Community Manager Appreciation Day is January 28th!  In honor of Community Manager Appreciation Day, we decided to dedicate a blogpost to highlight words of wisdom, inspiration and passion from some of our premier Community Managers.  As you consider your company's journey in Enterprise Social Collaboration, join us as we take a look back at the success these Community Managers have achieved personally and as leaders of their companies' collaboration strategies.

Ashley, Dawn, Rashida and Lori all agree they have provided significant value to their businesses by taking on the role of a Community Manager.  Companies struggle with developing a cohesive internal and external social collaboration strategy and as Rashida states, companies need "someone to plan the strategy for [their social collaboration ecosystem]" to ensure a return on engagement.  In addition, Dawn states "Social continues to change, and having a dedicated person to keep her pulse on the movement is imperative."  In a quickly evolving and changing industry companies need an expert to guide them in their social evolution.  The value gained from Community Managers is not limited to the company; those who take on this role have the rare opportunity to define a completely new strategy for their company, acting as mentor and guide giving them the opportunity to leave a legacy.  Ashley sees this role as her opportunity to directly impact the future of how Rural Sourcing communicates.  She states "As a long-time social media advocate, it was beneficial to me to pursue the role as our Community Manager because I saw utilizing an Enterprise Social Network, such as Yammer, as something that could take our company's internal communications to the next level."

Meet Ashley Gross: Rural Sourcing, Inc.’s Marketing Manager; Ashley oversees all external and internal marketing efforts, including event planning, tradeshows and execution of the company’s social media outlets and spreading the word about her company across the industry.  When her company approached her with a request to take on the additional role as Community Manager, she saw an opportunity to build a legacy she could look back on and be proud of. Looking back at the community Ashley built, she is energized by the results she has been able to achieve.  Under her leadership, Rural Sourcing’s Yammer Community grew from 40 members to 115 members and achieved 94% engagement.  “To say it’s been an exciting journey is an understatement.  I truly believe in the power of enterprise social networks and the impact they have on a company.  [For Rural Sourcing she has created a sense] of one-unified organization, though we are spread across different offices and states, [Rural Sourcing’s ESN] has helped enrich our daily work lives through connecting us with our colleagues on a deeper level.”

Meet Dawn Gartin: Manhattan Associates Inc.’s Collaboration Manager; Dawn contributes to the company’s strategy and solutions to proactively introduce new ideas for customers, she is the company’s trusted advisor helping them to define and execute their collaboration strategies.  Prior to joining Manhattan, Dawn provided consultative services to a variety of companies focusing on building a community by advancing communication and collaboration, assisting with social campaigns to educate, inspire and get the desired results.Dawn is inspired by the future possibilities the advancements in technology will give to companies all around the world.  In recent years, Dawn “became fascinated with ‘real time’ delivery and instant satisfaction.  With the advancement of mobile and the open API concepts, I could see all kinds of possibilities in the world of marketing, training and beyond.” Dawn’s role as a Community Manager is “building the foundation of new business teamwork.”

Meet Rashida Powell: an internal communications leader at Cbeyond where she develops communication strategies that connect employees with business goals, drive behaviors and increase engagement on social enterprise tools.  Prior to this role, she served as Community Manager for external networks, she loved the aspect of carrying out the voice of a brand, interacting with the diverse groups of people she met via a social network and standing back to "watch them interact with each other".  This role continued to give her the opportunity to develop strategies and try out new tactics, and watching the results unfold.

Meet Lori Kasserman: a creative thinker and corporate communicator at Southern Company – one of the largest generators of electricity in the nation. Her work is focused on driving the company’s use of social media and developing and delivering digital content for internal and external audiences. In addition to being the voice of the company’s social accounts, Lori is also community manager of the company's Yammer network. 

Being Passionate about Community Management: Rashida is passionate about anything facilitating communication “and Enterprise Social Networks do just that.”   She is excited by the challenge of keeping people engaged through the training and strategies she delivers to Cbeyond.  In addition, the opportunity to “help keep a human element in the workplace” for her colleagues is an important aspect of her role where she directly contributes to improving the lives of those around her.Lori has worked at Southern Company for over a decade and Yammer is the first tool that allows employees to make connections across geographic boundaries. With Yammer, someone at a small local office suddenly has access to the collective knowledge or thousands. "Seeing these connections - over and over" is what continues to inspire her and her work. In Lori's words, through Southern Company's Enterprise Social Network, "I can better understand issues and relate to employee concerns. Externally, it makes me a better representative of our company culture."

Pro-Tips:Tips from the professionals you can apply to your own network:

From Ashley:

• Guide Executives to actively Engage:  For engagement from executives, it's a great idea to outline a weekly schedule plan with them for engaging on Yammer. Executives' time is precious. When you give them a specific time of day to post or spend 30 minutes responding to others, they are more likely to follow through, engage, and turn the pattern into a routine. 
• It's a Marathon, not a Sprint: The journey to network-wide adoption and engagement is a marathon not a sprint. Some networks will catch on right away but most will need constant massaging and planning and execution of engagement events to get the wheels rolling. Don't get frustrated or give up if you don't see the engagement numbers you were hoping for right away. They will come.

 
From Rashida:

• Start with strategy: The first thing many people on the outside see when they think of a social media/social enterprise site is: FUN. But when used strategically, these tools are more than just fun; Strategy helps us tie what we do into the company’s business goals and accomplishments. Create a strategy for everything you do as a Community Manager and make sure your activities align with and support the company’s overall objectives. 
• Build relationships offline too: Being a community manager requires a lot of energy and personality and it’s important to keep that energy and personality going when interacting with people in person – especially if they know you are the voice behind the tools, and especially if you manage an internal community. People are often searching for that same personae they get from you online – when they interact with you in person.  

From Dawn:

• Social is a PARTY - as a Community Manager you need to Plan, Act, Reply Test and You Measure

From Lori: 

• Don't control the conversation, enable it. Effective community managers are constantly on the lookout for opportunities to connect questions with answers. They don't have to have all the answers, but should be resourceful and have throuough knowledge of the company structure and where to find the experts.
• Passion is paramount. Whether internal or external - your community manager is the living, breathing symbol of your brand. It's essential that the community manager cares about your company, understands key issues, and follows industry trends.  

And please don't forget these fantastic women sharing their insights at the TAG Social & TAG Young Professionals meeting Tuesday, February 12, 2013. Learn more @

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