Community Manager Appreciation Day: We're Giving Away 2 Kno Tablets

[Eric Suesz]

One of the great things about living and working in Silicon Valley is that from time to time we get to meet people who are working on a truly cutting-edge product that has the potential to transform, well, just about everything. We ran into one of these products recently. It’s called the Kno. You may not have heard of it, but you will soon. The folks who make this hard-to-get Kno tablet have been kind enough to provide us with two of them, which we want to give away to two people here on Creators! Read on for all the details, and check out the Kno. — Jason Rosenthal, CEO, Ning

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Next Monday is the second annual celebration of Community Manager Appreciation Day all across the Internet.

Last year, I pasted Internet High-Fives into conversations and profiles of community manager types I know as a way to recognize all their hard work. It was great fun. This year, I’m proud to say that we can do better.

The fine folks who make the Kno tablet computer have graciously donated two of their upcoming tablet computers to our cause: recognizing people who devote their time to encouraging online conversation and activity — just like you do every day on your Ning Network. As the head of your own social network, you are essentially the community manager of your own site. This is your chance to share your expertise — and get a shot at winning a tablet computer.

You’ve undoubtedly had a ton of experience growing and shaping the conversation on your Ning Network. As your entry in this contest to win a Kno tablet, tell us...

What’s the single best piece of advice you can give to a new community manager?

How this contest works

• You can submit an entry by simply replying to this discussion with a piece of good advice for a new community manager. One sentence works. A few more if necessary. 
• Witty, insightful, funny, serious, straightforward? It's up to you. Whatever you think is compelling.
• One entry = one reply: Please only one reply per person. Multiple entries will be disqualified.
• Enter early but not often. No do-overs!
• Network Creators only, please. Admins are not eligible.
• This contest begins now and will end at midnight (PST) Monday, January 24th.
• On January 25th, we’ll close this discussion, gather the responses, and force our CEO to choose only the two best pieces of advice.
• We’ll announce the winner here on Creators on or around January 28.
• We’ll also update this discussion with the results, so you’ll be automatically notified since you’re following this discussion.
• We’ll contact the winners before announcing the results, so rest assured that if you win, we’ll track you down!

Good luck! Our hope is that everyone will get a good nugget of advice out of this community-based contest. 

[Jen]

Don't "go all" emotional when dealing with your members and their discussions. It never works, and will always lead to a bad ending. In other words, think before you comment or react. And, if possible - - sleep on it if you're hot under the collar.

 

Like I said, don't "go all" emotional.
Hope that helps a new Community Manager, somewhere...

Best Regards,

Jen

[Tim]

As NC, behave the way you'd like your members to be; a frequent contributor, open, listening, engaged and don't take yourself too seriously!

[Alissa Lynne]

Realize that people will come and go from your social network, do not panic - look into it when there is a wave of people leaving - surveys help when they are short and to the point...

[Anthony]

I know I'm not going to win but hay, anything for the team.  I vote KNO, I think its a useful tech.

Regards community management, all I can say is never give up, keep moving forward because you never know what will make your community excel to the next level. It could be a blog post that goes super viral or it could be a new feature yet to be released.

[Garfield Creator]

Resist the temptation to lead purely on your own instincts. Seek out user feedback/empirical information as well as best practices from those who have achieved the kind of success you are hoping to attain. However, this does not mean you can't add your own unique touch when finally making use of this information.

[Agosthina]

Be yourself! Never give up. If you do that you will always come out on top.

[James Hawkins]

For a new community manager/creator I would recommend that they concentrate on providing/presenting quality content that is both thoughtful and thought provoking.  ... That some of this content can come from an outside source (not only you or members) and like a speech, it can add credibility to the presentation if it is attributed to the source and if it is relevant. The content you post should be aimed to inspire thought, comment and discussion. That will bring the members back for interaction and will encourage them to post their own content. "Build" it and they will come.

[Vipster]

Target your audience geographically. Remember that Facebook is about social networking (people you already know), while Ning is an ideal platform for social discovery (people you haven't met yet). Social discovery works best when done on a local level where people can make business and social contacts they can connect with both online and off.

[AMZ]

Don't be the same be different strive for something unique and original (What makes you different from everyone else )Be the best and don't worry about members first you must create content in order to keep members active so once that's done and you feel like your content is  loaded and ready to rock.Go ahead and begin working on Getting members by ads or just talking to some friends and other sites to get things started.

 

A Community can't just be built it must Grow

[Mongo]

Groups are great tools for gathering and educating subsets of your Ning network audience. But Ning Groups can also be used as private client meeting rooms:

1. Brainstorm ideas with clients

2. Provide reporting on your activities

3. Store marketing plans and formatted keyword sets

4. Build dashboards for easier web navigation

 

How do you use private groups?