Sue On The Web

A Community Manager Should Never Stop Learning

I truly am fascinated with the interaction of people online, it's one of the reasons I've been a community manager for almost 10 years. The last 6 months or so I have slowly come to the realization that I am good at what I do, and that the community management knowledge that I have accumulated over the years does have worth. I may not be as corporate savvy as some, but is that necessarily a disadvantage? Instead of having my head up in the clouds I have been down in the trenches getting myself dirty, and learning how people tick, but I felt I needed to be better at communicating that knowledge to others. So with that in mind I decided I would take some college classes and dust of some of my brain cells. I figured I've got all this junk going around in my head and I need to learn the tools of the trade to dig it all out.

So why am I waffling on about taking classes and learning new things? Well as we all know communities grow and evolve all the time. New members join, old members leave, the dynamics of the membership change and the site matures and adapts. So all this change means that as a community manager I need to grow with the needs of the community. To be ready for change, to anticipate the needs of the members and to act accordingly

When you've been with your community a long time, and watched it grow in size, its very easy to get stuck in your ways. The "if it's not broken, don't fix it" mentality is hard to break free from, especially if you are afraid that rocking the boat will result in something falling out. But if we don't learn new ways of doing things then the communities that are entrusted into our care will not flourish.

If you don't want to stretch your brain muscles in a classroom then instead learn from other community managers. Find out what works for them, what doesn't. Ask questions of others. Participate in communities for Online Community Managers, read some blogs, read some books. The most important thing is not where, or from whom we learn, but rather that we are open to new ideas and suggestions so that we can grow along with the communities we manage.

Attend a Social Media Conference .... Me?

Well I did it. Today I registered to attend my first Social Media Conference. Not a big deal you may be thinking, but for me it is. Not used to these types of events I will probably be doing less mingling, and more hiding in the shadows. I'm not really going for the mingling though, rather the chance to hear some great speakers. A couple of whom I follow on Twitter.

I've been quite jealous reading many blogs and tweets where people have attended some great social media conferences and shared their excitement and experiences. So I was chuffed to bits when I googled "Social Media Conferences" for the area where I live, and discovered an event that will be occurring in August. I was even more pleased when I learnt that two people I follow on Twitter will be also be attending as speakers. I follow these people because they are great ambassadors for Social Media and Online Community Managers, and I am looking to reach outside my box in order to learn some new ways that social media can help me become, not only, a better online community manager, but also a better communicator.

After all, even though the site I manage does not sell a product, or service, the community still has a "brand" and what better way to discover new ways of promoting and nurturing that "brand" than a social media conference. So I look forward to the first of what I hope will be many more social media conferences, and the hope that I'll learn lots of new things and maybe, just maybe I will learn to mingle now and again ;)

It ' s not 9 til 5

It's Sunday morning and I'm answering emails, and private messages from members and moderators asking questions. Online communities don't rest because its the weekend: they don't rest at 5pm, and they don't rest on public holidays, or at Christmas. As an online community manager you have to commit to managing your community 24/7, this role is not 9-5 Monday - Friday.

I've been doing this for almost 10 years so for me it's no big deal. In fact, I love what I do. I am passionate about online communities and enjoy immensely interacting with people in the virtual world, so it's no hardship for me to monitor my site everyday from early morning to very late at night. This means that if an issue arises I can react quickly to resolve them, which is what the majority of online community members expect. They don't want to have to wait until the next business day for someone to sort out their problem: they want it dealt with now. So even if you are not actively participating within your community during the "off-hours" you need to make sure that you are, at a minimum, monitoring it. Otherwise come Monday morning you may find your email in-box full of complaints and issues, and the next thing you know you are apologizing and putting out fires left, right and center.

If you are new to community management you really need to consider the amount of hours you are willing to dedicate to the job. It's not a 9 - 5, forty hour a week gig. At the end of the day, you get out what you put in. In other words your members and readers will notice, and appreciate a community manager who is there for them when they need them.