Each successful case has involved one or more Microsoft employees selling TechNet Wiki to the community influencers for the particular language/country. Usually this means getting them all (especially MVPs) in one room or in one online environment (even an email thread would help) to sell the value of TechNet Wiki. Here are some examples...
Here is a silly explanation around how effective this was for Yuri. Find some specifics in this interview Ed had with Yuri.
Read about it here.
What motivates different people? Here are some various best practices that have worked.
An email group list helps build the community around communication... questions, answers, concerns, and ideas. This is currently used by the English Wiki for Microsoft employees and for Spanish TNWiki contributors for Microsoft employees. We're looking at additional options. Please leave feedback in the comments below.
These blog posts have helped us identify the leaders of the Wiki communities and celebrate them. Ed is currently planning a blog post in this series on the Turkish community. Examples:
These blog posts have helped us rally interest and teamwork behind building out localized/translated content. Examples:
The winners won blog interviews and personalized Wiki Ninja Stick Figure images.
The Brazil team created a Facebook contest where a team of community influencers evaluated Portuguese Wiki content for regular winners. The winners won prizes and recognition. For more information (in Portuguese, see TechNet Wiki Day (pt-BR).
The English Wiki team has created and distributed stickers that feature the Wiki Ninja Stick figure. We distributed them at TechEd events. A Brazil MVP, Daniel Donda, created Brazil TNWiki buttons (based on a Brazil Wiki Ninja stick figure) and distributed them at a Microsoft Community Zone event in Brazil. Read more here.
Since communication is key, communities have found places they can connect together online.
The Brazil team has a Brazil Twitter account for TechNet Wiki. Yuri has invited a few Brazil leaders to join the account and tweet with him about Portuguese content on TNWiki. Yuri writes about that here.
The Brazil team has created the TechNet Wiki Days Facebook page to stay connected. For more information (in Portuguese, see TechNet Wiki Day (pt-BR). I believe this community has mostly moved onto the forum community.
Brazil also has used LinkedIn groups. Example of one of their first communications around TNWiki.
The Brazil team has gotten a TechNet forum created for TechNet Wiki Brazil. Luciano is the primary moderator. They're a very social bunch! In addition to communication around article authoring collaboration, they also discuss configuring TechNet Wiki Brazil and processes and larger projects/efforts on the site. It's also a good model for the English TNWiki forum to follow (currently we focus on issues, and the communication isn't as consistent).
TBD - This section will discuss how we can go about expanding the roles and responsibilities of key community influencers. You can see that happening in the Brazil community (TNWiki Days, Wiki Ninjas BR on Twitter, TNWiki Forum, translation efforts, Wiki configuration and portals, etc.).
TBD - This section will list out our recommended steps to follow, based on the successes in Brazil. It will add successful best practices from Russia, Turkey, and other languages as we build those communities.
Zoltán Horváth edited Revision 13. Comment: correcting typo
Richard Mueller edited Revision 11. Comment: Typo
Ed Price - MSFT edited Revision 8. Comment: Added LinkedIn
Ed Price - MSFT edited Revision 7. Comment: Filled out more in Mail List and in Forums and other bits.
Richard Mueller edited Revision 6. Comment: Fixed <a name> tag in HTML so heading with "0" appears in TOC
Ed Price - MSFT edited Original. Comment: First pass
I discover here the brazil twitter account for Technet Wiki, awesome job!