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How Massdrop Decides on New Communities

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One of the most common questions we get is: “Can Massdrop launch an [insert name here] community?” With Hub, we wanted to create a space to have this conversation in an open environment, where all community members can provide their input.
We’re looking forward to hearing from all of you about which communities you’d like to see most—and we’ll also be using Hub to test these out! With every community we add, we’ll learn something new that will help us do it faster and better the next time around.

What makes a good candidate for a new community? Communities can really run the gamut, but each one should possess one or more of the following qualities:
  1. Communities requested by the members of Massdrop
  2. Communities we believe we can meaningfully help and grow
  3. Communities that can be split off from our existing communities
New Communities Requested by Members
Our members have a say in everything we do, so our top criteria for starting a new community is that it has been requested by you! In the past, we gauged interest by the requests we received via email and any notable increase in the number of polls in an existing community. We’d then use that information to start a new community with a few test products, and see how it went from there. Some new communities really took off, while others we ended up rolling back due to various issues. With dedicated team members and more experience, we’ve begun making community launches of this type a much more streamlined, thought-out process. A good example is the Writing Community. Moving forward, we want Hub to be the place for us to collect all requests for new communities.
New Communities We Believe We Can Meaningfully Help
We think we can make valuable contributions to a lot of communities out there. This is how some of our most established communities got their start. Take Mechanical Keyboards, for example. Some of our members shared their experiences encountering fake group buys, when individuals would run off with the group’s funds. So we stepped in to help a big project, the community-designed ErgoDox keyboard—and it all took off from there. We’re keeping an eye out for such communities, and will announce them as they come up.
New Communities Split Off From Existing Communities
Some of the newest communities on the site were actually split off from more established communities through organic growth. For example, in the beginning, drops for watches used to pop up in Everyday Carry or Men’s Style only every once in a while. But soon, the number of watch drops took over as more and more horologists showed up. Along with making polls for watches, people began emailing us to request a dedicated place to hang out with fellow watch enthusiasts. After that, starting the Watches Community was an easy decision to make. There are many existing polls and requests for certain communities to be split off into others. We’ll be announcing these and collecting feedback as we go through the requests.

What’s the process for launching a new community?
Step 1: Community vote and research
Step 2: New community thread in Massdrop Hub
Step 3: Test drops in Massdrop Hub
Step 4: Successful split into a standalone community
Community Vote & Research
We’ll be starting polls, looking at polls from the community, and having an ongoing conversation in the “New Community Ideas” thread on Hub. We’ll also be suggesting our own ideas, and using this conversation to decide which specific new community thread to create.
New Community Thread in Massdrop Hub
Once we’ve established that there’s interest in a specific community, we’ll create a thread to gather ideas for what kinds of drops, brands, and content you’d like to see within that community. Plus, we’ll make polls to vote on subcategories within the community to give our commerce team an understanding of which vendors they should reach out to.
Test Drops in Massdrop Hub
Drops for a new community will start appearing in Massdrop Hub based on votes in the polls and any other product suggestions you’ve shared. We’ll keep members updated during the sourcing process and as we’re building new vendor relationships.
Successful Split Into a Standalone Community
After having the new community running in Hub for a few weeks, we’ll look at different variables—including (but not limited to) whether we’re able to get the products members requested, how members react to the new community content, etc. If everything goes well, we’ll notify you all and split the test community into its own standalone community, separate from Hub.

There you have it, folks! We’ve done our best to answer all the questions we’ve received so far regarding the process of starting a new community on Massdrop. If you want more information on any part of this process, please feel free to ask in the comment section below!

Keep Reading
New Community: Outdoors: https://www.massdrop.com/talk/1096/new-community-announcement
New Communities Ideas & Poll Thread: https://www.massdrop.com/talk/1095/new-communities-ideas-poll-thread
What Is Massdrop Hub?: https://www.massdrop.com/talk/1093/a-new-place-to-explore
Site Features Discussion: https://www.massdrop.com/talk/1097/site-features-discussion-feedback
Help Desk for New Users: https://helpdesk.massdrop.com/hc/en-us
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yellowdraft
102
Feb 2, 2018
Can we do specific SFF (Small Form Factor) PC community? Or just more SFF item drops, like mini-ITX motherboard, casing, or bag/case?
PaganD
104
Aug 20, 2017
Woodworking Tools / Carving would be good ! Can help suggest when required...
marc509mtz
2
Mar 21, 2017
A pc parts community would be awesome! I saw a thread on it going around over on the tech community page but thought bringing it up again wouldn't hurt.
Valswisher
2
Mar 19, 2017
new community idea: pets (or even dogs....or dogs and cats). Bulk buys of all sorts of things related to pets.
Tazdevil00
0
Mar 14, 2017
Historical Re-Enactor Equipment / Props
Small to Medium buys for the re-enactor such as historical appropriate blades, costume accessories, and misc. gear
ytsu12
52
Mar 2, 2017
Hi, I see you have a lot of outdoor products and EDC! I would love if you could add a gun accessory hub for hand-gaurds, rails, optics, barrels, paint, cleaning tools, and things like that I am not asking for you guys to add guns or any product that requires a license just cheaper or discounted items made for firearms owners and people who love EDC and carry everyday!
Timska
33
Jan 19, 2017
Great!
Cookster997
256
Jan 18, 2017
Thanks for the detailed information. Good to know.
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