About

My name is Martin Reed. I purchased my first computer in 1999, connected to the Internet and was immediately hooked. I began to experiment setting up basic web pages and in 2000 established Just Chat which has gone on to become one of the UK’s most popular online communities with up to 600 simultaneous chat room users, over 400,000 forum posts and over 14,000 email penpal members. Just Chat was listed as one of ‘365 Brilliant Websites’ by the UK’s best selling Internet magazine, Web User.

In 2006 I purchased Soap Forum, a dormant online community based around British TV soaps. I completely redesigned the site, changed the forum software and reinvigorated the community. Today it is a popular destination for British soap lovers and was named as one of the 20 best showbiz and gossip websites by the popular British newspaper, the Telegraph.

In 2008 I was featured in a BBC radio interview about safety in online communities and was awarded a First Class Bachelor of Sciences with Honours degree in Internet and E-Business, before leaving the UK to marry my American fiancée. I now live in New York City, USA where I continue to develop and manage online communities. In September I launched Female Forum – a brand new online community for women.

I have given community building advice to the New York City Department of Education and in May 2009 I presented at the INFORTE seminar in Finland. My Community Building Questions document has been used to help the leading French newspaper, Le Figaro develop a community building strategy. I have been quoted in a number of publications including Angela Connor’s book, ‘18 Rules of Community Engagement‘, PDMA’s Vision Magazine, and Federal Computer Week (circulation 90,000). Please see my hire me page for information about what I can do for you.

Community Spark is a community building blog. I share tips and advice on how to build and manage successful online communities whether they are forums, blogs, chat sites or social networks so you can gain a head-start over the competition.

In this blog I hope to share much of what I have learnt (and am still learning) when it comes to developing and managing a successful online community. Some of my favourite articles include:

• Important Community Building Questions
• How to Motivate Online Community Moderators
• 20 Questions for Managers of Online Communities
• No Abuse? You Aren’t an Effective Online Community Manager!
• 5 Ways to Attract Members to a Social Networking Site
• How to Respond if a Forum Moderator Goes Crazy!

So once again, welcome to Community Spark – I hope you will take the time to get involved by commenting on the articles that are of interest to you. This blog is a real community, with regular readers and contributors. I hope you will become one of them, and look forward to welcoming you.