Interesting post on how B2B pubs can create community--or, more aptly, create a home for a community--on Paul Conley's blog. A couple samples:

When communities have blossomed in the B2B world, they have followed a similar pattern. The community exists -- united by emotions more than by interests --but has no central location at which to interact. Then a B2B publication creates a "space" in which conversation can occur. Web sites seem to work best for this.

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I've come to believe that community is most likely to occur in B2B media that serve industries where strongly held emotions are the norm. People who work in such industries do more than share interests, they share a belief system. And when people work at something that is more than a job, then they tend to think of the B2B publication they read as something more than a magazine.

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The great lesson of the blogging phenomenon is that there is someone who feels passionately about any subject you can think of. … Any B2B journalist can tap into that power. You don't need to start a blog, but you do need to become more bloglike. If you allow readers to speak to you and each other, then you have created a place where community might arise. If you let people speak, you may find that they will listen.

The comments on the post are worth reading, too.

Thanks to MeetingsNet's Sue Pelletier for pointing it out.