s Best Practice Archives - The Community Roundtable

The Community Roundtable

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

Becky Carroll on Using Educational Content and Idea Exchanges

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The Community Roundtable has partnered with Voce Communications to produce a podcast series, “Conversations with Community Managers.” In this series, TheCR’s Jim Storer joins forces with Voce’s Doug Haslam to speak with people from a variety of industries about their efforts with community and social media management. Our series continues with episode #26, featuring Becky Carroll, Community Program Manager at Verizon. Podcast highlights include:
  • Using educational content rather than product-focused content, to cater to customer lifestyle rather than a  hard sell in the “Room to Learn” community.
  • Using an idea exchange; workflows, processes and partnership with product team
  • Advice for getting started in community management

MUSIC CREDIT: “Bleuacide” by graphiqsgroove

About Conversations with Community Managers*
To better reflect the diverse conversations our podcast covers we’ve changed the name of our long-running series to Community Conversations.
Community Conversations highlights short conversations with some of the smartest minds in the online community and social business space, exploring what they’re working on, why they do what they do, and what advice they have for you.
These episodes are a great way to begin to understand the nuances of community strategy and management.
Each episode is short (usually less than 30 minutes) and focuses on one community management professional.

Jay Batson on Open-Source Communities

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The Community Roundtable has partnered with Voce Communications to produce a podcast series, “Conversations with Community Managers.” In this series, TheCR’s Jim Storer joins forces with Voce’s Doug Haslam to speak with people from a variety of industries about their efforts with community and social media management. Our series continues with episode #24, featuring Jay Batson, VP and Founder at Acquia, a provider of commercial services around the Drupal open-source web platform.

Podcast highlights include:

  • Considering long-term health of an open-source community hen launching a commercial enterprise from within it
  • The kinds of companies adopting open-source community platforms
  • Can developer communities provide examples for other types of communities

Download this episode

Subscribe to this podcast series

MUSIC CREDIT: “Bleuacide” by graphiqsgroove

About Conversations with Community Managers*
To better reflect the diverse conversations our podcast covers we’ve changed the name of our long-running series to Community Conversations.
Community Conversations highlights short conversations with some of the smartest minds in the online community and social business space, exploring what they’re working on, why they do what they do, and what advice they have for you.
These episodes are a great way to begin to understand the nuances of community strategy and management.
Each episode is short (usually less than 30 minutes) and focuses on one community management professional.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Spotify | RSS

Lauren Vargas on Vertical-Focused Communities

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The Community Roundtable has partnered with Voce Communications to produce a podcast series, “Conversations with Community Managers.” In this series, TheCR’s Jim Storer joins forces with Voce’s Doug Haslam to speak with people from a variety of industries about their efforts with community and social media management. Our series continues with episode #24, featuring Lauren Vargas, Director of Community at social media monitoring software company Radian 6.

Podcast highlights include:

  • Building vertical-focused communities to better serve the customer community
  • Can community operate without a dedicated, “gated” platform?
  • The importance of organizational commitment to community, right up to the C-Suite
  • Content as the starting point to create engagement, with blogs as the focal point
  • Finding your “influencers;” why and how, and finding them outside your direct community
  • A discussion of tools for finding influencers (not just Klout)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Spotify | RSS

MUSIC CREDIT: “Bleuacide” by graphiqsgroove

About Conversations with Community Managers*
To better reflect the diverse conversations our podcast covers we’ve changed the name of our long-running series to Community Conversations.
Community Conversations highlights short conversations with some of the smartest minds in the online community and social business space, exploring what they’re working on, why they do what they do, and what advice they have for you.
These episodes are a great way to begin to understand the nuances of community strategy and management.
Each episode is short (usually less than 30 minutes) and focuses on one community management professional.

Shannon Paul on Protected Health Information and Privacy in Communities

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The Community Roundtable has partnered with Voce Communications to produce a podcast series, “Conversations with Community Managers.” In this series, TheCR’s Jim Storer joins forces with Voce’s Doug Haslam to speak with people from a variety of industries about their efforts with community and social media management.
 
Our series continues with episode #23, featuring Shannon Paul, Social Media Manager at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan.
 

Podcast highlights include:

  • Dealing with “Protected Health information” (PHI) due to regulations such as HIPAA, including the names of members, and how to balance the need for community and the privacy of members.
  • Creating resources such as www.ahealthiermichigan.org to present wellness resources.
  • Coordination and sharing among associated but separated organizations, as with the Blue Cross/Blue Shield plans in different states.
  • When “I can’t answer you” is an answer.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Spotify | RSS

MUSIC CREDIT: “Bleuacide” by graphiqsgroove

About Conversations with Community Managers*
To better reflect the diverse conversations our podcast covers we’ve changed the name of our long-running series to Community Conversations.
Community Conversations highlights short conversations with some of the smartest minds in the online community and social business space, exploring what they’re working on, why they do what they do, and what advice they have for you.
These episodes are a great way to begin to understand the nuances of community strategy and management.
Each episode is short (usually less than 30 minutes) and focuses on one community management professional.

Thomas Meyer on Online Community as an “Earned Media” Strategy

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The Community Roundtable has partnered with Voce Communications to produce a podcast series, “Conversations with Community Managers.” In this series, TheCR’s Jim Storer joins forces with Voce’s Doug Haslam to speak with people from a variety of industries about their efforts with community and social media management.
 
Our series continues with episode #22, featuring Thomas Meyer, Senior Manager of Global Public Relations at Sonos Inc., maker of a premium multi-room music systems (disclosure: both podcast hosts are Sonos owners).
 

Highlights include:

  • Online community as an “earned media” strategy
  • Does a premium price point affect the size and activity of the community?
  • The relationship between customer satisfaction and evangelism
  • Not to focus on tools, but the value of the iPhone and email to community

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Spotify | RSS

MUSIC CREDIT: “Bleuacide” by graphiqsgroove

About Conversations with Community Managers*
To better reflect the diverse conversations our podcast covers we’ve changed the name of our long-running series to Community Conversations.
Community Conversations highlights short conversations with some of the smartest minds in the online community and social business space, exploring what they’re working on, why they do what they do, and what advice they have for you.
These episodes are a great way to begin to understand the nuances of community strategy and management.
Each episode is short (usually less than 30 minutes) and focuses on one community management professional.

Leigh Mutert on Merging Offline Community with Online

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The Community Roundtable has partnered with Voce Communications to produce a podcast series, “Conversations with Community Managers.” In this series, TheCR’s Jim Storer joins forces with Voce’s Doug Haslam to speak with people from a variety of industries about their efforts with community and social media management.
 
Our series continues with episode #21, featuring Leight Mutert, Community Manager with H&R Block* (just in time for tax season). Find H&R Block’s online community at https://getitright.hrblock.com.
 

Highlights include:

  • Merging offline community with online- in particular, harnessing the experts at brick-and-mortar H&R Block franchises for the online community, and overcoming obstacles to secure their buy-in
  • Working within a tightly regulated industry while still growing community
  • Managing seasonality, in a business focused on the three months leading up until the April 15 tax deadline
  • How H&R Block tracks and measures their efforts
 

MUSIC CREDIT: “Bleuacide” by graphiqsgroove

*Please note: Since we recorded this interview, Leigh has moved on to become a Community Manager at Archer Technologies, if you have any questions about H&R Block’s community please follow up with Zena Weist.

About Conversations with Community Managers*
To better reflect the diverse conversations our podcast covers we’ve changed the name of our long-running series to Community Conversations.
Community Conversations highlights short conversations with some of the smartest minds in the online community and social business space, exploring what they’re working on, why they do what they do, and what advice they have for you.
These episodes are a great way to begin to understand the nuances of community strategy and management.
Each episode is short (usually less than 30 minutes) and focuses on one community management professional.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Spotify | RSS

5 Risks of Having A Community Without Management

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Megan Smith, the community manager at Ovation TV, and I presented this week at the Online Marketing Summit on the fundamentals of community management. It gave me the chance to revisit and refresh my thinking. As part of the exercise, Megan and I identified the most common risks of having a community without a manager. We categorized the risks in the following way:

  • A Ghost Town: There is no engagement and little to see after the initial community membership drive.
  • Land of 1,000 Flowers: People have a space to do whatever they wish, so they do… but it makes it difficult for others to find valuable and relevant content.
  • Drama Central: A certain set of people have a need for attention and others flock to drama, but it is not productive.
  • A Circling Storm: A few people with entrenched issues, some legitimate and others irrational, build coalitions of the disgruntled that can simmer into a full boil
  • A Clique: A niche crowd takes over the community for their own interests which may or may not match the goal of the organization and create a barrier to participation for new members

We have seen communities shuttered for all of these reasons and blame placed on the software, the audience, the culture, or the executive support – all of which can be legitimate challenges but often the problem lies in the lack of ongoing oversight, engagement, programming, and moderation which are all responsibilities of community managers. These tasks take time and resources that are often an after thought in social marketing, social support, collaboration, or other social business initiatives.

Here is our entire presentation:

Have you run across other risks that we should be including here? Let us know!

Jeff Esposito on Shaping Social Media Efforts with Community

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The Community Roundtable has partnered with Voce Communications to produce a podcast series, “Conversations with Community Managers.” In this series, TheCR’s Jim Storer joins forces with Voce’s Doug Haslam to speak with people from a variety of industries about their efforts with community and social media management. Our series continues with episode #20, featuring Jeff Esposito, PR Manager with Vistaprint. Highlights include:
  • Birth of a program– getting hit (literally) with a magazine and being asked to “figure this Twitter thing out”
  • Getting the community to help shape social media efforts rather than dictating the strategy to the audience
  • Backing up the “No Customer Left Behind” philosophy through personal interaction over mass messaging
  • Weighing short term fixes (marketing gimmicks) vs a long-term strategy
  • Creating customer service expectations; when you are online, from posting duty hours to managing the lack of presence around a weather emergency

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Spotify | RSS

MUSIC CREDIT: “Bleuacide” by graphiqsgroove

About Conversations with Community Managers*
To better reflect the diverse conversations our podcast covers we’ve changed the name of our long-running series to Community Conversations.
Community Conversations highlights short conversations with some of the smartest minds in the online community and social business space, exploring what they’re working on, why they do what they do, and what advice they have for you.
These episodes are a great way to begin to understand the nuances of community strategy and management.
Each episode is short (usually less than 30 minutes) and focuses on one community management professional.

University of New Mexico on Content Creation and Moderation

By

The Community Roundtable has partnered with Voce Communications to produce a podcast series, “Conversations with Community Managers.” In this series, TheCR’s Jim Storer joins forces with Voce’s Doug Haslam to speak with people from a variety of industries about their efforts with community and social media management. Our series continues with episode #19, featuring Benson Hendrix, PR Specialist and Nora Heinemean-Fleck, Social Network Liaison, from the University of New Mexico. Highlights include:
  • The importance of Flickr and photos to the UNM online community
  • When both staff (Benson) and students (like Nora) manage the community
  • Content creation: making subject matter experts comfortable in an interview setting
  • Dealing with negative content and low morale among students
  • Preventing chaos and panic through misunderstanding (listen for the “duck pond” story)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Spotify | RSS

Download this episode

Subscribe to this podcast series

MUSIC CREDIT: “Bleuacide” by graphiqsgroove

About Conversations with Community Managers*
To better reflect the diverse conversations our podcast covers we’ve changed the name of our long-running series to Community Conversations.
Community Conversations highlights short conversations with some of the smartest minds in the online community and social business space, exploring what they’re working on, why they do what they do, and what advice they have for you.
These episodes are a great way to begin to understand the nuances of community strategy and management.
Each episode is short (usually less than 30 minutes) and focuses on one community management professional.

Jeff Rubenstein on Working with Product-Knowledgable Communities

By

The Community Roundtable has partnered with Voce Communications to produce a new podcast series, “Conversations with Community Managers.” In this series, TheCR’s Jim Storer joins forces with Voce’s Doug Haslam to speak with people from a variety of industries about their efforts with community and social media management. Our podcast series, Conversations with Community Managers (a co-production with The Community Roundtable), continues with episode #17, featuring Jeff Rubenstein, Social Media Manager for Sony Playstation. Highlights include:
  • Working with a community that is not only passionate, but extremely knowledgeable about the company, its products and its industry
  • Idea generation from the community– how PlayStation Share works
  • The seasonality (or lack of it) for communities based on retail products
  • The merging of personal and professional personae online, and the challenges that presents to the Sony PlayStation team

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Spotify | RSS

MUSIC CREDIT: “Bleuacide” by graphiqsgroove

About Conversations with Community Managers*
To better reflect the diverse conversations our podcast covers we’ve changed the name of our long-running series to Community Conversations.
Community Conversations highlights short conversations with some of the smartest minds in the online community and social business space, exploring what they’re working on, why they do what they do, and what advice they have for you.
These episodes are a great way to begin to understand the nuances of community strategy and management.
Each episode is short (usually less than 30 minutes) and focuses on one community management professional.