thankful Archives

Giving Thanks for My Community – #thankitforward

November 29, 2016 By Jim Storer

This year we’re celebrating our fourth year of the #thankitforward tradition. You can read more about it here if you aren’t familiar with the practice – but basically we want to encourage everyone to take a moment to specifically thank people in their lives who have made a positive difference.

I’m happy to share my list with you – and grateful that it was so easy for me to pick out people in my community that have helped me this year!

1. Amy Turner

Late last year Amy joined our team – and now, less than 12 months later I’m trying to figure out how we can clone her. I’m watching WestWorld – we can’t be that far off, right?! (I joke – WestWorld is a legit nightmare!) I digress – Amy was a godsend. I know I’m not the only person at TheCR who can’t imagine how we survived without her – it’s like the universe looked at the gaps in our skill set and sent us a perfectly organized, friendly, funny and kind co-worker.

Look, I know I’m gushing but Amy has made a huge positive impact on my year – and not just by being a great teammate, but by being a voice of reason, a confidante and a someone willing to laugh at my (admittedly) terrible jokes. Amy, I’m so thankful for you.

2. Hillary Boucher and Ted McEnroe

I’ve just returned from three months away from TheCR after the birth of my daughter. Stepping away is never easy for me, but this year it was especially tough since our big event (and one of my professional babies) TheCR Connect would take place right at the end of my leave. Which meant that about 90% of the planning, organizing and general cat-herding that goes with event planning would happen without me.

Luckily, I’m surrounded by exceptional team players. In swooped Ted McEnroe and Hillary Boucher – both who have more than full time roles to handle with the team. Together, with the help of the whole team they produced the best event we’ve had to date. It makes me (almost) worried for my day job! Seriously though – to know you are part of a team of real team players, who are happy and eager to step up when needed – even though it increases the burden and stress on themselves? I’m so lucky to be part of the TheCR Team.

3. Various Podcasts Guests

Look, I know I’m sort of cheating. I’ve already named three folks that helped to make my 2016 a good year. I’m going to really tear up the rulebook now and call out nine members of TheCR Network who took time out of their busy schedules to chat with us for our podcast series. Here’s a giant heartfelt thank you to J.J. Lovett, Tracy Maurer, Marjorie Anderson, Shirlin Hsu, Renee Vogt, Tamera Rousseau-Vesta, Kirsten Laaspere, Aaron Buchsbaum and Maximilian Ebnother! It has been a pleasure to talk with each of these community professionals about their work and their journeys.

So there you have it – my list of three (ok, fine, 12!) people in my community that contributed to my 2016 in a positive way. And now, it’s your turn. Blog about it, tweet about it, or just drop by someone’s desk and say, “Thanks! You’re pretty great!” I can confidently say that right now just about everyone can use a little extra kindness.

And finally – one more thank you. I’m so grateful for our wider community community. Thank you for reading, for engaging with us and for sharing your stories and your voice.

#ThankItForward 2016

November 21, 2016 By Jim Storer

For the fourth year we’re celebrating the idea of #thankitforward – thanking the people in your life (personally and professionally) who have made a difference in your year by letting them know. And today it seems like this small act of gratitude and kindness will go an especially long way in these last few weeks of a turbulent year.

In the spirit of reflection and gratitude we encourage you to look back at 2016 and identify three (or more!) people who made a difference in your work and life this past year and send them a thank you via email, snail mail, or Twitter, (or whatever medium works best for you.)

Think about:

Who inspired you? Brought on a “aha moment”?
Who was unwavering in their support of your work?
Which executive made a difference with their sponsorship or participation?
Which community member or advocate showed up in a big way?
Who covered you so you could unplug for a vacation — whether a day or a week?
Who talked you through a tough situation?
Whose blog posts or Twitter handle kept you well informed? Or laughing!

You get the idea! We’d love if you tag any social thanks #thankitforward so we can see the gratitude spread. Of course – some thanks yous are private and we 100% encourage those as well. Our goal is to inspire reflection on your journey this past year, and help identify those that helped make it possible.

So tell us. Who will you be thanking it forward to this year?

On Considering Community and Being Thankful – #thankitforward

December 1, 2015 By Jim Storer

By Ted McEnroe, Head of Research at The Community Roundtable

This November, I celebrate the end of my first full year with The Community Roundtable. Last year at this
time, I was thankful for all the support of my colleagues and the members of TheCR Network. (I still am.) But as with any other new role, for the first few months you barely see your surroundings because you’re focused on what you are doing and how you are fitting in.

A year later, I can look around and see a more expansive view. Without further ado, my #thankitforward musings for 2015…

I’m still thankful for TheCR team – Rachel, Jim, Hillary, Shannon, Jillian and Georgina – whose hard work is eclipsed only by the fact they are good, fun people, too. We are a mix of ages, experiences, and interests, yet it just works.

I’m thankful for the members of TheCR Network, too. Last year at this time, I was writing about their experiences for The Community Manager Handbook – which was a great chance to meet and talk with our roster of smart, savvy community professionals, and over the past year I’ve valued the opportunities to really listen to and work with more of our members and see the power of a real network in action. They’re worth every penny of the investment, to the point where I have actually continued my memberships in my nonprofit networks even though I have left that industry.

The Community Careers and Compensation survey noted about 60% of you are part of professional membership networks. The other 40% of you are missing out.

I’m thankful for the 500+ community professionals who shared the details of their communities and/or their own careers with us for our two major research projects this year – The State of Community Management and The Community Careers and Compensation report. Together, we are able to shed light on the power and promise of communities. Sharing can be a little scary – and in some communities, sadly, anonymity is seen as the only way to guarantee physical safety – but sharing is a critical part of learning and advancing the field, so thanks.

I’m thankful for the members and others who write, podcast and talk and work out loud regularly about community. You fill my ears with wisdom – and I hope somehow I reciprocate.

And lastly, I’m thankful for the ability to see the world through a community lens. It means seeing more clearly the connective tissue that binds us together in our jobs, our hometowns, our families, and schools. My daughter has started kindergarten this year at a school that is making a conscious investment in building a learning community – a place where older students mentor younger students, and where both the unique backgrounds students bring into the school and the skills they develop at school are highlighted in equal measure. Contributions to the school community are expected – and so is academic rigor and success. Too often, we present collaboration and excellence as incongruous – if you want it done right, do it yourself, they say. Through a community lens, collaboration and excellence come into sharp, united focus.

When you start to appreciate the impact of connections, and the value of meeting others who see the potential of networks and communities, it opens up a world of possibilities. I hope to tap into those in the coming year.

May you have a safe and joyous beginning to your holiday season. Cheers, and thanks.

#thankitforward – Present, past and forever

December 11, 2014 By Ted McEnroe

By Ted McEnroe, The Community Roundtable.

New jobs bring with them some adjustments – to new roles, new responsibilities and new cultures. One of the many parts of the culture at The Community Roundtable I value greatly is the understanding that people are the heart and soul of everything we do. So when it came time for me to consider taking a part in a new (for me) tradition – thanking it forward (#thankitforward), I didn’t hesitate. Well, except for the part where I had to narrow it down to three people. I went with three groups, instead.

Thanks, friends.

Current colleagues: Thanks to my new colleagues – I’m fortunate to be married to one of them (more on her later) but for the rest of the team – Jillian, Shannon, Hillary, Maggie and Jim, I am a newbie, a rookie, and they have welcomed me with open arms and support. Thanks for your patience, your guidance, and for being a stunningly smart group of coworkers.

And thanks to the members of TheCR – whom I have always known from an outside perspective but now have gotten to engage on a more direct level. Rachel likes to talk about superpowers, and you each have them and in greater quantities than you realize. I’ve been working on a project for release at CMAD – and have already learned so much by listening that the biggest fear I have is that I can’t capture those learnings in the time and space allotted.

Past colleagues: I came to TheCR this fall from a different type of community environment – the staff of the Boston Foundation, one of the nation’s oldest and largest community foundations. To them, thanks for all the hard work you do on a daily basis to support groups across the city and region who are working to create a better Boston. If you don’t know your local community foundation – you should. They are remarkable, complex entities with the overarching purpose of supporting good causes. There is a lot business communities could learn from nonprofit communities – and vice versa.

Forever colleagues: As some things come and go, there are those that stay – I hinted at thanking Rachel Happe above, but my appreciation for her reaches far beyond TheCR. People ask how we could possibly work together, and the answer is because we know going in that no matter how contentious or challenging the work can be, we both know it’s an important but ultimately small part of our world. And if we forget – there is a 4-year-old with a head full of curls, a heart made of gold and a body full of attitude to remind us.

It feels good to say thanks – and it feels good to be thanked. That’s not just in your head – a Harvard study showed as much. Take a little time to #thankitforward. There are few phrases as powerful in any relationship – or community – as a simple “Thank you.”