Podcast Forum - What makes a good podcast comminity

What do you think makes a good podcast community. As the IAIB continues to grow it is showing dominance as the premiere Podcasting Forum. What mistakes have Podcast Forums made in the past and what can we all learn from this? When I starting Podcasting in 2009 there were a handful of Podcast Forums out there to get great advice from. That has changed. If you search for a Podcast Forum on Google nearly nothing comes up.

What makes a good Community?

Why did other Podcast Forums Die?

Where do you guys go for Podcasting news/Information other then the IAIB ?

Lack of interest or changing needs seem to be the common disrupters of Communities. The #1 being lack of interest.

I have run 2 successful communities that have both gone away over time.

The first being a Madden community I was a part of back when Online gaming first came on the scene. I was 22 and we had a forum with a couple of thousand people on it. We created Madden Leagues and had a place to set up games with people we got to know via the online forums. I ran the Madden portion of the community, but it was a part of a larger PlayStation gaming community.

As we grew older interest faded. Then Madden came out with its own online leagues, and the technology helped push our community into being obsolete.

The bigger community still exists but it is a fraction of what it once was.

My second was based around the Sports Radio station I used to work for. I created it when I was still the producer of a successful afternoon show. I became Digital Director for the cluster a year after that community was created and it flourished for several years. It's downfall came as our talent became victims of the budgets and the forum had no one to interact with. It stayed alive for a bit, even after I was let go; however, with no one there to interact with them as the members lost interest, the forum became nothing but a spam wasteland.

As this is your livelihood, I don't see you losing interest anytime soon; however, as the community grows, and when the time is right, you should put together a strong team of passionate people who can help manage the forums. People who you trust and people who are participants. They will help drive the community as well and takes the pressure off of one person. It also helps reward those who actively help out.

As for the issue of growing with the times, definitely stay on top of the business to which this community is based around. No one from the old days saw radio fading out as a source of entertainment, or TV being replaced with computer monitors, but over time you never know what could come around and make this organization obsolete. Don't be afraid to grow into areas that are the next jump for the community.

The time may come when "Internet Broadcasting" could go away if something replaces the internet. It would then be time to move into a new direction with an updated name and focus. It doesn't mean this place becomes anything less, it just continues to mature and grow based on the times.

Sorry for the book, just giving you my thoughts based around what I have witnessed from either running or participating in communities that have both come and gone, and those that are still around.