Preface

Community is a funny ol' word. In recent years our humble nine-letter friend has come to mean many things to many people. No longer merely the domain of charity groups and overtly friendly neighbors, community has gone on to be the talk of technologists, businesspeople, politicians, students, welfare groups, and just about anyone who has connected to the Internet. Throughout this explosive community lovefest, a minor detail has been omitted in all the excitement: how on earth do we build an inspiring, engaging, and enjoyable community in our own walk of life? Toward the end of summer 2008 I received a phone call from Andy Oram, a well-respected author and editor at O’Reilly. Although at the start of the call Andy was soliciting advice for building community in the educational world, the call ended by sowing the seeds for The Art of Community.