Are you in the [Third] Tribe?

For the last couple of years, the Cleveland Indians have had a pretty disinterested theme song.

Hey, ho, hey let’s go tribe. Then the tagline comes. “Are you in the tribe?”

To which I always respond, “Sadly, yes.”

Given the lifelong scarring the Cleveland Indians have inflicted upon me, you might understand why I am a little paranoid about other tribes, even when people I respect greatly say, “Hey, you should check this out!”

I’m also a pretty cynical person, generally speaking, so when someone says, “Hey, this is really really awesome!” my gut reaction is often, “Eh, it’s probably not THAT good. Or you have an angle.”

I tell you all of this because I am going to make a statement that overcomes both my fear of tribe-related terminology and my cynicism when it comes to positivity.

You should join the Third Tribe right now.

Why?

Oh, my word isn’t enough, I forgot. Okay, well, let me describe what I have experienced just by dipping my little tiny toe into the great big sea that is Third Tribe.

The forums

I am a big fan of forums, I must admit. I’m not really sure why, I am a ham but I have always been drawn to talking to other people in the forum setting. Make a statement, wait for responses. Even with the development of fast-moving sites like Twitter, I still like the “check back” nature of forums. So, when I logged into Third Tribe for the first time and saw about, oh, 17 different forum families, I felt a bit like a kid in a candy shop (if I had told myself when I was a kid that I would equate a lot of forums to candy one day, I would not have believed it). The forums range in topic from you asking questions of the many many thought leaders behind the project, you helping answer questions that other people post, and then tons of discussions that just add to the sense of community. You can track goals and get support, you can talk about subjects that interest you – it’s a pretty amazing amount of content (but I would like to call it conversation).

Speaking of community

I haven’t been a member for long, but I can already tell that the idea of community permeates everything on the site. I’m hoping that I’ll be able to find a lot of my Twitter community there (hint hint) so that we can converse without a 140 character limit. I get the sense that people who have been there for awhile have already begun to cross-build their relationships, whether the relationships began on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or The Third Tribe itself. It’s kind of like going to a convention and running into people you were hoping to see. Very cool, very welcoming.

And speaking of people you were hoping to see…

In addition to the folks that got the site started (Brian Clark, Darren Rouse, Sonia Simone, Chris Brogan), lots of other very knowledgeable people are there too. And guess why they’re there? To help YOU. That’s right. You.

The Seminars

I’d love to be able to tell you how great the seminars are. They certainly look great and I can’t wait to dig into them. I just haven’t even gotten there yet. I am a forum junkie. I was not lying.

Q&A Sessions

There are also q&a sessions moderated by different pairs of knowledgeable people. Even if you don’t submit a question, or even if your question doesn’t get answered, I’m pretty certain that the first time I attend one of these,  I will feel like someone shot a fire hose through my ear and into my brain. And yes, that’s something I’m looking forward to.

Yes, it costs money

It’s true, unlike blogs and Twitter and Facebook, you do have to pay to access all of this great stuff. But here are some thoughts that might smooth that over for you.

Unlike my diatribe about repurposing content, you’re not just finding regurgitated blog posts over here

You feel like information is being customized to and for you – because it is

You are essentially getting all of the benefits of a huge convention or meeting every day, with a guarantee that you will get out of it exactly what you want – while still sitting at your desk!

All of this makes it tremendously worthwhile, a strong investment in yourself and in your company, and I mean, hey..you get to talk to me over there! Now that, my friend, is priceless 🙂

If you have any questions, let me know. Meanwhile, I hope to see you over there.

Image Credit: http://www.sxc.hu/profile/eduardtrag