I’m Jake McKee, aka: The Community Guy. I run Community5, a consultancy focused on helping organizations assess, design, and optimize their online communities and fan engagement programs. Basically, we help ensure that online spaces where customers connect are positive and effective, both for the community members and for the company.

Community5 is my second company. My first, Ant’s Eye View, was sold to PwC (PriceWaterhouse Coopers) in 2012. After I left PwC, I ran the Apple Global Support Communities, one of the largest online communities in existence.

In a past (work) life, I spent nearly 6 years as the Global Community Development Manager for the LEGO Company. My primary function was as a liaison between the company and the adult LEGO hobbyists. I worked on projects and activities that helped to integrate the adult fans in the daily operations of the company.

I was part of the Community Development Team, a group we lovingly called an “incubator for where projects go to be born”. The group was spread over no fewer than 5 countries, and covered a wide range of projects including the LEGO Club, and of course the adult fan relations. We worked to change the company’s approach to one of marketing with consumers, rather than marketing at consumers. (I talk about this in past tense only because I’m no longer part of the team)

I went to school for traditional 3-D product design, but in 1994 I found the Internet. I soon realized that the concepts of product designs applied, but in a brand new way. A few days after graduating with a Product Design degree, I left Oklahoma State U. to move to Dallas and start with i.con interactive, a rising Internet development agencies. Later, I ran the Web development team at NVision Design, the agency that was responsible for the email viral game Elf Bowling. If you know it, you know it well. If you don’t know it, you missed out. It was kind of a big deal…

If you’re interested in finding out more about my work experience, check me out on LinkedIn.

On the personal side, I’m a amateur photographer, and a proud father of the best kid around.

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I am a long-time advocate and evangelist for online and offline community building, social customer engagement, social media, and customer-company interaction. I have been working with online communities, fan groups, and consumer groups since the early days of the Internet, and have a rich background in Web development, community management, business strategy, and product development. I run Community5, a boutique consulting firm that helps organizations of all sizes build, optimize their online communities efforts. You can find my full resume on LinkedIn. I have appeared in print a number of times.

Getting Started with LEGO Trains	Social Media Marketing: An Hour a Day	Social Media Marketing: The Next Generation of Business Engagement	Cluetrain Manifesto 10th Anniversary Edition (afterword)
I wrote this book to help introduce LEGO fans to the joy of building LEGO Trains. I also used this writing process as a means to help troubleshoot the process of allowing LEGO fans to write LEGO themed books.	I was the technical editor on this book, working closely with the author, Dave Evans.	I helped co-write this book, diving deeper into social media marketing and customer engagement.	The Cluetrain was one of my earliest inspirations when I started doing community work. The Cluetrain authors asked me to put an afterword in the 10th anniversary edition about his work with LEGO.

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If you’re interested in seeing me in action, check out my speech in Sweden: Confessions of a Super Fan

“I have seen how dynamic Jake is, and the fact that he refers to his work as “evangelistic” is telling, he is that passionate about helping his clients grow their presence in a meaningful way that produces results.”
– Jason Mueller

“Jake says just the right stuff at just the right times…and says nothing at the right times too.”
– Scott, FIRST

“Your panel was the best session at the conference!”
– Jim, SXSW attendee

“Thank you so much for your session. Having the basic information that you provided gave us an excellent foundation and your moderation during the open time helped give us solid direction. Thank you again for helping make this one of our best events!”
– Pat, TechData

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I love speaking and do so whenever I can. Strategy sessions, panel discussions, keynote discussions, and training sessions make for a fun work day in my world.

Every session I do is customized to the audience, whether a corporate training session or a conference panel. My sessions tend to focus on these key areas:

• Community building & management
• Community creation & interaction strategy development
• Internal corporate issues surrounding social media & community implementation
• Fan group interaction
• Product Design via Co-creation
• Understanding Web 2.0 and social media

If you’re interested in seeing me in action, check out this session from Webbdagarna 2017 in Sweden.

I’m a huge photography nerd. I’ve taken literally hundreds of thousands of photos and had my work displayed in some cool locations, including the Austin airport (my second home). I’ve traveled the world, always with a camera in my hand. Most of my travel bucket list items tie to photography goals.

If you’re interested in seeing a few of my images, check out my photo site at:

jakemckee.com

If you’re curious, the photos you see on this site are mine. The Buick Skylark was shot in Georgetown, Texas. The gear was shot in Panama. The bikes were shot in Amsterdam.