The Community Roundtable

Empowering global community leaders with research-backed resources, training, and tools.

  • About Us
    • Our Values
    • Our Team
    • Our Clients
      • Client Success Stories
    • Community Leadership Awards
      • Community Leadership Awards 2024
      • Community Leadership Awards 2023
      • Community Leadership Awards 2022
      • Community Leadership Awards 2021
  • Services
    • Benchmarking and Audits
      • Community Performance Benchmark
      • Community Readiness Audits
      • Community ROI Calculator
      • The Community Score
    • Models and Frameworks
      • Community Maturity Model™
      • Community Engagement Framework™
      • Community Skills Framework™
      • Community Technology Framework™
      • The Social Executive
  • Research
    • The State of Community Management
      • SOCM 2024
      • SOCM 2023
      • SOCM 2022
      • SOCM 2021
      • SOCM 2020
    • Community Careers and Compensation
    • The Community Manager Handbook
      • 2022 Edition
      • 2015 Edition
    • The Social Executive
    • Special Reports
    • Case Studies
  • Events
    • Connect
      • Connect 2024
      • Connect 2023
      • Connect 2022
    • Community Technology Summit
    • Professional Development
    • Resource Bundles
    • Upcoming Events
    • Community Manager Appreciation Day
      • Community Manager Appreciation Day 2025
      • Community Manager Appreciation Day 2024
  • I’m looking for…
    • Community Engagement Resources
    • Executive Support Resources
    • Community Reporting Resources
    • Platform and Technology Resources
    • Community Strategy Resources
    • Community Programming Resources
    • Community Career Resources
    • Something Else
      • Vendor Resource Center
      • Community FAQs
      • Community Management Podcasts
        • Community Conversations
        • Lessons From The NEW Community Manager Handbook
      • Community 101
        • Community Management Glossary
        • Community Management FAQs
      • Case Studies
      • Community Webinars
  • Community
    • The Network
      • Member Login
      • Join The Network
      • Roundtable Call Library
    • The Library
      • Subscriber Login
      • Subscribe to The Library
  • Blog

Count Me In: Why This Community Manager Is Excited About the Upcoming Training

December 16, 2011 By Hillary Boucher

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!

 

About Hillary Boucher

Hillary Boucher oversees all community at TheCR. You can usually find her inside TheCR Network where she helps members solve their most challenging community problems without breaking a sweat.

comments powered by Disqus
Community best practices

Resources for the people who build online communities.

ABOUT US
Our Values
Our Team
Our Clients
Careers

RESOURCES
Vendor Resource Center
Podcasts 
Community 101
Case Studies
Webinars

PRODUCTS AND SERVICES
Benchmarking and Audits
Models and Frameworks
Research
Professional Development

QUICK LINKS
Blog
Newsletter
About The Network
About The Library
About The Academy

LOGIN
The Network
The Library
The Academy

Contact
Support
Partnership
Inquiries
Subscribe to
Our Newsletter