About a week ago, we went public with a China Law Blog Group on Linkedin. The goal of the group is to gather together people interested in real discussions on Chinese law and business and, sometimes even China in general.
There are plenty of other China groups on Linkedin and I am a member of some of them. So why did we form the China Law Blog Group? Well the quick answer is to provide a forum for our readers who are, of course, the best people in the world. But the real answer is because I was dissatisfied with most of the other groups, usually on one of two grounds. First, many groups have been hijacked by a few people whose goals are not to learn or to engage, but to market and sell. Now I have absolutely nothing against marketing and selling....nothing at all. But I do not want to be in a group where that goes on. And what was driving me crazy was how much of this is going on and how badly it is disguised. The typical example I always give is the person who goes on to a China group and asks whether you are having trouble finding a good translator and then proceeds to explain how their company provides great translation services? Who needs that? Really.
But at the same time, if a businessperson or lawyer or whomever is going to Dalian, China, and will need a translator while there, there would be nothing wrong with that person posting something to the group asking if anyone knows of a good translator in Dalian, China. The difference being that this person is asking the question because he or she wants an answer, not as a set-up to pitch a product or a service.
You an tell from the above though that monitoring a group is important. Those who monitor must be willing to delete the first, while keeping the second.
The other fault I have seen with so many Linkedin Groups is a lack of activity. Someone will pose a great question, to which I would love to see a response, but a response is never forthcoming. So again, who needs that?
The goal of the China Law Blog Group is above all else to be useful to its members. Because if it is not, what's the point?
The way I see it, there are only two ingredients for succeeding with a Linkedin Group: its monitor and its members and I think the China Law Blog Group has made a good start on both fronts. I am committed to engaging in tough monitoring and if that job ever gets too big, I will bring in others to assist. As for the members, I am delighted with the number of people who have already joined (nearly 200 in one week), but way more importantly, I am absolutely thrilled with their caliber.
I thank each and every one of you for joining.
Our members are and will be the key to a successful group. It will be their contributions to the discussion forums and the various other areas of the group that will determine whether it becomes a must see way station for those interested in China. We are off to a good start, but my being the person that I am, I want to do better. Always better.
We have been having an excellent discussion on the best English language books on China and that discussion does a great job of highlighting why it should be taking place on something like Linkedin, rather than in the comments section here. The discussion started out with my asking for people to list what they thought to be the best China books on business and it has since evolved into the best books on China in general and its most recent turn has been to whether there are any good English language books on Chinese law. I like it.
At the same time, one of our members asked a question regarding TechGear's coverage of Foxconn and Shenzhen and there has yet to be a response. That's too bad and that should not happen, which is really the point of this post.
Linkedin Groups are only as good as their members but quantity matters. I strongly suspect there was no answer to the Foxconn question because those who saw it did not feel they were qualified to give a response. I put myself in that category. But if we had 500 members instead of 200 members, there would be a much greater chance of members having the knowledge and the interest to respond.
So I am urging all of you to go here and check out our brand new group on Linkedin and join if you are interested.
Let's make it work.