Yesterday, I delivered my presentation at South by Southwest Interactive 2011, titled “27 (Fun!) Ways to Kill Your Online Community.”

The premise was simple: I have spent the last 11 years or so building my reputation in this space as part of a simple, but brilliant plan: I want to kill online community. Once and for all.

People think I’m passionate about online community. They think that because that is the image I’ve cultivated. But, it’s all a ploy. Online community is disgusting and without worth and I want it to end.

South by Southwest (SXSW) Interactive 2011 is just around the corner: March 11 through 15 in Austin, Texas.

Not only will I be in town for the entire event, but I’m happy to say that I’ll be presenting “27 (Fun!) Ways to Kill Your Online Community” on March 13 at 5 PM in Salon K at the Hilton.

The inspiration for the session came from a post I wrote here, titled “10 (Super Fun!) Ways You Can Kill Your Online Community.”

photo credit: seelensturm

It was three years ago today that I launched ManagingCommunities.com. Since then, it has become the primary vehicle through which I share community management information, as well as my related experiences and thoughts.

This is a space that I care deeply about. I have been directly managing online communities for more than 10 and 1/2 years now and I am thankful to have the opportunity to talk about the subject here.

In recognition of the milestone, I wanted to take a moment to thank you for reading this blog and to thank everyone who subscribes via RSS, e-mail, Facebook and Twitter.

photo credit: pheezy

We’re nearing the end of 2010 and so I wanted to take a moment to wish you a happy holiday season and a happy, healthy and successful 2011!

I also wanted to say thank you to everyone who has supported this site, my book and me this year. This includes everyone who read the site, shares the articles, comments thoughtfully and appreciates what I do here. I really appreciate you.

I look forward to continuing to spread the word of online community in the new year, both online and offline. I hope that what I have to say and what I share is useful to you and helps you to manage your community, small or large, profit or non-profit, corporation or individual. It’s all community.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Patrick

A few weeks ago, I had the honor of appearing on David Garland’s awesome web video show for entrepreneurs, The Rise To The Top. We chatted about my background, the power of online community and how to pick a niche and be successful. We also talked about how I built my brand and how I market my sites without a marketing budget.

I thought I would share it here as we definitely talked about some subjects related to this website. You can watch the video below and he also has an audio only version available on his website. A big thank you to David for having me.

I am definitely excited about what is about to take place at BlogWorld & New Media Expo in Las Vegas. Not just about what I am doing individually, but what I am doing in collaboration with others, as part of a team.

Not only my fellow panelists, but also The A Team (Brandon Eley, Wayne Sutton and me – we’re featured on 5 panels in all, with 2 book signings) and the SitePoint Podcast crew (Brad Williams, Kevin Yank, Stephan Segraves and me). This will mark the first time that the entire podcast team has been in one place at the same time, with Kevin coming all the way from Australia.

I’m happy to announce that I have booked my first keynote presentation. It’ll be at Podcamp Topeka in Topeka, Kansas on November 6. The event will be held at the Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library. It’s an “unconference” where everyone is welcome to lead a breakout session – in essence, a discussion on a particular topic. I’ll be leading at least one myself, following the keynote.

The event is being organized by a team led by David Lee King, an acquaintance of mine, that also includes Brandon Sheley, Alissa Sheley, Lisa Coble-Krings, Bill Ludwig and Joe Cheray. I have been so impressed by the organization of the event and David’s leadership. I believe it will be a great unconference and it is a tremendous value, as well. For the day, including lunch and perhaps even a small breakfast, the cost is only $6.11. You can register online.

photo credit: BuzzShift

Last year at BlogWorld & New Media Expo (this year’s iteration is October 14-16 in Las Vegas and I’ll be there), I led a panel titled “Social Media: The Bad and the Ugly” with Amber Naslund, Robert Scoble and Wayne Sutton.

On the panel, we talked about trends in social media that concerned us and that we felt could harm the growth of the medium as a whole. These are also trends that could harm your brand, scare people away and damage your reputation. We highlighted six trends in all.

In May, I spoke in Raleigh, North Carolina at WordCamp Raleigh and led a session titled “Building Community Around Your WordPress Blog.” That talk became the basis of the three part series I did here on building community around your blog.

The SitePoint Podcast, which I co-host, held it’s first ever live show at the conference. It all went really well and was a great experience. A big thank you to everyone who made it so.

If you were looking for or are interested in reading the full recap, it has now been posted over my on personal blog.

photo credit: Hôtel Concorde Berlin

I was curious about this, so I thought I’d ask: what do you think are the most important events for online community professionals?

And I want to qualify that question a bit by saying I mean those who manage structured or hosted, on site communities, as opposed to those who maintain a Twitter profile, Facebook page, use social media listening tools, etc. People who do that (myself included) are managing a community, as well, just in a different context and I want to try to focus the answers down a bit.

Why am I asking? For one, I want to know and I’m curious. For two, I’m booking speaking engagements for this fall and winter (and 2011) and want to know where I should be. Please leave any and all answers in the comments. I appreciate it.