I’m happy to announce I’ve agreed to take That Gaming Site on as a client. They’re a great group of kids that are passionate about what they’re doing. I love working on gaming sites and I think it will be a fun gig.
Since I started tweeting about what I’m making for supper I’ve had requests for recipes. To fill those requests I’ve started a food blog. It’s still very raw and ugly but it’s doing decent traffic for having been there a week. I strongly believe people should be cooking with their kids more and I hope to foster some of that. Once I’m settled in I’ll get it up to date.
And finally, I’m about to unplug the computer for a day or two while we move out of Bell County and into Austin. I thought Avery Ranch & Parmer was Round Rock but the mailing address says Austin. I’m still a rural girl at heart but I think I’m falling in love with Austin. Will be fun to live there for a while. It’s got a great vibe and the people are smart and friendly. And it’ll be great to no longer have to drive 120 mi round trip for Refresh and Social Media Club.
Since The Layoff I have become a Community Manager Job Hunting Pro. One thing I’ve noticed is so many companies are using so many different titles to describe the same job.
Community Manager
Community Relations Manager
Community Liaison
Community Support Manager
Social Network Coordinator
Social Network Facilitator
Social Media and Content Strategy Guru
Networking Ninja
Community Rock Star
Community Development Specialist
Community Engagement Specialist
Community Gardener
Community Representative
Community Coordinator
Community Strategist
Chief Community Officer
Community Curator
Community Director
Community Evangelist
Online Community Organizer
Director of Community
Merchant Evangelist
Online Networking Coordinator
Associate Producer
Director of Channel Partner Development to Leverage the Online Community Space (seriously)
Community Moderator
And of course the plain ole “Admin”
So many titles and yet none of them are inaccurate. (Well, Associate Producer is pushing it.) But it can make it difficult for the job seeker. If businesses themselves aren’t sure what they’re looking for, how will we?
What other job titles for Community Managers have you heard? What SHOULD we be using?
It was a bad day. Karma for my dishonesty. 6 months later I still miss that cat.
I had to wait all weekend to get the house I settled on because my old landlord wouldn’t fax them something that said I paid rent on time and wasn’t a craphead.
I would have gone with a different place if I had known I was going to have to wait. Each day in the hotel with meals is like $100. It’s been a week and a half now. Going crazy being locked up in 1 room with 2 kids and 2 animals.
He never did fax it so they wanted more of a deposit than before.
When filling out the lease they were going over the pet fee. I thought it was a $250 Deposit. It turned out to be a $250 PER PET Fee. $500 for the dog and cat. $100 per day if they catch you with a pet you didn’t tell them about.
I had told them about the dog, not the cat. I decided they might see the cat during move in stuff so I had better say something.
“We have a cat. But I would rather get rid of it than pay $250. So we’ll have a cat for like a week while I find a home for it.” Not telling them that the home would be ours. The secretary says “oh! I’m looking for a cat!”
oh…
Yeah, it’s a fat cat. A real brat.
“I love fat cats!”
Declawed. (Some people are violently against that.) Calico.
“Oh I had a calico cat growing up!”
*calls her husband and 5 year old to say she’s bringing home a cat*
fuck Continue Reading »
This is old and was originally written for forums, but since I attempted to rescue another declawed stray cat today I think it’s relevant.
Needed to get out for a while so I decided to take the girls to Carhenge.
When we got there, there was a cat laying in the parking lot. oh, nice. They have a mouser.
Go inside and buy friends some touristy crap.
Come back out, go over to check out Carhenge and there’s this girl swinging the cat around.
She puts it down, we ask if it’s her cat, she says no and runs off.
We go check out the cat. It’s laying down like it was in the parking lot and has it’s eyes half closed. I let it sniff me and the thing starts purring and wants to be rubbed. There was what I thought was a splinter on it’s shoulder, it was covered in blood, and it wouldn’t get up. I thought the poor thing was diseased and near death and I started to get the kids away from it. We started walking away and the kitty stood up and followed.
I couldn’t leave the poor thing out there so I took the chance and she let me pick her up. She’s declawed in the front so she was someone’s pet at some point.
Now I’d like to give people the benefit of the doubt and say maybe someone was traveling with this cat, it got out of the car when they stopped at Carhenge, either they couldn’t find it or they didn’t know it got out and he got left behind.
But if someone left a declawed in the country with no hope of catching anything or fending for itself just because they didn’t want it anymore… I wish very bad things on that person.
Picked up the cat and took it into the gift shop. Asked if anybody owned it and she said no. It had been out there for a while and was friendly but nobody ever claimed it. Asked if she cared if I took it and she said she’d be so happy. We bought some beef jerkey for the cat and it inhaled it. That was the only time it wanted out of my arms because it wanted at that food! Continue Reading »
In a recent meeting with a potential client I was asked what my most creative way of connecting with the users was. I think my most creative and effective way was pointed out to me by someone else.
When I was leaving CrowdGather one of the forum admins wrote me a very nice letter. Though we had disagreed more than once, he always knew I cared and had the best interest of the site in mind. He said he would always remember something I had done for one of the users.
In the off topic forum, a member was talking about how her youngest has having trouble with nightmares. My oldest had night terrors when she was little so it’s a soft spot for me. I was still living in Nebraska so I told her if she was comfortable with PMing me her mailing address I would run out to the reservation and and mail out a dreamcatcher that day.
My kids had fun picking out the perfect dreamcatcher in the member’s child’s favorite color. We got pictures of our trip and the things we saw. It became and very fun and interesting thread and was continued when her daughter received the Special, Authentic, Guaranteed To Work Dreamcatcher a few days later.
It was a little thing. Less than $20 and a couple of hours. Completely off topic from the theme of the site (Politics) and devoid of any company schwag. But in that little thing we gained a following of people who wanted to see how it turned out, goodwill not only from the mother but from other members who saw someone who cared, and loyalty from people who associate this site this a pleasant experience. It wasn’t an analyzed, ROI proving, marketing strategy stunt. I was just trying to help a little girl. These are a natural side effect of honestly and authentically caring about people.
It’s these little things that turn users into members. It’s what differentiates you from just another site in the void to a community.
I was interrupted so many times during my post about SxSWi I lost my groove. So instead, you get brilliant words from other people.
11 Ways to Lose Friends and Followers Online
Though #6 is crap. I follow people I’m interested in. I can’t keep track of everyone. If everyone followed everyone it would be a disorganized, meaningless mess. I want to make real connections.
My favorite new twitter tool is Who Should I Follow. It suggests users you would find interesting. Not just snowballed Twitter Celebs. People you might not find otherwise.
Why Poken needs a Community Manager
I don’t know what a Poken is, but I wish more companies had this kind of attitude. It’s what your customers want.
Twouble with Twitters
If you haven’t seen this yet you’re living under a rock, but this is why so many users are still on “old school” forums. Conversation. Some people still have interests outside of themselves.
Someone was asking me about a watercolor I have hanging in my home.
It’s a portrait of Pam and Jim from The Office kissing in the episode Casino Night. It was done by Joanna Barnum.
The Pam & Jim watercolor was part of a series she did of famous (if nerdy) couples. I’ve commissioned portraits from her before and always been happy. I love her style, and she’s pretty quick for it being custom work. I had one done as a gift for someone and I think it was the best reaction I’ve ever had from a present.
I recommend Joanna to anyone wanting custom artwork done.
Twestival was a hit. It raised almost $9,000 for charity:water. The music was great. I met a lot of awesome people. By far the best card I got all night was from Jungle Mclovin. I think it was the best time I’ve had since moving to the area 3 months ago. I hope it becomes an annual thing.
I am now working with a startup called Channelfuse as a Content and Community Manager. I’m currently laying the groundwork for Wheels Forum, Biker’s Forum, and Mobiles Forum. More will be launching in the next few months. I’m very happy to be back doing what I do best.
This weekend I met up with a user who I’ve “known” for +6 years. She informed me I’m not as scary in person. I don’t know if that’s a personality or a size thing.
It’s ok for the users to have a healthy fear of you, right? Goes along with the Forum Mom thing.
We’re less than a month from SxSWi. I’m really excited to see some of the people who will be in town and the conversations that will be had. We’re planning a Community Manager Meetup. Let Deb know if you’re interested.
Spring 2009 is feeling really good. New projects, new relationships, new things getting started and growing.
It is wrong I kind of like the creative spammers? Anybody can post a Wall Of Text about WoW gold. I like it when they put some effort into it. Finding them can be more of a challenge.
I’m especially tickled when one person uses more than one account to hold a conversation with themselves.
For example, on Democracy Forums we had someone make a first post:
My friend has been on the road a lot for her political nonprofit work. She has been eating a ton of fast food, which is just so unhealthy and wrong! I’m wondering, do you all maybe have a suggestion about how she can eat healthier on the road? I was thinking leftovers but they spill.
Someone replied, also a first post, telling them about an awesome new portable food storage system!
A quick look at the IPs revealed they were one in the same. In speaking with my admin on that forum he said “I thought it was some people who knew each other from another forum.”
As human verification systems get better, this kind of spam is happening more and more. We’ve all heard about the Belkin embarrassment. This jerk has gotten his crappy youtube vid half a million views by posting on any and all forums pretending to be a woman who just watched his movie and is so moved by it she has to tell others. He’s learned he can’t get away with it as a first post and makes a few small replies before starting the thread.
A very polite and friendly gentleman who often goes by Emma Smith (he has other names) posts to several of my forums. Shelly researched and learned he makes his money referring people to movies with redirects from his homepage.
I see job listings for this kind of spam often. SitePoint has listings anywhere from $0.10 to $5 per post.
We need an English speaking person, older than 25, capable of promoting a software product on forums, being a good psychologist, capable of writing things as if he were a client or prospective client, creating an overall positive atmosphere around the product. It is not a mere forum posting job, it is a real marketing job, reading into black pr post, making them be ruined by your positive remarks, speaking as 3-4 different persons, creating a plot (script) of the conversation in advance, starting new posts on IT forums and maintaining a positive image of the company throughout it.
This type of spam takes more effort than the bots, but it’s more likely to slip through. Not enough mods know how to identify it. People who have day jobs outside of the community aren’t always cynical enough to be suspicious and start investigating when a newer user mentions a product.
Make your mods aware. Don’t let the “SEO experts” target your community. As spammers get smarter, so must we.
This is an amazing example of how it should be done. Acknowledging the users requests as reasonable and valid. Taking the blame and admitting you goofed up. Learning from your mistakes and striving not to do it again.
CEO Jason Kilar understands that Hulu could have the greatest content on the internet, but it would be nothing if there weren’t users there to watch it. Community can make or break a site. Show them you don’t care and they’ll move on to someone who does. The internet magnifies The Rule of 10 exponentially.
The thing I hear most often from users is “It’s not what you do, it’s how you do it.” They WANT to know. They want to be in the loop. They want to be given a heads up before changes take place. They’re not as dumb as you think. They understand that life happens, and that business decisions have to be made. They just want to hear that you’re thinking about them when it does.
If you don’t the bloggers, the tweeters, the forum users will take it and snowball it into a far bigger issue than you imagined.
SXSW released it’s panel schedule.
I was planning on going before The Lay Off. Since I can’t, I’m googling the people who’s talks I would have attended. Is that cheating?
I really wanted to see Heather Champ’s Lessons in Community Management. Like, really really.
“The happiest people have vibrant social networks. In several studies of individuals with self-reported high well-being, the number one strategy used to raise mood and combat depression was ’social affiliation.’ People also report feeling happier when they are around others.”
I wonder how internet communities figure into that. People who don’t know how to get social IRL fill that void with forums?
Yeah. You know what, yeah, I do. I do want to express myself, okay. And I don’t need 37 pieces of flair to do it.
“Our client is looking for a Rock Star Air|Flex Developer”
“Network Ninja”
“Super Star Coder”
I don’t think these people know what they’re asking for.
I’m sorry, I’m not a Rock Star. I have no grandiose visions of myself. I’m a Community Manager. I work in my jammies. I’m approachable. I answer the phone at 8am on a Sunday. I remember to make a thread for you on your birthday. When I’m on vacation I send key users a post card. When you’re doing something necessary but ticks off the users, I defend you and take the heat. When you’re doing something that screws them over, I defend them. Your product or service is not my personal platform to advertise what a Super Star I am.
I love my job and I’m damned good at it. But it does not make me a Rock Star.
Empty, generic, blowing smoke up my ass phrases. I wouldn’t want to work with a bunch of people who have a big head just from Doing Their Job. Ego clashing would not make for good team work. Does this economy not make people realize how replaceable they are?
If you want to get me excited about your company, keep the fluff to yourself. With the amount of BS some of these people shovel they’re more sanitation workers than they are Ninjas.
I’ve found my happy medium in the often narcissistic world of social media.
I liken it to cars.
I love travel. For me, a car is always going to be a tool that gets me from Point A to Point B. There are cars I like more than others. Some are pleasing to look at, some are comfortable to settle in for a long drive, some are economical, some have features that are cool and useful, but essentially it’s just a tool that helps me get done what I want to get done.
There are people who are WAY into cars and can tell you every last minute detail of them. Turning a car into a kind of science. There’s those who mod cars and make them an art, a way to express themselves. There are people who use them as a… substitute. For areas in which they are lacking. A flashy car will vicariously make them cool. If they get the brightest or loudest or most expensive, they are better than the rest. But they’re really only impressing the other people who are shallow enough to think the same way. The rest bite their tongue in politeness.
I love people. I love talking and interacting and listening and learning. All of these social media sites are tools in my box to help me get that done. I CAN’T use these sites to be me Me ME. It’s not who I am. I can’t be one of those people who is evangelizing themselves. I would be a fake. But I love helping others. And some of these sites are darned handy. I *get* Twitter now. I hate writing cover letters, they’re about me. But I love to talk about Stuff and GoingOns.
I’ve moved beyond the compensating-for-their-shortcomings people who brought me into the field of social media. Being surrounded by “flashy car people” made me hate cars! With some breathing room, my own research and growth, I know I’m capable of being personable and friendly and evangelize a product or service without turning it into in your face Me-ness. “Product brought to you by Krist Eclectic’s Personal Brand!” I’m sorry. I’m just not that amazing.
And I’m sure there’s others like me out there. Others who love the information sharing but are turned off by the Look How Awesome I Am. I think The MBTI Blog is a great example. Breanne is awesome and friendly and likable. Her blog is about what she’s passionate about. And it’s not herself! You get to know her without it being shoved down your throat. I love reading it. If she recommends something, I’m going to check it out. I think she’s awesome despite her not constantly telling me how awesome she is.
In the same vein, I can’t be an Evangelist for Hire. If I don’t believe in your product and ideas, I’m not good enough of an actress to fake it.
I haven’t been plastering my resume as much as a laid off person possibly should. There’s quite a few Community Management jobs out there right now and I’ve selected just a few.
Whether they hire me or not, I’m excited about Blellow. Networking and Coworking for freelancers. Check out their design in their blog. Organized, simple, easy on the eyes without being boring. A design that makes sense. I’ll see you on their forums in February.
Also applied for a position with the Army. Social media for the troops. How cool is that? You know they have some interesting things to say. They already feel such a connection to each other it only makes sense. I’d just have to learn to rein in my mouth.
I got a very nice and unexpected offer from a blog on my Smarter Than Me list. I love reading them, but I’m sooo not qualified to write for them. I’d rather turn it down than try to fake it and eventually flake out.
In personal projects, I’m just waiting on my wireless adapter to get here and then I’ll have some How To vbull videos in the works. Their control panel can be confusing to navigate. I want to show new mods a KISS way to get stuff done.
Please forgive me that it will be a ‘How To’ and not a ‘Krist Eclectic Shows You How To!’
Mountain Cedar Allergy.
From December through February, many people experience an itchy, runny nose, sneezing, nasal blockage, excess tearing and itchy eyes. Others complain of itching of the palate, throat, or ears, and post-nasal drainage. Some have fatigue, mild headache, facial discomfort, sore throat, partial loss of sense of smell, and sensation of ear plugging.
In addition to making a person feel ill due to allergies, this condition can interfere in a variety of ways with carrying out one’s day to day responsibilities. Loss of sleep, limitation of activities, diminished productivity, poor concentration, emotional distress, irritability, fatigue, and practical problems such as repeated nose blowing and nose rubbing, all impact negatively on ability to carry out physical, social and work/school responsibilities effectively.
PlentyOfFish gets 1.2 billion page views/month
30+ Million Hits a Day (500 - 600 pages per second).
Has 5-10 times the click through rate of Facebook.
And is run on 5 servers
Consider this: Verizon, Blockbuster, Nike and the New York Times (all marquee brands) have launched their own custom apps on Facebook. Their combined active userbase is just shy of 10,000. So if you were to turn all four into a single application, it wouldn’t even rank in the top thousand apps on the site.
Facebook apps played out already? Then why are we pushing them so hard?
Unfriending online “friends” is emerging as the latest offense in the world of social networking. Users agonize over whom to friend (your mom? your ex-boyfriend? your boss?)”
Now, people who have accumulated hundreds, or in some cases more than a thousand, friends are cutting loose some of the ones they have lost touch with or who were little more than acquaintances from the start. It’s a shift from the days when users, eager to boast about their online popularity, added new friends with abandon, whether or not they really knew them.
Sometimes I’m too busy out being cool to blog about how cool I am. I’m taking advantage of this holiday weekend to catch up on some Me things.
I got so very sick of the snow and cold. I couldn’t do it another year. So we picked up and left. Got a Uhaul, packed it up myself, and drove to Texas without a place to live. It was a great adventure. The only sad parts were driving through Colorado in the dark (what a waste) and accidentally giving away our cat (that’s a story in itself).
We drove to San Angelo, TX first because I lived there as a child and loved it. Got a cabin at the KOA since they allow big dogs, a storage unit for our stuff, and started house hunting. Oddly enough, not a lot of rentals available the week before Thanksgiving. But the girls did get to see the house I lived in, the school I went to, the library I frequented, the parks I played at, and a lot of “This used to be a…” that they didn’t care about.
A quick look at craigslist showed the Killeen area was crazy with rentals. So again we pick up and go. Lived in a La Quinta for a week and got a cute little townhome in a 2,700 person town a little west of Belton. They let me have a 6 month lease so in June when all the college kids are trying to get out of their rentals hopefully I can jump on one. But honestly I’m not looking forward to moving again. That was an expensive empowerment and self esteem booster.
I’m so much happier down here. My neighbors are so nice and friendly. The weather is wonderful. It’s amazing how all these little things can improve your mood. I’m glad to be so close to Austin and I’m looking forward to picking up some classes and attending some workshops. I’m hoping I can fund attending SXSW. I’ve found a homeschooling group down there. We recently did a daytrip to Galveston and the girls got to see the ocean for the first time.
CrowdGather is laying off the entire community department. And while I’m sad for them, I’m excited for the new opportunities this opens up for me. Of course I’ll gladly finish out my contract with them, I love my users. But it was time. I’m ok with it and not worried. Even in this economy. When times are hard, it gives the people who don’t just skate through life a chance to really shine. A little bit of churn causes the cream to rise to the top. The competition is exciting. I’m feeling really positive about the future.
I just feel Good. I just need to find a new hair stylist so I can match the outside with the in.
I have 3 different things to write about rolling around my head and I need the uninterrupted time and uninterrupted brain power to do it. This time of year is far too busy.
I love Love LOVE working at home with my girls. But lord is it hard to get some uninterupted focused time to write. One “Moooom” and I forget the whole paragraph in my head.
Someone was asking me about a watercolor I have hanging in my home.
