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Pa network community manager
1. Community Management
A CRASH COURSE IN ONLINE FACILITATION
Susan Tenby
SusanTenby.com
@suzboop
https://www.linkedin.com/in/susantenby
2. Many Roles of the community manager
Public Face
Adding Personal Touch/ Trust element
Metrics and Sentiment: Listening for Organizational Health
Conversation Facilitator
Cheerleader
Volunteer Manager
Content Editor/Curator
Party Host
3. Benefits to Online Community
Facilitation
Give your members a meaningful place to connect between mtgs
Starting & archiving of thoughtful conversations for future reference
Provide value to your members
Geo-location is not an issue
Encourage affiliate topical sub-group membership
Encourage a members-only tone to community and lexicon
Get user input and buy-in
Procure relevant, dynamic and current content
Recruit Staff and Volunteers
4. Being a Community Manager
Own the space
Stick to a consistent TOS and refer to it when members misbehave
Help to moderate and close off-topic conversations
Cross-reference appropriate outside resources
Cultivate a community of stars
Benefit from the network by sharing your expertise
Have management mtgs with Star members to solicit their feedback
5. Profile Personalization
Create a rich profile with multiple points of contact and a picture
Encourage other members to do the same
Connect with other members on outside social networks
Not like this incomplete profile,
but at a minimum, post your
picture
6. Lead by Example
Create clear paths for members to excel up the ladder
New Member:
Lurker
Participant:
asker
Host:
answerer
8. Every member wants to feel like a
Rockstar
Ensure your VIPs (Very Important Participants) feel special.
Mention those who recommended them
Highlight the contributions of star members
Invite their ideas and feedback
9. Research and Share, close the loop
If a member asks a question, and you know the answer, answer it
If you don’t know the answer, reach out or look it up
The benefit to all members is important to remember – don’t just answer
to one person
The more rich and summarized the answer, the more value it is to the
community
Model this culture of generosity and helpfulness
10. No one wants to dance at an empty
party
Start conversation threads that encourage members to share
their expertise
“Is it ever OK to …?”
“Is … right about …?”
Has anyone tried…?
This type of question will perform well in a community of practice with experts
Share favorite resources regularly, as a generous gesture
11. Create Engaging Post titles
Helps to make problem more universal, not specific to one case
Don’t be too vague – be direct in the title
“Does Anyone know how to---?” questions tend to yield many responses
This one received no
engagement b/c it
required further reading
to understand the need
12. Mobile Version
A mobile version is available for your forum at panetwork.ning.com
When you find yourself updating Instagram or FB, peruse the forum
threads
Try adding images to your posts to capture scrolling reader’s attn
Forward thread feature
auto-populates with
subj and link – send
reminder to yrself
13. Introduce yourself and welcome others
Start a pinned/featured Introductions Thread
All of you should introduce yourselves
Encourage members to introduce themselves. Ask users to answer a fact
about themselves and their interest in PA work/network
Give new members a call to action, something to do
14. Create a culture in your community
Along with a TOS, there are cultural conventions unique to each
community
These include exclusive lexicon and traditional posting themes
Introduce regular, repeatable conventions
For ex, Thankful Thursday, to show gratitude to members
Or pick a specific resource-sharing day
Bring in monthly experts online to do Q&A online events
15. Advertise your community
Mention a join us link to the community in your Linkedin
Include a link in your sigline and use that signature when you want to
encourage other PAs to join
Encourage your up-and-coming members to share their community
participation with their own networks
16. Solicit Feedback
You can ask community members about specific topics that they may have
expertise in
But you can also solicit their feedback regarding what you all could do to
improve the PA Network
If you see posts with questions languishing, cross-post them to another
community and be sure to request that they answer on the PA Network
Email pitches : “Hey, I thought you may know the answer”
FB posts: “Hey Friends, who has an interior painter that they LOVE? “
….. AND LINK BACK TO PA NETWORK
17. Answering pre-asked Questions by Re-
Routing
If a question gets asked frequently, point the asker to the previous thread,
so multiple or “forked” threads do not occur on the same topic
Consider summarizing the replies into one blog post (written by one of the
moderators or community members)
Point future Q askers to this longer-form content
18. Bulletin Boards are another name for
Forums
Think of the community as a virtual town square
Encourage participants and community groups to share local
announcements, news, recommendations – not just questions
Share articles, reports, guides, presentations that you find useful
19. Most are Lurkers: Encourage them up
the ladder of engagement
On online discussion groups, some will post frequently, some will post
occasionally, and many will just "lurk" and never post at all, or send
questions or comments directly to you instead
Model the appropriate behavior by re-routing misguided questions
Build trust by answering openly and within 24 hours
20. Resources
Online Community Resources
Resources compiled or written by Nancy White
http://www.fullcirc.com/commresources.htm
thecommunitymanager.com
Free Online Community Management Resources On The Web - The Online Community Guide
There are a lot of free resources available on the web to help newcomers and experienced
professionals become better Community Mangers.
Online Facilitation
An online community on YahooGroups facilitated by Nancy White. It is a community for people that
facilitate/moderate online discussion groups, including communities of practice.
onlinefacilitation.wikispaces.com
A comprehensive resource by Nancy While on various, very specific aspects of building and
facilitating online communities.
Top 24 Communities for the Community Manager
by Jenn Pedde, at thecommunitymanager.com