Amber (Naslund) openly states that if you have to convince your company or boss that they need one, maybe they're not ready for that step? - Sonny Gill

I don't think I'd want to try. Your work would be miserable: constant justification and fighting for your position. Hang on though, isn't that normal life as an employee? - Martin Reed

I tell them the story about how they didnt know they needed a webmaster either - (think 1999) and this is exactly the same issue. Like designing a garden and not hiring a gardner - Mark Sylvester

Community Management and having such a role is as much a cultural acceptance, as is Social Media within a business. - Sonny Gill

I agree with Amber - the company has to have a social type of culture. They may not be ready for it yet. - Daniel Johnson, Jr.

Interesting. Part of the SM hesitation seems to be that companies don't think there's much chatter out there about their brands. Would showing them unanswered chatter contribute? - Chuck Hemann

Ask your boss if he's ever seen a bar without a bartender (and often a bouncer). - Jon Lebkowsky

I agree w/ you, Sonny. There has to be an established culture where execs want to create community. Too much convincing means community might not be the right fit at the moment. Natural progression. - Teresa Basich

Chuck: I think it's important to start with a listening platform, which is a yes answer. - Jon Lebkowsky

Does a community have to be online already? Can a community exist otherwise? (Thinking out loud here.) - Daniel Johnson, Jr.

But in thinking about Amber's argument ... if that were the case, it would only ever be the "boss" who decided that a community was needed. - Bryan Person

Note that social media != community. - Jon Lebkowsky

A good compilation of what is going on in the community, what is being said, opinions -- that should help prove the point. - Star Aasved

Some cultures may be too rigid to change, but others *can* change with the right kind of champions moving things forward. - Bryan Person

To Star's point, I think if it were obvious that others were talking about the business elsewhere in SM (blogs, twitter, FBook, etc.), then a strong case could be made for a community manager. - Daniel Johnson, Jr.

We are in a massive educational inflection point in the industry - as a vendor, and you as CM's - working together we have to teach decision makers - Mark Sylvester

@Martin has a great point about the job being miserable. But if it's an organization you love and you've got some influence, go for it. - Angela

Thing I worry about is the title itself. it often requires quite a bit of explanation. Your opinion on what it is you should be doing may be different than your boss - Chuck Hemann

Mark, often as we are learning ourselves! - Star Aasved

By proving the shift in marketing and PR, with regular people gaining power thanks to blogs and other social media (a set of case studies) - Lilian Mahoukou

New Media Cincinnati was founded because there was an interest in podcasters, twitterers, etc., to meet together. Online cmty was a natural outgrowth of it. - Daniel Johnson, Jr.

Star - we are all learning at the same time - that's part of the intense thrill of it all - learning and inventing go hand in hand. - Mark Sylvester

Lou said, in response to another question: I've built "listening dashboards" that aggregated conversations from blogs, social networks, etc and used these to report on brand mentions, what competitors are saying, trends and "bullets". Very effective tool, I need to put together a slideshare on how to do this. - Lou Ordorica - Star Aasved

Great comment, Sonny, on cultural acceptance. - Bill Free

I'd like to learn how you've done that, Lou! It would be of benefit in selling community management. - Star Aasved

We are really dealing with different dynamics when discussing monitoring all the space vs. building a specific branded community. I am noticing that each week and the more I talk to CM's. . - Angela

@Lou: I second Star's remark. Would love to see that Slideshare once you get it up. - Bryan Person

Then, does every company needs a CM ? "Cultural acceptance" is a starting point. Then, understanding/saying is one thing, acting "social" is more important. - Lilian Mahoukou

In re to what Lou said, a social media dashboard is essential for a community manager. I've been using something I created in Netvibes for over a year. - Daniel Johnson, Jr.

@Lilian - every company doesn't need a CM. Heck, every company doesn't need to be utilizing social media. It isn't a one size fits all or a role that can just be thrown in the mix because it's what's hot. - Sonny Gill

Amen to that Sonny. - Angela

Every company that has a community also has a community manager - they just may not have that title - but they have the responsibility. It is important to raise the importance, so they have the title and the recognition of the importance of community to the organization. This is an organizational shift that is just starting to happen - Mark Sylvester

Star Asved, Bryan -- OK guys, that's the motivation I needed. I will get going on how to build a listening dashboard slideshare over the weekend. - Lou Ordorica

Interesting comment on dynamics, Angela. Does monitoring your space in and of itself justify a community strategy? - Bill Free

@Lou: Glad we convinced you! Please e-mail me at bperson - AT - LiveWorld - DOT - com if you'd like to discuss this some more. - Bryan Person

@Lou - Great! I'd love to see that; if you get a chance, please drop me a line when it's up! - Martin Reed

@Lou Terrific, Lou! Hope to hear from you on this. Good stuff. - Star Aasved

@Lou you're the man. We all want to see this now. :) - Daniel Johnson, Jr.

Agree, Mark, and I'd add that every company has communities, whether they see/define them that way or not. A question is whether your strategy supports "managing" them. Another is whether SM provides the right tools to engage w/them. - Bill Free

We all need to ask ourselves: Is objective to engage or is it influence & encourage ppl to do something more inspiring than they've done before? #cmtychat - Marcia Conner