events Archives

Announcing The Community Roundtable Awards!

November 22, 2016 By Hillary Boucher

This year another fun tradition was born at our annual event – TheCR Connect – our first presentation of The Community Roundtable Awards! The winners were announced at the live event, and now we are excited to share the news with everyone online.

Why Awards?

We want to showcase the amazing work members are doing. Our team sees the many ways members are advancing the discipline of community management in their work as well as contributing to TheCR Network in valuable ways. We want to acknowledge and highlight your efforts

and…

It’s fun. There’s no way around it — handing out awards and amazing trophies (wink, wink . . . see below) is a delightful way to . . . well, surprise and delight. And as we all know hard working community practitioners can use a little more fun in our lives.

Without further ado, here are The Community Roundtable 2016 award winners!

The Cheerleader Award

You keep up with TheCR Network like it’s your job and never fail to cheer everyone on whether it’s liking, sharing, or responding with support.

The 2016 Cheerleader Award goes to Marjorie Anderson, Community Engagement Specialist at the Project Management Institute. From day one of her membership Marjorie shows up. She makes visible and valuable contributions to the network. We can count on Marjorie’s engagement to keep the network vibrant and alive. Thank you Marjorie!

The Journaler Award

You check-in regularly to update us on your work and progress. Your documentation helps all of us better understand what it’s like to be a community practitioner and helps us understand where notable milestones exist. Self-reflection is wisdom earned.

If you work out loud with us regularly you know why this award goes to Lori Harrison-Smith, Enterprise Community Manager at Steelcase. Lori has diligently documented her weekly progress every. single. week. in 2016. When we document a successful collaboration in the weekly Work Out Loud thread she’s almost always involved. Congrats Lori!

The Detective Award

Who? What? When? Where? Why? Your curiosity and questions help the network get to the bottom of things. Without you how would we get to the bottom of community management’s most difficult challenges?

This TheCR member asks questions about questions! Jeff Merrell, Associate Director at Northwestern University M.S. Learning and Organizational Change, puts a lot of thought in exploring meaningful discussions in the Network that allows us all to learn together. He leads the charge in unpacking how people learn and influence organizational change. Well done, Jeff!

The Explorer

You’re willing to go where no community practitioner has gone before. Boxes are not in your vocabulary. You walk to the end of the map of everything that is known about community management and dare to take another step further.

Can anyone find J.J. Lovett, Director, Communities at CA Technologies? We fear he’s fallen off the map. Oh no worries, he’s just discovering and implementing new ways to apply our research and models. J.J. is one of those members who pushes us to evolve our work by applying it and reporting back how he’s using it. Thank you J.J.!

The Social Butterfly

The social butterfly shows up. No matter the event, in person or online, the social butterfly is busy making connections and building a thriving network.

Nothing beats showing up to events, online and in-person, to learn, network and collaborate together and we have one member who makes this an art form. Kirsten Laaspere, Community Manager at Akamai Technologies has been a member since 2014 and helps us make TheCR Network events valuable and fun. When I ask a question on a call and get silence in return she’s there to help spark conversation. She holds a wide network and is generous with her connections. Keep on, keeping on Kirsten!

The Super Geek

This squishy community talk is great, but let’s get down to the data. Numbers quake in your presence and excel spreadsheets are putty in your hands. You know that you can prove the value of community and you are on a mission to make it happen.

Is there even a contest here? Ted Hopton, Director of Social Business at McGraw-Hill Education, walks away with one bedazzled calculator to represent all the incredible work he’s been doing by wrangling community metrics, experimenting with data visualization, and generously sharing his work as he learns so we can all follow along. Great work, Ted!

The Host(ess) with the Most(est)

You are warm and welcoming and help new and returning members feel like they are seen, heard and valued at TheCR Network. You make the network a much better place to learn and work.

I used to diligently welcome new members and tried to encourage other members to join in and help make TheCR Network a welcoming place. It didn’t really take off until Aaliyah Miller, Communications Consultant at Aetna, joined and became a champion of new members. Whether it’s in our main intro thread on individual groups she always takes the time read, acknowledge, and welcome people. We’ve watched her thoughtful participation ripple out and encourage others. Well done, Aaliyah!

The Pack Leader

You rally members around a good cause. When you speak people listen, but you also know a good leader listens and empowers a group. You are generous with your knowledge.

We’re proud to present Jeff Ross, Community Manager at Humana, with The Pack Leader Award for his continued work championing ESNs (enterprise social networks). He saw a gap, organized, distributed leadership and continues to curate knowledge and share generously with all interested. We’re proud of you Jeff!

The Community Manager’s Award

TheCR team has your number on speed dial. You answer our emails, quickly, and are always willing to help. You are dedicated, thoughtful, and supportive and our team relies on you.

We’ve known Claire Flanagan, Director of Social Business Value at Jive, for a long time and we lovingly refer to her as one of our original “cheeseheads”. She’s been a strong advocate and never hesitates to respond with our requests for feedback or strategic advice. An original member of our Member Advisory Board we’re grateful for the way she supports us. Way to go Claire!

Not a member of TheCR Network?

Learn how you can join and benefit from the exclusive programming, resources an d tools available to members. Who knows, maybe next year you’ll be taking home an award!

TheCR Connect Boston 2016 Recap

November 7, 2016 By Jim Storer

Participants brainstorm during a working group session.

By Amy Turner, The Community Roundtable

Working in community you can get pretty numb to the amazing collisions that take place between passionate people. We recently got a reminder of what makes community professionals – and members of TheCR Network – so special.

TheCR Connect brought together community veterans and tactical experts from around the country for a two-day workshop full of inspiring speakers, actionable planning sessions, engaged networking and expert case studies. And just a little bit of networking held around actual roundtables, with delicious food and tasty drinks in hand. (Some extra-special bonding was done during the World Series game we watched as a group on night one!)

This year, participation was limited to members of TheCR Network to ensure that deep connections could be made quickly, and so that every participant could contribute and walk away with inspiration to effect real change in their community. No business cards needed at this event – everyone was already connected online in the Network!

A roomful of community lovers led to great networking.

The Connect workshops, lightning talks and unconference sessions (all led by our amazing members) covered on topics such as Dashboards, Roadmaps, Community Platform Requirements, Gamification, Empathy and Crowdsourcing Innovation.

We even celebrated members of TheCR Network with a series of awards during Connect, to showcase the incredible work they are doing to advance the discipline of community management as well as contributing to Network in valuable ways. Awards covered such topics as “The Cheerleader”, “The Detective” and the “Explorer” and were a fun way to surprise and delight our members.

Members of TheCR Community Team present member Ted Hopton with an award.

Community VIP Claire Flanagan receives a special community commendation.

While we are sad to have another Connect event in our rear-view mirror, these amazing connections and conversations are already living on inside TheCR Network. Our year-round regular programming, including roundtable calls, working groups and discussions ensures that members are always connecting, always sharing and always learning – even if they aren’t in a room together anymore.

TheCR Connect Class of 2016

Learn how your community and your career will benefit from membership inside TheCR Network.

Throwback Thursday – Event Insights and Highlights

September 22, 2016 By Jim Storer

By Amy Turner, The Community Roundtable

This time of year is always busy for us here at The Community Roundtable as we gear up for conference season. The relaxed days of summer are long gone and we turn into road warriors with a jam-packed schedule of conferences, events and workshops.

Group shot from TheCR Connect West in January 2016.

As we look ahead to the events we are hosting and presenting at over the next two months (including TheCR Connect!), it’s helpful to take a step back and reflect on our insights and learnings from events and conferences attended in the past. Because as we all know, it’s so crucial to step away from our computers, online networks and virtual connections every once and while to have meaningful, personal and engaging conversations with each other.

This week’s #throwbackthursday post focuses on events, highlighting key insights and observations learned from our journeys over the years.

Emergent Learning in Networks and at Conferences – For several years during the 2000’s online community professionals gathered together annually to share and learn from each other. Recognizing that online community practice continues to evolve, a group of Bay Area community managers felt the need to revive the unconference tradition to gather together online community and social media professionals to share their collective knowledge and real world experience to address today’s pressing topics.
Community in Real Life – We were recently reminded about the power of taking online communities offline and this is an approach we strive to embrace here at TheCR. This short – but effective post – summarizes the important “how’s” and “why’s” of connecting in real life.
Why Conversations Matter And How Things Need to Change to Support Them – Moderating and talking with panelists at a Gilbane Digital Content Conference gave Rachel some fascinating insight into where we are now and where things need to go to really support enterprise-wide conversations.
To Event Or Not Event? – Learn about Jim’s love/hate relationship with planning events over the years. He’s experienced first-hand how exhilarating it can feel when it all comes together and the vendors, speakers and attendees start connecting on the show floor and in the conference rooms. But the internet came along and changed the game.
For TheCR Network Eyes Only – Live Internal Event Blogging and Engagement Tactics – Are you a member of TheCR Network? Check out this exclusive discussion thread inside the Network about how to live blog and engage with employees back in the office or the field while you’re onsite at an event.

Want even more #throwbackthursday action? Check out all our throwback posts!

Community Takes Center Stage

June 15, 2016 By Jim Storer

By Shannon Abram, The Community Roundtable

Without a doubt the highlight of our programming year in 2015 was TheCR Connect. We loved getting community pros together to chat about their work, share challenges and problem solve together and deepen the relationships that are started inside TheCR Network.

So of course we’re looking forward to this year’s big event – TheCR Connect 2016: Community Takes Center Stage. I wanted to share some more details about the event, including who you’ll meet, what you’ll learn and what to expect.

We’d love for you to join us inside TheCR Network, and in person at TheCR Connect. The early bird discount expires in just two weeks so now is the time to register!!

Championing Community Management at SXSW 2017

June 14, 2016 By Jim Storer

By friend of TheCR Kate Baucherel, Co-Founder, ambix.io

At the 2016 South by South West Interactive Festival’s Community Management meetup, professionals from across the world agreed that our discipline needs greater prominence at SXSW 2017. Sessions tagged as “community” in 2016 were often a heartwarming part of SXgood, not showcases of best practice and cutting edge application for business success. Frustrated Community Management professionals vowed to change this for next year.

Following discussions with the SXSW organisers themselves, we are appealing for all community professionals who are submitting an idea to the Panel Picker to do one simple thing:

Tag your proposal with Community Management.

There are Community Management panel ideas emerging from thought leaders, community professionals, and household name enterprises. The Community Roundtable is also helping its members with submissions to deliver wide-ranging Community Management case studies, best practice, research and, thought leadership.

The Panel Picker process

The Panel Picker opens on 28th June, so this is the time to start planning! Visit the SXSW website to familiarise yourself with the Panel Picker process and requirements. When submitting a panel proposal you will select the stream that your panel submission applies to (branding, content etc), and have the option of adding three tags to give greater context to your talk. Make one of these Community Management, with uppercase C and M. No variations, no substitutions! By using a consistent tag across all panels proposed by community professionals, we can give delegates a clear picture of the breadth of material available when Interactive rolls around next March.

How SxSW handles duplicate content

Where a number of panels are proposed with similar content, the organisers will either select the strongest, or ask several proposers to work together. To deliver a strong Community Management program, talk to your fellow managers: see who else is submitting, what topics are being covered, and whether you can collaborate, or develop a different panel. We have a wealth of experience between us, and it would be a shame to waste any of it.

Food for thought

Could you showcase your expertise in any of the following areas?

Delivering business goals effectively
Innovation through collaboration
How Community Managers influence strategy
Community is the responsive front line of your brand
Return on Investment
Managing customer sentiment: controlling the conversation
Branding: Active community management builds loyalty
Content distribution and feedback – reconstructed
Lessons from consumer communities
Planning your intranet
Starting out on the right foot: community creation
Developing and leading a maturing community.
How Community management can fix your social strategy
Delivering Community Return on Investment
SXgood: community for nonprofits
Convergence: film promotion via community
Convergence: music fan community management

How to get involved

If you think you’d like to contribute to Community Management programming at SXSW 2017, get in touch as soon as possible. We are trying to reduce the risk of panel duplication, cover a wide range of topics, and put professionals together to share their expertise. Members of The Community Roundtable should email Amy Turner and independent Community professionals email Kate Baucherel.

Announcing TheCR Connect 2016 – The Workshop for Community Pros

May 10, 2016 By Jim Storer

By Hillary Boucher, Director of Networks at The Community Roundtable

I am beyond excited to get to share this news with you – we’ve set the date for our annual community workshop this Fall!! TheCR Connect 2016 will take place on October 26-27, 2016 (that’s right – TWO days!) at the Babson Executive Conference Center located just outside Boston.

I’ve been lucky enough to attend the first two Connect events we’ve held – and I have to say, the best part of my job is getting to work with and for amazing community people. And getting to hangout with them in person, hear their amazing stories and solve community challenges in real time? Winning!!

If you’ve attended a Connect in the past you should definitely join us this Fall – we’re planning even more awesome content – this time over a day and a half of interactive sessions, tactical roundtables and community case studies. We heard your feedback that even more connecting and networking time was needed so we’ve built that (and a great happy hour and dinner!) into the agenda.

If you haven’t attended TheCR Connect in the past I can’t encourage you enough to consider attending. I obviously love online community building – but there really is something special about getting together with a room full of people that get the challenges you face, that have solved problems just like the ones you deal with and that can benefit from your expertise as well.

I can honestly say I’ve walked away from each previous event energized and excited – and came back to our community with new ideas and strategies that have made me a better community manager for you. That doesn’t even take into account the fact that getting to know you in person is the icing on the cake!

You can learn more about TheCR Connect here – or if you’re ready to register you can sign up here.

Event Report – BIF10: Love as a Platform

September 23, 2014 By Jim Storer

By Rachel Happe, Co-Founder of The Community Roundtable.

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.

I wasn’t sure what to expect – seeing the focus on storytelling did not really capture what I heard about it. What I found was that for me BIF is a conference about using love as a platform and springboard for potential. You might think this is a strange statement coming from me – I am analytical, use the language of business, can be a bit remote and introverted and am not particularly compassionate. I always thought of love as this vague, indefinable thing. BIF helped me to see that love is the actions of seeing, encouraging and supporting the potential of others.

Love was demonstrated by everyone we heard from –

David Bolinsky, a medical illustrator who happened to sit next to an extraordinary young woman in China and instead of moving on, reaching out and investing time to help her thrive.
Matthew T. Fritz, a career military leader who instead of telling Afghans everything the U.S. knows about building an air force, stopped to ask them what they needed and wanted first – and built up from there.
Cheryl Dahle, a person who felt broken by abuse, giving herself the permission to ask for and look for what she needed – and then moving on to use that pain to drive her work – understanding that complex environmental issues are not lost causes.
Angela Blanchard, a visionary entrepreneur who has spent her life revealing the value of people and communities by listening, appreciating and showing them their own potential – and in so doing, enabling them to thrive.

Some of the insights these stories revealed to me are this:

One person is not enough. The stories suggest that individuals don’t understand or appreciate what makes them exceptional until someone else really sees their unique value and its significance – and spends the time to encourage that in them.
Love is an action. It’s the cup of coffee my husband brings me every morning. The attention you pay to someone when they speak. The introductions you make that are relevant to both people because you took the time to understand what each needs and values. The lunch you make for your kids every day. Love is, in fact, not ambiguous or abstract – it is quite tangible.
The best solutions are built on love. This is a weird and odd concept to a lot of organizations, which speak the language of efficiency, productivity and revenue…. but the reality is that those all flow from people who feel secure enough – because they have love and support – to risk pushing further. You want engaged employees? You must figure out how to create a platform of love and support for each employee. You don’t have to call it love but you do need to figure out how to make them feel significant, secure and valued for their uniqueness.
Being challenged can be an expression of love. Those who challenge us push us to do better and be better are often the trigger for action. Challenge may come from the parent who remains unimpressed, the boss who asks the deeper question or the colleague who presents us with an alternative perspective.
It’s up to you to be seen. No one can help you if you do not want to be helped. You have to first be vulnerable and open, in some way, so that others can really see you. Tell your story, write about what you think or share your fears with your friends. Without this first step you cannot find the people that will help show you your own potential.

It was an amazing treat to participate and as much as Saul Kaplan doesn’t seem to want thanks – he has created the conditions for these amazing people to tell their stories and has curated an audience that can hear and appreciate what they have to share. In my parlance he is a master community builder – as is the team that he has assembled. I didn’t get the opportunity to meet him but want to thank him, Renee Hopkins and the rest of the BIF team for creating a community dedicated to exploring and solving problems that matter.

3 Best Practices When Budgeting for Community and Social Programs

September 9, 2014 By Jim Storer

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

2015 may seem far away, but for many organizations Fall is when major planning and budgeting initiatives kick off. For many community and social teams their budget may cover everything from technology licensing, training and staff costs to paid social media advertising, personal branding in order to remain distinct from a larger parent company or consulting services. While every community’s budget is different we’ve identified three best practices to help you plan for the upcoming year.

Apply Sound Justification Principles When Budgeting for Resources

One of the most important feedback channels in any community program is the one between the community team and the executive team. It is important to continually share wins with your executive team – no matter how small the win! Most executive teams want solid statistics – it’s always a good idea to monitor agreed upon strategic metrics and tie them back to revenue. From there you can estimate how much your team could potentially generate in revenue with added content and programming. Of course, every company will be different but consistently setting metrics goals and presenting your results to your executive team sets the stage for future growth.

Budget for In-Person Events

The State of Community Management 2014 research showed that communities that host offline events have a lurker rate at 56%, and communities that host regular online events have a lurker rate of 57%. While the majority of your community programs will take place online, incorporating offline events that are linked to community initiatives can be very powerful. If there is a company initiative that needs to be celebrated or promoted, try to tie-in a community-focused event while your members are already gathered together. Don’t forget to invite your executive team or community sponsors to the event: executive modeling is a powerful community-building tool.

Consider Budgeting for Consulting or Advisory Programs

If you’re just getting started in community, or are undertaking a significant new initiative consider bringing in a consultant or advisory team to cover the basics and ensure that your team is aware of best practices that they should be performing on a regular basis. If your team is bogged down with keeping up with the day-to-day activities and not taking the time to think about longer-term projects and where they should be focusing their efforts to be most effective strategically an outside perspective can provide valuable insights and actionable plans.

Have you started planning your 2015 budget? What best practices do you recommend to get the most out of your budgeting?

Note for TheCR Network Members:

Interested in attending this annual call? We’ll announce the date for the 2015 Budgeting & Planning call soon. Looking for additional resources? Check out these reports inside the Network:

Not a member? Want access to the complete archives inside TheCR Network – including resource bundles, case studies and roundtable reports from over 200 events? Join TheCR Network now!

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Looking to take your career in community management to the next level? 92% of members agree that TheCR Network supports and advances their personal and professional goals. Learn how our research, access to peers and experts, targeted content and exclusive concierge service can help you achieve your goals.

TheCR on the Road: Sitrion Collective and Lithium LiNC

May 12, 2014 By Jim Storer

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

Today Rachel and I are heading to Orlando for Collective 2014, and next week Jim, Hillary and Jillian will trek to the West Coast and visit San Francisco for Lithium’s LiNC. It’s exciting to get some of our team out on the road to meet with members, connect with other community professionals and learn about how community is advancing.

I’m thrilled to be attending Collective – and not just to get back into the land of mouse ears and alligators! There are a lot of interesting sessions, including Tuesday’s keynote: Creating Cultures that Work. Jamie Notter and Maddie Grant, authors of Humanize, are presenting this session focused on better understanding how today’s pressures are demanding important changes in the way we lead and manage our associations – I can’t wait to listen in. There is also a hackathon! While I won’t personally be hacking anything I think the idea of connecting customers with product developers this way is very innovative. I’m excited to see what they come up with.

Rachel is presenting Wednesday’s keynote ” The Networked Organization – Organizing for Complexity and Emergence. She’ll dive into the very concept of an organization, and how it’s changing rapidly as trends like the collaborative economy start challenging more traditional ideas of a organization’s role in creating value.

I’ve never attended LiNC so I asked our resident Lithium expert, Jillian Bejtlich. She was nice enough to answer a few interview-style questions for me.

Jillian, what makes LiNC different than the typical customer conference?

Screen shot 2014-04-09 at 9.23.04 AM

LiNC is a unique conference in that there is truly something for everyone. You can be a brand new community manager, executive, or super techie – and still walk away with knowledge you can use immediately. And besides – the energy at LiNC is out of this world and seriously contagious.

That sounds great. So, what are you looking forward to most?

I love attending LiNC because it’s truly focused on communities that either use Lithium or are considering it. Everyone that attends is able to share and collaborate, so it’s a Lithium techie’s dream.

Are there any can’t miss sessions or events you’d recommend?

The sessions are broken up into some pretty specific tracks, and as usual – I’m torn on what to attend. It’s all going to be great, but I’m leaning towards the developer track which is promising some hands-on sessions. Other than that, be sure to attend the keynotes. They’re always mind blowing.

Well there you have it! Are you attending Collective 2014 or LiNC? Please let us know if you’re in town for either – we’d love to meet you.

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Did you know that TheCR Network members work with all kinds of communities? In fact, about 25% work in either internal or external communities and 50% work with both! No matter what kind of community you work with membership in TheCR Network will save you time and improve the quality of your work by connecting you with peers, experts and curated information. Learn how joining TheCR Network can improve the work you do.

TheCR on the Road – The J.Boye Web & Intranet Conference

May 7, 2014 By Jim Storer

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

After an exciting April in Boston we’re hitting the road in May – visiting three cities in three weeks to connect with members and clients around the country. This week Rachel will attend the J. Boye Philadelphia 14 Web & Intranet Conference in Philadelphia, next week Rachel and Shannon will visit Orlando for Collective 2014 and the week after Jim, Hillary and Jillian will trek to the West Coast and visit San Francisco for Lithium’s LiNC.

Will you be attending any of these events? Let us know – we’d love to catch up in person! Each of these events is exciting in its own way and we wanted to give you an insider perspective on what we’re looking forward to most. I spoke with Rachel about the J.Boye event this week, which they describe as being:

“…born out of the desire to let people share and learn in an open environment; stimulating and inspiring events with presentations, demos, intense discussions and ample opportunity to expand your network in a social, informal campus-style atmosphere.”

From Rachel:

“My friend Claire (Flanagan) told me several years ago that the J. Boye conference was a don’t miss event and it’s definitely not your typical conference. The team at J.Boye are very intentional about creating participant collisions and orchestrating the attendee experience so each participant walks away energized and inspired. Everything from the sessions to the networking to use of the physical space the event takes place in is thoughtful and intentional.

I’m also looking forward to seeing a number of our members speak – it is probably the largest concentration of TheCR Network members speaking in one place. Jeff Ross from Humana is presenting a session titled “Building a 30,000-User Enterprise Social Network” which will be an inside look at building and maintaining a successful enterprise social network.

Another exciting member session will be a case study from Chris Catania at Walgreens on “Using community management strategies to drive social intranet adoption, collaboration and employee engagement.” Chris will share how his team is using community management strategies to roll out their new social intranet/employee community, The Wall.

I’m also looking forward to James LaCorte’s presentation on “Selling Social Media to the C-Suite” – he’ll share his tips and tricks to leading the executive horse to the water – and making it drink! Between these member-led sessions and great networking opportunities I know this is going to be a special week in Philadelphia.”

Rachel failed to mention that she’ll be presenting a session on collaboration and social enterprise – “A vision for the networked organization.” We can’t wait to her about her trip – if you’re going to be in Philadelphia for the J.Boye event please find Rachel and say hello!

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