I fell into community management and social media organically, as a volunteer for community organizations and not-for-profits that were important to me. I had always planned on re-entering the work force after starting a family and it turns out I had a skill set that developed from my volunteer work. I started doing some small scale consulting and coaching for entrepreneurs and small businesses, but realized I wanted to take an active role in furthering this skill in the community and professional space.
I began looking for a bridge to help validate my work in a world that is still skeptical of the value of social and community. I wanted to learn more. Yes, I could “do” community management, but I wanted to understand it better and learn how it transfers across industries and business models. I wanted a more in-depth understanding of how to manage the day to day details as well as get a better handle on the bigger picture. I also wanted a way to validate my profession and show perspective employers and clients that this just wasn’t something anyone could do (read: don’t hand it off to the college intern). Indeed it does take experience and part of that experience can involve training.
Taking the role as fellow here at The Community Roundtable is one way I’m building that bridge (hooray!). I’m learning so much and it’s been an amazing experience thus far.
I’m also very much looking forward to the upcoming training sponsored by TheCR, WOMMA and ComBlu.
For the past three years I’ve been wading through the sea of information with a do-it-yourself attitude. I’m proud of my self-directed learning but there is also a sense of relief to have a training that organizes and presents specific information by experienced community managers. And in the true style of community management, it’s hosted by a roundtable of community professionals. Perfect!
There will be no one sided view or learning within a silo because the instructors are from varying industries, positions and experience. This aspect of the training feels invaluable to me.
I’m also glad that I’ll leave the training with a certificate to add to my resume. Most of my work lies in an industry (health 2.0/maternal health) where leaders still need to be convinced that social and community is not only important, but is already happening and needs to be integrated and managed. I see the certificate as another way to validate and contextualize the skill set and the role of the community manager.
There has been some confusion about the difference between a “certificate” and “certification” around this training. To be clear–community management does not need certification. Rather, this training will give you a certificate that states you have completed an in-depth training sponsored by a collaboration of three reputable organizations and more than a dozen experienced practitioners in the community and social space.
I see this training as perfect for me and I hope to see you there!
