I’ve been percolating on this graphic by Buzz Canuck for a while. (He explains each of the roles here but I assume this is fairly self-explanatory). It’s about corporate community managers but I think all of it can be applied to association community management – which if you think about it should actually be easier because we have a built-in community of members and stakeholders to work with.
I love his opening paragraph:
Community managers are the future host of your organization conversations – part corporate journalist, part PR person, part customer service, part likable, part sociable and enthusiastic face, part technologist, part Renaissance person and part brand fanatic, they are roles not easily configured inside companies currently.
Too true!
I’m currently interviewing three new association community managers for Associations Now: Todd Carpenter, Social Media Manager for the National Association of Realtors, Mike Templeton, Director of Social Media and Web Strategies for the Iowa Hospital Association, and Maggie McGary, Social Media and Community Specialist at the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. I believe the interview will be out in the October [UPDATE – November] issue, and I’ll point you to it when it does come out – I’ve asked them all about their first six months on the job and their answers are truly fascinating.
In the meantime, I’ll see if they would be willing to comment on where their roles might fit along this diagram.
What about your association? Is your organization starting to think about a creating a community manager role? How do you define it?
