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An interview with Christopher Pappas, community manager of the Instructional Design and ELearning Professionals Group at LinkedIn, on the role of the community manager: http://bit.ly/ja23TV What Is a Community Manager?: http://bit.ly/r5IfdX
10 Commandments for Community Managers: http://bit.ly/n6BYiO The Certified Meeting Professional (CMP) is a registered trademark of the Convention Industry Council.
each other will need a very different platform from a com- munity of those affected by cancer looking to share their experience with each other. Unless you have a specific need for some unusual feature
(maybe you want your audience to co-write stories, for example), then use something simple. Use a mailing list, white-label package, or a forum. If you have a developer handy, you might like to use an open-source platform like Drupal, Joomla, or BuddyPress. AM: In terms of engagement and participation in your online community, I’d be careful about building it around one spe- cific event, as community building is a long-term process. You could build it around the event name, or even a broader topic. You could consider building it around an existing industry or association where the broader appeal exists.
How do you measure engagement? RM: Let’s split this into two parts: How do you measure the health of a community? How do you measure the ROI of a community? Engagement is a fuzzy term that has different meanings to different people. Let’s begin with the health of the community. You can use
“There is a ‘build it and they will come’ philosophy,which is guaran- teed to fail. Don’t use junior resources —community management often involves conflict resolution and risk mitigation. Remember to reward and encourage positive behavior more than you reprimand bad behavior.”
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the Lithium Community Health Index if you like here. Broadly, you need to track the growth, activity, and develop- ment of the community. The growth includes how many people are joining the community. The engagement measures how often people participate in the community, and the development tracks the psychological sense of community.
What are the latest technologies/programs/apps that increase the level of sharing among members of a community? RM: I generally feel that most technological developments are a distraction. Why a community manager would set up a Google+ account is beyond me. There are simply too many bigger things to focus on right now. It’s rare that technology is a solution to any community problems. The problems are usually your own interactions and something you’re doing wrong. Most of the successful online communities today use the simplest platforms. It's the organizations that try to do something fanciful that usually create platforms their com- munity doesn’t know how to use.
What are some of the common mistakes—i.e., teachable moments—you have seen among those who manage online communities? AM: Neglecting the page/community. It takes dedicated resources, time, and commitment to build a community. There is a “build it and they will come” philosophy, which is guaranteed to fail. Don’t use junior resources—community management often involves conflict resolution and risk miti- gation. Remember to reward and encourage positive behav- ior more than you reprimand bad behavior. Enforce the rules and set the tone for the community in its early stages, before it’s too late.
Michelle Russell is editor in chiefof Convene. The CMP (Certification Made Possible) Series is sponsored by Tourisme Montréal, www.tourisme-montreal.org.