Connie Bensen

That’s the title that I have chosen for my new role at Alterian. For the past four months I’ve been the Chief Community Officer. I love that title because it encompasses my leadership across this broad range of areas at Techrigy:

• product marketing
• brand building
• product development
• training (team & customers)
• quality assurance
• customer service
• new business development
• sales (high level augmentation)
• operations

My vision is that the Community Manager should work cross functionally. As you can see, Aaron Newman, CEO of Techrigy, gave me much freedom in that regard. Our startup grew so fast (over 800% in 10 months) and I enjoyed taking the lead in scaling and putting processes into place as we needed them.

Now it is time to evolve my new role within Alterian. This past week I was introduced to people in many departments. It felt a bit like I was working cross functionally across two companies! Tomorrow I will travel to the UK to meet the various teams and start planning the integration.

I was asked to choose a title and they encouraged me to be creative. Does it matter? Well it does to me when I have to explain what’s on my business card. My friend & previous employer, Shashi Bellamkonda chose ‘Social Media Swami’. That’s a great conversation starter! And if you know @ShashiB, you know that it totally suits him!

I almost chose Director of Community Strategy and Choreography. Choreographer provides a nice visual of one leading a dance. But I wondered if it was too abstract?

So I went with ‘Director of Community Strategy and Architecture’. The ‘Community Strategy’ aligns with my personal brand. I think that that’s important. I’ve invested a lot in that & it’s equated with Connie Bensen.

I will put ‘Community Strategist and Architect’ on my business cards. Architect is a nice solid word for community builder. You know how I dislike the term Community Manager. I’m continually building community within my organization and without. Community Architect also encompasses the work that I’ll be continuing with SM2 as a product and my involvement in the social media industry. I’ll also be contributing to the integration of SM2 into Alterian’s products.

Is your title representative of what you do? Does it matter? What if you could choose one? What would best suit your philosophy and attitude?

Not long ago I had outlined how being a community manager is like being a parent. I’ve extended the analogy to my startup too. Techrigy was just a toddler when I joined the four others in October 2008. Together we have grown the Techrigy family (staff) and added extended family (customers). Our product, SM2 evolved, and it has been a really exciting 10 months for me filled with learning and much growth!

Last week we announced that our Techrigy family had been adopted (acquired) by Alterian, a company with analytical products for marketers. They intend to bring SM2 into the mainstream. It’s time for SM2 to come of age. Alterian’s three hundred strong has assumed our vision and will take it to the next level!

Before the announcement some of Alterian’s executives joined us at the home office to share their enthusiasm and vision for bringing us into their company. David Eldridge, CEO of Alterian summarized it best by saying that he wants to revolutionize marketing. If you’ve used a social media monitoring tool you know the power of bringing in online conversations and viewing the information in a variety of ways. There’s a learning curve but that’s part of what I enjoy so much about my job! There’s also a sense of unknown being on the leading edge. We’re going down a road that hasn’t been mapped yet!

Friends have asked me a number of questions & it’s easier to answer them here:

1. Will I have to relocate?

No! Alterian is a global company with people living where they live. When I was asked how I felt about travel, I said, “We have airports!”. I didn’t confess to not having iPhone access, but they use Blackberry’s. I am now connected with a global Tour! And I now have lots of motherships to visit.

• Techrigy headquarters will remain in Rochester, NY
• UK offices in Bristol & Newbury (I’m traveling there next week! )
• US office in Chicago – a one flight hop for me (I’ll be there last week of August)
• and they also have other US offices

2. Why did they choose Techrigy?

Alterian researched many companies and chose SM2 for a number of reasons:

• similar corporate culture (I love this one! more coming on this topic)
• similar selling geographies & use of partner channels
• similar approach to software innovation

And I must say I am so excited & pleased about the first & third. I’ve written about our culture at Techrigy & my contributions to that. And in the third case I’ve worked closely with customers to evolve SM2 to their needs. So I’m really proud of Techrigy’s being chosen & believe that it underlines the value of having a community manager. I’m also excited to join Alterian as we continue to evolve SM2!

3. Why did Techrigy choose to be acquired by Alterian?

We have built our brand and reputation on our technology & excellent customer service. We see a lot of potential in joining with Alterian’s sales channels & partners. Together we can do more and continue to offer a leading social media monitoring product as well as integrate it with Alterian’s products.

Mike Talbot, CTO at Alterian summarized it in his tweet last week:

4. What will my role be?

I wore a few hats at Techrigy (and no I can’t say that without smiling). My concern in being adopted by a new company was that I would have to ‘sell’ the use of social media. It’s apparent that I shouldn’t have been concerned at all! Everyone is very enthusiastic about getting involved in utilizing SM2 and social media so I have a new challenge of how to transition a B2B company into online engagement. The VP of Marketing has agreed that I can blog this journey, so you’ll get to learn along with us. How’s that for transparency?! I’m impressed that they not only want to lead the revolution in marketing, but also walk the talk. So we’ll do that! Stay tuned …

5.  How will this affect our customers?

As mentioned previously, our customers are our number one priority. There are going to be so many benefits! We are already offering more resources:

• http://training.techrigy.com Check out the downloadable workbook! It rocks!!
• Webinars on SM2 starting next week – come see what it’s all about
• Faster evolution of the product to meet customer’s needs

So our Techrigy SM2 is growing up! And I’ll be taking the community building strategy that has been working well at Techrigy and applying it at a corporate level. I always enjoy the  challenge of taking things to a new level!

What questions do you have?

Next week I’ll be in London for the early part of the week.

On Tues I’m presenting at a Social Media Seminar in Covent Garden hosted by

Tuesday evening would be perfect for a meetup if you’re in the London area.

Drop me an email at conniebensen @ gmail.com or leave a comment here.

My husband & I were in London a year ago for a vacation & I really look forward to visiting your city again!

Upcoming:

In the end of August I’ll be in Chicago speaking at the Alterian summit… more info coming on that! I’ve just started to see their products and they’re amazing tools for marketers! (Alterian recently acquired my company, Techrigy).

I’m excited to finally be able to announce my news! I have a new role, a new company and new challenges! And even better news is that I will continue my role with my Techrigy team.

How will I accomplish all that? No, I haven’t succeeded in cloning myself (much as I’ve tried!). The answer is simple: Techrigy has been acquired by Alterian, a leading integrated marketing platform  provider. Alterian specializes in providing tools for marketers with robust analytics and at Techrigy we have a leading social media monitoring and analytics tool. Techrigy SM2 will provide a complimentary fourth component to Alterian’s three product lines: Email, Web Content Management, Analytics (Database & Operational Marketing).

The acquisition means a lot of things. It will provide our customers with more training resources, 24/7 customer service, enhanced product development and so much more! I have never minded working 7 days a week, but it will be nice to have help in supporting our customers worldwide. Our growth rate has been incredible.

And I am really excited to be joining a company that not only recognizes that there is a marketing revolution happening, but who want to be a part of that revolution!Their vision is to shift mass marketing into an individualized engagement experience. I have noticed at conferences this year that there is a definite focus on the importance of quantifying interactions. And I have been incorporating that aspect into my presentations too. It’s apparent that there is much value in engaging in social media, but without metrics behind it, it’s very difficult to justify it. Alterian’s tools combined with Techrigy SM2 will offer communications professionals the opportunity to engage with consumers as individuals across multiple channels. That’s a mouthful and can be summarized with: Two leading companies are joining to provide best in class tools for their marketing & PR efforts!

My role will be twofold.

• I will continue to work with my Techrigy team as we move forward and integrate into the Alterian family
• And I will be helping Alterian build Community (It’s one of my favorite things to do!   )

I’m really looking forward to this new chapter as Techrigy transitions into Alterian. We share the same philosophy & I foresee a bright future! We are going to ROCK it!

Questions on Alterian’s products or Techrigy’s SM2? Let me know.