Vanessa DiMauro
Vice President, Community
Project Truffle
Vanessa DiMauro has been a virtual community builder for more than ten years. Working for pioneering organizations such at TERC and Cambridge Technology Partners, Vanessa has helped shape the role virtual communities play on the Web.
DiMauro was director of online communities for Cambridge Information Network (CIN - www.cin.ctp.com) the largest virtual community of IT executives worldwide. Prior to joining Cambridge Technology Partners, DiMauro built a number of online communities for both the public and private sector including educational communities for teachers and students. She frequently gives talks on the reality of building and sustaining online communities, serves as a community judge for the Global Information Infrastructure awards, and has authored numerous academic research and general articles on community building.
DiMauro has recently joined a business to business startup code-named Project Truffle. There she will be responsible for building new sets of business to business communities linking producers of artisanal products together.
1. What was your first job in technology?
Five years later my focus shifted from educational communities to business-to-business communities. There I built the Cambridge Information Network community (http://www.cin.ctp.com). CIN grew to over 4,200 Information Technology executives from around the world.
And now, I am taking my next and perhaps biggest leap into the early stages of a startup company: Joining a small team of former colleagues, building new sets of business to business communities linking producers of artisanal products.
2. Who has been your most significant mentor? Why?
3. What has been your greatest challenge and what strategies did you use to overcome obstacles?
4. Who has been the most influential person in your life? Why?
5. What lessons have you learned that would be valuable to women beginning their careers in technology?
6. What new technology do you believe will have the most positive impact on the world in the next 20 years? The most negative impact?
On a lighter note:
2. What was the last book you read? What books do you love to recommend?
3. If you were to choose a different profession, what would it be?
4. What is your definition of success?
My first job in technology was at Technical Education Research Center (TERC) in Cambridge, Massachusetts. I was a researcher on a National Science Foundation funded project called LabNet. LabNet eventually became the largest online community for science and math teachers around the world in the late 1980's. Through the LabNet project I developed my professional focus on online communities. As I was building them before the advent of the web, we were just breaking the most fundamental ground on the potential impact of communities on professional collaboration in education.
Dr. Shahaf Gal and Dr. Richard Ruopp. Shahaf is one of the foremost researchers in the purposeful use of technology for education. He taught me how to think about the implications of technology and to push on traditional or easy answers to socio- technical puzzles. Dick Ruopp, who recently died of ALS, taught me how to take professional and personal risks. Dr. Ruopp was the president of Bank Street College and also the president of TERC.
Finding a work-life balance. I have not yet overcome that obstacle as I have very little balance yet, but I am trying. I believe this to be a big challenge in my life because it is important- it is critical- to slow down sometimes. It helps bring clarity of thought and makes everything a bit more enjoyable.
My family. My parents, sister and husband all play important roles. They keep me sane and grounded and bring true meaning to my life.
Don't be afraid. Hold your breath and jump into opportunity. The worst thing that can happen is failureŠ and as long as you learn from mistakes, they are good tools to have for future success.
Online communities have the power to bring people together in profound ways. Communities can bring companionship, connections and access to goods and services. They can make the world a little bit smaller. Online communities, when inappropriately designed can also yield profound alienation between people and serve to replace human interaction.
1. If you could have dinner with any 2 people (living or not), who would they be?
e.e. cummings and Martin Luther King. Both have changed the world in their own way.
"The Diary of Bridget Jones." It was absolutely funny. I love to recommend quirky texts that push the reader outside of their comfort zone. And, it is always important for people to read the classics - many offer timeless stories that have unwavering insight into the human condition. Chaucer, for example, is still as relevant today as when it was first written.
Anthropologist or bartender. Both are versions of community building, but in a more in-person realm.
Having fun, participating in an initiative that brings goodness to other people's lives and does no harm, and engaging in activities that enable continued learning and evolving.
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