A Word From Vanilla’s
Head of Community
I am so proud to be able to share this
to look forward to 2022. However, there
7th edition of our predictions piece. It
are things that have irrevocably changed.
has undergone so much change, and yet
fundamentally, the spirit is still the same.
Many of us are no longer remote by
circumstance but instead, by choice.
Our goal wasn’t to be prognosticators to
There are questions on how in-person
say with certainty what will happen - it
community events will happen, if hybrid
has always been and will continue to be
events will be a part of the foreseeable
a collective reflection on what matters in
future?
the spaces we create.
We’re watching, in real time, a transition
In these pages, we asked those with their
in which experience is now being led
ears to the ground and their hearts open
by customer success - an initiative in
to share what they see as important.
which the customer is prioritized rather
More than anything, they are answering:
than the company and how community
What are the things that are or should
is becoming central to the Centers of
be top of mind for any one building
Excellence. It’s an exciting time to see
communities in the year ahead and
community as a discipline thrive.
where do we go from here?
Companies are not just giving lip service
As I wrote from my basement last year
to the idea of community but are hiring
in isolation, with hopes of better things
for the role in a meaningful way. I can’t
to come, we have indeed seen things
recall ever seeing so many fantastic
change for the better. Vaccination rates
community roles opening up in all my
are up, shops have reopened, gatherings
years doing this.
are happening.
There are many reasons to be happy and
These aren’t after-thought jobs added to
the marketing managers’ responsibilities
2
but significant, established roles with
authority in the company. It tells me the
future of community building is strong.
There are so many more big ideas and
things to consider for the year ahead,
and I don’t want to keep you any further
from jumping in. Thanks to all our
contributors for sharing so openly with
us. And lastly, thanks to our team, who
keep raising the bar on this ebook every
year.
I wish you all strong and healthy
communities in the year ahead. May this
ebook bring you some inspiration to fuel
some excitement and creativity.
Cheers!
Adrian Speyer
Head of Community
Vanilla Forums
3
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Intro:
A Word From Vanilla’s Head of Community
2
Chapter 1:
Community in the New Normal
5
Chapter 2:
The Growth of Community Career Paths
7
Chapter 3:
Community Moving Beyond Transactional Support
12
Chapter 4:
Community Moving from Marketing to Customer Success
17
Chapter 5:
Community as Part of the Center of Excellence (CoE)
21
Chapter 6:
Better Assessment on Community Value and ROI
25
Chapter 7:
Attention and Action on Diversity and Inclusion
29
Chapter 8:
Making Community Accessible to All 33
Chapter 9:
Hybrid Events - In-Person and Virtual 37
Chapter 10:
Automation and AI to Scale Operations 42
Chapter 11:
Meet the experts
46
1
Community in the
New Normal
The coming year is one that we’re all anxiously
experience.” Though we’ve seen such growth
awaiting. What does it look like, and where
over the last few years, there is still ample space
do we fit within it? With so much uncertainty
for community to shine even more.
throughout the last two years it would be so
lovely to enter into 2022 with some positivity, so
with that in mind, we promise that there’s not
one mention of the word ‘unprecendented’ in
this entire book. Apart from that one, oops.
Though 2022 may be unknown, you can rest
assured that there are plenty of great things
to come! Community has had a steller couple
of years; it’s become a staple part of many
organizations and it’s only set to grow stronger
and stronger.
What does the community world look like in this
‘new normal’ we’re facing?
Well, to put it lightly, It seems as though
community is set to become a fully fledged
beast.
Jeff Breunsbach of Grow Gain Retain thinks that
2022 is the year that community really comes
into its own; “The new normal is going to suit
community, we’ve seen the impact it can create
through chaos, and now as things begin to calm,
we’re only going to see more and more value
garnered. Especially in the customer success
space.”
Rav Singh of Reckon Limited explained that the
coming year will see community “really excel
in the new normal of an end-to-end brand
Is it all rosy for community in 2022?
The new normal for community is looking great
in many aspects, but there will be some barriers
that we need to break to see evolution in 2022.
As it evolves, community is going to face bigger
challenges, and overcome bigger hurdles to
continue to prove its worth.
What do these challenges look like?
“People will be online a lot less,” Esther Heide
said. The fact of the matter is that we’re moving
back to reality and being in front of a screen
will no longer be our only option. “What will
make people give a part of their digital time?”
Jayashree Rajogpalan asked.
There’s a real test awaiting us when it comes
to keeping people online. In our new normal,
ensuring that people want to visit and engage
with communities is set to be the obstacle of
the year.
“We have to ensure we’re providing real value
to the lives of people,” Esther said, and that
is ultimately going to be the goal of each and
every community builder out there.
With that being said, community growth within
an organization is inevitable. In the new year,
5
and beyond, there will be so many amazing
opportunities for community builders that
simply didn’t exist prior to the pandemic.
Though Covid-19 has negatively impacted us
all in so many ways, the silver lining is that
community valuation has been expedited and
as a professional community there is so much
to be grateful for.
So without further ado, let’s break down the
coming year and see what our contributors had
to say about the future of community.
6
The Growth of the
Community Career Path
“
2
“Leadership teams across companies witnessed parts of
their organizations struggle with performance, engagement
or productivity due to the pandemic yet, community teams
remained resilient; they were able to shift their strategy, engage
their audiences, and help to create a support system way beyond
Lauren Krawitz, Qualtrics
”
any business objectives.”
The community professional’s career path has
job titles with clarity, relevant responsibilities,
never been linear or lucrative. There has been
and recognition for you, could be considered
a trend of people starting out in marketing or
wishful thinking but actually, there is a lot of
success or product and moving unwittingly into
data to justify the aspirations.
community management or those who have
striven to run communities that have been
classed as minor players in an organization’s
success.
But, No More! 2022 looks set to be a significant
turning point in the community professional
career path. Less banging on a dense ceiling,
more breaking through and showing your
worth!
The pandemic, despite all the damage it has
caused, can be thanked for some things; being
a catalyst to prove the value of the community
professional’s work is one of them.
This prediction is an all out onion and there are
several layers to peel back. Let’s delve into
1) the changing structure of the community
professional role, 2) the evolution of the
community team’s place in the organization,
and 3) the rise of the CCO, the Chief Community
Officer that is.
So how do our experts feel about community
career paths going into 2022? Pretty darn
optimistic! This was my personal favourite
prediction to write about - there is so much
opportunity out there and so much growth for
a profession that is still undervalued.
The Growth of the Community Career Path, with
7
1) The changing structure of the
community professional role
Carrie Melissa Jones recounts happening on
According to CMX research, in 2020, only 10% of
Manager was not my title. I had to convince my
companies had two full-time community team
boss that’s what I should be called.”
this as a career! “In my first role, Community
members. In April 2021, that grew a huge 50%.
Community teams are no longer expected to be
one person covering all the bases, all the time.
Organizations have been realizing the need to
treat community as a real program; to ensure
there is someone who is strategizing, someone
who is analyzing, managing, and someone who
is even directing.
“I think more descriptive roles and
repsponsbilites might be more evident in the
next 5 years rather than in 2022. I haven’t seen
that clarification yet but I would love to be
proven wrong!” said Jenny Weigle.
There’s a strong sense of hope that she is, in
fact, wrong.
https://cmxhub.com/an-introduction-to-the-community-career-path/
With thanks to organizations like Community
Club and Comssor, job boards have dozens
What does this mean for the structure of the
community role? It means that over the coming
year we are going to see a more specific set of
job titles and responsibilities that go along with
them.
and dozens of ads that are super oriented.
There is now “clear cohesion for people and
opportunities to move into VP, Director, and
other senior positions,” says Silvano.
There is a rise in the differentiation between
Approximately how many full-time employees work
on your community team? [YOY Comparison]
2021
2021
roles and responsibilities thus far, but it hasn’t
really crossed the industry as a whole.
30%
34%
46%
“We’re at the point where the difference
41%
12%
9%
9%
7%
4%
9%
between social and community manager is still
not clear . . . but the larger a company gets, the
more important it is to define the role,” says
Esther Heide.
At one point, Rachael Silvano made up a job
Something she is certain of is that, though the
title. As a “Online Community Tactician” she was
CMGR position is set for a definition overhaul,
making a statement about the importance of
community professionals will still be expected
tactics in the Community Space. Over time, she
to offer up ‘every part of the buffalo’ so to speak
realized that “if no one knows what your job
- they will always remain a multi-tasker and a
is, does it mean anything at all?” Now working
high performer.
under the title of Manager of Community
Programs, she has seen her role become much
Carrie Melissa Jones is “determined that there
more universally understood.
will be better definitions. It’s a big thing I’m
8
working on for 2022 but it’s going to have to
As we move into 2022, the pandemic is no
come from community professionals who
longer going to be the driving force of the
have standards to back up their ideas.”
“community wave” it will be the people who
With better definitions and clearer cohesion
of what a role entails, it opens up the path to
more straightforward opportunities. Working
for 10 years in community will no longer mean
stagnation, it will mean options, growth, more
proficient leadership.
But the question on everyone’s mind is does
it mean a more representative salary? A quick
search on Glassdoor (CA) doesn’t exactly give
a clear picture on what people can expect. The
average salary spans a massive range - from
36,000 to almost 3 times that, 90,000 CAD.
Without a solid understanding of what a role
really requires, it’s difficult to garner real insight
into what a community professional should
actually be paid but there is hope that it will
become clearer and clearer.
work in community and bring forth the true
value of what community can be for both
customers and businesses alike. Community
folk will drive the restructuring of the
community role redefining what it means, and
what it’s worth to work in the industry.
2) The evolution of the community team’s
place in an organization
In 2015 when the TeamViewer community
launched, Esther Heide worked alone and
reported to Customer Support. She was
the community team. Come 2020, this had
expanded to a team of 5 people, each with their
own unique role in the community.
But that’s not the kicker. On the day we began
our Predictions conversation, Esther was lucky
enough to hire another team member. This one
had been hired into an official sub department!
“The skillset is so defined and the number of
The TeamViewer team is growing and actually
people who can do it is really limited. There’s a
taking up space within the organization. Esther
supply and demand imbalance we need to take
spoke about the creation of the community sub
advantage of - we can ask for a lot more money
department as “like becoming a knight”!
- look at the value we’re providing, ” says Carrie
Melissa Jones.
Silvano sees it becoming more recognized along
the lines of project management, which let’s be
fair, would mean a HUGE salary increase! But
what does it take to get to that point? “We have
all this momentum from the pandemic but now
we need to clearly communicate what we do,
and what we’re worth to bring more value to
the role,” says Silvano.
If that doesn’t warm your heart, then check your
pulse you must be dead inside!
In all seriousness though, where the community
team sits is becoming a hugely important
aspect of the possibilities for someone’s career
opportunities. There are organizations in which
a community team makes sense living under
the Support umbrella, and others where it
sits under Marketing. The reality is, that living
under departments that have ulterior objectives
9
means that community is seen as a “nice to
before they get left behind. Silvano noted
have” rather than a force to be reckoned with.
that, “Leadership teams have acknowledged
CEO of Commsor, Mac Reddin, actually said,
“Community used to be the “ugly step child of
support,” but with the movement from “nice to
have” to front and center, community will evolve
that communities can adapt quickly, and with
the right support, communities can play a
key role in strategic programming for their
organizations.”
as Jon Snow did, opening GoT as a side story to
As community becomes less and less of an
the Starks and ending as the star of the show.
afterthought, so do community teams, and
The TeamViewer story is not a lone one, but it’s
not super common yet either. If TeamViewer
has the foresight to move its community team
to its own subdepartment, are they ahead of
the trend or are they moving slowly towards the
light?
this can only mean that over the coming year,
community professionals will see massive
growth in their available opportunities.
3) The rise of the CCO
Alexis Ohanian might be best known for his
role in the founding of Reddit, or better still for
being married to all-round superstar Serena
Williams. Either way, he’s kind of a big deal
(some may think by proxy
✋) and he believes
that in just five years, “more than half of the
top-500 publicly traded companies are going
to have a chief community officer.”
Excellent serve, Mr. Ohanian! The huge
emphasis so many companies are putting on
community can only mean that in the near
future, community teams will be represented in
the C-Suite.
44 CEOs from some of the biggest tech
companies around have signed the Communityled companies are the future pledge. If these
huge organizations do in fact envision a world
where community sits front and center, what is
the hold up in the evolution of the community
team’s place in an organization?
It seems as though this is a slow-moving train
but one that organizations need to jump aboard
Though 2022 might seem early days for such
a feat, it is the beginning of a revolution for
community professionals. Role stagnation will
no longer be the norm, and career development
is a burgeoning reality!
Kiely Monteiro of Floqast sees 2022 as a
stepping stone to finding a space in the
C-Suite. “We’ll start seeing more directors
of communities or even VPs for larger
10
organizations. I think there will be a lot of
community manager, community moderator,
potential to grow into strategic higher-level
community analyst, and so on, and we can’t
roles.”
pretend that this talent isn’t being pushed up
Erica Kuhl sees it as a tough sell. “It’s definitely
not going to become common in the next few
months. It’s an aggressive timeline, but I’ll be
the ladder somehow. And no! I’m not a crazed
optimist, this has been done before - waaaaay
back in 1996!!
very proud of anyone who achieves it! But, no, I
Jenna Woodal was the CCO of LiveWorld, Bill
don’t think it will happen in the next year.”
Johnston later borrowed the title from her, and
Weigle recognized that it’s not that
straightforward a trajectory; “In the creation
of this role, companies need to be REALLY clear
here we are 25 years later wondering if there’s
a space in any organization for another Chief
Community Officer.
in who they are targeting, I think this lack of
Though yes, 2022 might not be the year of the
clarity could be a deterrent in the creation of a
CCO, it most definitely is going to see the rise of
role of CCO.”
(at least) one. The proof of community value is
Silvano, Heide and Krawitz feel similarly passive
in response to my genuine enthusiasm at the
idea of a CCO - I may be jumping ahead of
myself by a couple of years. Krawitz sees it
happening one day, just not as soon as I would
like to imagine; “One day we’ll get there with a
glaringly obvious, and therefore so is the value
of the team that runs it. As the community
team sees more recognition and appreciation,
it seems that there truly will be more and more
space created for it to become an entity all of its
own.
director and head of community who directly
reports to the CEO”, and Rachael simply says “I
hope so.”
But, we simply can’t ignore the growing
necessity for people to fill the roles of
Key Takeaways:
1.
There will be clearer definition in community roles and responsibilities.
2.
Community teams will evolve to impact multiple departments, or in some cases, become its
own department.
3.
A foundation will be laid to create more senior positions for community professionals from VP
to C-Level.
11
Community Moving Beyond
Transactional Support
“
3
“The goal [of community] is always advocacy and you can only
achieve it through growing your offering and creating a cohesive,
holistic experience. You need bigger vision, we can no longer
focus on what you can get out of community, we need to refocus
to ‘you’re a part of this community’.”
Rav Singh
”
The community support use case is the one
explains Erica Kuhl. “I don’t like to start a
everyone talks about, understands, and sees
community in support, the brilliance is, you get
value in. It’s the one that’s easy to sell.
the power of Support regardless”.
Under the support umbrella, community has
The time is here for the support use case to take
proven its value tenfold.
a seat. People want connection and to achieve
But nowadays, transactional relationships just
aren’t good enough. Customers want more
from their community than product support.
They want connection. They want belonging.
It’s time for community to come out from under
the support umbrella, feel the rain on its skin
and just rejoice in the personal connection it
can create.
“[Communities will] cut their teeth in the right
part of the organization: but retaining people
purely through support is tough and can limit
the expansion of your community portfolio,”
connection, things need to get personal. To
get personal, community needs to expand and
embrace its full potential.
It’s a showdown then. In the left corner we’ve
got Transactional and in the right we have
Personalized. Who will become the heavyweight
champion?
Just kidding, it’s not that straightforward. We
don’t actually need to view Transactional and
Personal experiences as opponents. They can
absolutely work together; they can even be
harmonious.
12
I spoke with eleven experts on this topic and
Let’s break it down into some tasty, bite-sized
they were incredibly sure that there is more
ideas: 1) Member connection should be a
beyond the horizon. In fact, more than 50%
priority, and 2) Internally, organizations need to
of them chose moving beyond transactional
view community holistically.
support as one of their top three trends of
2022. Transactional support is no longer king,
1) Member connection should be a priority
but what does the community use case of the
Humans have always thrived on connection.
future look like?
A holistic transformation
Holistic (or holism) is a theory that the universe
is correctly seen in terms of interacting wholes
(as of living organisms) that are more than the
mere sum of parts. The parts of something are
intimately interconnected and best understood
We’re social animals and we always have and
always will require interaction.
Shopping used to be a social experience. Huge
glamorous department stores and malls were
destinations offering time with friends and
family and activities for everyone along with
shopping. The convenience and ease of internet
in reference to the whole.
shopping definitively shifted retail away from
This sounds like a good way to understand a
and can get it delivered to your door, why would
community, don’t you think? Somehow all the
you spend hours schlepping around stores?
pieces come together and make something
Also you can research extensively, often getting
great, something bigger. There are so many
better info than what’s available from store
moving parts and capabilities within a
staff.
community that we can’t possibly expect to only
brick and mortar. If you know what you want
view it from one angle.
So if the shopping isn’t pulling customers into
We take the support case as proven. In 2022,
in a longer-lasting relationship? How can you
how can organizations use community to unite
become a destination and have them come
the objectives of each department to culminate
back again and again?
in a holistic program that can not only achieve
organization-wide goals, but at the same time,
offer customers something more, something
indescribably satisfying?
a physical space, how can you engage them
Reviewing the recent trend of convenient,
passive transactions that has taken the world
by storm (cough, cough, Amazon), it’s clear how
disengaging and impersonal transactions have
The key to the future of community here
become. Yet, the more disengaged customers
is collaboration. How are organizations
are from a brand, the less likely they are to
collaborating with the members of their
show loyalty, or to care about that brand’s
community to grow and evolve into what the
future. How do we remedy this?
customers actually want, rather than what the
company thinks they want?
By offering a space that is not just about the
13
transaction, by offering them connection.
Lauren Krawitz called it “humanizing the digital
experience” and I think she hit the nail on the
more holistic program. We need to provide
more than a quick hit of support and encourage
people to keep on coming back.”
head. “How people feel when they belong: we
The interesting thing about this prediction is
need to focus on that to stay thriving,” says
that though the interviewees in this book come
Nichole Devoilites.
from a range of different types of community,
It appears the emotive side of business needs
a resurgence, and customers are going to be
shopping with the brands who provide that.
Community, when used right, embodies this. It
they all agree that the support use case is
simply no longer enough. And actually, pretty
much all agreed with Kiely - it’s time to provide
a holistic community experience.
can offer a space for customers to feel like more
From gaming to tech to associations, each
than customers, to feel like members, or fans or
person in this chapter sees how a support
friends of a brand.
community is limited.
When we discussed this prediction, Lana Lee
So how do we change the norm and create a
explained the vision she has for the Zuora
cohesive, holistic experience with community?
community. They want to provide the option,
By integrating teams within an organization.
“[for our members] to be better at what they do,”
says Lee. “We want to help them be successful
and be seen.”
It’s time to start offering communities of
practice.
A community of practice nurtures the shared
interests of your group by offering networking
events, upskilling, training, workshops…
whatever you can think of to foster that
interaction and growth of members.
Communities that encourage people to
better themselves are going to win 2022. Your
product is great but only offering your product
is restricting your community’s growth.
Kiely Monteiro’s advice? “[We need to move]
beyond support of the product and towards
industry education, career advice, strategy. A
2) Internally, organizations need to view
community holistically
Once we focus on the fundamental reason for
community, it becomes clear that community
can help so many departments thrive and in
turn, serve customers better.
In 1996, the Harvard Business Review pointed
out that: “Businesses have been slow to make
use of the Internet’s community-building
capabilities.” If we’re being honest, it seems as
though this statement still rings true.
Internally, the community team needs to
be spreading its wings to cover all relevant
departments. Not just the support team. “We
need to reframe the internal structure to
weave community into strategies in multiple
departments,” said Todd Nilson.
14
“The lines should continuously be open
At the end of the day, and most certainly going
between community and internal
into 2022, it’s important to remember that your
stakeholders,” he continues. “We all need to
customers need support, but as Shana Sumers
be listening and enabling community to grow
explained, “Transactional support is only one
organically.”
piece of a large puzzle.” And if you ignore all the
Lauren Krawitz from Qualtrics explained
their strategy to ensuring organization-wide
appreciation and interest in community: “We
other pieces, Brian Oblinger reiterates, “You’re
probably leaving a bunch of money on the
table.”
keep the CX, marketing, and product teams top
Finally, Carrie Melissa Jones summed this
of mind. What are their pain points, their goals,
whole thing up concisely, “Support will happen
and how can we help them achieve or overcome
regardless. We need to stop concentrating on
them. Ultimately, we want every employee
transactional support as the sole purpose for a
in every department to see the value in the
community or people will simply up and leave.”
community for them.”
At King, the idea is similar. Carlos Moreno talked
about the future of the community team and
how it would change to enable the holistic
growth of the community. “It’s a matter of
balance. Should we be acting as one big team
talking about the community or one person per
team talking about the product. The lines will
be blurred between community, product, and
support teams.”
But this type of restructuring won’t happen
overnight. You’ll have to push hard to gain
acceptance around the business.
Rav Singh has been pushing the needle of
value forward on community. “There has
been reluctance in certain business units as
they think the platform is not for them but,
on a daily basis I try to change this and I have
managed to break down that attitude. We’ve
changed our view from ‘what can you get out
of the community’ to ‘you are a part of this
community’ .”
15
Key Takeaways:
1.
Customer connection needs to become a higher priority.
2.
Transactional support does not encourage long-term engagement.
3.
Community needs to become a holistic experience both internally and externally.
16
Community Moving from
Marketing to Customer
Success
“
4
“Over the coming year, a shift from marketing to customer
success is paramount to a community’s success. We should be
supporting our members and customers and focusing on skill
acquisition and stickiness. Community just makes more sense in
a Customer Success space”.
Amanda Petersen, MURAL
”
In 2022, ‘What can our community do for
If communities continue to be stuffed into the
us?’ is not the question we need to be asking
wrong vertical, they will never prove their full
ourselves. This year, ‘What can community do
worth.
for its members?’ is moving front and center.
Over the past several years, there has been
Marketing departments traditionally represent
a universally decisive shift to personalizing
the company, while Customer Success
customer experience for existing customers
departments advocate for customers of said
rather than budgeting for marketing to new
company.
customers.
Considering that community is a largely
Thankfully, many companies are realizing the
customer-centric program, why-oh-why do
worth of their communities as a whole rather
we still consider it to live under the marketing
than a top of the funnel driver and because of
umbrella?
this there’s a realization that it should live under
This year, organizations will need to
customer success.
approach community with a new perspective.
However, there are many communities still
Understanding the best place for community
reporting to marketing! Rachael Silvano felt
teams to report, and where their initiatives are
pretty strongly about how restrictive this
the most impactful is a high priority.
could be to a community’s capabilities: “This
is
👏not👏a👏marketing👏initiative!”
👏
17
She’s right!
There’s been a slow, but definite move away
from ‘how is community beneficial to our
company?’ and toward ‘how can community
serve our customers?’.
Lana Lee explained how “Organizations began
to understand the power community has to
reframe the customer experience and the
narrative of the brand.”
2022 is an opportune moment for more
communities to see their value through the
eyes of customer success. It’s much more
profitable for an organization to delight
existing customers than to sell to new ones and
community can enhance the customer journey
at almost every touchpoint.
Amanda Petersen thoroughly agrees:
“Marketing’s purpose of acquisition doesn’t fit
with the community purpose. Nobody wants a
space where they’re being sold to.”
Jeff Breunsbach explains a little further; “The
pandemic accelerated so many things - one in
particular is the idea of building and fostering
relationships. Community can help to drive
those relationships - among employees,
customers and partners.”
As organizations grasp the full scope of
community potentiality, we’re going to see
a huge push away from marketing and into
customer success.
Many community professionals, consultants,
and thought leaders contributed to this
prediction and there was a general agreement
that there are two waves that are coming to
change the role of community from marketing
to customer success: 1) Community programs
will become cost centers, and 2) Community
programs will become part of a success strategy.
1) Community programs will become cost
centers
Though the change has been coming for some
time now, 2022 looks set to be the year real
value is attached to community.
Todd Nilson spoke about the evolution of
community over the last couple of years. “It
has been establishing itself as its own cost
center - it is more than merely marketing [but]
if community is to stand on its own, it will need
to do more than deflect cost, it will need to be a
revenue generator, or at the very least, pay for
itself.”
That might sound easier said than done. But
let’s consider the amazing customer success
capabilities community creates!
In many organizations, there is less money
being pumped into lead acquisition and building
funnels. In fact, Gartner reported a dip in
marketing budget of 4.6% between 2020 and
2021.
Why? Because the biggest revenue generators
are brand advocacy and referral marketing.
Community will move away from the top of
the marketing funnel, and into the customer
success arena. Todd reckons that there will
finally be value applied to community’s ability to
“feed the whole customer lifecycle”.
18
With proven results in both improving retention
“[There’s a] difference between going to a buffet
rates and encouraging customer advocates
and a dinner party,” explained Rachael.
- goals of a customer success department
-community is well-placed to support cost
At a buffet, you stack your plate (multiple times),
savings and eventually cost creation.
you stuff yourself until your pants are too tight
Though it’s not going to be an easy or overnight
empty and used than you know how to explain.
(just me?), and you leave feeling a little more
transition, moving community away from
its bad influence friends, the Marketers, and
towards the good influence kids, the Customer
Success department, will help make it a selfsustaining cost center that can directly impact
business outcomes.
2) Community as a CS strategy
Dani Weinstein figured that community being
absorbed by CS was already in motion, as
it should be: “Working with CSMs should
be foundational to what you’re doing. The
conversations and objectives CSMs have are
also happening in community,” he said.
Customer Success can see huge impact from
a community that is strategically run. A wellrun community can allow you to address your
customers in a direct, transparent manner,
On the other hand, a dinner party is a
sophisticated event. You have set plates, they
consider any dietary restrictions you may have,
and you use silverware. In terms of community,
you are catered too, and you feel as though
helping you to build trust.
your satisfaction matters.
“Customer success leaders are actively looking
Inviting your members to a dinner style
at how community can be the center of a digital
strategy that includes knowledge, education
community is a job for Customer Success, they
know how best to delight customers, and
and can scale customer programs,” said Jeff.
can use this information to further reassure
In 2022, we can no longer use community as a
place.
one-way street to find customers who have had
a good experience, we need to see customers
being offered a better experience for their sake
- not just ours.
customers that they are indeed in the right
I wondered whether community had the
potential to take over and become a central
customer success strategy but Kiely made sure
I understood the reality. “I think community is
19
ONE facet of a strategy. Remember, there are
people who will never sign up for community
and you cannot forget to serve those customers
through other means.”
She did grant me this much though:
“[Community] could, for the next 5 years, live in
customer success and act as a bulk of the CS
strategy.”
After that? You’ll just have to tune in to
Community Predictions 2027.
Key Takeaways:
1.
Community will become a focal point of customer-centric organizations.
2.
Community will become a cost center.
3.
Community will be utilized in customer success strategies.
20
Community as Part of the
Center of Excellence (CoE)
“
5
“Community shouldn’t work vertically - it’s representative
of your entire organization. How deeply embedded in your
company is your community? That’s an indicator of your future
success - we’re trying to embed further in a community focused
organization - we train every department, we’re already acting as
the center of excellence”
Amanda Petersen, MURAL
”
When I first heard the term Center of
Excellence for customers and an internal Center
Excellence, I thought Adrian Speyer (our Head
of Excellence for employees of an organization.
of Community) had made it up. Best believe
my mind was blown when I realized it’s a pretty
Two things seem clear going into 2022, 1)
common term.
community will be part of the internal CoE, and/
But the more I thought about Center of
Internally, community can act as a silo breaker
Excellence (or CoE) in relation to community,
between departments, as a training ground,
the more it seemed to just fit. Community, if
and as the center of customer information
done right, is at the heart of an organization -
across the organization. Externally, community
both internally and externally. Community can
can act as the starting point of all customer
be a CoE and guide best practices across the
queries, issues, communication, and pretty
organization and the customer base.
much every other touchpoint of the customer
The experts who discussed community as
or 2) community will be part of the external CoE.
journey.
part of the Center of Excellence Hub this year
What our experts also agreed on for 2022 is
include Rav Singh, Esther Heide, Amanda
that a CoE must be made up of expert, highly
Petersen, Jenny Weigle and Dani Weinstein.
skilled people who can both develop and
Between these five, the topic took on a couple
maintain excellent resources that either support
of different modes; an external Center of
or enable business objectives to the highest
21
standards.
How can you help your organization evolve?
Over the past couple of years, community has
certainly taken on a central role as part of an
organization’s success, but in 2022, community
professionals need to push buy-in and establish
value to be recognized as a CoE, whether that is
internal, external, or both.
Let’s break it down.
1) Community as part of the internal CoE
As the community manager, and only person on
his community team, Singh sees the importance
of being the expert that not only offers support
to every department but touches base between
departments too. “Consulting with marketing,
dev, product teams and anyone else to ensure
excellent content is available, I’ve also been able
to reach out to get these business units to work
together and have buy-in on a particular project
that has been invaluable to us.”
Esther Heide of TeamViewer shares a similar
experience, “When I write a knowledge base
Here, Community as internal CoE is at the heart,
article and it’s read by another staff member
driving excellence across the organization:
they may mimic my style and my words - they
Internally, the community team, whether that
is one person or 10, is the ultimate go-to for
expert information. Rav Singh of Reckon Limited
describes it as: “An everybody solution, it’s
are using it to support customers going forward.
So we need to keep this front of mind. It must
be the truth - the knowledge base is the single
source of truth within and across the company”.
a central location for everybody. We use
The pressure, it seems, is on. As a community
community to touch on everything we can. We
professional you are not only tasked with
have content that helps from the product devs
running the community for your members, but
all the way along to support agents.”
also for your colleagues. How does this work
in an organization that doesn’t necessarily
understand community, or an organization that
sees community as a minor program rather
than a Center of Excellence?
Dani Weinstein of Kaltura says, “It takes the
right person to encourage buy-in and to pitch
the importance of community across the
organization. Going into 2022, community
managers really need to educate leaders on
why community is important and how it can
help KPIs.”
Jenny Wiegle thinks similarly; “I believe that the
ability to convince executives happens with
22
maturity - if you can convince them off the bat,
amongst themselves, you can input someone
hats off to you! But it does take time and effort.
from every department to better understand
You should celebrate even the smallest wins
what it is that your customers actually want.
and communicate them to the departments
they impact.”
Weinstein believes that a community can be
Now more than ever, you need to establish a
better understand the VoC. “We’ve created a
foothold as the CoE for your organization. In
customer centric steering committee that is
2022, you need to clearly demonstrate how
being led by our Chief Customer Officer, who
community can support business objectives
sees ‘community as one of the 5 key pillars of
and ensure organizational buy-in to truly
making us a customer centric company’. But
part of an organization’s central strategy to
establish the program as an essential part of
the strategy.
Proving value can be difficult. You can start with
the diagram above to show how a community
team is at the center of everything and
elaborate on elaborate metrics and KPIs from
there. The benefits community creates for each
and every department, the silos it breaks down
via community team communication, and the
sheer training it can provide are incomparable.
2) Community as part of the external CoE
Traditionally, many communities have been
born of the necessity of support but, going into
it’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon, and being
2022, it seems that so many communities are
customer-centric is definitely down the road.”
breaking down vertical barriers and moving into
a cross functional space.
Creating a cohesive experience for your
For customers, this means a stronger, all around
and going into 2022, it’s necessary. You can’t
experience. Having a community facilitate every
just tell your customers what’s happening and
touch point of the customer journey is the
expect them to be thrilled, you need to embed
future.
them into your organization - they need to be a
Weinstein, sees community creating a “better
customers is truly possible through community,
part of your process.
process around [Voice of the Customer] VoC.”
Amanda Petersen sees how MURAL is already
Community can allow you to converse with your
embodying this attitude of customers as allies
customers. You’re not just letting them talk
rather than simply buyers. She says, “[The
23
MURAL community is] a one-stop-shop
customers will expect to be heard and taken
(for each department) to connect with our
seriously by the brands they interact with. So,
members, we’re not just talking to them,
absolutely ensure that your community is the
customers can consult with us.”
starting point for this, and be ready for it to
Looking at community as the center of
excellence externally means creating the best
become a crucial aspect to the success of your
organization.
possible customer experience. Your customers’
efforts should be recognized, their ideas
and feedback considered, and their gripes
acknowledged and examined. As the “onestop-shop”, community enables customers to
help organizations and organizations to help
customers.
For the coming year, making this a symbiotic
relationship between your customers and
the departments within your organization
will really find its footing. From 2022 onward,
Key Takeaways:
1.
Community can be a CoE and guide best practices across the organization and the customer
base.
2.
Community can be part of an organization’s central strategy to better understand the VoC.
3.
Community can be a “one-stop-shop”; it enables customers to help organizations and
organizations to help customers.
24
Better Assessment on
Community Value and ROI
“
6
“Typically speaking, organizations want to see an uptick in human
activity, but we can’t force that. How we really prove ROI is by
utilizing those nuggets of conversation that move things forward.
The value a community provides isn’t based on a specific number
”
of interactions, but should be based around quality interaction.”
Nichole Devoiltes of
SecureAuth
There’s a recurring theme in this year’s
those nuggets of conversation that move
Predictions edition, and indeed in past editions:
things forward,” says Devolites. The value a
The value of community. But value is such a
community provides isn’t based on a specific
vague term. It can have different definitions
number of interactions but should be based
from organization to organization and from
around quality interaction.
community to community.
Health metrics can’t be the bricks and mortar of
Across the myriad of communities this year’s
your value assessment. They should absolutely
experts work on however, there is a base
be the foundation, but the next year will require
meaning attached to value: The health of a
us to build atop the foundation and construct
community.
a fully equipped building, i.e. a full circle
As a program, Community is traditionally
considered a success if there are X number of
assessment on why community is valuable to
both the businesses and the humans it serves.
active members, or Y number of monthly posts,
The investments made in community take time
but as Nichole Devolites points out, there needs
to mature, and as any good stockbroker will tell
to be a change in the coming year.
you, a long-term investment refers to a time
“Typically speaking, organizations want to see
period of more than ten years.
an uptick in human activity, but we can’t force
Hopefully, your community doesn’t take
that. How we really prove ROI is by utilizing
that long to show its worth, but in general,
25
communities can take up to five years to
become profitable - in both the dollar and the
measurements anymore.
emotional sense.
Just kidding, high level measurements are super
The problem with relying on health metrics
comes to business objectives.
to prove your community value is that there
are ebbs and flows in human activity that can
tarnish your data.
We will need to take stock of things like the
online burnout that is sweepingly common
these days. We’ve been online for almost two
years now, meaning we might be a little less
likely to log on every day.
important, but they just don’t cut it when it
“Traditional measurements definitely won’t
become redundant. They beget wider
organizational goals,” Erica Kuhl explained.
“What will change though,” she continued,
“is showing that traditional community
measurements impact business value. What
is engagement, for example, driving - which
business goal is that laddering up to? If we
“I’m looking at engagement as a long story,
can couple health metrics with business goals
a 10% drop off in logins this month isn’t
that’s proof of value. When they’re connected,
necessarily a bad thing. We’ll still be here
that’s when they’re powerful.”
offering innovative things for you to do
and trying to better understand how our
community can help our customers,” Rachael
Silvano explains.
If we’re not going to focus our attention on
the base interactions of our members, then
how are we going to assess the value of our
That’s all well and good to say in theory, but
how do community professionals connect their
health metrics with the relevant business goals,
in practice?
“Assessing where your community sits in the
organization and the overall strategy should
community and the ROI it provides?
feed your metrics,” explains Nichole Devolites.
In 2022 there are two actionable ways
Marjorie Anderson predicts that community
community professionals can prove the value of
their initiatives; 1) align community value with
business value, and 2) prove the value of human
to brand connection.
1) Align community value with business
value
Diving deeper into community metrics to show
how they create impact around the organization
is a must. There’s no place for high level
builders will need to take a crash course to
thoroughly understand overall business goals
and then it’s time to strategize on how to prove
value.
She said, “There will be more focus on
community data and how it ties to your
organization’s overall goals. ‘What should I
measure?’ is a loaded question - if you have
defined your community strategy and aligned
it with business values then the metrics you
26
measure should, ultimately, prove that value.”
In 2022 we want to reinforce the concept
that community can have impact across the
business.
“Community data is going to be deeper. We
shouldn’t be only focusing on how many
users we have, but more so, what we can do
with them. The next 12 months, and beyond,
are going to be crucial to proving the value
You’ve got to understand the pain points a
department is experiencing and show them
how the community is lightening the load.”
No community is expected to simultaneously
fix every problem within an organization but
“People like to see a win that’s tangible,” Oblinger
continued. “You’re not a silver bullet but you can
provide solutions to many issues - now’s the
time to prove it.”
of community as it supports the whole user
You heard him, it’s time to put on your business
journey,” concluded Marjorie.
hat. Oblinger wants community professionals
Earlier in the book we talked about how
community was moving beyond transactional
support, and it’s pertinent to remember that
when a community does move on from focusing
to become more business savvy. “Show how
your health metrics convert directly to business
objectives,” he advises.
solely on support, it begins to generate broader
2) Proving the value of human to brand
connection
impact across the organization. However, this
With the business objectives covered, we also
can make it a little more difficult to track.
As Kara Adams has seen at Foundant, not being
a support community makes KPIs difficult to
measure. “The value can be hard to quantify.
Our community is much more emotionally
based. How do you quantify a feeling or
emotion in numbers?”
It’s a good point, and one that seems to have
stymied many a Community Manager in
the past. 2022 however, is a year where this
obstruction needs to be addressed.
“It’s all about connecting community
with high level business objectives,” Brian
Oblinger pointed out. “Community builders
need to start being cross-functionally
minded and connecting with internal leaders.
need to assess how to better prove the value of
community-generated human impact.
The core purpose of a community is to garner
human connection between a brand and
its customers and in 2022, there’s a need to
measure this human connection and prove the
direct correlation that lives between community
value and business impact.
To reuse an overused phrase, this coming year is
about quality over quantity.
“[We need to stop] listening to our customers
but rather, there needs to be an emphasis
on hearing them. There’s a lot more value in
customer feedback vs, a KPI like page views: ‘I
wish we could do X, Y, or Z with your product’
is much more than an interaction, it provides
27
quality information on what your customers
It’s difficult, no doubt, but assessing members
want,” Devolites points out.
and the actions they take, that we may have
But we simply can’t continue only measuring
the loudest voices. We need to include the
been blind to, can help us to truly represent our
communities and further prove its value.
voices that are quieter, or even silent.
Silvano wants to start thinking through silent
behaviors. “What are your members looking at,
what thread views are people quietly reading?
Key Takeaways:
1.
It’s time to measure interactions based on
quality, not quantity.
2.
Community managers need to align
I think we need to be paying more attention to
silent engagement; it’s actually super valuable.
community goals with business objectives.
If we pay attention, it will help us to yield the
highest result of human connection.”
With the aim of yielding the highest result of
3.
There needs to be value added to silent
behaviours.
human connection in mind, we need to listen to
muted actions and thoughtfully assess member
behaviors that aren’t traditionally quantifiable.
Through this, businesses can garner a deep
understanding of their customers - what they
are finding helpful or interesting, or what
content is encouraging them to come back.
Dani Weinstein of Kaltura sees things similarly.
We can’t step into 2022 only measuring high
level KPIs. Weinstein talks about how we need
to look at the “granular level of advocacy and
customer behavior.” We need to be focusing on
how the details can push the community and
the business forward.
“Placing a measurement on every action a
customer takes and adding a value to each
of these actions is a hard thing to do but
achieving that next level of assessment would
be super cool. You know, we could learn how
to comprehensively compare the value of a
customer as compared to another,” said Dani.
28
Attention and Action on
Diversity and Inclusion
“
7
We have a large responsibility to understand that community
may be diverse by nature, but that it does not always equate to
inclusivity or diversity. When we are creating content, we need
to ensure to include diverse voices at the table and to remember
that they may not be the loudest, we may sometimes need
Marjorie Anderson
”
to reach out.
I wanted to take my time working on this
A diverse community is one that
chapter. Though it has been discussed time and
welcomes members no matter their
again, especially over the past couple of years,
creed, their colour, how they self-
there is still quite a lot to be said about ensuring
identify, how they choose to pray, or
that communities create a diverse and inclusive
who they love.
atmosphere for their members. I wanted to be
super-intentional around the creation of this
chapter.
An inclusive community is a community
that doesn’t ignore their members’
differences, but in fact embraces them
The community managers and thought leaders
and still treats them with equity and
who contributed to this chapter had some
respect.
incredibly meaningful ideas and I wanted to
ensure that together, we put forth content that
not only had impact but provided actionable
insights to those who are seeing their efforts
Second, let’s break down why in 2022 we need
to continue showing attention to diversity and
inclusion, and go further to take action through
stagnate.
community endeavors.
So first things first: let’s ensure we’re all on the
As Gen Z begins entering the workforce (that’s
same page.
right Millennials, you’re pushing on), there is a
change in expectations of corporations, brands,
29
friends, and social interactions. For Gen Z,
“Our communities tell us we need to be diverse
intention is no longer enough. According to the
and inclusive. The world is made up of billions
Gartner report, “They want to see results, they
of people with different languages, religions,
want to see action to back it up.”
economic status, and perspectives. If we don’t
There is a pressing need for conversations that
lead to change. Simply talking is far below the
par required to play the course. Words are no
longer good enough to prove diversity and
inclusion. Action is required.
Shana Sumers referenced a Financial Times
report on the $50 billion pledge by US
companies to be donated to “civil rights
organizations, invested in communities of color,
take this feedback to heart, we will become
obsolete in the next 5 or 10 years because
we didn’t listen. Ultimately, community is
about human connection and if we miss the
opportunity to create diverse, inclusive spaces,
we are failing in our role as community
builders,” Petersen explained.
What are our experts doing to ensure they are
moving forward and not stagnating?
and put toward overhauling internal recruiting
The Foundant Community, led by Kara Adams
and training”. How much of that do you think
is consulting with The Montana Racial Equity
has materialized? A sad $250 Million.
Project to ensure that, company-wide, they are
So, where did all that money go? It might have
disappeared into the limbo land of intention
following through on promises of diversity and
inclusion.
or empty words where it has always lived.
As a non-profit organization, Foundant is
Corporations have been expected to talk about
taking the steps necessary to ensure that
their dedication to being diverse and inclusive
both internally, and through their community
but until now, they haven’t really been required
offering, they are being inclusive and showing
to prove that dedication.
dedication to diversity. Why? Because through
In fact, many huge organizations actively refuse
to partake in proving their diversity. Berkshire
Hathaway that would require the company to
their initiatives they serve people from all walks
of life and without them, they simply wouldn’t
exist.
issue annual reports on diversity, and Johnson
“We’ve established a DEI committee to help
& Johnson asked the SEC to block shareholder
us do the right thing, to make our offerings
votes on a similar diversity proposal. How
as inclusive as possible. We’re still a work
do we possibly hold companies and brands
in progress but the point is that we are
accountable when this is the precedent being
progressing. Through our community we
set? Well, Amanda Petersen doesn’t think
offer people the choice to identify and use
the companies who delay diversification and
pronouns or not, we’ve created a DEI category
inclusivity are going to matter soon.
for discussions, and we’re improving on a
consistent basis. What we do now has an impact
30
on what we can do in the future,” says Kara.
At Hubspot, Shana Sumers was hired specifically
to address and initiate movement on the gaps
in their community. What has she done to level
up the Hubspot Community? She has built a
DEI&B Community.
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging
should be at the forefront of everything
community builders are doing. It’s a pretty
simple concept but kind of revolutionary. What
does the DEI&B community look like?
Well, the community Shana has created is
exclusive to Black professionals, no matter
their intersectionality. The goal is to combat
wage gaps, funding gaps, microaggressions,
racism, sexism, and systemic failures. They also
have specific values to support these goals:
representation matters, encouraging resources
and collaboration, and amplifying voices.
I wondered if creating these types of exclusive
spaces was being met with blowback and
Shana’s response was incredibly insightful.
“Thankfully, this initiative wasn’t met with much
resistance - I think that’s because we made
regular announcements about what was coming
and why we were doing it - we worked hard to
traditionally marginalized groups, it’s also
important to ensure that people outside of
these groups understand why they’re not
included. Creating definitive messaging that
leaves no space for misunderstanding or
misinterpretation is part of the process.
So how does someone running a community
that isn’t as progressive push change, or indeed
sustain the changes they’ve managed to make?
Amanda Petersen from MURAL wants people
to remember that this is a journey. “The most
important thing is people responsible for
community management need to identify that
diversity and inclusion are central to community
building. Work from there and start learning
from other people doing the work, people like
Shana Sumers at Hubspot.”
Marjorie Anderson has a foundational piece of
advice. Address your governance.
“We have to be transparent in the way we build
our communities. Nothing should be hidden.
Especially how we apply our policies. It shouldn’t
matter if someone is revered within your
community. If they act out of line, they should
face the consequences. Communities should
have solid policies in place that don’t bend.”
decrease the shock factor for the people who
Yes, in theory community means inclusion
might be sensitive.”
and inclusion implies diversity, but in practice
Shana has worked on similar initiatives in the
past that have been met with pushback, but
we need to actively nurture and protect our
communities to enable diversity and inclusivity.
ultimately, “The pushback meant we weren’t
Ultimately, Amanda Petersen concluded, if
clear on our messaging. We needed to reassess
we don’t actively push for a more diverse and
how to share our mission in the community.”
inclusive community, “We’re leaving most of the
While it’s important to create spaces for
world out of the conversation.”
31
In 2022, the push will be for communities to
follow through on their promises of inclusion
and diversity. Intention alone isn’t good enough,
it’s time to take action.
Key Takeaways:
1.
There is a pressing need for conversations that lead to change and action is required.
2.
Community needs to address governance for all and ensure transparency.
3.
Communities can no longer delay diversification and inclusivity.
32
Making Community
Accessible to All
“
8
“Communities can light the way in terms of accessibility. There
are plenty of organizations who understand the necessity of
enabling accessibility and if you’re not working on catching up,
”
you’re simply going to fall behind.”
Marjorie Anderson
As the world remains in a state of virtual reality
But why does the burden fall to community to
going into 2022, online communities reign
be a leader in accessibility? Because, ultimately,
supreme as a means of social interaction.
that’s the whole point.
Great, right? It is for a lot of people. But there
Community managers have been working
are many others who aren’t granted the same
for years to be inclusive and impartial and
levels of accessibility. So for those who may be
equitable, working to make their communities
visually or hearing-impaired, or are disabled in
welcoming and accessible to everyone who
ways that make online interaction difficult, can
wants to participate. But until now, there hasn’t
we say it’s also great for them?
been much help in terms of software, budget or
There have been many progressions over
legislation.
the years to make online accessibility more
Websites are held to higher standards when
available and there have been leaps and
it comes to creating accessible content, but
bounds in terms of websites ensuring they
communities fall somewhat outside of the
are optimized for all. But when it comes to
boundaries that have been set. Three of this
community, we still have a way to go.
year’s experts felt pretty passionately about
2022 could be an outstanding year when it
comes to making online living available to all, or
it could be a year just like the others where we
talk about it, and talk about it, and talk about it.
making community accessible to all and
have shared the ways they’re going about
actually doing that. I’ve grouped them into
two actionable ways you can bring about
accessibility 1) through regulations and
33
guidelines, and 2) through the employment of
usability champions.
requirements people need met.
Marjorie Anderson thoughtfully addressed the
By the end of 2022, I envision the community
amendments (Title III) made to the Americans
industry having outpaced the rest of the online
with Disabilities Act (ADA) in 2008 which state
world and indeed, blazing a trail that shouldn’t
that websites are now considered places of
just be followed, but one that will have to be
public accommodations and therefore are
followed.
required to accommodate everyone.
1) Regulations and guidelines
“Community,” says Marjorie, “can no longer
The outcome of my research for this chapter
was, to put it bluntly, deficient.
just be stagnant, we need to be moving
toward a more cognizant and accommodating
program for those who need it.”
There is legislation out there for website
accessibility, and even lawsuits being filed
against companies whose websites fail to meet
the criteria. Netflix was sued in 2012 for failing
to provide closed captioning, Nike was sued
in 2017 for failing to accommodate visually
impaired visitors to both Nike and Converse
websites, and Park Entertainment, Beyonce’s
entertainment company, was sued in 2019 for
not enabling screen readers. Creating an equal
space for all is no longer a nice thing to do, it’s a
requirement.
“Online interaction can be more rewarding
for many with disabilities. Not providing the
accommodations for them to participate in
online communities is as bad as not having
ramps or accessible facilities, if not worse," Beth
Marjorie believes that all it takes is for someone
to set the precedence and everyone else will
start to follow. “Our community program is
looking at everything from a design standpoint
to content consumption options; as we learn
Arritt explained.
more, we evolve further.”
Websites are being held accountable, but
With things already in motion that will mean
when it comes to community, many software
or platform providers simply have not caught
up with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines
(WCAG) and are therefore falling short of
better accessibility in some communities, we
cannot go into 2022 lacking direction and solid
guidelines, organizations will be left with no
option but to catch up!
the expectations people have, and the
34
Though it’s difficult to imagine how legislation
They have employed a diversity, equity and
can be upheld across borders and nations,
inclusion (DEI) committee to ensure that
there is most definitely a place for guidelines
company policies are aligned with accessibility.
that can ensure communities create an
They have not only ensured that language
accessible environment for all those who want
being used across the community is inclusive,
to use them.
but they’re working on new guidelines and
In 2022, we should be seeing community
professionals pushing for stronger guidelines
within their own communities that can help to
encourage others to follow suit. There should
principles to make design more user-friendly,
on applying closed captioning and hover over
options, and on ensureing everything they
produce is also mobile friendly.
be a cohesion between community associations
“It helps that our platform incorporates some
that helps to align communities on what should
of these accessibility features, but we need
be implemented first and what should be
to ensure that we’re covering all bases,” Kara
following in the pipeline.
says. “We can’t guarantee that we will meet
everyone’s needs immediately but we are
2) Employment of usability champions
From a human standpoint, the overall message
of this chapter is pretty straightforward - you
should care. But from a business standpoint,
how do you garner interest in something that
is going to a) cost money, b) cost time, and c)
cost resources? You explain that actually, not
increasing accessibility (especially in an aging
population) means you are leaving 20% of the
world’s market untapped, and open to your
competitors.
As we discussed, there is a push for accessibility
guidelines already in process and this push
is going to go further and touch more
communities in 2022. Companies that ignore
this evolution are going to be left in the dust.
Kara Adams explained to me how at Foundant,
the company has partnered with the Montana
Racial Equity program to survey whether the
Foundant community (and brand overall) is
moving in the right direction.
absolutely trying to do so.”
Foundant is most definitely not the only
company investing budget into its accessibility
features, but it did stand out to me in terms
of movement. They are not just talking about
creating equal space for their customers and
members, they’re doing something about it.
Marjorie agrees and thinks that a lot of
organizations are ready to make the leap
and invest in accessibility but isn’t under any
illusions that all organizations will do so. “Many
organizations have these types of issues all
around, not just within the community,” and
for those companies, the future doesn’t look so
bright.
But we shouldn’t have to rely on budget alone,
as community professionals we should be
listening to what our members need. “Once
I have that knowledge, I need to go to the IT
department and figure out how to solve it, I
35
have to be accountable and figure out how to
procure what we need,” says Marjorie.
The wording of WCAG simply recommends
that when thinking about accessibility, we
“consider that many users may be operating
in contexts very different from your own.” As
we look forward into a new year, community
professionals will have to work hard to
implement changes to their programs that
benefit all, and they need to figure out a way to
do so, with or without the budget.
Key Takeaways:
1.
Community regulations and guidelines are necessary to ensure fair access for all.
2.
Companies will start to employ use-ability champions to ensure the right steps are being taken
to improve accessibility.
36
Hybrid Events In-Person and Virtual
“
9
“The in-person events I attended had started to get stagnant; you
know, the same people, and the same cadence. I think moving
things online forced us to become more creative and has upped
the game radically for events. Learning to balance both in-person
and online is the next hurdle, but I think by the end of Summer
Shana Sumers
”
2022 we’ll need to have a handle on it!”
In 2020 the world collectively moved online. And
we’ve pretty much stayed there ever since. But
pandemic recedes.
many countries, and people for that matter, are
In fact, a movement to a hybrid mix of events
this’ stage.
satisfaction.
What does the ‘let’s learn to live with it’ stage
When it comes to hybrid events, Carrie Melissa
starting to move on from the ‘panic’ stage of the - in-person and virtual events, that is - has
pandemic and into the ‘ok, let’s learn to live with been proven to garner more participation and
look like for communities? We know that online
life has bolstered the argument for community
and helped to prove its value on a much faster
timeline than was expected pre-Covid. Could
a world post-Covid where life online isn’t front
and center move us backwards?
No. It won’t. Community teams have proven to
be some of the most adaptable and resilient
during the pandemic, and there’s absolutely
no reason to believe they won’t continue to
blaze trails and build initiatives that progress
Jones thinks they will enable communities to
tick all the boxes. Some people go to events to
network and socialize, while others go to learn.
“If you ask people whether or not they liked an
event,” Carrie said, “those who’ve attended in
person are more likely to talk about networking
opportunities, or new friendships and those
who attended virtually tend to lean towards
how much information they’ve garnered or
what they’ve learned. Utilizing hybrid events
means you can satisfy both groups of people.”
both business and customer objectives as the
37
Going forward, there’s always going to be a
We should replicate the metrics we’ve captured
blend of in-person and virtual events. “We’re
through online events.
never going to separate these two again,”
be an online component - it’s cheaper, it’s a
1) We can combat digital fatigue through
in-person events
better gauge for analytics, and it enables people
There’s a dilemma at play in many people’s
from anywhere in the world to attend,” he
minds. Going back to in person events sounds
continued.
great in theory, but in practice? There is still real
explains Todd Nilson. “There’s always going to
Brain Oblinger is in agreement. “A year from
anxiety being felt.
now, we’ll see a mix of in person and online
How do communities work to combat the
events. I don’t think it’s a good idea to ever
sentiment of digital fatigue while respecting
go back to 100% in-person, actually. It’s
people’s fears of physical events? Lana Lee said
restrictive. A good balance of hybrid events
that, “We can’t ignore that many people want
is how you’re going to get the most from your
face-to face connection,” but we still need to
budget and your audience.”
ensure that events are safe spaces for those
The pandemic is by no means gone, but we can
who want out of their homes!
definitely see a light at the end of the tunnel.
Shana Sumers agrees. “People are starting
Economies have reopened, vaccinations are on
to get real antsy. We should be running in-
hand, and medical staff are better equipped
person events for those who really want them,
to understand and treat Covid. With all of
while still addressing safety. I think it’ll be an
this progression, community professionals
international start though. We’ll see people
are gearing up for yet another wave of
overseas start to make the first moves.”
unprecedented change.
Events are going to be slowly but surely
moving away from purely virtual. In-person
opportunities are coming but for every person
ready and willing to attend, there is another
that’s simply not.
Lee’s approach to this question grabbed my
attention: customer-led community chapters.
Customer-led chapters have two major
advantages: 1) In terms of organizing physical
meetups, they would be entirely at their own
discretion and probably smaller in scale, and
That’s why Hybrid Events, In-Person and Virtual
2) Customers would most likely be more
was such a popular prediction to discuss.
comfortable sharing.
How are things going to change in 2022?
“I’ve had a number of customers interested in
Together, the experts identified two ways to
leading chapters of our community,” says Lee.
address this prediction: 1) We can combat
“If we could follow through on this, people could
digital fatigue through in-person events, and 2)
be more open to sharing their positive and
38
negative experiences - they would be talking
use it to match people, based on their activity,
directly to other customers.”
with the right networking opportunities! This
Lee is on to something here - it can be daunting
to share your real thoughts on a company with
is a huge help when it comes to keeping users
engaged.”
that company, especially if you’re not entirely
2022, is going to be the year that sets a
sure what you want to say.
precedent for events of the future, and
“It’s like asking a professor a question during
a lecture versus talking with your peers in the
community led hybrid events are front and
center!
library. You might be afraid to sound stupid in
That’s all well and dandy, but how do we build
front of the professor but comfortable with your
on the success of the virtual events we’ve held?
peers. Not ‘asking the right question’ is much
less scary when you’re amongst friends.”
There are also tech solutions that bridge inperson and online even more, creating truly
hybrid experiences.
“I see the melding of in-person and virtual
events as an ongoing thing. There’s emerging
tech that can enable people to attend a live
event but speak with someone online,” says
Nilson. ”There are virtualized rooms you can
wander around and meet people and have
2) Replicate the metrics we’ve captured
through online events
Detailed analytics and improving marketing
initiatives have both become easier with virtual
events but as we move to a hybrid blend, how
do we maintain these kinds of standards?
There’s a pressure for us to continue proving
the value of community participation and that
becomes a little more difficult as we move
(somewhat) offline.
conversations that are serendipitous by nature -
Comparison between in-person and virtual
exactly like you would at a real conference.”
events is like “apples to oranges” Jenny Weigle
Offering people the option to attend in person
events if they’re comfortable, but guaranteeing
the same experience if they’re not sounds like
the perfect balance, and no, this tech isn’t far
says. “But there’s going to be a scramble
to capture the same type of information.
Community people are going to need to
innovate to manage this!”
off in the future. Kickback Space Inc, and Jive
Why is it so different though? Isn’t the purpose
are just too SaaS companies offering these
of an event, whether it’s on- or offline, the
capabilities.
very same? It is. But, harvesting the same
Jayashree Rajagopalan is on the same page as
Nilson. “It’s interesting when you consider how
AI can impact events. AI can bridge the gap
information is less manageable when it has to
be done physically.
Brian Oblinger has seen firsthand the
between virtual and in-person events; we can
39
deficiencies that come with in-person event
analytics. “A lot of the metrics around in person
are sign ups and yet, many events fail by not
taking attendance. I don’t garner a whole
lot from this metric anyway; Did they bring
someone? Did they even show up?” Online
events are automated to capture attendance it’s a basic metric.
“We require some new thinking on how we
measure the success of in-person events. The
reality is they will come back and right now
we have time to figure out the best ways to
measure,” Oblinger infers.
Shana Sumers recognizes the predicament
we’re facing in our hybrid future; “Replicating
the reporting we’ve generated through online
events is going to be difficult, but it’s not
impossible.”
Adapting the measurements we make online
to fit an in-person world is going to take some
extra work but it’s going to be necessary. In fact,
it’s going to be paramount to the success of
hybrid events.
Oblinger thinks there is more emphasis needed
on connecting in-person attendance with deals
closed: “If a person was at an in-person event,
and two days later, or even 6 weeks later, comes
back to sales and buys, we have to establish
that connection. Their attendance contributed
to the sale, but we need to prove both that and
the value of these meetings.”
Utilizing the smaller groups that are going to be
attending live events gives us the opportunity
to test the most efficient ways of capturing data.
Trial and error is the key.
“I think there may be an influx of smaller user
groups in more focused programs,” Nichole
Devolites said. Positioning these smaller groups
as our test groups means that as physical
events become bigger and bigger, we’re working
on the best possible ways to measure their
success.
Jayashree Rajagopalan made an excellent point
that we should all take into consideration:
“There’s no one size fits all approach. What
works for my community might not work for
yours but, if I am part of a community that
facilitates both online and offline events, I can
choose the ones I’m comfortable with.”
The next year is a turning point for community
run events, it’s an excellent chance to not only
grow community value exponentially, but
to ensure that this growth facilitates overall
40
business growth as well as the growth of
member connection.
Key Takeaways:
1.
Going forward, events will always be a mix of in-person and virtual.
2.
Combatting digital fatigue can be achieved with hybrid events.
3.
Replicating digital metrics for in-person events is going to be necessary.
41
Automation and AI to
Scale Operations
“
10
“When it comes to AI and Automation scaling operations I could
foresee challenges if the relationship is between customer and
business but, this is between customers - automation and AI will
enhance their interactions not hinder it. The human aspect of
community can remain untouched so long as the tech is there to
Carlos Moreno,
Community at King
”
facilitate interaction.”
Community is a human program; a living
how do communities provide an authentic
breathing ecosystem sustained by real
experience if they automate?
relationships. So one might wonder, if we start
to automate it, how do we retain its essence, its
As Carlos Moreno referenced above, focusing
human quality?
our attention to automating and streamlining
I was fairly agnostic in my approach to this
preserve our personal touch, not lose it. We can
chapter. I have watched a lot of 00’s-era movies
use AI to enhance connection and personalized
about the evils of AI, and to be honest, the
experiences.
fictional threat to humanity permeated pretty
deeply. Despite my skepticism though I quickly
realised, through talking with our contributors,
that AI and automation are not only going
to be helpful to community, but they will be
necessary to the future of community.
This coming year most certainly won’t see
community being taken over by machines but it
will gradually work to enhance it. The question
I just couldn’t get out of my head was however,
interactions between customers will help us to
Lauren Krawitz pointed out that, in fact, AI could
help further authentication rather than damage
it: “Utilizing AI over the next year is going to help
us come up with even better initiatives.” And
Jayashree felt similarly: “It will allow us to save
time and actually innovate!”
2022 is set to be the year in which automating
community is not just a viable option but it’s
inevitable.
42
What impact will the application of AI have on
There’s no doubt about it, community
community in 2022?
membership rates far outpace the hiring and
In discussion with this chapter’s contributors,
there were two aspects of community that, in
the coming year automation and AI can help.
expansion of community teams so in a sense,
scaling seems like an almost impossible feat
without the help of automation.
Through improving the community experience
“In 2022, AI will be necessary to scale
for users, and the outcomes for businesses, AI
community,” Jayashree explained to me; “It can
and automation will 1) Scale community, and 2)
help with onboarding and rewarding members.”
Improve governance.
AI can tend to “Simple day-to-day programs
or initiatives,” Lauren repeated, and without it,
1) Scaling community
“You’ll be drawing in more work.”
Scaling community is a demanding endeavor
no matter if you’re a community team of
ten people or one person. It’s a huge ask of
any community professional. How does one
possibly expand their commuity offering at the
same pace at which members are signing up?
It’s difficult, to say the least.
“We need the ability to serve an ever growing
number of people - there are 7 billion of us! It’s
a huge challenge to scale your team at the same
rate as your community,” Carlos explained.
Lauren echoed Carlos’ sentiment; “Communities
grow at much faster rates than teams so we
need automation to keep up,” she told me.
Communities can attract thousands of
members, and continue to grow consistently,
while community teams can stagnate at just
a few people. Community professionals are
only just beginning to see growth in their
careers and definition in their roles but with
the growth of community in 2022 these
membership numbers look set to gain even
more momentum.
It makes sense, if you want to create a
streamlined experience for your members, and
promote better positions for your community
team, automation seems the way to go.
But it doesn’t stop there, “There are going to
be a number of ways we see automation take
over, or at least play a role; knowledge base
management, chat bots, and support agents
43
are all going to see the benefits of automation,”
that can reduce this workload and actually
Carlos assured me.
ensure better moderation.
Enhancing the interactions customers have
“If we’re being honest, managing moderation
within the community, from onboarding to
is a full time job,” Lauren told me, “Automation
rewards, will take weighty tasks off the hands of
is definitely coming in the next year; there are
the community builders who could be doing so
a lot of startups evolving specifically around
much more with their time.
community tech and implementing this AI can
But will it put jobs at risk? If the day-to-day tasks
community managers perform are no longer
required what will it mean for them?
“I don’t think it’s going to take away jobs,”
Lauren said, it will actually create more space
for community professionals to grow in their
role. “It can absolutely help with the processes
but we will still need people to manage the
communication,” Jayashree reiterated.
In 2022 we will see AI used to enable
community professionals establish creative,
effective programs, and to further understand
their community members. The more time a
community team has to build better initiatives,
the more successful that community will be.
2) Improving Governance
The even brighter side of applying automation
to community are the advancements in
improved governance. When it comes to
moderating and imposing governance rules,
it’s a job in itself. Community managers who
are innovating, onboarding, and running
communities are also expected to enforce the
make things so much better for community
managers and members alike.”
Improved governance directly yields better
results in terms of ensuring inclusion and
equality between members. Despite concerns,
AI can actually better enforce governance
rules: it doesn’t matter whether a member
is new and unknown or established or even
a super user, AI doesn’t care. Whoever you
are, if you break the rules you will feel the
consequences.
Carlos also sees 2022 as the year of automated
moderation; “There are already some tools
that are capable of navigating through and
filtering out content. This year? I see automation
helping text content, but looking to the future,
we’re going to have to address moderation of
multimedia content too.”
He makes a good point. AI is going to have
to improve at the same rate as community
capabilities. With the ordination of new
technologies to better the community
experience, there will need to be similar
innovations in AI that can ensure moderation
governance rules in place in that community.
will continue to improve.
It’s multiple jobs roled into one and it’s just not
How though, do we deal with the fear that
viable - there is tech and automation available
AI can overtake or even damage the human
44
connection that community facilitates? Does AI
and in 2022 it’s imperative that community
have to be implemented right here, right now?
professionals get the opportunity to elevate
Jayashree thinks we can be selective; “We
their communities.
don’t need to automate everything, but we
Carlos is confident in the capabilities AI and
can choose based on our own users, what
automation will afford his community, and
makes sense to automate. It can help us make
indeed community in general: “I’m excited to
better decisions and further understand our
see how we can progress with automation.”
members.”
The better a community manager can
understand their members, the better they can
cater to them and in turn, the more successful
community initiatives will be. It’s a pretty
simple idea - freeing up the time of community
managers will enable them to do great things,
Key Takeaways:
1.
To keep up with growing memberships, automation is necessary to scale community.
2.
AI can improve governance capabilities and ensure inclusive community policy is applied.
45
11
Meet the Experts
The experts that contributed to Community Predictions 2022 come from an array of backgrounds
and work in entirely different industries. From gaming communities, Non Profit Associations, and
SaaS company communities, our experts are based in North America, Germany, Spain, and India.
They have something in common though, and that’s a passion for all things community building.
Amanda Petersen
Beth Arritt
Amanda is a Community Manager at MURAL.
Beth is the Association Evaneglist at Higher
Amanda loves growing communities, facilitating
Logic.
gnarly discovery processes, and understanding
Beth’s marketing experience encompasses
actions with analytics in data. She has over
more than twenty-five years of marketing
15 years of experience facilitating, assessing,
strategy and member/customer engagement in
building in person and online communities,
various industries, including puzzles and games,
and teaching and training assessment,
training, education and aviation.
communication, relationship building, stress
management, and analysis.
In addition to marketing, Beth has worked in
event management and web development,
In her current role, Amanda delivers targeted
wearing a variety of hats in different positions.
customer centric community operations
She has also been an adjunct professor of
solutions and works strategically across MURAL
marketing at Marymount University in Arlington,
to build community within MURAL and with
Virginia. She has earned numerous awards
MURAL members. She is a fierce advocate for
for her marketing, including two Top Digital
MURAL members, their work, and community.
Marketer of the Year awards.
46
Brian Oblinger
Carrie Melissa Jones
Brian is the Chief Community Officer @ Brian
Carrie is a Community Strategist and the author
Oblinger, LLC.
of Building Brand Communities.
He has worked with top brands such as Acer,
Alteryx, Autodesk, Comcast, eBay, The Home
Depot, HP, PlayStation, and more. Today he
provides strategic consulting to companies all
over the world. He also co-Hosts the podcast
“In Before The Lock” with Erica Kuhl where they
discuss community, customer experience, and
leadership at scale.
Carrie Melissa Jones is an author, community
builder, and researcher of online communities.
Her work has influenced the world’s leading
online brand communities including the
American Medical Association, Patreon, Google,
and two U.S. presidential campaigns. She is
the author of the award-winning book Building
Brand Communities: How Organizations
Carlos Moreno
Succeed by Creating Belonging with Charles
Vogl and a student, teacher, and researcher
of virtual communities at the University of
Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Carlos is the Head of Community at King.
Dani Weinstein
With over 7 years in Community Management
and the Gaming Industry, Carlos feels privileged
to have discovered communities of every kind.
From passionate Candy Crush Saga fans to
avid Fortnite players, he has experienced many
Dani is the Senior Director of Customer
genres and gamer types throughout the years.
Community and Growth at Kaltura.
The spectrum of variety is endless, but there’s
always one core thing they have in common the unrivaled shared passion for games!
Dani is a community builder, strategist and
advisor with more than thirteen years enabling
customer success and driving business value
through customer communities at Domo (B2B)
and HP (B2C) domains. Dani joined Kaltura
in November 2020 as the Senior Director of
47
Customer Community and Growth. His focus
Esther Heide
is on driving the customer journey, advocacy
and growth with the power of community.
He recently launched Kaltura's Customer
Community to crowdsource knowledge and
connect customers to maximize their value
from the Kaltura platform.
Esther is the Program Manager of Social Media
and Community Support.
Esther has managed the TeamViewer
Erica Kuhl
Community since its inception, and she works
to create lasting value by creating global
Knowledge Exchange and publishing relevant
information. TeamViewer operates a global
cloud-based connectivity platform that enables
Erica is a Strategic Community Consultant at
Erica Kuhl Consulting.
Erica has over 18 years of Enterprise community
users and customers to connect to a wide
variety of devices.
Jayashree Rajagopalan
expertise. Formerly VP of Community at
Salesforce she built everything from scratch:
strategy to programs to metrics & ROI. She
understands running community programs
on any size budget & with any size team big
or small. She’s also seen massive company
growth from 176 to 49,000 employees allowing
her to adapt strategies & deeply understand
challenges at any stage. Erica has now
ventured out on her own to help customers
Jayashree is the Senior Manager of Global
Community Engagement, at Researcher.Life
under Cactus Communications. She also
oversees R Voice, a global community for
researchers.
like Slack, Zendesk, Atlassian, Google Cloud,
Jayashree focuses on ensuring R Voice
and Github build robust community strategies
functions as a safe space where researchers
and programs with her extensive expertise,
can have open conversations about the highs
authentic approach, and trusted services.
and lows of academic life, exchange shared
experiences; and give and get advice, support,
and knowledge. When she isn't building a
community, Jayashree is busy binge watching
crime-based series, reading fantasy fiction,
playing with her boisterous cat, or manifesting a
post-pandemic world with no travel restrictions.
48
Jenny Weigle
Kara enjoys roadtrips with her two dogs and
aspires to own an Airstream trailer to travel the
country and enjoy the view.
Jenny is the Chief Community Officer & Strategic
Consultant at Jenny.Community, LLC
Kiely Monteiro
She has been creating, executing, and reviewing
strategies for online communities for more
than 10 years. She's worked with more than 100
brands on various aspects of their community
strategy and implementations, including launch,
migration, programming, and planning.
Kiely is the Community Manager at FloQast
Kiely Monteiro has over six years of experience
in the community and advocacy space, including
Influitive, Sage Intacct, and now at FloQast. She
has extensive experience creating inaugural
Kara Adams
customer communities, revamping end-to-end
advocacy programs within a customer lifecycle,
and building out extensive Voice of Customer
programs, masterclasses, value driven
campaigns, and surprise and delight programs
Kara is the Community Manager at Foundant
Technologies.
Kara is a Certified Association Executive
(CAE) and an Association Forum Forty Under
40® award recipient. She has a diverse
background in association management,
learning management system implementation,
online continuing education, higher education
fundraising, community foundation program
for customers.
She is deeply passionate about developing
sincere relationships between brands and
end users, and has a "people first" mindset
in all that she does. When she’s not creating
new programs for community members, you
can find her volunteering with a dog rescue,
listening to true crime podcasts, or baking
something new.
development and animal behavior. As a thought
leader, she has co-authored and contributed
to articles and blogs, collaborated as a webinar
presenter, participated on panel discussions,
and presented at ASAE's annual conference in
2017, 2019 and 2021.
49
Lana Lee
2018 Community Roundtable Connect Award for
Outstanding Change Agent.
Lana is the Senior Community Management and
Marjorie Anderson
Strategist at Zoura.
Lana Lee is a senior community manager and
strategist at Zuora. She graduated from UC
Berkeley in civil engineering and then went to
USC, where she got a music degree in oboe
performance and a Master's in civil engineering.
After 15 years as a civil and structural engineer
and a career as a web developer, Lana
transitioned to community management where
she enjoys helping others find connections and
belonging.
Marjorie is the Founder of Community
by Association and Product Manager of
Community at Project Management Institute.
Marjorie founded Community by Association,
an organization that dually supports community
management practitioners in associations and
nonprofits and that provides information and
resources to these organizations enabling them
to build a solid foundation for their community
programs. She is also the Product Manager,
Lauren Krawitz
Community for Project Management Institute,
a not-for-profit membership association
shaping the future of the project management
profession.
Lauren is the Community Strategist and
Designer at Qualtrics.
Nichole Devolites
Lauren is a community builder, strategist &
designer who studied theory and practice
surrounding online interaction environments
while earning her degree in User Experience.
She’s devoted 4+ years to creating worldclass customer experiences and delivering
business value to Qualtrics (Nasdaq:XM). She
has implemented strategy & design that has
earned the XM Community the 2021 Stevie
Award for Innovation in Customer Service, and
Nichole is the Director of Customer Experience
at SecureAuth.
Nichole has been deeply entrenched in the
tech industry for the last 22 years, working
alongside some of the most notable leaders
50
in the world to solve challenges in the areas
Rav Singh
of sales, marketing, and customer experience
while developing value-added differentiators
that customers come to expect.
Over her career, her solutions and programs
have resulted in many achievements, including
$25+ million in additional revenue, a 90%
renewal rate, a 95% software upgrade rate, and
the curation of Fortune 500 Executive Customer
Advisory Boards. She is not only a practitioner,
but speaker and author as well.
Rav is the Community Manager at Reckon
Limited.
Rav lives and breathes all things digital. With
specialities in management of Community and
social media engagement to enhance service
experience Rav has over 8 years’ experience in
building and fostering tech communities and
recently oversaw the transition and rebuild of a
Rachael Silvano
24,000 member community to Vanilla.
Shana Sumers
Rachael is a Community Manager hat wearer
for over five years. Over her career, she has
become increasingly interested in the ways that
Communities engage with their members, the
power behind data, and the innovation that is
pushing this industry forward. She's an avid
player of Dungeons and Dragons (ask her about
her favorite character, a Cat Warlock with a
penchant for mischief), and cat-mom to Walter
and Fenny.
The Principal Marketing Manager, Diversity,
Inclusion & Belonging Community Programming
at Hubspot, Shana builds impactful spaces for
customers with diversity, equity, inclusion and
belonging at the forefront.
As a Black, queer woman, Shana can take you
from how to launch your Community and the
initiatives to keep it intentionally intersectional
to breaking stereotypes in the LGBTQ+
Community and how to drive change in this
virtual world.
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Stephanie Nakano
Todd Nilson
As the Community Manager at coda.io,
Todd is the President of Clocktower Advisors.
Stephanie has over 11 years of community
management experience specializing in
community operations, strategy, and growth
efforts. When she's not fostering communities,
she enjoys spending time with her family,
traveling, foodie adventures, and becoming a
new plant mom.
He helps people to build thriving online
communities and digital workplaces. He
specializes in digital strategy, online community
management, remote work collaboration and
marketing. He has worked with a myriad of
companies, from startups through Fortune 100
companies globally.
Her number one Community Prediction for
2022? “Community management is now a
critical function group in any company, the next
is community ops.”
52
References
https://cmxhub.com/an-introduction-to-the-community-career-path/
https://www.netimpact.org/careers/community-development
https://techcrunch.com/2021/02/20/chief-community-officer-is-the-new-cmo/
https://www.glassdoor.ca/Salaries/canada-online-community-manager-salary-SRCH_IL.0,6_IN3_
KO7,31. htm?clickSource=searchBtn
https://www.managingcommunities.com/2014/09/29/meet-jenna-woodul-the-first-chiefcommunity-officer/ https://www.communityled.com/
https://builtin.com/product-management/community-led-growth https://thenewstack.io/whycommunity-manager-is-a-dead-end-job-and-what-to-do-about-it/
https://fortune.com/2021/05/06/us-compa- nies-black-communities-money-50-billion/
https://www.gartner.com/smarterwithgartner/how- 2020-accelerated-conversations-on-diversityequity-and- inclusion
https://www.alliant.edu/blog/what-are-4-types-diversity
https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/diversity- and-inclusion/diversity-wins-howinclusion-matters
https://fortune.com/company/berkshire-hathaway/
https://www.reuters.com/business/sustainable-business/ berkshire-shareholders-reject-climatechange-diversity- proposals-that-buffett-2021-05-01/
https://www.ft.com/content/67e79b20-bc41-4cb0-992f- a28e3eaa5695
https://www.themtrep.org/ https://blog.asana.com/2020/05/building-inclusivehttps://www.thayerassociates.com/hybrid-in-person- virtual-meetings-are-they-even-possible/
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