My feedback on sunsetting the Slack community is rooted in user experience preferences.

#1 - I really liked the Slack community because I got access to So many different people at Guru and across Guru customers in the same place I have to be for my full-time job. It’s just really helpful to keep Guru top of mind when I can access it via Slack.

#2 - I agree with your rationale for moving to a more true “Community” portal. If you could integrate it with the Guru web app more intimately, I could see myself engaging with the Guru community as much, if not more than what I’ve done historically in Slack. I am concerned that I already have so many different systems to manage and monitor for my company, that this knowledge and education community with Guru might fall to the wayside if there isn’t an intuitive way for me to access it from the Guru web app where I am spending all of my time. 

I agree with Kristin that if it was integrated into Guru more directly I would be more likely to use it more frequently. Slack is my home base (I’m in 10 different Slack communities, and it’s my main place for work), so for me it’s very fast and easy to switch in and out to see the latest or when I see a notification. I foresee the new community will be more for me to go and search when I need to go find or ask something, rather than just checking in and out of it when I have a moment or am prompted to. I rarely work in email so notifying me there isn’t really helpful for me it just adds unwanted clutter, so through Guru would be the best compromise for my working approach. Thank you for asking the community for their thoughts :) 

+1 on the comments above!

It is easy to be in-touch and responsive when you already use Slack as a communication tool within your company. That’s really the big thing, and how much that integration into an existing workflow spurs use. 

I’ve got 5 Slack communities, 3 of which are quite active, and find myself engaging with content I may not have otherwise (certain stuff I wouldn’t have found on my own), working with other users to solve problems because I have an extra 3 mins, and just click in frequently because I’m generally bothered by the little pesky notification icon. 

Could you add a feed of activity from here into the Slack? At least that way we’ll still get that notification even if the activity happens here.

This is very helpful feedback, thanks so much everyone! What I’m hearing:

1. Making the Guru Community easily accessible within your daily workflow is key to engagement and getting value -- if it’s not in your face contextually where you already spend your time, it will be tough to remember to go and check.
2. Slack has solved for this very well. For folks who use Slack all the time for work (I’m in this camp as well!), it’s just a click away to scan the Guru Community and hop into discussions that are relevant or ask a question.
3. Email notifications (e.g., on topics you subscribe to) are of course built in and configurable in your settings, but as you pointed out @loraine this isn’t always effective and can just add clutter in the inbox.
4. Potential solutions to consider…
   1. Could we make the Community somehow more visible via the Guru web app and/or browser extension? Somehow simulate a version of the “red dot” notification experience in apps? We’re definitely adding a new navigation link to the Community in the next couple of weeks in the web app (will likely live under the profile drop-down), but I’m guessing this may not quite solve it...any thoughts on where you might like to see the Community link and/or notifications in the Guru app in an ideal world? 
   2. Somehow leverage Slack for notifications, like @James Andrewartha suggested. Interestingly, a feature request is “Open” for inSided with a very similar idea, but the notifications would flow into whatever Slack you’d like (e.g., your company Slack). I’ve upvoted and commented in support, needless to say ;)
   3. inSided does provide an embeddable widget (could embed on a page(s) or hover similar to Intercom in the web app), but we haven’t yet fully explored the capabilities.

Please keep the feedback and ideas coming, really appreciate everyone’s thoughtful input!

@Chris Anderson - I think a red dot style notification on my avatar in Guru would prompt me to have a look at what that was via a second click in the menu drop down :) 

After a couple of weeks of being diverted from Slack to this community, I’m finding I miss the conversation in Slack as I don’t have this community site open all day long and I don’t click on the links whey they are provided. It seems as if this change violates one of the core priniciples of Guru itself which is to not pull people away from their workspace (in this case, Slack). I understand the good reasons to move here, but I’m afraid I won’t be participating, or even aware of, the conversation as much as I was in Slack. Personally, I’m going to miss it.

I believe there are pros and cons to both formats of the community. While I love the accessibility of slack - it is nice to have everything a bit more condensed and organized in a new format. What slack brings to the table is more of an ad-hoc style, where you also had an easy way to connect with those outside of your organization. With that being said - having them both in tandem would not be a bad idea but I think a core focus should be on keeping the most important discussion in here, so its continuously easy to find for new and old users alike!