Lou reminded me recently that many people have a hard time connecting their idea of community with the objectives of their work.
It’s a lot easier sometimes to get support for a community by calling it something else.
Call it scaled customer support (or self-serve support).
Call it a customer experience.
Call it product feedback.
Call it member-driven innovation
Call it user-generated content.
Call it a chill out zone if you like.
If the idea of ‘community’ isn’t resonating strongly, use one that does.
(p.s. The same goes for community managers too).