few other registration questions. After you register you are given a free My Deja News account. According to Deja News, this is the "easiest way to get all of the discussion forum information that you crave, while getting all the personalized attention that you deserve, including free Web-based email and posting".
Etiquette is an important part of using news groups and discussion forums. Once you decide which forum or newsgroup you want to use, read it for a little while first before you post, and try to get a feel for the particular forum, its language and its atmosphere.
Try to keep your questions and comments brief and to the point. Use the "subject" line so readers will be able to quickly determine whether or not to read your posting. The subject line is very important, and Deja News will not let you post without filling it in.
Most users, especially on business forums will be professional and friendly. However, be aware that some users who are impatient and/or having a bad day, may start a flame war with you. A flame war basically involves posting messages that are intended to insult and provoke. To avoid flame wars, if you are unhappy with what some user said, send him/her mail directly – do not post it to the forum.
Some newsgroups are moderated – someone oversees all posts and can delete those that are offensive or do not fit the topic. This helps minimize flame wars. However, most newsgroups are self-moderated – the users themselves must keep things in check.
Finally, never forget that everything you post gets stored forever and is searchable, so beware of making posts that you might regret later. You never know when they may come back to haunt you.
Published by Israel's Business Arena on April 26, 1999