By Shannon DiGregorio, Relationship Manager at The Community Roundtable.

Happy Community Manager Appreciation Day! We’re excitedly following along with all the #CMAD activities today.

In TheCR Network we’re always surprised with how different our members are – in wonderful ways. It seems like no two community managers have taken the same path on their journey and their varied backgrounds make for a fascinating set of members. The greatest benefit of such a diverse group is how broad and deep their knowledge bases are. We have ex-lawyers, former journalists and even an librarian! We’ve decided to honor our members through a new 2014 initiative called The Faces of Community Management and we thought unveiling the project on #CMAD was a perfect opportunity to share our love and appreciation.

Every few weeks we’ll profile one of our members and really shine the spotlight on their place in the community world. We can’t wait to share some of our amazing members with you! Without further ado, the very first Face of Community Management is James LaCourte, Online Strategist and Community Manager at Blue Cross Blue Shield North Carolina. He blogs at The Gaspar and you can find him on LinkedIn.

Download James’ profile here: FacesCM_James.

We are also delighted to share a guest blog post from James today! You can read it below or check it out here.

5 ways your community can be more engaging and still keep your sanity!

Community Manager Appreciation Day is here again but I don’t think most people outside the social media realm even know about it. Community Managers are the unsung heroes working behind the scenes to nurture and grow the community. It’s a tough job that many underestimate the skills and time required.  In a single day you can go from feeling energized to worn down and lonely. But it’s worth it. That’s why whenever two Community Managers get together there’s an instant connection. They know what it takes and the rewards to be gained from such a role.

Here’s 5 ways you can help your community be more engaging and still keep your sanity!

1. Set the tone Define the purpose and set the stage by planting the seeds of discussion.

2. Make visitors feel at home Recruit and welcome new members. Give them a tour or better yet have another member mentor them.

3. Connect people and ideas

The key to any community is in the relationships among participants. Building relationships online takes time. A successful Community Manager can foster relationships by connecting ideas and members to each other.

4. Steering conversation

Sometimes conversations need a little help getting started. Other times conversations need to be steered in another direction or cooled down. Do it with confidence and creativity.

5. Shining the light on others

I think one of the most powerful tactics a Community Manager can remember is to find ways to empower and praise community members. Let them shine in the light, allow them to become advocates for the community and in the end the more advocates a community has the easier your job will be.

So from one Community Manager to another I wish you a wonderful day and know that what you do may not be understood by many, but you have a small group of peers who understand and are here to help. That’s the great thing about the Community Roundtable, it’s a support group for all of us crazy people who took on this role, many of us not knowing what we were getting into!

Enjoy your day!

———————————————————–

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