Something Adobe Corporate needs to pay attention to...

Question

I can't imagine that the executives who make the real decisions about what resources, and how much, to channel toward these forums aren't already aware—to some degree—of the concepts outlined in the article I'll  paste below.
But it sure wouldn't hurt for them to read this story from the NYTimes (via Slashdot) about the enormous value—both in a goodwill sense and in a financial sense—that peer-driven support sites such as this one adds to a company. According to the article, they figure "...a vibrant community can easily save a company MILLIONS OF DOLLARS PER YEAR.[emphasis mine. Phos....]"
That said, it seems to me that it sure would make a lot of sense to pay VERY close attention to the suggestions and complaints of the so-called "super-users." This type of regular contributor should not be made to feel like an annoyance for complaining or making suggestions; indeed they should be made to feel as if they are valuable. Because that's EXACTLY what they are, and in a very real financial sense.
Are the users OWED explanations about decisions that are made? Of course not. But considering their value it'd be pretty damned short-sighted to deny them the feeling of inclusion they deserve. To do so is practically a textbook definition of shooting oneself in the foot. And in the bank account.
Unpaid Contributors Provide Corporate Tech Support
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/04/27/0052255
"The NY Times writes about Justin McMurry of Keller, TX, who spends up to 20 unpaid hours per week helping Verizon customers with high-speed fiber optic Internet, television and telephone service. McMurry is part of an emerging corps of Web-savvy helpers that large corporations, start-up companies, and venture capitalists are betting will transform the field of customer service. Such enthusiasts are known as lead users, or super-users, and their role in contributing innovations to product development and improvement — often selflessly — has been closely researched in recent years. These unpaid contributors, it seems, are motivated mainly by a payoff in enjoyment and respect among their peers. 'You have to make an environment that attracts the Justin McMurrys of the world, because that's where the magic happens,' says Mark Studness, director of e-commerce at Verizon. The mentality of super-users in online customer-service communities is similar to that of devout gamers, according to Lyle Fong, co-founder of Lithium Technologies whose web site advertises that a vibrant community can easily save a company millions of dollars per year in deflected support calls' and whose current roster of 125 clients includes AT&T, BT, iRobot, Linksys, Best Buy, and Nintendo. Lithium's customer service sites for companies offer elaborate rating systems for contributors, with ranks, badges and kudos counts. 'That alone is addictive,' says Fong. 'They are revered by their peers.' Meanwhile McMurry, who is 68 and a retired software engineer, continues supplying answers by the bushel, all at no pay. 'People seem to like most of what I say online, and I like doing it.'"
John C....
I strongly suggest passing links to the article and/or this thread up through the hierarchy.

Answer 1

John Joslin wrote:
Erm, I think dave already posted that!
http://forums.adobe.com/thread/424996?tstart=0
The story so nice we had to post it twice!