The Community Roundtable

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

Friday Roundup: Email Opinions, Collaboration Strategy and Community Communications

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By Shannon Abram, Relationship Manager at The Community Roundtable.

Quick show of hands: do you consider email to be your friend, or a foe to be vanquished? We’ve been thinking a lot about the ways we communicate with our communities this week. Yesterday’s #ESNchat focused on the very email question above and unearthed some strong opinions and great advice about communication methods and how they relate to a community’s success.

After a great call with collaboration strategist Michael Sampson in early March we brought back to continue the discussion on facilitating successful collaboration efforts within an organization, including how communication can effect collaboration. The first call discussed a roadmap to success with collaboration tools and approaches and and this week he continued the conversation by exploring how to cultivate collaborative behavior at your organization.

We’d love to hear your answer to the email question posed above – tweet us your feelings and tag it #emailfriendorfoe and we’ll share a roundup of responses next week!

Things We Are Reading This Week

Why Strong Customer Relationships Trump Powerful Brands – Since the birth of e-commerce, marketing experts have disagreed about the future role of brands. Some have predicted that digital technologies will hasten the demise of brands because customers will have ready access to information they need to make purchase decisions, and “brand” will therefore become less relevant. Others have prophesied an increasing importance of brand as a simple way to evaluate choices in an era of information overkill.

Influence is a Side Effect of Interestingness –  We listen to people who say and do interesting things. This still leaves the big question of what interesting means. Take for example John Oliver, a comedian who first came to prominence as a cutting-edge political stand up in the UK, with a string of television appearances and sold-out solo shows at the Edinburgh Festival. His HBO show Last Week Tonight has become for many a go to source of amusement — and a way to get up to speed on what is going on in terms they can understand.

I need to build a community strategy. Where do I start? – Whether you are starting from scratch with a new community, or taking over an existing community that could use some love there is a good chance you’ll be tasked with building a community strategy. This can be both daunting and exciting. In our State of Community Management 2014 research we found that the foundation of a successful community really is the presence of a well-defined strategy- one that integrates social tools and methods with business goals and processes. A good community strategy also aligns an organization’s goals with member needs setting you up to succeed in both keep engagement high and provide ROI.

The parable of Ray’s Helicopter Company – Once there was a man named Ray who was the CEO of a company that made helicopters. In his youth he had been an avid pilot. Soon after, he started the company with a few friends. Over time, Ray’s Helicopter, as the company was known, grew rapidly to command an impressive share of the world market. Every day he was happy to go to work, and most days his job energized him even more. His workers respected his passion for quality and by and large were quite happy to work for his company.

Should You Enable ‘Big’ Social Business or Team Collaboration? – There are few business decisions more critical than determining how to provide an enabling environment for a workforce to operate efficiently and effectively. Yet the key levers of the modern digital workplace are still relatively unfamiliar to most executives.

New Social Media and Community Jobs

  1. Boston Community Manager – Groupmuse – Boston, MA
  2. Community Manager – Zomato – Denver, CO
  3. Associate Community Manager – WeWork – Los Angeles, CA
  4. Community Manager – R/GA – San Francisco, CA
  5. Community Marketing Manager – OrderUp – Louisville, KY
  6. Manager, Community Development – Diablo – Blizzard Entertainment – Irvine, CA
  7. SF Community Manager – Groupmuse – San Francisco Bay Area, CA
  8. Community Manager, Hearthstone eSports – Blizzard Entertainment  – Irvine, CA
  9. Community Manager – DAQRI – Los Angeles, CA
  10. NYC Community Manager – Groupmuse – New York, NY
  11. Community Relations Advocate – American Textile Recycling Service – San Francisco Bay Area, CA
  12. Community Manager – The Port Workspaces – Oakland, CA
  13. Community Manager – Activision  – Bloomington, MN
  14. Community Recruiment Manager – Chloe + Isabel – Oakland, CA
  15. Social Media Manager – Pluralsight – Farmington, UT
  16. Social Marketer – Entry Level – Frisco International LTD – Coppell, TX
  17. Communications Specialist – The University of Pittsburgh  – Pittsburgh, PA
  18. Social Media and Reputation Manager – Atlantic Bay Mortgage Group 3 reviews – Virginia Beach, VA
  19. Social Media Coordinator – Nuvolum – Petaluma, CA
  20. Social Media Strategist (ABC Family) – Disney ABC Television Group – Burbank, CA
  21. Social Media Coordinator – Schmidt Public Affairs – Alexandria, VA
  22. Social Media Specialist – Flextronics  – San Jose, CA
  23. Communications Specialist – The Lutheran Home Association – Belle Plaine, MN
  24. Inbound Marketing Manager – Triumvirate Environmental – Somerville, MA
  25. Social Media Community Specialist – DriveTime – Phoenix, AZ

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Looking for more community resources? Check out our research and presentations on slideshare.

We also host a weekly Twitter chat – #ESNchat. The topics covered are primarily of interest to ESN community managers, but anyone with an interest in community management is invited to participate.. The chat is held each Thursday from 2-3pm Eastern Time.

Say Hello to New #ESNchat Mini Decks

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By Shannon Abram, Relationship Manager at The Community Roundtable.

Last month when we were given stewardship of the very popular #ESNchat Twitter chat we were buzzing with ideas. So many topic ideas, content wish lists and engagement activities came to mind that we were instantly overwhelmed. First and foremost our goal is the preserve the vibrant and engaged community that Jeff has built over the last year.

With a month of #ESNchats under our belt we are excited to share the first of these new content initiatives – #ESNchat Mini Decks. While the weekly Storify recaps are a great, totally immersive ESN experience for those that may have missed the chat, or an attendee who wants to double-check something that was shared, they can be very long (often weighing in at over 200 tweets) for an #ESN newbie to dive into. These new mini decks distill the topic, the five featured questions and 7-10 of the expert answers provided by the weekly participants into a short and sweet deck on Slideshare.

Without further ado here is the first #ESNchat mini-deck – a recap of October 9th’s discussion on failing in your ESN.

 

Moving forward all mini decks will be archived on our Slideshare page, as well as along side the Storify archives on the main Topic Archive page. Have an idea for #ESNchat content that you’d like to share? Please let us know!

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Join us every Thursday at 2pm ET on Twitter for #ESNchat – a weekly Twitter chat founded by Jeff Ross, and currently hosted by TheCR for those interested in Enterprise Social Networks (internal social networks for businesses).  The topics covered are primarily of interest to ESN community managers, but anyone with an interest in ESNs is welcome to participate.

Friday Roundup: Announcements, Infographics and More!

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By Shannon Abram, Relationship Manager at The Community Roundtable.

This week we got to share some very exciting news – starting in October we’ll be taking over hosting duties for the popular #ESNchat from friend and community professional Jeff Ross. We are thrilled to be able to continue Jeff’s great work with ESN practitioners and are looking for input on upcoming topics. (Missed the news? View both our announcement and Jeff’s.)

Next week will be another big one at TheCR when we unveil our newest service – I can’t say much today, but watch for more info in our next newsletter on Tuesday to learn more! (Want to receive TheCR newsletter? Sign up here.)

Our favorite news and articles from around the web this week:

Infographic: Drive Success with Basic Executive Coaching – According to the State of Community Management 2014 report from The Community Roundtable, members are more engaged in communities with executive participation. In fact, communities with executive participation see 42% of members actively participate, while those without executive participation see only 37% active.

BIF10: Love as a Platform – Going to BIF10 was a treat for me. My life is full of demands – running a business, mothering a small child and attempting to keep dinner on the table can get in the way of investing in myself… yet it is mentally draining and I recognized that I had to feed myself in order to keep feeding others. BIF, I hoped, would be some sorely needed brain candy and it did not disappoint.

TheCR Network Sneak Peek: September 2014 Wrap-Up – September is a big month inside TheCR Network and as the community manager of this fine community I have been feeling the burn! We launch a robust programming schedule for the Network every September and members took full advantage of the live, interactive sessions offered to them as part of their membership. Here are a few samplings of what was discussed…

Rising to the Human Challenge – All business has a human side. Part of it is the obvious one – human resources. Part of it is the fundamental one – customers. Part of it is what makes work satisfying rather than draining – acting like a human being.The human side of business isn’t easy. It can be difficult to get right and is sometimes emotionally gruelling. But those difficulties are a challenge that we have to rise to, and sometimes they’re what makes the human side worthwhile.

Do You Know Who Owns Analytics at Your Company? – At a corporate level, who has ultimate responsibility for analytics within your organization? The answers I most often get are “Nobody” or “I don’t know.” When I do get a name, it often differs depending on who I asked—a marketing executive points to one person, while finance identifies someone else. That isn’t good. How can analytics become a strategic, core component of an organization if there is no clear owner and leader for analytics at the corporate level?

How Sephora Discovered That Lurkers Are Also Its “Superfans”– That tech support or beauty advice web community you visit? There’s a marketing team behind it looking for big insights.

The Left Brain and Right Brain of Social Media Management – At Head Of Lettuce Media, people usually notice right off the bat that we are quite like an episode of Perfect Strangers, as a right brain and a left brain working together. But it is what makes us as a team work so well, we are good at what we do in our own fields of social media.

New Community and Social Media Jobs:

  1. Social Media Community Manager – Creative Circle – Boston, MA
  2. Community Manager – Favor – Boston, MA
  3. Community Manager – CustomMade – Cambridge, MA
  4. Community Manager – Massdrop – San Francisco, CA 
  5. Community Manager – Needle  – Bluffdale, UT 
  6. Community Manager – Hotlist – New York, NY
  7. Social Community Manager – First Tech Credit Union – Portland, OR
  8. Community Support – – United States
  9. Online Community Manager – DDC Advocacy  – Washington, DC
  10. Online Community Manager – American Sportfishing Association – Alexandria, VA
  11. Manager Community  – Sanofi – Bridgewater, NJ
  12. Communication Specialist II – KCP&L – Kansas City, MO
  13. Manager, Public Relations and Social Media – Futurpreneur Canada – Toronto, ON
  14. Community Manager – Desire2Learn Incorporated – Kitchener, ON
  15. Social Media Community Manager – Intern – Literally – Toronto, ON
  16. Communications Manager – Sega of America, Inc. & Relic Entertainment – Vancouver, BC
  17. Community Manager – 3 Degrees Creative Resourcing Inc – Toronto, ON
  18. Community Manager (Co-op) – RBC – Toronto, ON
  19. Content & Social Community Manager – WorldPay – Londo
  20. Social Media and Community Manager – Lebara Group – Londo
  21. Community Manager, Oxford Global Languages – Oxford University Press – Oxford
  22. Global Community and Pro Liaisons Manager – Gamesys – London

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Want to get involved with the community work at TheCR? Learn more about our training, advisory and networking services!

Announcement: #ESNchat + TheCR Join Forces!

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By Shannon Abram, Relationship Manager at The Community Roundtable.

A few months ago when I posted this interview with some of our favorite twitter chat organizers I never thought I’d be making this announcement, but am thrilled to be able to do so. Starting in October the team at TheCR will be taking over stewardship of the very popular twitter chat focused on ESN (Enterprise Social Network) challenges and issues – #ESNchat. #ESNchat was founded by a member of TheCR Network – the wonderful Jeff Ross.

esnchat

When Jeff approached us about taking over #ESNchat we were surprised – and excited. Jeff has done an amazing job of creating a vibrant, engaged community of ESN professionals. Ultimately, #ESNchat is a passion project for Jeff – that is clear to anyone that interacts with him. Without his enthusiasm, hard work and good humor there would be no #ESNchat. You can read Jeff’s formal announcement about this change here – and you can be sure Jeff won’t be far away. We’ve already got plans to feature him for several upcoming chats!

So – you might be asking “What does this mean for me?” – and the answer is: almost nothing. #ESNchat will continue to run under the current hashtag and twitter handle (@esnchat) at its current time – 2pm ET on Thursdays. Jeff’s last chat as host will be next Thursday, but he’ll continue to be active as the founder and a frequent participant, helping us make sure we’re providing the most relevant and compelling content for you weekly.

In the meantime, we’d love to hear ideas you might have for future topics or if you’d like to guest host. We’ll announce the Fall topic schedule in early October so please let us know what topics would be most interesting for you in the comments. We look forward to seeing you Thursdays at 2pm ET and will work hard to shepherd Jeff’s vision.

Finally – we can’t thank Jeff enough for trusting us with his creation. We know #ESNchat means a lot to a lot of community professionals and we will work hard to live up the #ESNchat name!

Twitter Chats 101 – How to use twitter chats to connect with your community.

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By Shannon DiGregorio Abram, Relationship Manager at The Community Roundtable.

Twitter Chats

Image via kenshoo.com

If you’re on twitter (and who’s not?) you may have seen, or even taken part of a twitter chat. We love this medium for connecting with your community – whether it’s a community of like-minded professionals, subject matter enthusiasts or passionate fans or advocates. We wanted to learn more about some of our favorite community management focused chats, so I reached out to the leaders of a few of our favorites – #ESNChat, #CommBuild, #cmgrchat and #CMGRHangout to learn how they got started and to learn some best practices you can apply to your twitter use.

Joining our conversation was Jeff Ross, producer of #ESNchat (Thursdays at 2pm ET), Praan Misir, organizer of #CommBuild (Tuesdays at 1pm ET) Jenn Pedde producer of #cmgrchat (Wednesdays at 2pm ET) and Sherrie Rohde producer of #CMGRHangout (Fridays at 2pm ET).

First off, we love all your chats, and try to pop in every week. Tell me, how did you get started in the world of twitter chats?

Jeff: I felt like there was a void in places to gather for those with a specific interest in enterprise social networks. There were other chats for community managers or those involved in social media, but the vast majority were giving most attention to external social media rather than internal. Vendors have their own gathering places for people who use their products, but there wasn’t one open and available place for ESN practitioners to communicate with each other regardless of vendor. After researching last summer and verifying the void, I decided to take the plunge and start #ESNchat.

Praan: I first got started with #Commbuild in early April of this year. I’m new to NTEN in general, but attending the #14NTC inspired me to dive right into engaging with and learning from the network. My first participation with the group was informative, inspiring, and fun, and I’ve met some really cool community builders through this exercise.

Jenn: Kelly Lux and I were relatively new to the world of Community Building and thought we would start a Twitter Chat for Community Managers since we didn’t see one out there already. From the very first one there has consistently been 80-100 people that participate each week so we’ve kept it up and will continue to do it as long as there are people wanting to join. It’s been four years!

Sherrie: I actually got started with #CMGRHangout because I wanted to learn more about Community Management. Tim McDonald originally founded it as a Google Hangout to fill the void of a video based learning place for Community Managers. To expand the reach of those able to interact, he added in the Twitter component with #CMGRHangout.

I love all your stories – the theme of learning and connecting seems to be there for each of you. What made you want to connect with your cmgr peers via this medium, specifically?

Jenn:  We had read every book out there at the time on community building and wanted to meet others who were in the same boat.Twitter is such a great medium to pull people in randomly, have a great conversation initially, and leads to a lot of great collaboration online and offline elsewhere.

Sherrie: Video is powerful. It’s face to face communication and you simply can’t replicate that with only text. Tone of voice and body language are such a big part of how we communicate. From a Twitter standpoint, it’s also just a fantastic way to discuss a topic with peers around the world. We always know it will be the same time and place every week.

Jeff: I’ve taken part in other Twitter chats and have been blown away with the ability to make excellent professional and personal connections with people around the globe. The ease of gathering and sharing info and building a personal network around a topic is inviting and effective. I’ve learned more from resources shared on Twitter over the last several years than any other single source, so I believe strongly in the medium.

How you think these kind of chats differ from other community building events online?

Sherrie: The interesting thing about Twitter chats is you can accidentally participate in them. I’m constantly getting glimpses of variousTwitter chats from those I know and follow participating in them.

Jeff: I like the ability people have to easily come and go, to take part or not without a long-term commitment, and that it’s a specific, tiny slice of time we’re asking for on a weekly basis in the case of #ESNchat. It’s narrow in its focus. My goal isn’t to actually build an ongoing community of ESN professionals, although the relationships that happen as a result contribute to that outcome. My goal is to help advance the field of enterprise social networking by providing a means of sharing combined ESN knowledge and having a repository of that for anyone interested.

Praan: I think one of the biggest differences, and strengths in my opinion, is how open conversations can be. Although twitter chats are structured around a few key questions, the chats themselves allow for the conversation to travel in several different directions and tangents almost simultaneously. You can be contributing to the main conversation, participating in a few deeper conversations with other individuals, and even chiming in on other side-chats where necessary. The openness of Twitter also means that you interact with a diverse and dynamic array of perspectives on any given topic,  with community builders from across the world. Finally, as events go, participating in a twitter chat is easy to do, all you really need is access to the internet and a Twitter account.

Jenn: Twitter chats are quick, easy to jump in and out of, easy to connect with others on one topic or a variety of issues, and everyone participates. Other community building events online might not have the high engagement that a Twitter chat gets.

What’s the one piece of advice you’d give to someone joining a twitter chat for the first time?

Jeff: Dive in and have fun. Don’t be overwhelmed by a fast-moving steam of tweets. Strike up a few conversations with others present and add them to your network. Share your thoughts by answering the questions posed. Your opinion is wanted and as valid as anyone else’s. We’re all here to learn from each other.

Praan: Be prepared to multitask. All those conversations and side conversations can get hectic and hard to follow, so you need to be prepared for at least monitoring a few conversations in real time. Although at first it can seem daunting, with the proper prep, you’ll be an expert in no time.

Jenn: Use a tool like Tweetchat or Twubs so you can see all of the tweets in one place and slow down the pace if you need to. Also, don’t lurk, jump in and start talking!

Sherrie: Make sure to introduce yourself! You’ll likely get a warm welcome if you let everyone know you’re new and checking it out.

Why would you recommend your chat (or any other twitter chat) to someone who has never taken part in one before?

Praan: Quite simply, it’s fun! I was a little nervous before my first #commbuild chat, but I ended up chatting with lots of people with great things to say about community building, and learned quite a bit. The community itself is very friendly to newcomers, and you can develop some pretty strong connections with tweeps and colleagues in this field.

Jenn: #CMGRchat is a wonderful community of brilliant people. Twitter chats exist on hundreds of topics, so they all have their own unique feel and expertise, but they’re generally a place where people go to feel connected, learn a thing or two, share their opinions, and feel like they belong.  There’s not really a downside to popping into a chat every now and again except that you may become addicted to quite a few throughout the week! #Blogchat, #smmeasure, are all pretty great ones to join.

Sherrie: The moment you stop learning from those around you, life gets really, really boring. 🙂

Jeff: #ESNchat is a great conversation weekly by a group who share similar professional interests. It’s structured but informal enough to encourage friendly chatter. You’ll meet some fantastic people from around the globe that you’d never otherwise meet who will likely become your go-to people when you have questions around that topic.

This has been so great – I hope we’ve inspired all of our readers to either jump in and join a twitter chat or event get out there and start one of your own! We can’t thank Jeff, Praan, Jenn and Sherrie enough for taking the time to answer our questions and provide such great advice.

Do you have a favorite twitter chat? We’d love to hear about it!

 

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Did you know that 95% of TheCR Network members agree that the content and peer input improves the quality of their work? It’s true! Membership in TheCR Network saves community and social business leaders time and improves the quality of their work by connecting them quickly with peers, experts and curated information. Learn how joining TheCR Network can improve the work you do.