I saw it two days late, but still the declaration by Jeremiah Owyang to make the fourth Monday of January Community Manager Appreciation Day warmed my cockles. Someone out there cares!! *fist pump*
Okay, so I’m exaggerating a bit… 😛 It isn’t entirely thankless. There are times when you address an issue for someone, and they’re so happy they’d jump on you and kiss ya if you were both in the same physical location. But it is a tough gig. Community managers are the ones who get yelled at in CAPS LOCK IN SUPPORT E-MAILS, the ones who have to face the Twitter-blog-comment wielding mob, the ones who have forgotten what after-hours and weekends are because issues and interactions wait for no CM.
They also happen to have a very misunderstood gig. How many Community Managers out there have had to explain “No, banning people and deleting posts are a just a tiny part of what I do… there’s much more to it…”? C’mon, don’t be shy, put them hands up! Many people I meet in the industry still dismiss it as ‘lower’ or non-technical and therefore a ‘soft’ job. Attitudes to the role are changing, but slowly.
So to all Community Managers out there – I appreciate you. Respekt! *bows* And if ya ever need some backup or just someone to listen to you rant, drop me a line! It doesn’t have to be a lonely job 😉 Finally, a big THANKS to Mr Owyang for advocating this. You are appreciated too!