Past attempts at creating stakeholder networks for specific fields of research or industrial sectors have shown to be a resource-consuming and time-consuming process, which requires continuous monitoring and political efforts, as well as the trial-and-error deployment of technological tools. Still, these networks are thought to be an efficient and essential communication instrument for addressing challenges and building capacities. The EU FP7 STELLAR Network of Excellence has the mission of establishing a network for Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) stakeholders, and has decided to do so via an online social community called TELeurope. In this paper we provide an overview of some relevant experience in establishing collaborative networks in the fields of business sciences, learning networks and communities of practice and reflect on our experience thus far with TELeurope.