Hello everyone, I'm a long time listee, first time poster. Be gentle with me :-) I wanted to let those of you in the Southerm Hemisphere (or looking to take a trip), know about swarm 2012: http://swarmconference.com.au/ swarm is Australia's national online community management conference, launched last year in Sydney and returning this year in Melbourne. Though the event is for online community professionals, we have a strong trans-disciplinary focus to ensure the discussion isn't dominated by marketers. It's important to us to connect practitioners with the best research in this area, and likewise, introduce those practitioners to academics who want to deepen their knowledge of front line, online community realities. Collaborative, robust exchange is central to our mission. We've assembled some fantastic contributors, including Community Manager at the Huffington Post, Justin Isaf; Global Head of Community for Yammer, Maria Ogneva; and Head of Internet Studies at Curtin University, Matthew Allen. If last year is anything to go by, discussions will be diverse and rich. We'll also be announcing the results of the inaugural survey of Australian and NZ community managers, which we hope will yield some interesting results (there's been little or no bench-marking in this part of the world around online community management to date). Earlybird tickets for the event are now on sale and I'd love to see you there if you can make it. We'll have live blogging, tweeting around #swarmconf, and expect to be able to offer post-event content for you. Keep well - and do let me know if you're planning to attend (you can email me off list). Venessa Paech Founder and Co-Chair swarm - Australia's Online Community Management Conference m: + 61 435 217 315 t: @swarmconf t: @venessapaech w: www.swarmconference.com.au a: http://brighton.academia.edu/VenessaPaech