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The Community Roundtable

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

TheCR Network Sneak Peek: March 2016

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By Hillary Boucher, Community Manager at The Community Roundtable

TheCR Network logoMarch madness took hold of us this month – and I don’t just mean a quasi-competitive team bracket challenge happening over here! Big things happened in TheCR Network this March – and I’m excited to give you another peek behind the membership curtain.

Check what’s been going on inside TheCR Network this past month:

  • Internal Community Fundamentals Kick Off (Training): I was beyond thrilled to kick off an all-new perk for our members – guided community management training – free as part of their membership! We launched our inaugural course “Internal Community Fundamentals” as a six week virtual group training for members of TheCR Network. Participants will progress through a module based training with peers in a facilitated private group inside TheCR Network. We are so excited to see the engagement and excitement already happening in the first week!

  • Show and Tell! Engagement Drivers: Down & Dirty Case Studies (Roundtable Call): One of our most lively discussions this month centered around the idea of programming for engagement. We love hearing from our members what awesome ideas they have implemented – and how they got the engagement they were looking for. This was an awesome call where members from some impressive organizations shared their community successes, while at the same time getting great ideas from their peers.

power and perils of integration badge

  • The Technology of Community: The Power & Perils of Integrations (Roundtable Call): I like big brains and I cannot lie. One of the biggest perks about my job is that I get to work with some of the community industry’s most interesting people, and this month was no exception. The always amazing Maria Ogneva joined me this month to host a Roundtable call focused onto discuss community platforms in the context of the company’s technology stack. We had a fantastic conversation and it’s always such a treat to put members front and center.

Screen Shot 2016-03-25 at 1.20.24 PMThose are my big highlights for the month, but I’m going to cheat and add in one more member activity that took place outside the Network. I traveled to Las Vegas, along with several other members of TheCR Team for Jiveworld 2016. While Vegas is always an experience this was a special trip.

We had over 25 members in attendance, and got to connect with them in sessions, at out booth, over lunch, dinner and maybe even a few cocktails. I am a strong believer in the power of online communities, but it is always nice to get out and meet members face to face every now and then.

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Want to access our exclusive community programming for the benefit of your community work? Looking for community peers to share with and learn form? Reach out and ask us about membership in TheCR Network

 

What Star Wars Can Teach Us about Community Management

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Mythology, reality and storytelling are fitting aspects of community management. Every human being has their own preconceived myths that exist as a result of their individual life experiences. That is why a group of people can have a conversation and each come away from that conversation having interpreted a different meaning. Is it any wonder that communication is on the top of an organization’s general problem list, not to mention the problems that it can cause within a community?

One solution to help breakdown this communication barrier is to give people something to which they can attribute an emotion or a visual. Storytelling and analogies are terrific tools to help an individual identify and connect to the conveyed message.

We asked members of TheCR Network to share their favorite theme or character from Star Wars and create an analogy with community management. (Keep in mind this discussion took place before The Force Awakens – so no mentions of BB-8’s warmth and empathy or Rey’s strength and determination!)

Check out a few of our favorites:

  • “Yoda is like the authentic leadership group within his organization. Like him, I try to get others to recognize they “have the power within” by teaching positive talk, that they can only change what they do, not necessarily their environment or the things around them.”
  • “R2D2 is a great example of a community manager, always listening, seldom talking, but fixing things all the time and critical to the health of the dialogue.”
  • “C-3PO is a great representation of the skeptic in your company that thinks social is a waste of time, always questioning you, suggesting that you go back to doing it the old way.”
  • “Always have a few Jedi mind tricks on hand to get things moving.”
  • “You are not alone Luke. There is another.” (Think co-leadership roles for community management)
  • “Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi. You’re my only hope”. (Do you often feel people are always asking for your help?)
  • “Luke, I am your father”. (The power of the background you do not know or recognize. Evil lurkers may not reveal themselves or the evil within us.)

How do you create your own collective myth within a community?Star Wars Community

Since communities are built with a specific purpose, there is already a certain context within which they operate. In other words, the myth already exists, regardless of the evolution of the community. The first step is to look at where the gaps exist by reading what is being said in the community versus what people say the organization/community does and it is not experiencing. The power of the myth is that you can, without being overbearing, raise an issue for discussion in a calm and professional manner because you are not attacking anyone directly. By making that mythology stronger, the community then becomes stronger around it because there is a highly articulated shared vision.

How do you use storytelling and mythology in your community? Any other favorite movies/stories come to mind when thinking of your role? Tweet your ideas to us and start the conversation! 

Want even MORE Star Wars related community management ideas? Check out Rachel Happe’s presentation: Yoda’s Lessons For Social Business Professionals

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join thecr networkDid you just realize you have no place to chat about how Star Wars relates to Community Management? Join TheCR Network and meet community nerds, err, pros – just like yourself! And membership gets you access to exclusive community research, tools, content and resources.

Best Practices for Training a New Community Manager

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Best Practices for Training a new community manager

Intrigued by TheCR Network, but want to learn more about what membership entails before joining?

Watch Hillary Boucher share a special look inside TheCR Network.  In March Hillary shared a look at the research, programming and professional development available exclusively to Network members and highlighted best practices for a training a new community manager. It’s a must-see for any community professionals that are tasked with on-boarding, training and managing new community managers.

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Aaron Buchsbaum on the Rise of the Digital Onbudsman

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community managers podcast - Aaron BuchsbaumWelcome to the latest episode in our community management podcast series, “Conversations with Community Managers” featuring Aaron Buchsbaum, Community Manager at The World Bank.

Join TheCR’s founder and principal, Jim Storer and director of marketing, Shannon Abram as they chat with community managers from a variety of industries about a variety of community topics, including:

  1. What’s your best advice for someone just starting out in Community Management?
  2. What are your best practices for increasing community engagement?
  3. How can you survive the zombie apocalypse? (Ok – they might not ALL be community questions…)

Episode #39 features Aaron Buchsbaum, Community Manager at The World Bank. Join us as we chat about how to prioritize a packed to-do list, his perspective on the rise of the community manager as a digital ombudsman, and how to engage with reluctant community members.

Check out the podcast featuring Aaron Buchsbaum here: 

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Spotify | RSS

Did you know you can subscribe to “Conversations with Community Managers” iTunes? You can!

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Interested in joining Aaron Buchsbaum as a member of TheCR Network?

Community management is an emerging field. Most of your colleagues likely don’t understand the challenges you face – whether you run an internal or external community.

Being a member of TheCR Network gives you access to the support, information, case studies, research and experts that make you smart and – more importantly – confident in your approach and recommendations. That translates into more support for you and your community program.

TheCR Network gives you 24/7 access to resources and community professionals around the world that have faced the same issues you are addressing – and who will help you find solutions.

TheCR Network helps you scale.

TheCR Network is a powerful network of over 250 community executives from industry-leading brands. We are proud of the company we keep and it represents innovative organizations that have a strategic commitment to community approaches.

By working together, TheCR network members scale themselves, extend their impact, and grow their community programs.

Join the leading community for community professionalsScreen Shot 2015-10-26 at 4.02.27 PM

Ready to join TheCR Network? Sign up for individual and team memberships here.

Interested in an Enterprise Membership? Contact us.

About Conversations with Community Managers*
To better reflect the diverse conversations our podcast covers we’ve changed the name of our long-running series to Community Conversations.
Community Conversations highlights short conversations with some of the smartest minds in the online community and social business space, exploring what they’re working on, why they do what they do, and what advice they have for you.
These episodes are a great way to begin to understand the nuances of community strategy and management.
Each episode is short (usually less than 30 minutes) and focuses on one community management professional.

Announcing New Community Management Training for Members

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By Hillary Boucher, Director of Networks at The Community Roundtable

I’m excited to announce that our already amazing membership in TheCR Network now gets you MORE! Our Community Fundamentals Training is now available to all members as part of your membership package through our new guided community management training program.

Guided community management trainingStarting this spring we’ll be running the training in the network as a six week training series, alternating between Internal Community Fundamentals and External Community Fundamentals – join the Network now and sign up for a training class today!

The training for online community managers will be a social learning experience that takes place in a private group where participants will progress through the modules as group. We’ll provide prompts and light facilitation in the group forums and we’ll host a weekly office hours to help participants block time on their calendar to participate.

Participants will have access to:

– Six training modules
– Private discussion group
– Private Slack channel for open office hours & impromptu discussions and support

If you are interested the Internal Community Fundamentals runs March 21-April 29 and the External Community Fundamentals runs May 9-June 26.Join TheCR Network Button

Join TheCR Network today to have access to this new perk – a $495 value – free to members!

Already a member? 

guided community management training
guided community management training

Have questions? You can email me or comment below!

Best Practices for Online Community Platform Migration

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Intrigued by TheCR Network, but want to learn more about what membership entails before joining?

Watch Hillary Boucher share a special look inside TheCR Network.  In January Hillary shared a look at the research, programming and professional development available exclusively to Network members and highlighted best practices for a community platform migration. It’s a must-see for any community professionals about to undertake a platform change.

This content has moved inside The Network.

Maximilian Ebnother on Managing Cultural Differences

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Welcome to the latest episode in our community podcast series, “Conversations with Community Managers.”

Join TheCR’s Jim Storer and Shannon Abram as they chat with community managers from a variety of industries about

  1. What’s your best advice for someone just starting out in Community Management?
  2. What are your best practices for increasing community engagement?Screen Shot 2016-02-01 at 3.52.15 PM
  3. How can you survive the zombie apocalypse? (Ok – they might not ALL be community questions…)

Episode #38 features Maximilian Ebnother, Enterprise Community Manager at a global technology company. Join us as we chat about the impact of executive engagement, best practices for managing cultural differences worldwide, and how Max got the nickname “The Connector”!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Spotify | RSS

available on itunes

 About Conversations with Community Managers*
To better reflect the diverse conversations our podcast covers we’ve changed the name of our long-running series to Community Conversations.
Community Conversations highlights short conversations with some of the smartest minds in the online community and social business space, exploring what they’re working on, why they do what they do, and what advice they have for you.
These episodes are a great way to begin to understand the nuances of community strategy and management.
Each episode is short (usually less than 30 minutes) and focuses on one community management professional.

Hillary Boucher on the Intricacies of Platform Migration

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Welcome to the latest episode in our community podcast series, “Conversations with Community Managers.”

Join TheCR’s Jim Storer and Shannon Abram as they chat with community managers from a variety of industries about

  1. What’s your best advice for someone just starting out in Community Management?Hillary Boucher, TheCR Network
  2. What are your best practices for increasing community engagement?
  3. How can you survive the zombie apocalypse? (Ok – they might not ALL be community questions…)

Episode #37 features Hillary Boucher, Director of Networks at The Community Roundtable. Join us as we chat about the intricacies of a platform migration, mentoring a community manager, and how to evolve your community superpower.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Spotify | RSS

About Conversations with Community Managers*
To better reflect the diverse conversations our podcast covers we’ve changed the name of our long-running series to Community Conversations.
Community Conversations highlights short conversations with some of the smartest minds in the online community and social business space, exploring what they’re working on, why they do what they do, and what advice they have for you.
These episodes are a great way to begin to understand the nuances of community strategy and management.
Each episode is short (usually less than 30 minutes) and focuses on one community management professional.

Digging in to 2016 at TheCR

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2016 Community Management ResolutionsBy Rachel Happe, The Community Roundtable.

Wow. 2016. A fresh Moleskine for me and a blank canvas for all of us.

While I am not big on resolutions I do use the new year as an opportunity to take stock of the previous year and declare my intentions for the new year. In particular this year, I am thinking a lot about routines and how to ensure that how I spend my days aligns with the things I value. I’ve made a lot of progress on this in past years so this year it’s working to incorporate a few last pieces of the puzzle and create more stability in the routines that work, now that my daughter is in elementary school and her routines are more predictable.

The Community Roundtable is in a similar place – over the past six years we have developed a set of services and offerings that help our clients grow professionally and scale in way that works for their organizations – critical to an emerging space where budgets need to be justified and different organizations adopt new approaches in different ways.

Looking back at last year, TheCR team accomplished some amazing things:

Our portfolio now serves a range of roles with a variety of research, training and advisory solutions

TheCR Product Portfolio

More importantly, our biggest measure of success – the growth and success of clients’ programs – is telling us we are on to something. As in my personal life, we are poised to take what we’ve learned and make those services more routine – and scaling them to serve more clients.

I am fired up about 2016.

For TheCR, that will mean:

  • More listening to understand how we can help our clients where they need it most
  • More collaboration with partners to deliver unique services to different industry verticals and to support more specific community use cases
  • Larger client projects to help deliver comprehensive solutions that deliver community management maturity efficiently
  • Extending our solutions to more of the individuals involved in community programs

For the market, I think 2016 will bring the following, based on both our research and client work:

  • Bigger budgets – and with them more scrutiny of strategic metrics & objectives
  • Expansion and integration of community conversations into more business processes – this is happening already but typically in very specific areas
  • Some large organizations will begin to train all managers and leaders on the principals of community engagement and management
  • More research and experiments in applying community management in specific industries
  • Growing demand for training – but not necessarily traditional training

Most of these trends are not new but rather a deepening of impact within organizations. What is new, is the investment we are seeing from industry groups, foundations, and B2B service organizations in applying community approaches in their domains. For me, that is a big marker of progress and impact – we have moved beyond both the hype and the following ambivalence and are now seeing a commitment to execute.

Time to roll up our sleeves.

Here’s to a productive and engaged 2016!

TheCR Network Infographic 2015

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By Shannon Abram, The Community Roundtable

With just a few days left in 2015 we wanted to share a look at the great year we had inside TheCR Network. I hope you’re enjoying the end of the year and we are excited to share even more community management resources in 2016!! Now onto TheCR Network infographic:

TheCR Network - Year End Infographic

 

Investing in professional development like TheCR Network is a powerful way to strengthen your community management skills. Make an investment in your community and your career with our community resource bundle – available for a limited time.

You’ll save 30% on full membership in TheCR Network, a community planning toolkit and get access the online community training class of your choice in TheCR Academy. A $2,299 value just $1,495 for a limited time. Use code “2015BUNDLE” at checkout to redeem this special offer.

Purchase the Resource Bundle