Connie Bensen

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?

How many meetings have you sat through? Are some of them interminably long and you wonder why an email wasn’t just sent out? In my previous life I would drive 2 hrs one way for regional meetings that were four hours long. Sometimes it felt like that information could have been passed on in an email or two.

Working online has taught me a couple of things. Well really it’s only one: to be succinct! Long ago Jeremiah Owyang said he wouldn’t read my email if it was longer than a few bullet points. So the world has him to thank for my brevity in writing.

My newest skill is that I can call a team meeting and get everything accomplished in a half hour! For this I have my CEO, Aaron Newman, to thank. He’s not into meetings & we appreciate that. But they are a necessity for communication (especially considering my working remotely).

Then I happened up this article by Steve Roesler, Better Meetings, Better Leadership. I like the way he has divided meetings into 5 types based on the amount of participation expected. And he ties it into leadership skills. As a community leader stop & think about how you call meetings and what type are they? I’m putting my comments in parenthesis.

1. the Tell Mode – no participation is expected (umm send an email please)

2. the Sell Mode – in addition to telling, you want buy in (please take some time to make sure that the team is involved in the decision/policy! Then you won’t need to ask for buy in because they were part of creating the solution)

3. the Test Mode – you allow for some input (but this is sometimes met with apathy. Again make sure the team is involved in creating solutions)

4. the Consult Mode – you encourage participation & no decision has been made (note Steve comments that the leader listens. Aren’t these types of meetings more interesting to attend?)

5. the Join Mode – everyone arrives at a decision together (there’s nothing better than attending a meeting, participating, and feeling as if you’ve been heard & your input has been taken into account)

I see meetings as a place where we need to shift our organizations into being transparent and aspiring for the new culture that supports everyone being involved in social media and working with customers. The power shift is going to be away from the top down so will our meeting style need to reflect that?

If you’re leading meetings what type of message are you sending? And when you attend the various types of meetings, which type do you prefer?

Not too long ago, I was asked what my thoughts were on the difference between a thought leader and an influencer. This person is researching the topic, so I thought I’d do some surveying of my network.

It’s an interesting question & I knew my opinion so I asked my Twitterverse. It was exciting to see the conversation go on into the next day. And it stimulated a blog post along with the need for more twitter crowdsourcing.

Here are the responses:

barbchamberlain: @cbensen Not sure I can distinguish (quickly) between thought leader & influencer. Somehow 1st feels–more clean? Not as goal-oriented?

ariherzog: @cbensen Answering your question, @kenburbary considers me a thought leader but @adrielhampton considers me an influencer. Beats me, though.

jnswanson: @cbensen thought leaders? out front. Influencers? along side. Both are necessary.

conniecrosby: @cbensen A thought leader pulls together disparate ideas to find new thinking & directions, communicates it out to others (influencers) 1/2

conniecrosby: @cbensen Influencers are those who help to spread the new ideas, whether from the thought leaders or others. Could be same person, tho. 2/2

heatherrast: @cbensen An influencer can draw a crowd to hear his opinion. A thought leader inspires a crowd to listen, follow, adopt, discuss his work.

SocialMtgExpert: @cbensen …a thought leader be comfortable with their own way (even alone) whereas an influencer is desiring to bring others to their POV?

KTMacOnline: @cbensen a thought leader’s influence may be delayed until people get up to speed that she is on to something. Influencers’ power is now.

juliadalton: @cbensen Thought leader moves things forward and pushes innovation. An influencer, in my opinion, helps make innovations mainstream.

hyermish: @cbensen difference is thought leader has new ideas, influencer spreads ideas. Influencers can be thought leaders, but not always.

lucasclements: @cbensen Thought leaders are not dependent on crowds, influencers require them

missysisk: @cbensen to me, the distinction of an influencer is one that ignites discussion amongst a niche community.

JonBurg: @cbensen thought leaders guide/inform perception. Influencers inspire action. One person can be both, or one or the other.

skyhawke: @cbensen That’s easy. Influencers are akin to secondary research. Thought leaders are akin to primary research

JonBurg: @cbensen you can be a thought leader with readership but no social echo. Influencers generate echo.

This caused us to decide that we should categorize the types of influencers. But I agree that we should let the Twitterverse do it.

JonBurg was inspired to write a blog post on the topic & offers some categories to get us started.

Let us know your thoughts. We will continue to gather the results in a Twitter-tifically method. @AriHerzog & @RyanStephens have offered to help.

Have you been to the Facebook Group for Community Managers recently? There are many active discussions & people write interesting things on the wall! (as opposed to spam!).  There’s an interesting conversation on the topic of –  24/7?

Sometimes the conversation provides topics for me to blog on. Cristina is asking for help with her research for her Master’s studies. She asked:

If in a community the activity is high, the awareness and recognition of a tourism product will win good position on the net. How exactly? Which kind of activities are in your opinion the best for Destination Brand Placement?

Community activity creates content. That content is noticed by search engines. So an activity community contributes greatly to Search Engine Optimization. Activities in general can range from contests, polls, and interactive types of things. The more creative you are the better! Ultimately you want to encourage the community to get involved & draw out the lurkers.

On what do you put the focus regarding consumer opinions and participation: quantity of quality?

My answer is quality for user generated content. But there is also a goal to get everyone participating.

Which are your objectives as a community manager?

This varies greatly depending on the purpose of the community. In general, the role is to encourage participation, provide metrics, ensure growth & advocate for the customer.

Which variables do I have to take in consideration when analyzing results of the strategy? (for example in Tourism: number of visits on a touristic website, bookings etc.)
This depends on what your goals are? Once you identify the goals, then you’ll know what you should measure.

Can you give me examples for a specific touristic message focusing on a community?

A note of caution here – a community prefers to have the brand talking with them, rather than broadcasting messages. So I would prefer this question restated.

Nowadays, “group-software systems” (e.g. facebook) are the main tools for raising awareness towards a certain brand. Which social network are in your opinion the most important ones?

Now I’m going to call on my network to also respond. My friend Nando Llorando from Spain works in this field & is also located in Europe. Anyone else with ideas also please feel free to answer Christine’s questions either here or in Facebook.