FOOD, FUN AND FRIENDS: NATURAL COOKING CLUB (NCC) COMMUNITY

Community assembly is very easy to manage in this era where the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) grows very fast. With Internet, a group of people who possess same interest can be reached in a very short time.

One of the most radiant progresses from vast internet users in Indonesia in the year 2000 is discussion through mailing list. Mailing list in Indonesia is called ‘Milis’. Milis is a place where a group of people with same interest or people coming from the same community can discuss things.

Natural Cooking Club (NCC) is a club that consists of women who likes to cook. It’s one of many online communities that formed lately, that have succeeded in developing its activity. Beside the increasing amount of milis member (more than 7000 at the end of 2008), the members have received tangible and intangible use of this community.

One of NCC’s key of success is the perseverance of its founder in maintaining relationship with the member. “Togetherness” is the motto of this cooking club. Various scheduled offline gathering activities have become the place to gather and bridging virtual communication to face-to-face communication.

NCC existence and exposure is possible because of the help from moderators who have join commitment to develop the community. There are also members who have blog that have become a multiple information channel to society who aren’t aware of this community.

The issue for owner, Fatmah Bahalwan is how to maintain the ‘sense of community’ from its member. With the community’s development and the increasing amount of member, the owner is worried about the decreasing of emotional intensity that has been the core power of NCC.