A Scholarly Society’s New Collaborative Community –A Case Study in Social Networking

The AAACommons:

Tracey E. Sutherland Executive Director American Accounting Association

About the American Accounting Association

•8300 members, most are professors (23% from outside U.S.)

•Publish 15 scholarly journals, expanding some and in process of adding at least 1 more.

•One is open-access (Current Issues in Auditing)

•16 Interest Sections, 7 Regions

•Hold between 25 and 30 meeting per year of various groups

•Key Focus – Harnessing technology for development and distribution of intellectual property, teaching, and conducting scholarship

Impetus for New Strategic Directions•Decreasing number of full-time faculty positions (down 13.3% since 1993)

•Shortage of PhD students in accounting pipeline

•New technologies challenge reasons for membership •Membership no longer necessary to receive journals•Face-to-face meetings are useful but there are emerging alternatives•Economy may challenge access to meetings

•New technologies may bring new reasons for membership•Globalization (23% of members are outside U.S.)•How to connect those not attending to content and networking at meetings

Our mission is straightforward. . .

We bring together the academic community to further accounting education and research and to

advance the discipline and profession of accounting.

Developing a Shared VisionAAA Executive Committee

Council/Section/Region Leadership

Creating the mission through four focused areas of activity

Expanding Knowledge and Idea

Development

Expanding Knowledge and Idea

Development

Promoting Effective Learning

Promoting Effective Learning

Informing and Influencing

Policy & Practice

Informing and Influencing

Policy & Practice

Advancing Faculty Careers

Advancing Faculty Careers

Where do we need to better connect?• Teachers

– 1st Annual Conference on Teaching & Learning (Annual Meeting 2008) – next CTLA – 2009 in NYC

– AAACommons• Teacher2Teacher• Teaching “Lock-box”

• International colleagues– Optimize meetings – AAACommons– Community/Networking -- AAACommons

• Researchers– Empowering new ways of creating content– Research Hives -- AAACommons

AAACommons – the Timeline

•Beginning with planning session in December 2007•Beta launched in just 7 months!•We don’t recommend it – but we’re glad we did it

•Spring 2007 – AAA Strategic Planning Project begins

•Summer 2007 – Intellectual Property Task Force recommends seeking collaborative platform

•December 2007 Development Team workshop•Key success factor – the design method emerging from this workshop – “persona analysis” could be a good addition – for next steps

Methodology: Initial DesignLead by Julie Smith David – Editor, AAACommons

Director, Center for Advancing Business through ITArizona State University

3 “Finalists”

3 “Finalists”

17 Possible

17 Possible

• In every cell of the stakeholder matrix– Or key cells

• What are current activities?

• What are pain points?• What would

stakeholders LIKE to be able to do?

• Be creative!

Key ActivitiesKey Activities

• Consider all possible Web 2.0 characteristics– They might spark

new activity ideas

• For each activity, think about whether there’s a tool that would work

Web 2.0Opportunities?

Web 2.0Opportunities?

Summary Opportunity Matrix 2: Possible activities by Web 2.0 characteristic

Note: This is a prototype – not a document that we explicitly created.

Identifying Member Value

• Identifying opportunities that have the highest value proposition

• Noting Web 2.0 capabilities needed• Identifying projects that would be possible

after the initial investment• Integrating projects to maximize value to

members• Using that analysis to develop the RFP for

vendor/partners

Timeline - Continued•December 2007 Development Team workshop

•Winter/Spring 2008 analysis and planning

•May 2008 Council Meeting AAACommons demo•Key Success Factor - CRITICAL importance of the development “sandbox”

•July 2008 – HiveLive platform selected

•August 2008 – Launched at 2008 Annual Meeting•High impact implementation

•Fall 2008 – AAACommons Editorial Board created•Key Success Factor – for CREDIBILITY

•Oct. 08 – May 09 – Rollout in Section/Regions Meetings

Rollout Progress - Communities

Some views of the AAACommons

Tracey Sutherland Executive Director American Accounting Association

Demos of the AAACommons

Tracey Sutherland Executive Director American Accounting Association

Tracey Sutherland Executive Director American Accounting Association

Private Research Communities

Tracey Sutherland Executive Director American Accounting Association

• Key Member Values– Teacher2Teacher

• Resources & Methods• Opportunity for Peer Review of Educational

Materials– Research “Hives”

• Individual scholars and co-authors• Opportunity to invite non-members

– Optimize meetings– Single-Sign-On

• Connecting people to all their content

Tracey Sutherland Executive Director American Accounting Association

Source: whole presentation: http://www.forrester.com/Groundswell/ladder.html

Our Main Constituents

Source: Groundswell. Forrester. http://www.forrester.com/Groundswell/profile_tool.html

• Learnings/Challenges– We have more Spectators and Joiners

• And believe our members are suited to being Collectors and Critics

– We are content people – our community platform partners challenge that thinking

– Generational differences– Establishing meaningful metrics– Leveraging established communities– Future issues

• Governance barriers to developing Groups (aka communities)

Tracey Sutherland Executive Director American Accounting Association

• Key Success Factors Recap– Design method workshop

• Strategy first• Explore and learn – use for RFP development

– Developmental Sandbox• Look and feel that fits your culture• Finding the right partner/vendor

– Establishing credibility• Leadership – Strategy• Establishing the AAACommons Editorial Board

– Time – People and Trajectory ( and patience!)Tracey Sutherland Executive Director American Accounting Association

“Social networks will be like air

Tracey E. Sutherland Executive Director American Accounting Association

Your friends, your family, the people you care about, the people like you, will be available anywhere and anytime.”

Charlene LiSXSW Interactive Conference, March 13, 2009