The Community Roundtable

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

The three career paths of the community professional

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By Ted McEnroe, Head of Research, The Community Roundtable

One of the target goals that we had for the Community Careers and Compensation survey in 2015 was to be able to shed more light on the skills of community. That’s why we undertook a significant review and revision of the Community Skills Framework, growing it from 37 to 50 skills overall. We also changed the lens for how we looked at those skills. In 2014, we wanted to know if you had a skill and/or responsibility for that skill in your role. This year, we asked how much value each skill had to you.

The difference is subtle but significant. You may have a skill. You may even be responsible for using it. But you may think it’s not really valuable for your community role. For example, a Director of Community may know how to moderate. They may even have titular responsibility for moderation in the community (because they oversee moderators). But the ability to moderate is not something they might use on a daily basis.

Looking at the skills framework in this way, we saw something interesting happen. We started to see a connection between some of the skills people valued most and their compensation.

Take business skills. Those who said business skills had the greatest value for them in their role earned an average of over $97,000 per year, compared with our overall average of just under $85,000. Those who scored strategic skills highly benefitted, too. They earned an average of about $91,000 – a slight but noticeable bump over the overall average. Both of those results fall into the “noteworthy but not surprising” category: those who most highly valued business skills were more likely to be Directors of Community, and those who valued strategy were more likely to be community strategists (and make higher salaries in those roles.)

But a third set of skills also generated value. Those who valued technical skills in their jobs earned a premium over the average as well, but they weren’t any more likely to be higher up the org chart. Our tech specialists parlayed their skills to an average salary of over $92,000.*

CCC_FunFact3_2015.png

What does it all mean? It highlights three types of career paths for community professionals.

  • An upward path – where a community manager sharpens their business skills and moves into a Director of Community role overseeing a community program, for example.
  • An outward path – where a community manager focuses on a specialty and builds that out across a number of communities as a community strategist, for example.
  • A skill-based path – where a community manager parlays an interest in a specific (often technical) skill into a more important role, whether or not they move up the organizational chart.

One reason this technical path exists is the nature of technical skills. Unlike content skills, which are more-or-less universally beneficial to community team members, you don’t need everyone on your team to be understand data manipulation, API creation or UX design. But having one team member with those skills is a huge benefit, and not always easy to find or keep.

Needed + in demand = more highly paid.

That’s great news for community professionals. We don’t just see a single way up the career ladder, we see three possible options that allow people with different strengths to grow and succeed.

And that can pay great dividends for communities in the long run, giving them opportunities to retain a wider range of talent.

*-These numbers have been updated with new data we have received since the data deadline for the CCC report. The original numbers were $96,000 for business skills, $90,000 for strategic and $89,000 for technical skills. 

Want to learn more about the skills that matter for community professionals and the career opportunities that await. The full Community Careers and Compensation report is only available to survey participants and members of TheCR Network, our network of community professionals. Take the survey at https://the.cr/ccc2015survey, or learn more about the exclusive programming and benefits of TheCR Network!

Taking your next steps in a community career

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By Ted McEnroe, Head of Research, The Community Roundtable

In D.C., there is something known as “the Washington Read.” When a new book comes out, you flip straight to the index and see if you were mentioned (for good or bad). The closest equivalent in TheCR world is in the Community Careers and Compensation report, where people flip to the salary chart and say, “How do I stack up?” Then they look at the upper tiers and add, “…And how do I get there???”

There’s no magic bullet – but the good news is there is evidence that you can get there.

The average community professional in the CCC 2015 survey has a dozen or more years of work experience and more than five years of community management work – but just a bit over two years in their current job. For Community Strategists and Directors of Community, the experience numbers grow, but the time in current role doesn’t change much. What’s that mean? That most community professionals are on their second or third role – and improving their salaries as they gain experience.

CCC_FunFact2_2015

How are they finding these jobs? Generally, not through external ads. Turns out only about 13 percent of Directors of Community got their jobs from an external ad. Two-thirds said they either defined their own director role or were approached by the hiring manager directly. So make those connections, work those networks, and be entrepreneurial about your opportunities.

It’s worth it – and turns out it’s possible, too.

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Want to get started enriching your community career? Check out the training options for community professionals in TheCR Academy!

Four key takeaways from The Community Careers and Compensation 2015 report

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CCC2015_Cover_ShadowTiltWhat are the most valuable skills for a community manager? What is the career path? And how much can one make? Those are among the key questions being answered in the Community Careers and Compensation 2015 report, which we released today at The Community Roundtable.

It’s the second year we have done the survey –called the Community Manager Salary Survey in 2014 – and more than just the name changed for this year. We expanded the skills in the Community Skills Framework, introduced questions about where community and community professionals sit in the organization, and looked more closely at the training needs of community professionals.

So what did we find?

Key finding #1: Strategy is everyone’s job.

Community strategy development was the most valued skill of the 50 we asked about in the CCC survey, for each of the three job roles we examined in detail – community manager, community strategist and Director of Community. It was also the highest-value skill among the full survey population.

What it means: Your team sees the value in being a part of the strategic plan. You should, too. Treating strategy as a thing handed down to your managers makes them less effective – and cripples your community management.

Key finding #2: Business, strategic and technical skills are rewarded.

We split up business and strategic skills in this year’s survey, and added – and it shed some new light. Community professionals who placed high value on business, strategic and technical skills made more money than their peers. Strong business and strategic skills were more likely to be found among community strategists and directors – but technical skills were scattered across roles, suggesting a technical specialty is a way to increase earning without taking on managerial responsibilities.

What it means: Three possible growth routes for community managers – up the ladder to Director, out to a wider audience as a Strategist, or deeper into a skillset in any number of specialized roles like community architect, community data specialist or UX expert.

Key finding #3: Community pros are “movers and shakers.”

Community professionals are taking advantage of new opportunities to improve their salary and role. While 60% had four or more years of community experience, nearly ¾ had worked in their current role for three years or less. And more than half of those we surveyed with over five years community experience were able to make more than $100,000 per year.

What it means: Successful community professionals get rewarded for their efforts – and networks play an important role in building bridges to new opportunities.

Key finding #4: Communities are everywhere. Communities can be found throughout organizations to serve a wide variety of goals. One sign of their growing credibility – more than 80% of Directors of Community report to vice presidents or C-suite executives. But communities’ flexibility can be a challenge – because they fit everywhere, they can be marginalized or misunderstood because they don’t fit neatly into a department or org chart.

What it means: Communication is critical – those outside the community ecosystem may have limited or incorrect information about what you do, and there’s no textbook definition of where communities fit.

Salaries are strong – and positive signs for teams.

Salaries for community professionals are again strong – ranging from an average of about $55,000 for community specialists to $70,000 for community managers, $100,000 for community strategists and $113,000 for Directors of Community. Years of experience and the number of direct reports correlated with higher salaries, and external communities tended to pay less.

And there was another striking thing about this year’s sample. Few of them worked alone. Only about 1-in-7 said they were truly “lone wolf” community managers – working as the only person in their organization on community. Community team size averages ranged from four full-timers for internal communities to five for external and seven for communities with both internal and external facets – and overall, 56 percent of those surveyed said there were two or more full-time people in their community team.

These numbers just scratch the surface of the report, which is being released in two forms – as a 20-page summary for the general public, and a full report that looks in depth at the roles and skills of community for TheCR Network members and those who contributed their data to the survey.

To get the summary report – click here!

To get the full report, you can complete the 10-minute survey now at https://the.cr/ccc2015survey. (If you took the survey this year check your inbox for the download link!)

We’ll also be digging into the data in blog posts over the coming weeks. Watch this space for that – and download the report for further exploration.

 

Community Career Profiles: All About Community Strategists

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By Shannon Abram, Relationship Manager at The Community Roundtable.

CommunityStrategistIconEngagement and people skills rank as most important skill set for a successful community strategist, but strategic and business skills were most important to nearly 20 percent of those in this role. Strategists also have the highest technical skills among the three job profiles in this research.

External strategists have a wider range of responsibilities than internal strategists profiled and are more likely to be responsible for overall program management. Internal strategists’ top priorities include building the community strategy and roadmap, measurement, internal consulting, advocating for the community, training and consulting with IT on platform integration.

The poster below shares some of the most interesting findings from the Community Manager Salary Survey 2014 in regards to the Community Manager Role.

  • The average salary for a Community Strategist is $85,075
  • The average Community Strategist has 14.3 years of work experience
  • 38% of external Community Strategists have been promoted

Top three responsibilities for Community Strategists: 

  1. Monitoring activity & listening
  2. Developing the community strategy
  3. Measuring and reporting community performance

Top three priorities for Community Strategists: 

  1. Specific business outcomes
  2. Activity rates
  3. Membership growth

CMSS Blog Assets 6

 

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Have you filled out the 2015 State of Community Management survey yet? The findings help shape the dialogue about community management and this year, upon completing the survey you can see how your community sits within TheCR’s Community Maturity Model. Learn more at https://the.cr/socm2015survey.

Community Career Profiles: All About Community Managers

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By Shannon Abram, Relationship Manager at The Community Roundtable.

Community Manager ProfileThis week we continue our closer look at our research into the roles and career paths of community professionals with a closer look the community manager. Not surprisingly, engagement and people skills are an essential part of being a community manager. 64 percent of community managers ranked engagement and people skills most important to their role out of the Community Manager Salary Survey’s four skill categories (and another 23 percent ranked it second most important). Internal community managers have more strategic responsibilities related to change management in their organizations – they’re advocates for the community and are more likely to be responsible for developing executive support and coaching executives and member training.

The poster below shares some of the most interesting findings from the Community Manager Salary Survey 2014 in regards to the Community Manager Role.

  • The average salary for a Community Manager is $69,887
  • The average Community Manager has 10.8 years of work experience
  • 26% of external Community Managers have been promoted

Top three responsibilities for Community Managers: 

  1. Monitoring activity & listening
  2. Communication & editorial
  3. Curating & sharing content

Top three priorities for Community Managers: 

  1. Activity rates
  2. Membership growth
  3. Specific business outcomes

Community Manager Profiles

New Research: The Emerging Career Path for Community Professionals

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By Rachel Happe, Principal and Co-Founder, The Community Roundtable.

Community Management Skills Framework

It’s a great time to be a community manager. Companies big and small are starting to recognize that is a critical skill to help transform their organizations for a digitally connected world.

Our mission at The Community Roundtable is to advance the business of community and research has always played an integral part of that – helping people understand the dynamics and management approaches that build successful communities. We’ve made great strides at the macro level with our State of Community Management report and our Community Maturity Model framework – so much so that we can now benchmark the maturity of an organization’s community management approach.

It is time to take the same research approach to the role of the individual community professional and we are excited to announce the publication of our first Community Manager Salary Survey, made possible with support from Jive Software.

This research is becoming increasingly urgent due to a variety of trends we see:

  • Lack of recognition of how critical the community management discipline is to digital transformation and the future of work. We believe community management is the future of management and a critical component to enabling the future of work.
  • Community professionals are increasingly frustrated because of poorly defined roles and lack of advancement opportunities.
  • There is very little data about community management roles, making it challenging for hiring managers to define well constructed job opportunities.

So what did we find?

  • While there is still a lot of variability in skills and compensation levels in community management roles, there are distinct roles starting to emerge – specialist, manager, strategist and director. 36% of community professionals have been promoted within their role; an encouraging sign that organizations value the role and want to enable a career path.
  • At the executive level – community management is strategic – responsible for strategy, governance, program management and ensuring communities meet business objectives.
  • Performance measurements for community managers are still evolving – there is no one dominant measure being used to evaluate the performance of community professionals.
  • Organizations are still largely not supporting formal professional development resources for community managers like membership in professional development networks, training and coaching.

Along with this research, we also published the Community Management Skills Framework, designed to:

  • Provide a common framework for understanding the skills required for community management.
  • Give community managers a tool to evaluate and develop their own skills.
  • Support hiring managers and HR teams as they define formal community management roles within their organization.
  • Look at and compare the skills of community teams so gaps can be addressed and existing skills can be leveraged.

The full report contains specific data for internal (employee-facing) and external (customer and market-facing) community professionals – including average salaries, percent who get bonuses, profiles of skills and responsibilities by role, performance criteria and professional development resources.

Download the Report Now >>

We would love to hear from you about what surprised you, what you think is missing and how you will use this data to further your own development.

 

 

Community Management Career Profiles from The Community Manager Salary Survey

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By Shannon Abram, Relationship Manager at The Community Roundtable.


Two weeks ago we released our latest infographic “Community Management Career Profiles” sponsored by Jive Software. This is the first research released from the Community Manager Salary Survey 2014. Subtitled “The Career Path Of The Community Professional – Insights From The Community Roundtable’s Community Manager Salary Survey 2014” the infographic provides some great stats for community professionals, hiring managers and the community industry as a whole.

Without further ado, here are the initial findings from the Community Manager Salary Survey 2014.  You can view the full infographic here.

THE ROLE, COMPENSATION AND CAREER PATH OF THE COMMUNITY PROFESSIONAL.

For the purposes of the Community Manager Salary Survey 2014 infographic we focused on three of the most common community titles:

  • Community Manager
  • Community Strategist
  • Director of Community

View the Community Manager Salary Survey 2014 infographic here.

AVERAGE SALARY

Key finding: Research from the Community Manager Salary Survey 2014 showed that community professionals who work with internal employee facing communities earn more than their externally facing peers.

  • Community Manager
    • Internal Community Manager Average Salary:$69,887
    • External Community Manager Average Salary: $74,939
  • Community Strategist
    • Internal Community Strategist Average Salary: $85,075
    • External Community Strategist Average Salary: $90,400
  • Director of Community
    • Internal Director of Community Average Salary: $106,356
    • External Director of Community Average Salary: $113,263

YEARS OF EXPERIENCE

Key Finding: In the Community Manager Salary Survey 2014 we found that directors of community who work with external market facing communities have the most community management experience and the average level of work experience was over 10 years, countering the assumption that community managers are typically younger employees.

Percent of total work experience in community management:

  • Community Manager –
    • Internal Community Manager: 39%
    • External Community Manager: 30%
  • Community Strategist
    • Internal Community Strategist: 48%
    • External Community Strategist: 29%
  • Director of Community
    • Internal Director of Community: 45%
    • External Director of Community: 44%

Average years of community management experience:

  • Community Manager –
    • Internal Community Manager: 4.2 years
    • External Community Manager: 4.7 years
  • Community Strategist
    • Internal Community Strategist: 6.9 years
    • External Community Strategist:5 years
  • Director of Community
    • Internal Director of Community: 7.4 years
    • External Director of Community: 7.1 years

Average years of work experience:

  • Community Manager –
    • Internal Community Manager: 10.8 years
    • External Community Manager: 10.6 years
  • Community Strategist
    • Internal Community Strategist: 14.3 years
    • External Community Strategist: 14.3 years
  • Director of Community
    • Internal Director of Community: 16.4 years
    • External Director of Community: 16.2 years

TOP THREE PRIORITIES FOR COMMUNITY PROFESSIONALS

Key finding: Data in the Community Manager Salary Survey 2014 clearly showed that business and strategic skills become more important in senior community roles.

Top Three Priorities For Community Managers

  • Monitoring activity and listening
  • Communication and editorial
  • Curating and sharing content

Top Three Priorities For Community Strategists

  • Monitoring activity and listening
  • Developing the community strategy
  • Measuring and reporting community performance

Top Three Priorities For Directors of Community

  • Developing the community strategy
  • Developing community policies and guidelines
  • Advocating for the community

COMMUNITY PROFESSIONALS WORKING REMOTELY

Key finding: working remotely does not hinder career progression for community professionals

  • 24% of community managers reported working remotely most of the time
  • 24% of community strategists reported working remotely most of the time
  • 41% of directors of community reported working remotely most of the time

Key finding: directors of community are 71% more likely to work remotely than managers and strategists, suggesting individuals with those skills are scarce and can negotiate for more flexibility.

WORK ENVIRONMENTS FOR COMMUNITY PROFESSIONALS

Key finding: through the Community Manager Salary Survey 2014 we found that community strategists are three times more likely to work for agencies than community managers.

  • 80% of community managers work in corporate environments.
  • 6% of community managers are freelancers.
  • 8% of community managers work at agencies.
  • 6% of community managers work in a different environment.
  • 62% of community strategists work in corporate environments.
  • 24% of community strategists work at agencies.
  • 11% of community strategists are freelancers.
  • 3% of community strategists work in a different environment.
  • 79% of directors of community work in corporate environments.
  • 5% of directors of community work at agencies.
  • 7% of directors of community are freelancers.
  • 9% of directors of community work in a different environment.

COMMUNITY PROFESSIONAL: AN EMERGENT CAREER PATH

Although Community Manager is the most common job title among professionals surveyed, other roles are emerging.

Among the survey sample of the Community Manager Salary Survey 2014:

  • 55% had the title “Community Manager”
  • 13% had the title “Community Strategist”
  • 17% had the title “Director of Community”
  • 13% had the title “Community Specialist”
  • 7% reported they had another title

Key finding: 36% of professionals surveyed in the Community Manager Salary Survey 2014 reported being promoted within community management.

LOOKING FOR A PROMOTION? WORK ON YOUR SKILLS.

In the Community Manager Salary Survey 2014 we found that advanced community professionals, including community strategists and directors of community are more likely to have these key skills:

  • Program management
  • Building a community roadmap
  • Developing executive support and coaching executives
  • Creating, purchasing or delivering training
  • Hiring and managing community team members, contractors, agencies
  • Internal consulting

LOOKING FOR A COMMUNITY JOB? GET CREATIVE ABOUT FINDING YOUR NEXT ROLE!

Through the Community Manager Salary Survey 2014 we found that the majority of community roles are not sourced through formal HR processes. In fact:

  • 39% of community professionals were approached by or introduced to the hiring manager/team
  • Only 27% of community professionals found their role through an external job posting
  • 20% of community professionals defined their own new role

View the infographic and find more community career resources at communityroundtable.com/cmss14

Brought to you by Jive Software.

Community Roundtable Research Finds Promising Career Path, Salary and Growth Prospects for Community Professionals

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Infographic released at JiveWorld previews Community Management Salary Survey, complements new training for community pros

OCTOBER 23, 2014

Boston, MA – The growth and professionalization of internal and external community management is providing growing opportunities and career paths for skilled managers, with those directing community efforts able to pull in six-figure salaries and enjoy more flexible work environments, new research from The Community Roundtable finds.

More than 350 internal and external community managers, strategists and directors shared information for the Community Manager Salary Survey 2014, including their salary, their expertise and responsibilities, their experience, and their career path. The infographic detailing the first research findings was released Wednesday night during JiveWorld14, the premier conference for modern communication and collaboration. Jive Software is sponsoring the infographic and upcoming publication of the survey data.

The infographic highlights the salary range for internal and external community professionals, and illustrates a demonstrable career path for those who want to use their skills and experience in more strategic roles. It can be viewed and downloaded on TheCR website.

“The new research highlights a number of what were unproven truths in the community space and adds new insights,” said Rachel Happe, Principal and Co-Founder of the Community Roundtable. “It makes clear that community management as a discipline has matured to the point where not only are there great, well-paying jobs to be had, but there is also a clear career path for community professionals.”

The Community Manager Salary survey research shows that 36 percent of current community professionals had been promoted in their time in community management.

The infographic release comes days after Jive’s launch of training programs for internal and external community managers developed by The Community Roundtable. The trainings focus on the strategic elements of starting, building and growing communities, giving Jive customers the skills to move their communities, and their careers, forward.

The new data show that community professionals focused on internal communities of employees and other stakeholders tend to outpace external community managers in average salary, but found that Directors of Community for both internal and external communities earned well over $100,000 per year for their work.

The survey also asked respondents about their experience, work conditions and responsibilities in their roles, finding:

  • Director-level community professionals had more experience (on average) than managers and strategists
  • Strategists and directors were more likely to list community strategy development on their list of responsibilities, while community managers listed monitoring activity and listening most often as their role. Strategists listed measuring and reporting community performance most often among their responsibilities.
  • Directors were 71% more likely than managers or strategists to work remotely, with 4-in-10 working in remote locations – an indicator that in-demand Directors of Community are able to negotiate work flexibility into their contracts.

The full Community Manager Salary Survey is slated for release in November. It will look more comprehensively at the skills and responsibilities of community professionals, provide a more detailed breakdown of salaries and explore bonus structures and assessment criteria for evaluating community professionals.

To learn more about the Community Manager Salary Survey 2014 and receive a copy of the full survey when it is released, send an email to info(at)communityroundtable(dot)com with the subject line “CMSS” or visit the CMSS page of communityroundtable.com.

Jive is the leading provider of modern communications and collaboration solutions for business. Recognized as a leader by the industry’s top analyst firms in multiple categories, Jive enables employees, partners and customers to work better together. More information about Jive can be found at https://www.jivesoftware.com.

The Community Roundtable will showcase the Community Manager Salary Survey Infographic at JiveWorld14, which is attended by more than 1,600 Jive customers, developers, thought leaders and technology partners across several industries. This year’s program focuses on how people and organizations can work better together and gain competitive advantage through collaborative workstyles. JiveWorld14 offers more than 60 breakout sessions and hands-on workshops about topics such as advanced community management, customer and partner communities and internal collaboration.

The Community Roundtable was established in 2008 as a professional development network for community, social media and social business professionals, providing an extensive array of training, tools, research and advisory services to members and enterprise customers both in and outside of the U.S. TheCR Network gives members access to exclusive connections, events, training and resources, as well as immediate support from TheCR and 200 peers in community and social business roles. TheCR’s Community Maturity Model has been adopted by customers worldwide as a framework to start, build and grow communities, and the annual State of Community Management provides in-depth analysis of the growth and maturation of community management.

Our clients come from 90+ enterprises, including SAP, Aetna, CSC, H&R Block, Walgreens and CA Technologies. To learn more about TheCR Network, advisory services, tools and research, visit https://www.communityroundtable.com or follow us on Twitter at @TheCR

Building Reputation: Becoming a Social Strategist

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By Shannon DiGregorio, Relationship Manager at The Community Roundtable.

For many social media and community practitioners being viewed as an expert in something that everyone thinks they are great at (social media) can be a real challenge. Just because someone loves Instagram or has 500 friends on facebook doesn’t mean they truly understand that intricacies of managing a comprehensive social or community program. How do you build your reputation as a social strategist – a true expert on social media and community initiatives?

The role of the corporate social and/or community strategist is unique from that of a community manager although the two roles are often done by the same person in smaller organizations. Check out Rachel’s presentation below for an in-depth look at the social and community strategist roles, and how you can build a reputation as a knowledgeable and trusted social expert.

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Interested in learning more about training to help further your career in social media, communications, community management or marketing? The slides above are a small portion of the Community Strategist training course offered by The Community Roundtable, WOMMA & ComBlue. If you are interested in that class, you can find more info here: https://community-roundtable.com/what-we-do/training/ and find other classes and online training courses and certifications for Community Managers that might be of interest.

Fellowship: My Career Leap With TheCR That Paid Off

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Thank you all for reaching out to me about the exciting news that I have officially joined The Community Roundtable team.  As we are looking for a research fellow, and as I have experience being a fellow with TheCR for the past year, many have asked about my journey from fellowship to hire.  They have asked what led me to consider a fellowship, what my experience was like, and how my path progressed and brought me to where I am today.  So here goes:

One Year Ago

“I’m ready for something new.” I told my husband. I had just spent three years building community and leading social strategy that culminated with the successful organization and activation of consumer support around important healthcare legislation in New York State.  I had found meaningful work that I enjoyed. The idea of enhancing traditional community building efforts with new and accessible social collaboration and media tools inspired and motivated me. Now that I had an emerging skill set I wanted to use it.

Not too long after I told my husband I wanted to look for opportunities to work in community and social media professionally, I opened TheCR’s monthly newsletter and saw the posting for a community management fellowship.

I had just been turned onto The Community Roundtable a few months earlier from Cindy Meltzer, a member of the TheCR Network, and I was following them with great interest. I liked the peer-network model and I appreciated their no-nonsense and drama-free approach to social in a world where hype had become status quo.

I knew right away that this opportunity was a big one. I would not only have direct access to mentors Jim Storer and Rachel Happe, but I would also have the opportunity to connect with and learn from community and social professionals from leading organizations across varied industries inside TheCR Network. Without hesitation, I filled out the application immediately and clicked “send.”

Some weeks and two interviews later Jim emailed me early one morning to offer me the fellowship. My husband and I spent the weekend in celebratory mode and then I rolled up my sleeves to get to work.

 One Year Later

It’s  just about one year later and looking back I can say with full confidence that the experience did not disappoint. It was fast-paced, learn by doing and there were opportunities to get involved in multiple capacities depending on my interests. I will also admit that it was hard work and I experienced a bit of informational overload at the beginning. But I kept working, listening, and learning and before long I found my stride.

I’m really grateful for the way the experience and TheCR team asked me to grow and learn. While reflecting over this past year the following points really stick out as meaningful parts of my fellowship experience:

-easy access to mentors
-talented, hardworking and supportive co-workers
-smart, generous community members
-access to the deep well of resources inside the network
-an industry wide view of community and social

At TheCR we talk, read and write a lot about the state of community management and the ways the Community Maturity Model (CMM) transforms businesses. Just as the CMM helps guide businesses towards a more distributed, integrative and inclusive organization, I was very happy to find that as an employer TheCR operates by those same guiding factors.

It’s with great pride and excitement that I have decided to continue my work with TheCR and take a permanent position. I’ve very thankful for the opportunity and the support I’ve received from both my team and from the impressive professionals I am lucky enough to work with inside the TheCR Network each day. I look forward to continuing to grow and learn with all of you!

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TheCR Network is a membership network that provides strategic, tactical and professional development programming for community and social business leaders. The network enables members to connect and form lasting relationships with experts and peers as well as get access to vetted content.

TheCR Network is the place to learn from social business practitioners.  Join today