--- title: "Monday Buzz: Your Private Community’s Toughest Battle" id: "35577" type: "post" slug: "monday-buzz-your-private-communitys-toughest-battle" published_at: "2016-10-24T22:08:29+00:00" modified_at: "2016-10-24T22:08:29+00:00" url: "https://associationsnow.com/2016/10/24/monday-buzz-your-private-communitys-toughest-battle/" markdown_url: "https://associationsnow.com/2016/10/24/monday-buzz-your-private-communitys-toughest-battle.md" excerpt: "In an age when social media replicates most of what your private community is doing, how do you compete? Also: An iconic office chair gets a redesign." taxonomy_category: - "Marketing / Communications" taxonomy_post_tag: - "AssociationsNow" - "community data" - "Marketing" - "Membership" - "Social Media" taxonomy_content_format: - "Article" taxonomy_role: - "Association CEO / Executive Director" - "C-Level" - "Executive Team" taxonomy_persona: - "Association Professionals" --- [Home](https://associationsnow.com/) » [Articles](https://associationsnow.com/format/article/) » Monday Buzz: Your Private Community’s Toughest Battle Private online communities have it tough. The reason? They’re no longer the only game in town. [In a post on the FeverBee blog (opens in a new tab)](https://www.feverbee.com/tidal-wave/) , community expert Richard Millington presents arguments both for and against keeping online forums around in an age when social media generally replicates the technology. His conclusion? Even if forums have value, the threat of being superseded by social networking platforms is strong. “You could try to build higher walls around your community and make it *better*, but you’re in the same boat as the independent video store when Blockbuster came to town (and Blockbuster when Netflix appeared),” Millington writes. His recommendation? “Don’t fight against the tidal wave, figure out how to swim with it.” If you have a platform that’s being threatened by Facebook or Reddit, consider moving to one of those platforms instead. If you don’t want to do that, focus on offering things those platforms can’t. Compete either by being unique or by being flexible. ### I Hope You’re Sitting Down **More than two decades ago,** furniture manufacturer Herman Miller redefined office seating forever with the Aeron Chair, which has become iconic in a way that office chairs almost never do. Now, [Herman Miller is remaking the chair (opens in a new tab)](https://www.wired.com/2016/10/herman-miller-just-redesigned-iconic-aeron-chair/) , with the help of Don Chadwick, one of the original designers. The goal? The company wants to make the design more ergonomically sound. Check out the video above to get an idea of what they’re working on, and [learn more at the Herman Miller website (opens in a new tab)](http://www.hermanmiller.com/products/seating/performance-work-chairs/aeron-remastered.html) . ### Other Links of Note **Is your member database** missing an important field? Now might be a good time to do a double-check. [Wild Apricot has some insights (opens in a new tab)](http://www.wildapricot.com/blogs/newsblog/2016/10/24/10-mandatory-membership-fields-to-track-in-your-database) on the fields your database should have. **Like Google Docs? Like Slack?** Good news: Google, which recently changed the name of its office platform to G Suite, [says it’ll offer deeper integration (opens in a new tab)](https://www.blog.google/products/g-suite/five-new-ways-reach-your-goals-faster-g-suite/) between its software and the popular chat platform. **Just because your content is old** doesn’t mean it’s valuable. In a guest post for *SocialFish*, Internet Marketing Ninjas Brand Manager Ann Smarty [recommends a bunch of tips (opens in a new tab)](http://www.socialfish.org/2016/10/how-to-promote-your-blog-5-tools-to-improve-rankings-of-your-old-content/) for giving your old content new life on Google. (iStock/Thinkstock) [Ernie Smith](https://associationsnow.com/author/ernie-smith/) Ernie Smith is a former senior editor for Associations Now. [More articles by this author](https://associationsnow.com/author/ernie-smith/) Tags: [#community data](https://associationsnow.com/tag/community-data/) [#Marketing](https://associationsnow.com/tag/marketing/) [#Membership](https://associationsnow.com/tag/membership/) [#Social Media](https://associationsnow.com/tag/social-media/) **Stay Informed** [Subscribe to our free newsletter](https://associationsnow.com/newsletter/) , *Associations Now Daily News*, to find out what’s happening in the association world every business day. ## You Might Like - [VideoRecap from the 2025 ASAE MMC+Tech ConferenceMay 19, 2025](https://associationsnow.com/2025/05/19/recap-from-the-2025-asae-mmctech-conference/) - [VideoSneak Peek: Highlights from Day 2 of the 2025 ASAE MMC+Tech ConferenceMay 14, 2025](https://associationsnow.com/2025/05/14/sneak-peek-highlights-from-day-2-of-the-2025-asae-mmctech-conference/) - [VideoDaily Recap: Day 1 from the 2025 ASAE MMC+Tech ConferenceMay 13, 2025](https://associationsnow.com/2025/05/13/daily-recap-day-1-from-the-2025-asae-mmctech-conference/) - [VideoSneak Peek: Highlights from Day 1 of the 2025 ASAE MMC+Tech ConferenceMay 13, 2025](https://associationsnow.com/2025/05/13/sneak-peek-highlights-from-day-1-of-the-2025-asae-mmctech-conference/) ## Comments **Comments are for ASAE members.** [Learn more about comments on this site.](https://associationsnow.com/comments/) [Log in](https://associationsnow.com/login?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Fassociationsnow.com%2F2016%2F10%2F24%2Fmonday-buzz-your-private-communitys-toughest-battle%2F%23comments) to your member account or [join ASAE](https://my.asaecenter.org/select-a-membership-type/) !