The company operates over six hundred restaurant/gift shops throughout the U.S.. As the company grew, it became more difficult for the founder to stay in touch with the hourly employees.

He knew that this is where the rubber meets the road, and wanted a way to be able to get direct unfiltered opinions and observations from the hourly employees.

I was contracted to build a site to make this possible, and Barreltalk was born. From a test group of fifteen members in 2001, it has grown to over 25,000 members, and become a valuable tool allowing for previously impossible interactions between the home office and the field.

Lessons: 

This is where I cut my teeth in terms of matching tools to requirements.  In 2001, there were very few tools to choose from so I had to make do.  I started with a simple forum system, and over time added functionality like blogs, chats, and webinars.

It also became apparent that I would need to have moderators, or guides to help run this successfully.  I learned to spot the spark-plugs, and recruit them actively.  In the eight years of the project, a fairly rigorous training program was developed and used by over a hundred moderators.