One of the most striking and important phenomena of the first Internet decade has been the rise of online communities. Current and future developments in the field come under scrutiny in this evening event.

Emerging with the very first text-based platforms, online communities have been at the vanguard of change and innovation and instrumental in shaping the new media industry. Today, tens of thousands of communities function across email, websites, message boards and blogs, covering purposes and interests as diverse as human knowledge and interaction itself.

As we shift from the PC-based Internet to a range of wireless and mobile communication platforms and devices, scope for community activity has widened and evolved. For community managers, new opportunities for participation arise, combining ‘traditional’ virtual community features with the context of location, physical environment and movement. Still, the mobile world is a complex one, with a proliferation of platforms bringing different challenges alongside technical and managerial difficulties...

Whether running a commercial or not-for-profit community, this evening event will introduce you to the next generation of online communities. It will outline the main features of the landscape, and inspire new forms of management and engagement.

Speakers include:

Ewan MacLeod - CEO, Neo One
Ewan is CEO of Neo One, a world leader in the provision of consumer-driven managed services, including two-way SMS texting, Internet chat and forum moderation, live event production and email response management. Ewan was - and to a large part, still is - an Internet communities geek, with widespread experience implementing, managing and developing chat, forum and supporting community services for numerous Internet and media companies. Ewan is keen to encourage the adoption of safer interactive services for children.

Lizzie Jackson – Communities Editor, BBC
Lizzie Jackson trained in the performing arts for six years (including teacher training) before becoming a literary and theatrical agent. She went on to join the BBC World Service before moving to national radio. In 1991 she started her own independent radio production company. She moved into new media in 1997 when bbc.co.uk started, creating WebGuide and starting the BBC's online community. She is now one of the BBC's interactivity/community consultants, currently managing five new interactive presenters for BBCi - the subject of her doctoral research at the University of Westminster. Lizzie also co-runs Emint, the UK Community Managers' Association.