Daniel Johnson, Jr. - Likes

Q1: November 6, 2009 - We've seen the job search evolve greatly given new technologies and networks that we have access to today. How can communities help out CMs (and the like) get back on their feet?

November 6 - Comment - Like - Share

Daniel Johnson, Jr. liked this

I think a good place to start is for any CM to share details of jobs they see advertised with other CM's. - Sue

51 more comments

In my instance I've had an incredible outpouring of people in the local tech community get in touch with me for jobs/companies that they see me fitting with. - Tanya McGinnity

@Sue - to help spread the word of your interest, who ppl may know and connect you with? - Sonny Gill

Sue does an incredible job in sharing and spreading the word... Kudos - Tanya McGinnity

Create awareness. Talk to your community about other CMs you know in need. - Teresa Basich

@Tanya - definitely. I've experienced the same in my job search and it's amazing how much people WANT to help. - Sonny Gill

Also, reach out to people about what they're looking for. If you know someone is looking, talk specifics with them. Make connections. - Teresa Basich

@Tanya I agree Sue is amazing. I think it is all about sharing and networking - lizGreaux

@sonny yes. I see come across jobs in the weirdest of places and always try and forward the details along. Many of them have different titles so they are not always labeled as "Community Managers" - Sue

I was thinking a bit about how community members are the best references for community managers in many ways. - Tanya McGinnity

Thank you Tanya and Sue. I think we are in a tough job with little contact with other CM's. So we need to look out for each other and encourage each other. - Sue

CM's can't be everywhere, though I'm sure they'd like to be. Have to rely on the community to make them aware of opportunities out there for them. - Chuck Hemann

@Teresa - I'm glad you noted that, T. Many say 'yes I'll help', but only few get down to the nitty gritty and get to know the person and what they wan.t - Sonny Gill

@Chuck, so true. There are opportunities out there but it's hard to keep tabs. - Teresa Basich

Thinking more strategically - should these CM job seekers be open to accepting opportunities within their realm but not FT/paid? To continue their experience while searching for IT. - Sonny Gill

Being part of a Community/Social Media network of practioners is incredibly helpful. - Rachel Makool

Are there any job boards for our 'types'? - Tanya McGinnity

@Sonny, Most people want to help but don't know how. To figure out how to help, you have to ask questions and narrow options down. Creates more opportunities for connection. - Teresa Basich

re: your question Sonny...that probably depends largely on a person's professional experience. Lots of experience and folks are probably less likely to accept something like that. Lesser experienced folks, probably would. - Chuck Hemann

Great question, Sonny. I think you have to be really careful about those opportunities -- choose wisely, because often you can find your time being driven by volunteer, unpaid opps. - Teresa Basich

not unlike what happens with traditional PR students...many, especially now, are taking paid (and even unpaid) internships in order to keep gaining experience - Chuck Hemann

@Tanya. I believe Connie Bensen has got a job board now, and I try and post all the jobs I see on my discussion board. If no one minds here is the link: http://ocmforum.com/forum... - Sue

The problem is, if you've been out of work for an extended period of time, people will want to see your filling your time with various opportunities, not JUST job searching. - Teresa Basich

I'm seeing more Community & Social Media managers positions pop up but not many Director or VP roles. - Rachel Makool

Thank you, Sue! Great resource. - Teresa Basich

Teresa/Chuck - I hear ya. That's a scary part of what's going on in this job market that some people are somewhat 'forced' to take these other opps just to fill their resume, build their experience, but in a smaller role. - Sonny Gill

I'm seeing more community manager internships now too - Sue

Thanks for that link Sue! Very good. - Tanya McGinnity

@Sonny, that's been one of the hardest things for me, juggling projects to gain more experience while managing the search. Not an easy task. - Teresa Basich

@Sue - yes, CM/SM internships. Do you feel these companies are afraid to hire FT, not sure what it all means, or just don't give CMs enough credit for what they do within an org? - Sonny Gill

How does one manage an internship while still needing to find FT work? That's always been a show-stopper for me. - Daniel Johnson, Jr.

@sonny. I think they are afraid to commit to a full-time person. - Sue

@Teresa - totally with you there. I become hesitant at times to accept numerous projects, but know it'll benefit me - even if ti does cut into me searching for a FT role. - Sonny Gill

@Sonny @Teresa - I wouldn't necessarily see it as a "lesser" role (unless it's just flatly way below your skill level). I'd see it as an opp to continue building a skill set, but also an opp to make an impression on a future employer. - Chuck Hemann

Moreover, why would a company or brand trust their communication to an intern? - Daniel Johnson, Jr.

@Daniel - that's definitely tough to balance the two. You've got to make time for the latter for sure, but if the internship is taking up all your time, you may have to reevaluate what you're doing. - Sonny Gill

Not many remote jobs either, so it's hard to move lock, stock and barrel when you are not sure how committed the employer is to the CM role. - Sue

As a Canadian, there are much fewer CM roles so being able to telework would be ideal, but isn't the reality just yet. - Tanya McGinnity

I'm sort of kicking myself right now, because I didn't go for a part-time internship, because of the low wage and commitment required. Now that person has an in for a possible full-time gig in same organization. - Joe Kikta

@Sue - for those needing remote positions. Can job seekers 'sway' employers or educate them on how CM roles can be well managed remotely. - Sonny Gill

@Joe, I think that's what happens with quite a few internships -- it's like a trial run, you know? Don't kick yourself, just keep moving. - Teresa Basich

Many of you are really speaking to a few issues I have about the way CM is viewed - many are afraid of hiring Full Time, many pay low wages, view it as a support role rather than a strategy position. How do we break this kind of perception? - Tanya McGinnity

I'd be more likely to go for a contract position, but not an internship. - Daniel Johnson, Jr.

@Joe - That stinks but it's something we second guess sometimes being on the job search. The thing is - we sometimes ahve to get over our own egos and what we think we deserve, to instead grind it out and get to that goal of ours. Not saying you, specifically. But it's with internships, projects, etc. I've done the same. - Sonny Gill

I think its possible yes, but extremely difficult. You would really have to sell yourself. - Sue

Sometimes hard to think long-term strategic when the short-term view is not good. - Joe Kikta

There are definitely more contract or temp-to-hire positions available than FT positions. Fear of financial commitment to a fairly new role. - Teresa Basich

Hate to bring up the word, but monetization is key. Curious how many community managers work on that piece as well. Building your resume in that area might help with job search. - Karen Gutierrez

Q2 is up folks! - Sonny Gill

@Tanya, yes that is so true. I don't know the answer to that. I think it's a time thing. That as time goes on it the CM role will be viewed in a more prominent light. - Sue

@Joe - I definitely hear ya re: long-term vs. short-term. It's a battle with ourselves, let alone the job market itself. - Sonny Gill

Could it also be an accreditation issue. We don't necessarily get degrees or go to school to become a CM.. - Tanya McGinnity

@Tanya. I think that is a valid point. If you look at job descriptions the requirements each employer wants differs widely. Whilst mainstream jobs generally have a standard skill set they are looking for. CM role is still so new that its hard for employers to know what to ask for. - Sue

CmtyChat: Sonny Gill

WELCOME: November 6, 2009 - Welcome folks to this week's CmtyChat! Can't believe it's November already but it's a great time of year. Feel free to introduce yourself, what you do, and how we can help you.

November 6 - Comment - Like - Share

Daniel Johnson, Jr. liked this

Hi! I'm Tanya - a newly out of work community manager here in Canada so I'm sure this session is REALLY going to help me :) - Tanya McGinnity

14 more comments

Hey Tanya! We're actually using your suggestion from last week as a starting point, so thank you! - Sonny Gill

Sonny - I appreciate it! I was so busy applying for jobs that I forgot I suggested it! - Tanya McGinnity

Hi Sonny, hi Tanya, hi everyone :) - Sue

Hi Sue. - Tanya McGinnity

Hey Sure! How are ya? - Sonny Gill

We'll let the late ones sneak into the classroom ;) Let's kick things off with Q1 - Sonny Gill

Hi Everyone - lizGreaux

Hi Liz - Tanya McGinnity

Hi Liz - Sue

Hey Liz - thanks for joining us :) - Sonny Gill

Hi everyone! - Teresa Basich

Hi, I'm Chuck and addicted to social media. - Chuck Hemann

Joe here, back for some more learning. Looking for marketing gigs that ideally involve Social Media. - Joe Kikta

I'm Daniel Johnson, Jr., and I'm a Social Media Manager on the Loose in Cincinnati, Ohio. Currently participating in National Podcaster Post Month. - Daniel Johnson, Jr.

Hi, I'm Rachel, live in San Francisco, used to manage Community for eBay and am now consulting. - Rachel Makool

Ron Ploof

Clear disclosure in 140 characters - http://blog.holtz.com/index...

October 9 from Google Reader - Comment - Like - Share

Daniel Johnson, Jr. liked this

If anything, New Media adopters are innovative. - Ron Ploof

Albert Maruggi

From Food Stamps to Freedom - MORE Magazine - http://www.more.com/2009...

October 2 from StumbleUpon - Comment - Like - Share

Daniel Johnson, Jr. and Cathryn Hrudicka liked this

It's a hard life sometimes that makes the other times easy. A wonderful story from a good friend. - Albert Maruggi

If they can do it, so can we. - Daniel Johnson, Jr.

DaveDelaney.ME

The Best Time To Post To Your Facebook Fan Page - http://onehalfamazing.com/social-...

September 9 from Google Reader - Comment - Like - Share

Daniel Johnson, Jr. liked this

This surprised me. I expected numbers similar to email. Interesting. - DaveDelaney.ME

Kol Tregaskes to Kol's feed, Social Media, Social Media Club, Social Media Enthusiasts, Appetite

Anyone still using #StumbleUpon? What's your URL? I'm here: http://koltregaskes.stumbleupon.com/

August 2 - Comment - Like - Share

Irma Vermaat, Joshua Schnell, Andrew Leahey and 42 other people liked this

List your pages here: #whatsyoururl - Kol Tregaskes

56 more comments

I like SU much more than Digg or Delicious. http://flapic.stumbleupon.com/ - Flavio

+Flavio mine is http://ocurro.stumbleupon.com ... SU could be more - 'Like' robot (frɐnc)

http://ericloganvanman.stumbleupon.com/ <==== there it is :) - Eric Logan

Thanks guys. I would add you but because of SU's stupid restrictions (do they still have these!?) I cannot add any more people, tsch. :-( I'm remembering why I got put off SU. - Kol Tregaskes

haven't used it for quite a while, still ... http://imma.stumbleupon.com/ ... didn't really use it for more than channel surfing, though - immaterial

I don't use it as much as I used to, but here it is: http://sgreenblatt.stumbleupon.com/public... - Seth Greenblatt

http://myroblyte.stumbleupon.com but like others here i don't use it much these days - Nathan Rein

http://kmohr25.stumbleupon.com - do not use it much any longer. - Kevin Mohr

http://victorgodot.stumbleupon.com don't really use it anymore. And yes, it has stupid restrictions... - diego morelli

http://8nevski8.stumbleupon.com/ Haven't used mine in a while but do love it when I do - outofmyarse

http://enarceus.stumbleupon.com - Rohit

http://suezannecb.stumbleupon.com/ - SuezanneC Baskerville

http://kotsa.stumbleupon.com - Alexandre Gamela from twhirl

http://loopinator20.stumbleupon.com - Carlton Prest

http://lionelane.stumbleupon.com/ - Bryan R. Adams

Let's see if SU allows me to add people today. :-) - Kol Tregaskes

http://icetiger.stumbleupon.com/ - Kim

Thanks, Kim and everyone. :-) - Kol Tregaskes

http://mahendrap.stumbleupon.com - Mahendra (SkepticGeek)

I just friended you on StumbleUpon. http://kimberscott.stumbleupon.com/ - Kimber Scott

Never used it. - Michael Fidler from BuddyFeed

http://fberga.stumbleupon.com/ - Fernando Bergamaschi

k00pa.stumbleupon.com - k00pa

I have also got about 130k visitors to my site. http://pelikoira.net/random... Using this page http://www.pelikoira.net/stumble - k00pa

"Stumbleupon has been temporarily disabled, because you have used it too much." on that link, k00pa. - Kol Tregaskes

http://alpinefolk.stumbleupon.com/ I really like stumbleupon, but pretty sporadic - Alistair (alpinefolk)

http://jasonndotcom.stumbleupon.com/ Use it, primarily for su.pr. Kind of fun, useful. - Jason Nunnelley

I still use it, but not as often as I used to http://kateblogs.stumbleupon.com/ - Kate

Thanks, everyone. :-) - Kol Tregaskes

pretty much http://v666.stumbleupon.com/ - Dobromir Hadzhiev

I'd join up again, but I used it on firefox, I now use chrome.. so I would.. IF I knew it worked out ok.. seems it never works out..also had a few post stumbled and got hardly anything from it. - Rob Sellen :o)

http://woland783.stumbleupon.com/ Here i am! - Alessandro

http://burningfencepost.stumbleupon.com/ .....gah,make it stop... - Paul Greer

:-) - Kol Tregaskes

I'm still using Stumbleupon although not daily, I noticed that Facebook removed the service from profile Settings yesterday, when did that occur? - Joe Dawson

http://tsudohnimh.stumbleupon.com/ but I use it more for su.pr these days - Keith - @tsudo

every so often: http://jwoelker.stumbleupon.com - Jeff Woelker from twhirl

http://wordsforliving.stumbleupon.com/ - I definitely still use it! Are we adding each other as contacts then? I was also thinking of creating a FF room for Stumbleupon users. - Jannifer @wordsforliving

http://for4saken.stumbleupon.com/ - I may add you guys, maybe with a network it could be more useful - Marcos

Added as many as it let me today... I never used it much, but I'd like to if there is some interaction. - Kimber Scott

http://aureliusmaximus.stumbleupon.com/public... - Marco(aureliusmaximus)

Keep 'em coming, I'll add you all later today. :-) - Kol Tregaskes

http://www.stumbleupon.com/stumble... - Spidra Webster

http://mogster.stumbleupon.com/ That's mine. So this is what the search for a FF alternative has got us to? lol!! - Adrian Scicluna

Here's mine http://northley.stumbleupon.com - Frank Senseney

Thank you everyone! - Kol Tregaskes

http://abrudtkuhl.stumbleupon.com/ - andy brudtkuhl

had to sneak in there - andy brudtkuhl

Kol - what's yours? - andy brudtkuhl

Andy, see the title. ;-) - Kol Tregaskes

Actually, I use SU a lot: http://moreminimal.stumbleupon.com - Chris Baskind

http://didjital73.stumbleupon.com/ - Bren, Not Grinchy

Thank you you two. - Kol Tregaskes

http://vmlemon.stumbleupon.com - Tyson Key

Thanks, Tyson. - Kol Tregaskes

No problem, Kol. - Tyson Key

I started stumbling back in 2003, http://morgaine.stumbleupon.com/ is my main profile. It used to be small and friendly and fun. Started to like it less when they sold the service. Then Soup came around. Still using it, but mostly to keep in touch with fellow Stumblers. - Irma Vermaat

Chris Ainsworth

At the Weekend of Fire hot sauce festival at Jungle Jim's. My mouth is on fire. Ass to follow. #fb

August 2 from Twitter - Comment - Like - Share

Daniel Johnson, Jr. liked this

Neville Hobson to Neville's feed, FIR

A Tweet is a Quote | Zoho Blogs - http://blogs.zoho.com/general...

August 1 from Bookmarklet - Comment - Like - Share

Sathish and Daniel Johnson, Jr. liked this

"...When a customer or a user is willing to say something publicly, that becomes a quote. When this user automatically compresses his opinions to less than 140 characters, it is even better. This is basically what a tweet is. A Tweet is a quote because it is a public statement coming directly from the user with no marketing polish around it. While a quote becomes public after a company approval, a tweet is the opposite. The best part is, you can contact the person quoted for a followup discussion." - Neville Hobson from Bookmarklet

CmtyChat: Bryan Person

Friday, July 24, 2009, Q2: Imagine you were the community manager of Domino's (not sure if the position exists) when that wretched video came out. It's a real crisis for your brand. What steps would you take?

July 24 - Comment - Like - Share

Sonny Gill, Lilian Mahoukou and Daniel Johnson, Jr. liked this

If it were me, I think I'd acknowledge that something is out there. - Daniel Johnson, Jr.

21 more comments

Acknowledge it happened, Spread Awareness, own the video, while you have the eyeballs, publicly ensure that it never happens again. - Sean Canton

Immediate, unscripted response. With something like that, the issue becomes very time sensitive before it blows up. Be there when it happens and even if it still blows up, your message goes along with the video. - Sonny Gill

I think you certainly have to acknowledge, and afterward, broadly distribute the actions taken. Take steps to prevent a repeat performance. - Star Aasved

The key again is authenticity. I like the unscripted response approach. - Daniel Johnson, Jr.

Agree, the first thing would be to acknowledge it. Staying silent in a situation like that just makes a bad situation worse - Sue

Quickly creating a "spontaneous" video response and writing a blog post - Lilian Mahoukou

If a Community Mangement position doesn't exist (for any company- but especially for one the size of Domino's), I'd make sure that I had someone community-savvy in the role, monitoring my online brand image. Speaking in a human voice about a gaffe as soon as possible is much better than a talking head or canned release. - Tanya McGinnity

From a consumer standpoint, I needed details. They should have provided details. Where this happened. What shift. Who/how many if ANY are at risk. Was this distributed. They should have been all over the blogosphere. I have similar feelings about United Airlines. I think they should hire Weird Al Yankovic to make a music video for them. - Angela

@Angela - I love the Weird Al idea! Or maybe Rick Astley :) - Tanya McGinnity

@Tanya, I posted that idea on my blog. Here's a link. http://blog.angelaconnor.com/2009... - Angela

Asking the CEO to add his voice and analyzing the impact of the action. We could also segment the crisis into several stages. 1: The Discovery 2: The Corporate's Response 3: People's reactions 4: The Recovery. - Lilian Mahoukou

@Lilian I LOVE that approach. The Four Tiers of Community Crisis Management. Don't steal that. It's mine. :-) - Angela

Does the CEO need to be the one to respond in all cases? I can see from a credibility perspective maybe. - Daniel Johnson, Jr.

@Daniel: I like Lilian's approach but do NOT believe that it has to be the CEO. - Angela

@Daniel @Angela How to pick the right executives ? - Lilian Mahoukou

I like the video done by the store manager and his boss. It was honest, unscripted and very effective. - Bill Free

@Bill I liked it too. "Unscripted" is a great component and makes you sound less manipulative - Lilian Mahoukou

Response needs to be appropriate to be credible. Your CEO is not always the appropriate spokesperson, especially for a local issue that demands a local response. - Bill Free

@Bill Free I like that. Issue was local so be sure it's addressed locally, at least. - Daniel Johnson, Jr.

@Daniel It's interesting how media fragmentation is affecting crisis planning. Responding within SM communites is a great example. - Bill Free

If the community had heard about already, I would ask them what their perctptions were, how would they act as management in this situation and what could Domino's do to make them feel secure and purchasing from them again - Larae Junior

Right - engage the community in the response. - Jon Lebkowsky

Kevin Dugan

RT @AnnLightfoot @christiaantodd #cincysm pics from monday meetup are online http://www.christiaantodd.com/g...

July 29 from Twitter - Comment - Like - Share

Daniel Johnson, Jr. liked this

David Jackson

Interesting video on selling merch at shows. Interesting Facebook tips at the end http://www.youtube.com/watch...

Interesting video on selling merch at shows. Interesting Facebook tips at the end http://bit.ly/V5hnn

July 22 from Twitter - Comment - Like - Share

Daniel Johnson, Jr. liked this

CmtyChat: Bryan Person

Friday, July 24, 2009, WRAP-UP THOUGHTS. Our time is winding down. Curious on your take of the quality of the chat here in FriendFeed. For those of you who were also here last week, was it easier to follow along today? Update: Thank you all for participating!

July 24 - Comment - Like - Share

Daniel Johnson, Jr. liked this

It seemed easier to me, but perhaps because I was here last week. I think a couple points would help -- comment button at the bottom of the thread as well as the top, and a feature to close up comments if you've expanded them. - Star Aasved

15 more comments

Agreed on both points, Star. Will have to see if I can track down someone from FriendFeed! - Bryan Person

It was admittedly slower this week. Do you guys feel it was in relation to using this platform or just slowness in overall activity on FF/Twitter today? Or both? :) - Sonny Gill

Sonny, while I'm not sure about overall traffic, I think the topic was part of it too, one that we really had to think about to respond. - Star Aasved

I missed last week, but it seemed pretty easy to keep track of the questions and conversations going on. Some scrolling up and down but it wasn't really as troublesome as I though it was going to be. Nicely moderated Bryan - Sue

Having multiple browser windows open really helped me toggle back and forth to the different discussions. - Daniel Johnson, Jr.

Thanks, Sue. Star: Are you suggesting that folks are in a more reflective mood today? I like that explanation :) - Bryan Person

I think the topic is one that needs reflection, no easy answers when it comes to crisis. - Star Aasved

Appreciate the feedback - interesting takes by everyone from this week and last. - Sonny Gill

Agreed. - Daniel Johnson, Jr.

Thanks so much to everyone who could make it. See you all next Friday! - Sonny Gill

Really great chat this week. Thanks to everyone who participated, food for thought is always good. Have a super weekend! - Star Aasved

Agree with Star. How we all handle crisis is a difficult one and does need a lot of thought. No easy answer there. - Sue

I think that doing it here on FriendFeed helps to keep topics organized - Armando

Still convinced by the FF threads for following conversations. The topics required more thinking and the answers were probably less spontaneous, especially on suicide threats. I also liked the "Random" thread that helps us find new questions for the current or the next cmtychat discussions. - Lilian Mahoukou

Great points, Lillian, and thanks for the positive feedback. - Bryan Person

@Bryan You're welcome! ;) - Lilian Mahoukou

CmtyChat: Bryan Person

Friday, July 24 GREETINGS: Hello again, and welcome (back) to CmtyChat, our weekly discussion about the business of managing online communities. Feel free to introduce yourselves here!

July 24 - Comment - Like - Share

Daniel Johnson, Jr. liked this

I'm Daniel Johnson, Jr - @danieljohnsonjr, and I founded and run a social media networking group called New Media Cincinnati - @newmediacincy. Social media, business intelligence community builder on the loose! http://www.danieljohnsonjr.com/main... - Daniel Johnson, Jr.

23 more comments

We'll be discussing how to manage your community in an emergency or crisis. Formal questions for group to come. - Bryan Person

A friendly hello and happy Friday to all; am @staraasved, community manager at LiveWorld. - Star Aasved

If you have a question for the group, we'd prefer if you direct it to me so that I can start the thread. Thanks! - Bryan Person

Happy Friday to those joining the chat today. I'm Patricia (@arthurwill), community manager at Mobile9. - Patricia Ooi

hello hello, into this segment of cmtychat - Sean Canton

@Sena: Thanks! - Bryan Person

Hi Sue John, @sueontheweb community manager at britishexpats.com. Hope you are all having a great Friday - Sue

Bryan, should we direct it in here or where? - Daniel Johnson, Jr.

Welcome everybody! - Sonny Gill

Yes, Daniel - in here. We're trying to keep the threads to a minimum so we can keep things organized! - Sonny Gill

Thanks, Sonny. - Daniel Johnson, Jr.

Glad to be here, I'm Lou (@lordorica), community manager for the Westcon Group - Lou Ordorica

Bill Free @billfromsc manage corp comms for the U.S. subsidiary of a global firm, on an SM learning curve - Bill Free

@Lou, @Bill, @Patricia, @Star, @Sean: Welcome, and thanks for participating! - Bryan Person

Question/corollary for Bryan: How do you vett(sp?) comments made in your community to determine their validity? - Daniel Johnson, Jr.

Angela Connor here. I go by @communitygirl here and on Twitter. Author of "18 rules of Community Engagement." Community Manager at WRAL's GOLO.com. - Angela

I'm Tanya McGinnity from Montreal Canada. I'm currently the Community Manager for idivine.ca - A social community for Canadian women - Tanya McGinnity

@Daniel: Thanks for question! I'll try to incorporate that into a question in a little bit. - Bryan Person

Hello. I'm Mike Rupert with DC Government, @rupertmike and @dcra. - Michael Rupert

Mark Sylvester (CEO/@intronetworks) here to listen to community managers and learn what issues are being grappled with. Glad to see emphasis on this particular topic, though our communities (thankfully) have not face this, that I know of - Mark Sylvester

Mark, Mark, and Mike: Thanks for joining us! Mark Margin: Hope you'll become a regular! - Bryan Person

Lilian, social media passionate and learner, making a career transition from CRM/Telemarketing to community management and social media strategies. - Lilian Mahoukou

@lordorica What does the Westcon Group do? - Daniel Johnson, Jr.

Daniel, we are a global distributor of networking and telephony products, including Cisco, Avaya, and IBM. - Lou Ordorica

CmtyChat: Bryan Person

Friday, July 24, 2009, Q5: How might a CM work with current community to thwart a crisis or negative situation happening to the brand? Leave the communication to the community members themselves, maybe?

July 24 - Comment - Like - Share

Daniel Johnson, Jr. liked this

I think this is a situation of recognizing community contributors and working with them behind the scenes to address the situation. There are always those community members who are completely loyal and can be relied upon, IMO. - Star Aasved

11 more comments

There can be situations where communication is more effective if it comes from the members rather than the CM/brand. - Bryan Person

Yesterday I had a community member ping me that one of our members emailed her that she didn't know how to engage in our community and make friends. The more senior member took the junior one under her wing and brought to my attention that there was someone who wanted to connect but didn't have an idea on where to start. Rewarding this kind of behaviour is key. I sent her off a sweatshirt with a kind note to show that she went above and beyond just taking care of her own presence in our community group. - Tanya McGinnity

This comes down to building a loyal community. One where it's members will alert you to something negative happening about the brand/community elsewhere. If they are loyal to the community/brand they will not only alert the CM etc but they will also go out to bat for the brand/community themselves. - Sue

@Tanya - nice example. An even bigger takeaway is that you get the opportunity to receive feedback and how you could maybe even better processes as well for new members. - Sonny Gill

In one of my communities members take it upon themselves to address anyone who tries to start infighting or verbally abuses the brand in some way -- we've seen several situations where the perpetrator has pretty quickly left the community, once he/she found out they couldn't get a rise out of people. - Star Aasved

I think this is where having a community manager and community moderators comes into play. - Daniel Johnson, Jr.

I have a private group that I call my G.A.B. GOLO Advisory Board. I also have a welcome wagon committee. You utilize the people who LOVE the community. make them feel special. Make them operatives. They'll keep you posted. Sometimes with more info than you will ever want or need. Gotta bail a few minutes early today all. It's been great. -Angela - Angela

Right on, Star. And this goes to what Sue argues: It comes down to building a loyal community. - Bryan Person

Exactly, Sue and Bryan. - Star Aasved

@Angela: Operatives, MVPs, ambassadors. By whatever name we give them, they are crucial! - Bryan Person

@Bryan - definitely. Self-policing from people within your cmty who knows when someone is trying to ruin the environment. No one wants some stranger to rain on our playground. - Sonny Gill

I like taking the conversation from public forum to private messages, no matter what the platform is. - Daniel Johnson, Jr.

CmtyChat: Bryan Person

Friday, July 24, 2009, Q3: From Angela: "Many in the building or within the organization will not understand emergencies related to community, the way we do." So, what should a CM do ahead of time to improve communications with mgmt around how best to respond in an emergency?

July 24 - Comment - Like - Share

Lilian Mahoukou, Sonny Gill and Daniel Johnson, Jr. liked this

Angela, I think it needs to be likened to real life experience -- everyone has had a situation in their life which demands crisis management -- if you can get management to relate to that I think you're on your way. - Star Aasved

18 more comments

That's a tough one, because often you can't plan for those type of things. New things crop up all the time. That's one reason why a community needs a CM with their finger on the pulse. - Sue

That really gets down to the basics of your business' communications and the channels/bridges you've created between teams. You have to have those channels and culture built within your business before you have to manage a crisis. - Sonny Gill

@Sue: As a CM, you help you've earned the trust of mgmt such that they'll listen to your recommendation on how best to respond to community in difficult times. - Bryan Person

Again, we had a policy which had two parts. One part for how anyone in the organization should report an incident and the rest on how the community staff should document and handle the incident. - Scott Moore

@ bryan ...exactly. - Sue

Good point, Sonny - though it seems to me many are diving into social without that buidling process occurring first. - Star Aasved

Spot on Star Aasved, it's like they are jumping in the water feet first without seeing how deep it is. - Sue

@Star - that's such the truth. And they're realizing it when they try to tackle issues or happenings as they happen, without having that structure supporting their actions. - Sonny Gill

One of the problems, as I see it, is not really understanding social before diving in. That's why chats like this are helpful - to gain some ideas on the types of things you may encounter. - Star Aasved

@Star - I had a somewhat funny analogy as to how social media is much like black friday, with the rush of the crowd and wanting of shiny toys: http://www.sonnygill.com/social-... - Sonny Gill

@Star, you're right and I don't have a problem getting the folks in my organization on board. But I know some do. And it took work for me to make it happen. - Angela

I have one main point of contact with the company who own the site I manage. As new situations arise we discuss them and find a loose framework for them to be handled. Generally I am trusted to bring to their attention anything I feel needs immediate attention. However if you are a CM new to the community or someone who has not been a CM for very long, its harder for the CM to establish what an emergency/crisis is. - Sue

Angela, I think that has a lot to do with the company's commitment to social - are they really working at it, or just doing it because everyone else is? If the latter, it will be a hard task to get anyone onboard. - Star Aasved

Din, Ding, Ding...Yep, you said it @Star. The commitment to social makes the difference. - Angela

@Star @Angela Agreed! We're still on the cultural acceptance first. - Lilian Mahoukou

I think social is so new that even after being employed in that position, we need to continue to sell the need for it. - Daniel Johnson, Jr.

@Angela I can remember something like this happened in the blogosphere, too, a few years ago. Not cancer-related, but a woman who was tired of being stalked. (Wow, reaching into the deep graymatter.) Might have been a ploy to get started over, though, online. - Daniel Johnson, Jr.

Since Daniel mentioned a ploy, I think that has to have some attention, too -- there have been those who cry wolf. - Star Aasved

It's often hard to tell if it's a ploy. I'm willing to bet that most legal departments will recommend documenting all incidents regardless. Especially, if you are in a situation where the host org or the community may attempt to intervene. (Somewhere a lawyer's head just exploded) - Scott Moore

CmtyChat: Bryan Person

Friday, July 24, 2009, Q4: How liable is the community and brand for emergencies? Could/has a community ever been sued for negligence? (From Daniel Johnson, Jr.)

July 24 - Comment - Like - Share

Daniel Johnson, Jr. liked this

Could you expand a little on this, Daniel? - Sonny Gill

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Daniel, I think you'd really need to discus that with the legal department -- not having any expertise in such, I don't know. That said, though, major brands have probably, at the least, consulted legal about such, probably before getting the community going. - Star Aasved

Oh, I almost forgot about this one. We have a member with Cancer by the name of SpunkyCancerWarrior and last week or the week before she posted a suicide blog. Everyone rallied behind her. Someone emailed me that there was a member making fun of her and telling her to do it. I was FURIOUS and banned him and a few others then posted a blog about cruelty. I reached out to her via email. I... more... - Angela

Or even a community manager for that matter. - Daniel Johnson, Jr.

@Sonny I guess the concern is, how can a community manager prove that he or she was not negligent. Also interested in examples/cases where he or she was found to be otherwise. - Daniel Johnson, Jr.

CmtyChat: Bryan Person

Friday, July 24, 2009, RANDOM: An anything-goes kind of thread. It needn't be related to the main topic of the day. Enjoy!

July 24 - Comment - Like - Share

Daniel Johnson, Jr. liked this

Feel free to ask any questions here that you'd like posted up in the main discussion! - Sonny Gill

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Many in the building or within the organization will not understand emergencies related to community, the way we do. - Angela

I am looking for a sample job description of a CM that I can share with clients that are just getting used to the idea that they need one. Any tips are appreciated - Mark Sylvester

Begin rant: I am really tired of people talking about joining the conversation and building community when they've never done it. End rant! - Angela

@Mark - not sure if there's anything concrete but check out: http://altitudebranding.com/ Really good stuff on community management by Amber Naslund. - Sonny Gill

How liable is the community and brand for emergencies? Could/has a community ever been sued for negligence? - Daniel Johnson, Jr.

Good question @Daniel.. I'd love to hear more about that too! - Tanya McGinnity

Why do so many people think they can do this job well? - Angela

With community management - do you need to check your ego at the door? I see folks who feel that it's more of a powerbooster to be 'head' of a group of people rather than a collaborator and facilitator who is along for the ride. What do you think? - Tanya McGinnity

Angela, it's always easier said than done, right? - daphnerocha

Tanya, I agree w/ you -- in the role of community management with entitlement comes accountability and responsibility. - daphnerocha

"how to measure the effectiveness of your actions to tackle the crisis ?", "how to monitor the evolution of the crisis and what actions to take along the way ?" - Lilian Mahoukou

@sonny .. I love Amber Naslund's blog. She writes in such an entertaining, interesting way and still gets her point across - Sue

@tanya Above all a CM needs to be a diplomat :) - Sue

@Tanya I agree with you. Humility and diplomacy are key traits in being an effective community manager. - Daniel Johnson, Jr.

I think that a big examination of personal bias has to come into play.. Thanks for speaking to diplomacy Sue. That's important. - Tanya McGinnity

Bryan/Sonny - if I may, I'd like to suggest a topic for future CmtyChat - ROI from a non-tangible point of view. What benefits can one find in community don't directly impact the bottom line but rather will build confidence, reputation and thus, eventually offer a ROI? - Star Aasved

Is it just me, or are things a little quieter here this week? Lots of vacationers, perhaps? - Bryan Person

I'm new to the group and I'm really enjoying the experience. Thanks everyone. - Tanya McGinnity

Star: That's a great topic! We'll work it in to a future chat. - Bryan Person

CmtyChat: Bryan Person

Friday, July 24, 2009, Q1: Please share examples of how you've responded to an emergency in your community.

July 24 - Comment - Like - Share

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Responded to your preview question, below in the thread -- pasting here: One of the keys to management during an emergency is keeping a cool head in terms of online presence, while working behind the scenes to address the situation - notifiying authorities if that is appropriate, etc. - Star Aasved

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And also this: You might have identified, in the past, community members to turn to in crisis who can be enlisted to assist. - Star Aasved

Does this include members of the community who for whatever reason don't get along? Or are you thinking of something more severe? - Daniel Johnson, Jr.

Considering the extent of my community involvement is managing online reviews, what I did in the face of competition posting fake reviews was research the accounts doing the posting, contact the review websites, and implement a strategy to publicly respond to every new review which gets posted. It has been successful for the most part, except it's hard to get the powers that be to sign off on verbage. - Sean Canton

@Daniel: It could be thought, though I'm thinking something more severe. Like a suicide threat. Or a crisis for your brand/company. - Bryan Person

Responding to Bryan, in the case of a critical item for the brand/company, I think it would have to depend on the situation -- it might be one where you'd have to touch base with senior management or legal before taking steps on the community. However, at the least in this case I'd certainly post statements around looking into the issue and that a response would be posted as soon after as possible. - Star Aasved

I learned that a community member died. Several members were emailing me on a Sunday. Stopped what i was doing, confirmed, ran home and got a tribute at the top of the homepage. This was an emergency for the members. They loved him. - Angela

Overall I think this is where the transparency really comes into play if its a crisis that needs addressing and communicated to your community. There's no reason to beat around the bush w/your community. They'll appreciate you more if you don't. - Sonny Gill

I agree with Star in the need to post that one is looking into the issue and will respond promptly. Angela- That is beautiful re: the tribute for your community member. I really appreciate Etsy's approach to this as well as they Tweet and blog about those etsy members who have passed away. - Tanya McGinnity

@Angela - that's a perfect and touching example. - Sonny Gill

Lovely, Angela. Perfectly appropriate, I think. In a crisis, it really depends on the severity and how it will affect the community, I think. - Star Aasved

@Angela: Perfect example.A reminder that the role of the community often extends outside regular business hours. - Bryan Person

I had heard of an example in World of Warcraft however in that a rival guild had infiltrated a virtual funeral of a member that had passed away. Things did get quite out of hand. http://www.mmoace.com/world-o... - Tanya McGinnity

We've had various member "emergencies' over the years. One was where a member's husband drowned after only moving to Australia 3 weeks prior. The whole community rallied around her and we arranged for members in her area to help her during that time with childcare, support, etc. - Sue

Tanya, I used to host spirituality discussions and often had that type of thing happen - people with other spiritual focus often infiltrated our chats and caused problems. In this case reasoning and a calm approach along with some general ignoring unless comments were completely inappropriate smoothed the situation. - Star Aasved

@Tanya - I remember that story. It was interesting as there were two sides of the story. Those who mourned and those who 'attacked' the online service. Those on the latter side were much against it cause this girl died from playing so many hours of WoW straight apparently. Tough situation to handle all around. - Sonny Gill

Another example is where members have died and as the CM I've arranged for flowers to be sent on behalf of the community sent flowers, and donated money to charities. - Sue

Bryan, since you started this off, how did you respond? You mentioned something in a Monster thread in the audio preview. - Daniel Johnson, Jr.

At my last job, we actually developed specific procedures on handling suicide threats - Scott Moore

@Daniel: Happy to. I had just taken over our Monster community (just a small part of my overall role), and we had a suicide threat. In fact, I think we had two in the very same week. My steps were to 1) take the threat seriously 2) gather as much info about user as I could (talked to our long-time moderators, etc.) 3) confer with our legal team 4) contact the local authorities. - Bryan Person

My last comment was incomplete. The policy was a procedure for documenting incidents that posed an immediate threat to life or bodily harm. Because we had a state licensed child psychologist on staff, we also had to address indications of child abuse. All of this was guided by the lawyers worried about liability, especially from family members who *didn't* sign the Terms of Use. - Scott Moore

The power of community is that many people help one another out already and help to flag any potentially depressed users who might be at risk. I appreciate this in the community I'm with in that I get DM's about folks who need a bit more emotional support or who are going through a rough time in their lives. Even more so now with the economic crisis, many folks are turning to communities to share and vent about their problems. - Tanya McGinnity

@ScottMoore: Agreed. There were no procedures in place when I took over the position. After two threats in a week, I thought it best to create them for future emergencies. - Bryan Person

@ScottMore can you introduce yourself in one of the earlier threads? What you do, etc.? - Daniel Johnson, Jr.

Scott, putting a plan into place before an emergency occurs is certainly a good approach, one every community should consider. While I can understand the liability concern, I think it a smart practice for any community that develops close relationships. - Star Aasved

@bryan Yeah, that was also based on my personal experience a decade ago of hounding a compuserve customer support agent for the hometown of a community member who threatened suicide. Then calling a small town police station and convincing them that I wasn't a prank call. - Scott Moore

What's great is if you have a tight knit community, they are very quick to alert you if they come across a situation like this. It certainly helps so that you can get a handle on things as soon as possible. - Sue

Agreed, Star. Having a crisis communications plan in place makes sense for any organization. The question isn't if a crisis will occur, but when. - Bill Free

@Scott: Oh, a couple of my calls with local police stations were classic. It took a while to explain where the threat was coming from (message board for Monster.com, etc.). - Bryan Person

@Star Yup. The policy also provided a consistent guide to me and the community about handling this situation. In the case of suicide or abuse, it was strongly recommended to get the person talking to a hotline where they will find trained staff. - Scott Moore

I recall a specific example in Cincinnati a few months ago where someone used Twitter to vent depression and thoughts. Sad story. - Daniel Johnson, Jr.

Are there any examples of suicide lines who are on twitter or who have community managers? - Tanya McGinnity

I know Amber Alerts is on Twitter, but I'm not aware of something like this for suicide lines. - Daniel Johnson, Jr.

@Tanya Not sure about handling the actual calls via twitter, but I did find this which looks like they are documenting services available: https://twitter.com/Counter... could be handy. - Scott Moore

Scott, thanks for that Twitter reference. - Star Aasved

Great site Scott. Thanks for that - Tanya McGinnity

CmtyChat: Bryan Person

An audio preview of the agenda for #CmtyChat for Friday, July 24. We get started at 1:00pm ET.

CmtyChat-7-24-09.mp3 864 KB

July 23 - Comment - Like - Share

Lilian Mahoukou, Daniel Johnson, Jr., Tanya McGinnity and Sonny Gill liked this

What app are you using to get audio into your FriendFeed? - Robert Swanwick

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@Robert: Here's the process: I used an iPhone app called AudioBoo to do the recording. It posted public audio file: http://audioboo.fm/boos.... Then I downloaded the .mp3 file onto my desktop and uploaded it to FriendFeed (attached it using the "Files" link). - Bryan Person

Nice job. I am currently looking for an app that will take voicemail which anyone can call and convert it into an RSS stream. Solution for audio commenting. Your system is great, but I need ultra-simple. - Robert Swanwick

Very interesting topic. I work within a community and would love to hear more about responding to personal crises such as suicide threats. I like to think I'd be prepared, but through sharing our experiences in this format, I'll be able to discover if that's truly the case. Thanks for this session. - Tanya McGinnity

@Tanya: Hope you can join us this afternoon, then? - Bryan Person

@Robert Stanwick: I use Utterli to call in audio posts and have them cross-post to my blog. It's picked up in the RSS feed over there. I'm interested in checking out AudioBoo, though. - Daniel Johnson, Jr.

Robert Scoble

Here is why I have two Twitter accounts and what I'm learning:

July 22 - Comment - Like - Share

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1. Because my main account needs to follow everyone who is following me for DM reasons. - Robert Scoble

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2. But that means I can't closely follow my friends and people I've met face-to-face. - Robert Scoble

3. Following 100,000 means you'll only randomly see Tweets, and you'll miss too much good stuff. - Robert Scoble

4. There's no way you can completely follow more than a few hundred people. So, if you've followed more than 1,000 you need two accounts. - Robert Scoble

5. I've been using this technique here on FriendFeed for more than a year and it really rocks (FriendFeed lets you split your friends up into lists, while Twitter forces you to get more than one account). - Robert Scoble

http://twitter.com/notsecr... is my second account. - Robert Scoble

or use TweetDeck, right? I haven't used it, but I understand it lets you group/prioritize the people you follow - Joshua Maurice

Scoble, this solution doesn't seem to scale. In another year does this mean you'll have a supersecret account that only follows select people from the secret account? - Ryan Jones

so one account for people you really want to follow and one for everyone that you follow back at both FF and Twitter? - bev

Guy Kawasaki does this right?: - Steve Rubel

Robert: makes sense...but what is the advantage of 2 accounts compared to Groups - Edwin Khodabakchian

I use TweetDeck to organize my close friends into a list. That way, it's really easy for me to just follow those who are close to me, but still get DMs from everyone. - Eric Pender

Is there a client aka Tweetdeck that allows you to pull in your Friendfeed friend's lists? - Stephen Kennedy

... or any other BETTER filtering service than Tweetdeck, like PeopleBrowsr. - Alan Veeck

Edwin: none, except that Twitter does not support groups and I'm not going to invest the time to build them in, say, TweetDeck when there's so much innovation going on in Twitter clients. - Robert Scoble

There are more than a few Twitter usability issues that I'd like to see changed in addition to the required multiple accounts, deleting of DM's being easier and organizing of people as well....Tweetdeck allows this but Twitter should have thought of this internally... - Walter Schwabe

This seems like a lot of effort to deal with the problem of courtesy refollows. Why not just follow those 500 people or so on your main Twitter account? If you don't care what people say publicly and they're just noise, why deal with the acres of spammers sending you DMs to shill for some crappy product? - Trent Hamm

bev: right, I think. Ryan: yeah, this probably doesn't scale. But for now it does. - Robert Scoble

My Twitter numbers are strikingly similar to my FF numbers - when it comes to followers / followees. I've never broken 1000 when it comes to people I follow and every so often I go through and prune my list to help tune the noise. I've given up on Twitter and really focus most of my effort on my FF friends. - Brian Daniel Eisenberg

I see. the 2 account approach makes it portable across twitter client. smart - Edwin Khodabakchian

With Seesmic Desktop I created groups like "China, Hong Kong, France, Ogilvy, etc etc" and it works fine - Jean-François Amadei

Alan: for instance, if I had spent the time doing that on TweetDeck, now I'm using Seesmic Web. So I'd have to recreate the groups. - Robert Scoble

Robert: What is you 2nd FF account? - Amir

Tweetdeck became a necessity after 100 follows. I have groups and I rarely add to them- which means that me following you on twitter means virtually nothing as I rarely read the main feed. I can see this really corrupting your % followers to followed, which I do care about. Anyways, FF does make this a more feasible situation, to follow lots of people and still interact with them. Whereas with Twitter I'd have to resort to 2 accoutns. - anna sauce

Amir: I only have one, but I have several lists of friends. - Robert Scoble

Robert: Do you recommend that technique to everyone? - Amir

I jus noticed, you don't follow me on twitter for DMs. heart breaking, that must be why you never answer me on twitter :P - Özgür D. Cyric

Has anyone tried http://www.grouptweet.com/? I like its features, makes it easy to have private groups on twitter. - Nagesh C

I do the same, and it greatly improved my twitter experience. now i never miss what my close buds are saying. - sean percival

Looking through the list, I noticed you follow lots of people, but not a lot of feed type accounts. No newspapers, rss crossposts, etc... It's all people, maybe discuss why? - Jim Graham

Seesmic is a good little program, not as "weird feeling" as Tweetdeck. - Gus

will they add tags/filters on twitter? would be nice, but one thing which makes twitter great is its simplicity - diegovanegas

Amir: either that technique or join FriendFeed. :-) - Robert Scoble

I follow millions at a time with my one Twitter account. :-) - http://staynalive.com/article... - Jesse Stay

Jim: because I want to view my news through the filter of people I know. - Robert Scoble

Functionality and usability are key I'd say most of the 3rd party apps that are good give you that work for grouping Twitter properly, I prefer TweetDeck, but it is just a matter of comfort I had tried Seesmic and others, I guess I really liked the go anywhere connectivity of Tweetdeck when it went iPhone. - Patrick Boegel

To me the conflict between DM and tweets proves a weakness in the twitter concept, so why not pushing them to address that. You can set up a massive vote for something like this. - Jcm Manuel

Jcm: if Twitter listened to me they would get rid of the Suggested User List. I'd rather not beat my head against a brick wall. - Robert Scoble

So this new one is basically Scoble using Twitter the way everyone else does? - Jan Dawson

There must be a proper way to combine things. Twitter is all about limitations, but if they force people to have 2 accounts, there's clearly something that sux. - Jcm Manuel

Jan: most of the people I'm following have thousands of friends. This one is more picky. - Robert Scoble

I don't see how you keep up with them both. - Kevin Montgomery

Kevin you can keep up by using tweedteck or seesmic (allow for multiple accounts) - Jcm Manuel

Kevin: multiple screens. And I don't look at 100,000 people very often. The noise there is extraordinary. - Robert Scoble

With your 2nd twitter account, you pretty much can ignore the first one, but use second one to broadcast to a much bigger group. One for socializing, one for broadcasting? - Nagesh C

I know.....I use tweetdeck, but between email, myspace, facebook, twitter......it's ALOT of noise. I'm struggling to actually engage on twitter they way I would like. Robert, do you remember me from the Himmelman/Skin tour? - Kevin Montgomery

I bet that your DMs will diminish on the first account pretty soon, if not already - Nagesh C

That's a great idea, especially for someone like you. How can you even keep up with all of these comments on your posts? FF is definitely much more logical and organized than Twitter. I only use Twitter for those who don't have FF, and then I just have imaginary friends. I hardly ever go to Twitter (in any form). - Californian

Nagesh: the smart people DM me on FriendFeed already, yes. - Robert Scoble

I don't have the problem of thousands of people I follow, but I do know that before I follow someone, I look to the posting behavior. If he/she's posting just a few good messages per day I follow, it it's a spammer like Scoble I don't follow - unless he's called Scoble of course LOL. But my approach is to choose very carefully. - Jcm Manuel

By the way, the whole LINKING between services sux too. For instance, I follow Scoble on another twitter account. But when it linked to friendfeed, it logged in with my other account (I have 2 accounts there as well) - because in the browser you always log in with the account you last logged in (unless the session has expired). I didn't even notice that I didn't "friendfeed" with the account that sent me here. There's very little control over all these things - I make errors like this very often. - Jcm Manuel

Aren't most of the people you've met face to face on Friendfeed with feeds from Twitter/blogs/facebook/etc..? In terms of broadcasting, feed the main Twitter account and use FF to filter, as you mentioned. Seems simple enough, am I missing something? - Benjamin Taylor

Some 2 hours ago I was looking on the Seesmic site if they had some public planning of developments, but I couldn't find it. I would love to know what they plan - e.g. if they plan to add friendfeed to Seesmic desktop. And myspace feed of course. - Jcm Manuel

Loic says they were waiting for FriendFeed's new API to work on FriendFeed support. I'd expect that's coming soon now. - Robert Scoble

ok that's great anyway. I find it strange though that myspace is so often ignored - that's 250 million people as well. Seesmic, Flock... etc. they don't seem to care a lot. - Jcm Manuel

This is the exact reason why the number one new feature Twitter needs is user groups. With user groups you can manage the information and pay attention to what is important. I find it surprising and actually ridiculous that they haven't been able to implement this feature yet. Scoble is right about not investing time in Twitter clients to create user groups; the innovation in this field... more... - Angus Burton

I do the same thing. My second account I call the "PIMP" group, People I've Met Personally. Two accounts is better than Tweetdeck groups because I don't like to be stuck in tweetdeck. - Scott Jangro

for me, Twitter is biz, Friendfeed can serve as both personal and biz. Originally, my 1 twitter account was meant 2 be personal, but now its more than that, its 4 advocacy and social purpose. Therefore I find if I want anything personal, friendfeed and identi.ca would be better serve 4 me! - polou/indigo_bow

I've said it several times in several places, and again here just to hear myself ramble. Tweetdeck misses tweets very often. I've created columns/groups/whatever you wanna call it to follow family and friends. It misses their stuff more than it catches it. So, for me, and several other people I know, it's unreliable... and therefore unusable. I'm not too keen on using Peoplebrowsr or... more... - John

I have 3 twitter accounts and manage a friendfeed & twitter account for someone else, so that makes 4 twitters and 2 friendfeeds I have to keep my eyes on. - April Russo (app103)

@April u r one busy person! - polou/indigo_bow

I have opened a second twitter account to stream there most of my links I feel like to (re)share w/o comments, and reserve the "main" account for more "conversation-like" stuff. Not sure yet if it will work, I am still experimenting. I also realized that I can use that second account to filter my twitter feed when I am mobile (follow real people on one account and news sources on another, for example...) - Ashalynd

It'll be interesting times when Twitter does implement some kind of filtering function and you'll want to merge multiple accounts. - Vincent van Wylick

I usually find that interesting things I find on Twitter already has been filtered through to Friendfeed, so I have to say I care less and less about checking Twitter - Asgeir

Just suspending my experimental automated one. Apparently A LOT of people don't dig that :) The TOP SECRET address is ..... - Charlie Anzman

All of this just so you can get DMs on Twitter? Your email address (and your cell phone number) are right on your blog. Do you have so little faith in email? Or do you want to force people into 140 character messages, so you get less lengthy emails? By creating convoluted systems, you haven't solved anything. You're not addressing an obsessive need to be in touch with everyone through... more... - Joost Schuur

Ron Ploof

Social Media Brand Engagement Database - ENGAGEMENTdb - http://www.engagementdb.com/

July 22 from delicious - Comment - Like - Share

Daniel Johnson, Jr. liked this

A database of brands and their social media engagement levels - Ron Ploof

Very interesting, Ron! - Daniel Johnson, Jr.

Rooms Feedback: Lyonel Kaufmann

I'd like to have a widget by room. And why note to choose to include the messages rooms automatically in a general widget (optional in the room's settings).

June 11, 2008 - Comment - Like - Share

Daniel Johnson, Jr., Kyle Weller and Sumit Chachra liked this

Barbara K. Baker

Son & I saw HP 6. Driving home, discussed Hermione's ending statement "Harry, do u really believe u're supposed to do this alone?" Win!

July 22 from Twitter - Comment - Like - Share

Daniel Johnson, Jr. liked this

I loved that part! - Daniel Johnson, Jr.

CmtyChat: Sonny Gill

#CmtyChat Q2 July 17, 2009: How does a CM deal with the challenges of connecting/cultivating community on different platforms?

July 17 - Comment - Like - Share

Daniel Johnson, Jr. and Lilian Mahoukou liked this

Should the platform really have that much importance? - Martin Reed

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I believe the core ideas of community building aren't limited to platform. - Star Aasved

When is the "spirit of overcommunication" too much? (same msg across Twitter, FBook, email, website, etc.)? Are multiple touch points necessary? - Daniel Johnson, Jr.

I think the platform has an impact, though. Different people like different platforms. - Teresa Basich

Has the company decided what platforms are of most importance and given them focus? In my case, my community is self-contained and connected to a news site. BUT I know that members are elsewhere and connect with some there. I'm pushing for Facebook Connect. I think it depends on a lot here. - Angela

Of course, the community is built around the value, content, and conversations within that cmty - but the platform can have a big effect depending on features, etc. - Sonny Gill

Agreed. You can often reach different people on Facebook than you would on LinkedIn. - Daniel Johnson, Jr.

Martin, I would say it's best (at least at first) to go to the community on their turf, so I think platform is very important. Make it easy for them to get involved. - Mike Whaling

Daniel: multiple "relevant' touch points are, adn they come in different flavors. - Derek Curtis

Teresa - People should be joining a community because of the people there, not the platform it runs on. People don't care about that. - Martin Reed

@Star, @Martin: Not limited to platform, but what if your community is splintered across different places--different blogs, Twitter, Facebook, etc. - Bryan Person

Take this chat and compare it with Twitter vs. FriendFeed. There are challenges from both platforms. - Sonny Gill

Teresa, while that is true to some extent in the initial contact session, I believe that if a community is doing the right thing in terms of engaging users, the platform will lose importance. - Star Aasved

@Martin Good point! Objective & strategy are more important and thus should come first before technology. - Patricia Ooi

I find that different followers are on different sites, i.e twitter ,facebook etc. so send one announcement to all works - Michael Woodrum

@Angela - good point, as it really is subjective on the type of community you're building and what the goals are. - Sonny Gill

I think us SM types and many in the circle come to expect getting multiple instances of the same msg as a "necessary evil". - Daniel Johnson, Jr.

Martin and Star -- So maybe that's where Sonny's question comes in? In what ways do you engage to bypass that initial awkwardness of a platform, or make it less important? I mean, you can take this as an example. - Teresa Basich

Also look beyond the buzz of Facebook and Twitter - what methods are used now that can possibly lead to greater engagement. How can you fix/modify/edit your existing newsletter or forum, help desk system and "how to" articles. - Derek Curtis

Ppls familarity & experience to specific platforms also is a variable. - Jeff Hurt

Community ideally would work across multiple platforms, although it could show up differently eg being adapted for a great mobile experience - Peter Hoffman

Certain platforms are less fertile. It also depends on the members interests and tools available. - Lilian Mahoukou

I look at FB etc is just a way to point to my blog, website etc, just to keep me fresh in their minds - Michael Woodrum

Teresa - Make sure the members and the community is more prominent that the platform (and has more importance). In my opinion, the platform the community runs on should have no importance to its members or the decision new visitors make when considering whether or not to join. - Martin Reed

Teresa, I think if you're finding something of interest here, you'll tend to stick with it, if you can determine how to participate easily enough -- which it seems many of us have done. Content is a key, if the content is good, if people can find content they want to comment/expand upon, there will be success. - Star Aasved

So using this chat as an example: We're experimenting with FriendFeed vs Twitter because we felt threaded comments would benefit the conversation. So far, it seems like at least that is true compared to Twitter's platform. - Sonny Gill

I agree, Sonny. It's easier to manage the threads this way. - Daniel Johnson, Jr.

Agreed Sonny -- found it a bit awkward at first, but wanting to participate was the driving factor. - Star Aasved

@Derek: Agreed, the goal should ultimately be to get those users back to a forum on your site, etc. Have a hub that you can drive everyone to, from whatever platform where they originally find you. - Mike Whaling

Sonny - Right. But people joined because they wanted to be involved with Community Chat. No matter where you moved it to, people would have followed. - Martin Reed

Great point, Star. The content really makes any awkwardness of a new platform take a backseat. Thanks! - Teresa Basich

Re: multiple platforms... Many need to see/read/hear a message multiple times before taking action. - Daniel Johnson, Jr.

@Sonny Gill, it's working for threaded yet other pros & cons. I'm struggling with it though. And I want to converse with Community Chat. - Jeff Hurt

Daniel - or, perhaps, to buy into it. - Star Aasved

@Martin - Fairly true, but there are differences. The people I see here I see on Twitter, but the conversation, due to the format, is definitely different. - Sonny Gill

Look at Plenty of Fish - (are they a 'community'?). People always complain about the awkwardness of their platform. Hasn't dented their success though. - Martin Reed

@Jeff - I understand. We know there are going to be likes and dislikes with us trying FriendFeed out. And we want to hear that from everyone here. - Sonny Gill

One point of potential distraction here is the multiple threads going on and trying to keep up with all of them. Anyone else having trouble with that? - Bryan Person

@sonny finding it difficult to follow several threads at once when I want to see stream of what ppl are discussing like in Twitter whether this thread or others. So it's narrowing opportunity for me. - Jeff Hurt

@BryanPerson threading great for organized archive, but hard to follow as it's happening. - Daniel Johnson, Jr.

There doesn't seem to be a way to limit the number of threads going on at once. I'm the admin, but that option isn't available. - Bryan Person

I think you need to go where the conversations are happening, and adapt to whatever tools people are using. Today's event is a perfect example. - Lou Ordorica

@Daniel: Agreed. - Bryan Person

Bryan, I can follow the two threads that are currently on-screen, but scrolling makes it tough to follow more than that. - Star Aasved

@Bryan Yep, I am. Seems great for a static conversation that people can reply to any time. Not sure about live convo yet. - Jeff Hurt

Good points Bryan and Jeff. That is somewhat of a challenge, to keep up with all the threads. - Sonny Gill

Also agree with Daniel, this will be great for later ... but tough to follow in the moment. - Mike Whaling

Good point, Lou. Adaptability is key. - Teresa Basich

What do you think of one Twitter DM sent to members of a group? DM often thought of as 1 to 1, but in this case it's 1 to many. Some in my cmty didn't like that. - Daniel Johnson, Jr.

@Lou Agreed. We should start to take advantage of our listening work at first, and then go where the conversations take place. - Lilian Mahoukou

Re: platform, in my experience non-tech-savvy community members gain comfort in one place & will drop out rather than switch if platform changes. CM can't assume members are *only* about the people and connections. - Marcia Conner

Lilian -- I think listening is a discovery process that can be exhilarating! I'm amazed at how little I actual really know the more I study the conversations and connect with groups and individuals. - Lou Ordorica

I think there's more to listening than just saying you're listening to folks. I think it takes an acknowledgement of the ppl you're listening to. I also think ppl in social media have "listening fatigue" because it's so overused as term right now. - Jeff Hurt

Are you suggesting "listening" has become a cliche? :) - Bryan Person

Jeff, I think listening is the starting point - you need to be able to hear in order to act. Yes, acknowledgment is important as well, but until you understand the various currents that are floating, you can't engage with any authenticity. - Star Aasved

You need to prove you're listening by engaging in real conversations. People will then know whether you are *really* listening or not. - Martin Reed

@staraasved - it's just like any other relationship, personal or professional. You're right. - Derek Curtis

Back to the question... having a way to monitor changes in conversation across multiple platforms is essential, whether through RSS or email notifications. Otherwise you'll be spending your entire day checking for new comments across the multiple channels. - Daniel Johnson, Jr.

I mean, if you're getting paid to do that, it's one thing. I feel, though, we're striving for more efficiency here. - Daniel Johnson, Jr.

@Daniel: Some communities really are confined to one platform. But increasingly these days, it seems, things are spreading out across multiple platforms - Bryan Person

Daniel - 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

@Martin - Should the platform have that much importance? It does if it creates barriers to people being able to freely chat. IMO, this vehicle created new barriers to me and I found I could not respond in adequate time. - Jeff Hurt

Jeff: Agreed that there were times that keeping up with all the messages was a bit of a challenge. I think (and hope) this will get easier in subsequent weeks. The difficulties could also have been because you were new to the platform? - Bryan Person

CmtyChat: Keith Burtis

Q: How are people measuring the effectiveness of their time spent community building?

July 17 - Comment - Like - Share

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Start with clearly stated objectives that are specific, measurable, realistic and time-bound - Lou Ordorica

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I often look at the number of people I get to email invitations to events. That list has been steadily growing since the beginning of the year. - Daniel Johnson, Jr.

How do you tie those objectives back to the bottom line - Keith Burtis

Work with your executive sponsor and find out the big dials that matter most. For example, is it supporting customer online? Generating new leads? Growing downloads? Etc. - Lou Ordorica

Look at what needles you're moving within the business and how it relates back to your goals. - Sonny Gill

I agree with Lou about identifying the dials that matter most, but what if the executive sponsor doesn't know him or herself? How to guide? - Daniel Johnson, Jr.

Great points, Lou, especially because those goals really can vary by company. - Bryan Person

@Martin Reed: how do you measure your effectiveness then, as a CM being self-employed? - Daniel Johnson, Jr.

in my opinion, yes - it is very important that these measures be set by the organization and be very specific to goals and objectives. My concern is that folks are measuring soft metrics that really have no value. ex: Community manager is the investment - Organization needs to see results from that investment. Engagement cant be taken to the bank. - Keith Burtis

I don't think it makes a difference. I still judge myself based on the activity I can encourage and the strength of member engagement. - Martin Reed

Again, unless Engagement has a value set to it, you cant show a Return on Investment...no? - Keith Burtis

It's the ROI vs Impact question. What numbers are important to demonstrate effectiveness? - Daniel Johnson, Jr.

I see the fruits of my labor in many ways. New members, community ownership, groups forming their own "welcome wagon" and creating tutorials for other members. That's just to name a few. - Angela

how exactly do you define 'effectiveness'? as in, I spent x hours working on programs and there are now y new community members? or posts? what's the criteria for effectiveness? - mark williams

Wouldn't the ROI be relative to the type of community, too? B2B vs. B2C vs. non-profit, etc.? - Teresa Basich

I guess a corollary to Keith's question is, "How does a CM contribute to an organization's bottom line?" (maybe just re-casting the question) - Daniel Johnson, Jr.

re: how to guide execs: use examples of how others are using the medium. Zappos is always good, as is Southwest Air. Give them 4 or 5 examples of how to use the tools and the media and let them say "I want to do what Pizza Hut is doing". - Derek Curtis

Or, how does a particular community itself contribute to an organization's bottom line? - Daniel Johnson, Jr.

Community Member, Engagement, Posts, are all sort metrics. let me give an example of how I measure it within my community of developers - Keith Burtis

If the person signing the checks isn't clear about what they are getting for their investment, that is a red flag. Sit down and have an open-ended discussion, ask about the pressing business issues, competitors that are keeping them up at night, and try to distill these to benefits related to your community efforts. - Lou Ordorica

or, is 'effectiveness' really measurable? If I help ONE person solve a big problem in an hour, am I more or less effective than if I solved 3 little problems in one hour? Do I have to constantly improve my 'effectiveness' in order to be effective? - mark williams

Lou - great point: use competitors as examples. I have done that with my employer, and it can really show them not only how but why. - Derek Curtis

In a community where customer longevity and loyalty is key, track community members spend. In a community of practice, like developers, every idea/innovation supports product development, corrals knowledge assets(not ROI exactly, but VALUE'), may reduce staff expenses. In a support community, leveraging peer support cuts staff costs. - Jenna Woodul

@DanielJohnson--yes...I htink that is a much better way to frame it...how does the community contribute? - mark williams

10 posts = Avg 100 new community members or Developers .... That 100 leads to 10 very Active Participants ..... of those 10 One new great application is built that leads back to sales and traffic for Best Buy. Those sales can be measured (ROI) the developer or community member makes affiliate income. (win, win) All measured.... the pipeline stays static while the tactics are fluid - Keith Burtis

What about internal communities? Measuring improvement in employee engagement scores? - Bill Free

Internal communities can contribute to employee efficiency and retention - also esprit de corps. Again, more in the Value department than the specific dollars. Often measured by surveys and feedback from participants. - Jenna Woodul

Derek -- absolutely. Just mentioning a successful competitor who is successful with community can shut down objections right-quick. - Lou Ordorica

The reason I bring this up is to let people understand that the CEO's and CMO's of the world dont measure kumbia, they measure dollars - Keith Burtis

I bet United Airlines would go for a little Kumbaya right about now. - Angela

Absolutely right, Keith, and a main reason I'm finding internal community a tough sell in my org. - Bill Free

I think coming up with a clear mission and value prop about how the community support the overall company vision is a good technique to build support and get buy-in for what you are doing. - Lou Ordorica

Lou, do you find it difficult, sometimes, for the company to define the purpose of their community? - Star Aasved

Great question, Star, particularly in a heads-down environment like we're in now where there's a huge internal focus on productivity. - Bill Free

If your finding it a tough sell, show where it WILL lead back to bottom line profits, more ales, increased awareness, etc... this is where people are falling off. Social media is much more than sitting on twitter and friendfeed. You need to build static pipelines that show effectiveness. See this photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos... blog post coming this week - Keith Burtis

Thanks, Keith, looking forward to it. - Bill Free

Nice Flickr graphic. Are those real or made-up numbers? - Bryan Person

Star Aasved -- Yes. The bigger the company, the more expectations and opinions you have to contend with. I think it's important to carefully pick your battles and make it clear what you WON'T do. Communities have been oversold, need to bring people back to earth. - Lou Ordorica

Keith, that Flickr link you posted is a private link that I'm not able to see. - Daniel Johnson, Jr.

Lou Ordorica

Twitter Chats - http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc...

June 19 from delicious - Comment - Like - Share

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wow - Daniel Johnson, Jr.

Lou Ordorica

Tapping into the network of unadvertised job openings - Jun. 10, 2009 - http://money.cnn.com/2009...

June 11 from delicious - Comment - Like - Share

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CmtyChat: Sonny Gill

#CmtyChat Q4 July 17, 2009: via Chuck Hemann - How do you convince a company/your boss that a community manager is needed?

July 17 - Comment - Like - Share

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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

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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

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

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

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

CmtyChat: Sonny Gill

#CmtyChat Q3 July 17, 2009: via Daniel Johnson - What skills are absolutely essential for effective CMs?

July 17 - Comment - Like - Share

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I think listening is one of the top skills required. - Star Aasved

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understanding of all communications, not just social media. listening is vital. personable is another. - Chuck Hemann

Multi-tasking, patience, dedication, commitment, tolerance, personable. - Martin Reed

An understanding of how communications/biz dev/marketing are tied into the CM role. - Sonny Gill

Authenticity and the humility to apologize - my personal experience. Learner's heart. - Daniel Johnson, Jr.

Being able to plot out what engagement/community can or will do for the organization's bottom line. - Teresa Basich

Ability to pull resources from any department within the organization - provide access by bringing the subject matter expert to the table. - Mike Whaling

really like the authenticity point from Daniel. It's easy to spot someone who is being "fake" - Chuck Hemann

The community manager must speak fluent Social Media as well as fluent traditional business. CM must be a good translator as well as creative. - Keith Burtis

Has to be able to represent management to the community and the community to management. - Jenna Woodul

@Keith - Good point. The traditional side of the business and how community management ties into the rest of your business' goals is important. - Sonny Gill

Diplomacy but not to the point of avoiding conflict at any cost. - Daniel Johnson, Jr.

@Keith - is that the ROI point? how do the CM's effots contribute to the bottom line? - Chuck Hemann

Great point, Jenna. Conduit between two sides. - Teresa Basich

Understanding company's goals, being able to translate those into implementation. - Star Aasved

@Jenna: Great take. Connie Bensen likes to say that a community manager is the voice of the company externally and the voice of the community internally. - Bryan Person

Everything ties back to ROI whether we like it or not...if you go to a senior exec and say..Ive had 15 conversations added 100 twitter followers and have 500 fans on friendfeed..they'll say..."Who cares?" - Keith Burtis

Thick skin. Tact. Empathy. The ability to communicate very effectively about positives and negatives. The written word is crucial. - Angela

How about effectively managing differing sets of expectations? - Daniel Johnson, Jr.

@Bryan - so they are a defacto company spokesperson then? How does that role diverge from a traditional media spokesperson? or do they work in harmony? - Chuck Hemann

BUT - if you can show the ACTIONS people are taking as a result of the community invlvemnt then you have a win win - Community = X (X=Y) - Keith Burtis

Fluidity. Ability to roll with changes, know when change is necessary and when change may not be the best course of action. - Star Aasved

But if you can illustrate to a senior Exec how you retained customers, changed a persons view, kept them around when they were leaving for good. Sent an email that turned them around completely, that works. You need the stories. - Angela

And here I thought the face of the company was the receptionist. ;) - Daniel Johnson, Jr.

Empathetic listening; ability to persuade with words; acting quickly and surely but never too hastily. - Kat Brennan

Great points Keith on ROI. Companies are looking for DIRECT returns, not fluff from social media numbers. - Sonny Gill

It would seem that measuring ROI in social media is the brass ring. - Daniel Johnson, Jr.

I agree with Keith that direct ROI metrics sell community, but I think they also exclude much of the value of community. We should educate c-level execs about the less direct and less tangible - but still very real - value in social transactions. - Jon Lebkowsky

Jon, yes - metrics only tell part of the story. - Star Aasved

Should we expect our CM to understand business metrics? Seems like a different skill set to me - Mark Sylvester

Daniel -- I remember going to a conference where a speaker emphasized using Return on Information as opposed to ROI. Took this advice, one of the bigger mistakes I've made. Lesson is always stick to the vocabulary and rules everyone else plays to. There is room for creativity, but not when it comes to hard-line numbers. - Lou Ordorica

Essential to understand business as well - Keith Burtis

CM doesn't need to be a business person, but definitely needs to understand the business goals of the community and how the community goals support them. Otherwise, the community is going to be short-lived. - Jenna Woodul

Two threads I'm picking up. One, CM is a hybrid position that requires a diverse skills portfolio. Very untraditional. Two, it all ties back to ROI. - Bill Free

@Mark I think CMs should understand business metrics, if it's not the case they might face more hurdles to do their work the best way. - Lilian Mahoukou

CM's MUST create meaningful metrics that align with the business, we can't be rogue warriors, having a business understanding and being accepted internally as a key player are very important. - Keith Burtis

After you have the meaningfull metrics set up benchmarks for yourself. This helps you proove your effectiveness. Once the internal reporting, meaningful metrics and benchmarks are set up you can go out into the wild and be creative. That pipeline of metrics ALWAYS stays the same. How you go about your community activities is fluid and moves with the industry - Keith Burtis

Business reporting and community building need to be inherently seperate....You NEVER want to look at your community, network or individuals in your community as numbers to convert. My biggest rule is: never approach a network or individual in a network with a one sided greedy objective - Keith Burtis

@Keith: Do you ever find it difficult to separate community building from business goals? - Bryan Person

@Bryan - the business goals remain static, once you set the pipeline up you tend to forget about it. So not really. I love the creative, passionate, and communal part of social media. I find that if my heart is in the right place and the business pipeline is set up then everything falls into place - Keith Burtis

@Bryan - the biggest fear I have when teaching people about ROI and traditiona;l business is that they will treat social media like traditional advertising and broadcasting. Thats why I say you need to be able to speak fluent business as well as have a massive understanding of the socil culture - Keith Burtis

Keith -- really like your thinking on the role of community building and CM in a business, shows how the role is evolving. - Lou Ordorica

Thanks Lou - Keith Burtis

CmtyChat: Keith Burtis

So many great people here! I will be sure to follow everyone in this chat :) Will also have to come back ad review this content. Moving at lightning speed.

July 17 - Comment - Like - Share

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Agreed - only my second week here but definitely not the last! - Derek Curtis

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Valuable stuff here. My first time here, I'm ashamed to admit! - Martin Reed

@Martin: First time on FriendFeed, you mean? I've been hit or miss here myself, but the platform does offer some advantages. - Bryan Person

@Bryan: First time on FriendFeed, first time in cmtychat! - Martin Reed

Also, the FriendFeed addition was a stroke of genius. Much easier to follow flow than via Twitter and hash tag. - Derek Curtis

Great to have you here, Martin! - Sonny Gill

It is fast. I've been in FF rooms before, but at conferences. Robert Scoble was running one at Converge South last year and sitting right in front of me . You know he is the king of FF. - Angela

@Angela: Robert Scoble is probably FriendFeed's biggest advocate. I'm already seeing some advantages and drawbacks. - Bryan Person

I agree @Bryan, there are drawbacks. - Angela

Friendfeed lets you post in > 140 characters, too, which I like! - Daniel Johnson, Jr.

That's a plus and minus as it's harder to keep up because we don't have the flexibility to read only 140 characters! Or maybe our minds are trained that way now? ;) - Sonny Gill

is the #cmtychat still going on at Twitter simultaneously? - Daniel Johnson, Jr.

@DanielJohnson: Not really, as far as I can see. Some people are retweeting some of the insights from here, but the bulk of the conversation is happening right here. - Bryan Person

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