Mastersthesis,
Online Community Plattformen zur Unterstützung des Wissensaustauschs zwischen Konferenzteilnehmern
(2005)
Abstract
Online community platforms allow and facilitate the interaction of groups of people, who are linked by shared interests or tasks. In this thesis, such virtual
meeting places are investigated in the special context of annual conferences. A closer look is taken at the exchange of relevant information and knowledge between the
conference dates. The main aim is to formulate a general concept that includes the goals and requirements of a future online platform for an international conference.
The hypothesis is that an online community platform for conferences provides a basis for holding the attendees together between the conference dates and at the
same time attracts new members.
A review of current literature is undertaken to clarify the term “community”, as well as to outline the basic tools and success factors of online communities. In the
empirical part of the thesis semi-structured, problem-centred interviews with eight employees of an Austrian research and consulting organisation, who all play a key role in the organisation of an international conference, are conducted. By qualitative content analysis, objectives of the various communities are compared and prioritised.
Subsequently several use-cases are worked out to provide detailed scenarios of how an online platform can support the key roles amongst the community members.
In the use-cases the functional and technical requirements for the online platform are emphasised. Potentials for joint activities with in and between communities in the context of the annual conference rhythm are identified. Based on
these results, further research is to be conducted to find a suitable technical platform and to evaluate the first prototype.
