Blog for Content Convergence & Integration 2008

ITtoolbox has long been on a mission to provide a platform for IT professionals to share knowledge. One of the keys to their success has been the lack of editorial influence from the ITtoolbox team. Counter-intuitive? Not to new-school community-builders, who realize that it's important to retain authentic community voice, ensuring that the content accurately reflects what is happening in the IT community at large.

ITtoolbox's site exemplifies how user-generated content can create a vibrant community. The primary source of value is the 1.2 million registered professionals who use the site. These professionals represent tried-and-tested knowledge. They create a significant volume of the reusable content, using social networking tools such as blogs, wikis, and discussion groups. This content provides lasting value to other members of the community and forms the basis of ongoing conversations as new lessons are learned and shared.

To keep the community operating in a healthy way, ITtoolbox has implemented certain checks and balances. Moderation polices have been put in place to ensure that content from the community is professional, on topic, and in the spirit of professional collaboration. ITtoolbox members understand and appreciate the professional focus of the community, and understand that they will receive the most value from the community from supporting this focus. This keeps problems at a minimum, and maintains smooth operations. ITtoolbox doesn't sit back and just "let it happen", though. They are always looking for new ways the community can connect and share knowledge by researching and evaluating tools and trends. Their strategy is paying off; ITtoolbox is looking to double their technology staff in 2008 and will soon launch a vendor research directory. Not surprisingly, the directory - the first of its kind in the information technology space - will be driven by 1.7 million pages of community-generated content.

Website: http://www.ittoolbox.com/