Creating Passionate Users is something that good technology and good leadership can do. As Kathy has said before, if you want to learn how to create passionate users around software, look to how other media create passionate users. Case in point: the movie Serenity opens this weekend, and it’s the product of grassroots efforts. The fans who loved the original TV show made such a ruckus that everyone in Hollywood realized its cancellation was a mistake, and the depth of support lead to a movie deal for the show’s creator, Joss Whedon. Whedon didn’t let it die there–he worked with the fans (the Browncoats as they call themselves) to get the word out, keep the excitement going during the long movie production process, and organize parties of people to go see the movie on opening weekend (this weekend). Did it work? They not only got a movie made, but the 11am screening I went to was packed. The ingredients were simple: an inspiring leader (Whedon), a structure to make the user a powerful creator of action (the Browncoats), and something worth being passionate about (Firefly and Serenity). The movie was great, by the way–better than anything else I’ve seen this summer. Go see it.
