It’s no secret that building a community — if it’s done right — can help a business grow by creating loyal customers/users/fans. An active, dedicated community was (and is) Yelp’s ticket to success when it launched in 2004, and Google is cloning Yelp’s plan with its own local community efforts more recently.

And now Pinterest is taking its own stab at community building.

The company announced yesterday via Facebook that it’ll host a summer party in San Francisco the week of August 13th.

But it’s not a wide-open, anyone’s invited event. Users have to make a video explaining “how Pinterest has inspired you to do something positive in your real life” and submit their creations by July 30th. Pinterest will then choose who gets to attend. The announcement doesn’t give any details about the party’s date, time or location — no doubt to help Pinterest keep things under control.

“We wish we could invite the entire Pinterest community, but unfortunately space is limited,” the party announcement says.

Pinterest has experienced significant growth over the past year. Reaching out to build its community offline is smart, but clearly Pinterest knows it has to be careful about managing its rabid userbase.

Related Topics: Channel: Social Media | Pinterest

About The Author: Matt McGee is Editor-In-Chief of Marketing Land. His news career includes time spent in TV, radio, and print journalism. His web career continues to include a small number of SEO and social media consulting clients, as well as regular speaking engagements at marketing events around the US. He blogs at Small Business Search Marketing and can be found on Twitter at @MattMcGee and/or on Google Plus. You can read Matt's disclosures on his personal blog. See more articles by Matt McGee

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