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 Vision AAA Executive Committee Council/Section/Region Leadership

Creating the mission through four focused areas of activity Expanding Knowledge and Idea Development Promoting Effective Learning Informing and Influencing Policy & Practice Advancing Faculty Careers

Where do we need to better connect? Teachers –1 st 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 Design Lead by Julie Smith David – Editor, AAACommons Director, Center for Advancing Business through IT Arizona State University $ Opp Key Activities Demo Spaces Stakeholder Matrix User requirements Strategy and Goals 3 “Finalists” 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! $ Opp Key Activities Stakeholder Matrix Strategy and Goals Key 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 2.0 Opportunities? Web 2.0 Opportunities? $ Opp Key Activities Stakeholder Matrix Strategy and Goals

Summary Opportunity Matrix 2: Possible activities by Web 2.0 characteristic Social Networking Digital Media Blogging Wikis Tagging Recommendations Office 2.0 Mashups Do-it-yourself Crowd sourcing PredictionMarkets Virtual Worlds Calendaring Work Flow Teacher2Teacher - CasesXX - Lecture notesXX - AssignmentsX - Master class videosXXX 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 Foundational Communities: Teaching, Research, Emerging Issues, Support SectionsABO Behavioral Tax Researchers DiversityRegionsNortheast

Some views of the AAACommons Tracey Sutherland Executive Director American Accounting Association

Demos of the AAACommons 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:

Our Main Constituents Source: Groundswell. Forrester.

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 Li SXSW Interactive Conference, March 13, 2009