This a wide community, but the participation in discussions is always centered in a few personalities opinions.

Alexandre -

This is an interesting question but is it unique to this community or is it true of most online (and even in-person) communities that a minor few (I won't use the term "vital" as that implies level of importance) contribute the majority of the content?

I've seen this with PMI chapters and with the communities for other (non-PM) associations as well.

There are a number of gamification-based tactics used in this community to encourage increased participation, and some of those have been used & abused by a few non-contributing members.

Perhaps one such tactic would be to zero out all the contribution-based metrics (e.g. influence, articles, blogs) so new members don't feel that it will take "forever" to get noticed?

Luis is a good example of someone who joined this community very recently, but has made a big impact with his posts and feedback on discussion threads & articles so, in his case, it is clear that being a newcomer to the community from a non-American country was not a barrier to participation.

What would you suggest?

Kiron

Hey! Doesn't anybody know that you can read everything in your preferred language? Simply go to the bottom of the web page and click on Language under TRANSLATE.

I will use this opportunity to test out an hypothesis: I believe that if your comments are made in your chosen language, it gets translated into each reader's chosen language. What I want to see is what happens if I type in a different language than my chosen one.

Here goes...

Interesting results!

First of all, I can see the translation is not great. It's not bad but would likely be better than a lot of people's attempts if they did it themselves.

The second interesting point is that I mixed French and English in my original text. It knew to only translate the French portion of my comment.

Stephan, I knew it but when I tried to translate it was a disaster at least when I use it in the begining of this site. No matter that, the point is not translate. The point is people will not enter to make comments becuase they see it is not in their native language. I have the opportunity to work with people from Japan and Rusia and other countries as some people wrote here and they will not participate in english conversations. And if you ask they are right. So, why I am participating? Just because I am doing that from years ago when no translators were available and the only opportunity to interact and learn from people was in english.

"... people will not enter to make comments becuase they see it is not in their native language."

Are you suggesting, Sergio, that people are only interested in conversing with people who are fluent in their own language? That would be very limiting for them and for us.

I, for one, would be happy to read a so-so translation that allows me to participate with people I would not understand, normally.

Hey Alexandre. I think we each individually can decide to help members towards everything this forum has to offer. To that purpose, I will try two new tactics.

1. I will make a point of redirecting direct messages to community areas. For example, when asked a question I suggested the person check out an on-demand webinar that covered the topic. The webinar answered the question is much more depth I could have.


2. I will include more community assets in my blog posts.

I admit that I would feel something is wrong if I see a thread without comments from Kiron, Rami, Sergio or Luis. Stéphane use to comment more often before retiring, now he is back full steam ahead! ;-)

Joking aside, I highlly appreciate the value and insight of the listed contributors, among many others, and hope to keep on doing so for many more years to come.