IOCMA - Call For Participants // Sascha A. Carlin

This call is intended to gather professional community managers and community builders working in the field of online communities.

We are working in a field that has many different aspects. Community professionals have varying backgrounds, work in different industries and aim to fulfill different business goals. We work with all kinds of communities, all sizes of them and different topics and missions.

Since the take-off of Web 2.0 and with it user generated content the term community was enlarged to nearly all ventures on the web. Publishers, producers, service providers, more or less everyone who sells something, strive into creating communities.

Online Community Management is a challenging profession. It involves facilitation and moderation, selling the community idea within the company as well as to its customers. We depend on our superiors to grant us resources. We need to convince other departments to work with us. We need to evangelize where the community idea is new and to join efforts where it already is.

In fact, we are a product managers. But of a special kind. There is not a boxed product called community which you put on the shelves. We have a potential audience of millions. We have to know how to reach these people, what services to offer to them, how to get them involved in our companies’ business goals. It is about business and brand. Brands carry emotions, and what is a community other than people having emotions.

Until now, we were scattered. We sought help in the little literature that exists about online communities. We searched the web and found single pieces of information. We ventured into psychology and communication sciences, play theory, marketing and advertising.

But we missed something essentially. A place to go to when all else has failed. A place where we can find people who are in the same position as we are, who we can ask for guidance, best practices and ideas, who understand us.

There are more reasons yet to be addressed: education guidelines, lobbying and many more.

These are the reasons why we need something like IOCMA - International Online Community Management Association.

IOCMA seeks to become that one place. It’s time to engage.

If you are working as an online community manager, this call is aimed at you. Spread the word, comment below or drop us an e-mail or send a Skype message if you are interested in helping set up IOCMA, or just want to know when we take off.

126 Responses to “IOCMA - Call For Participants”

  1. Mukund Mohan Says:

    Sounds cool. Email me details so I can help however I can. Good to know you are thinking about this in Germany.

  2. Sascha A. Carlin Says:

    Thank you and a very warm welcome Mukund! You’ve got mail ;)

  3. Sean ODriscoll Says:

    Interesting…guess I’ll need to know more.

    sean

  4. Sascha A. Carlin Says:

    Sean, welcome and thank you! There should be an e-mail waiting for you.

  5. Tom Noeding Says:

    Hi Sascha, thank you for this great initiative. It goes without saying that I’m on board :-)

  6. Sascha A. Carlin Says:

    Great to have you on board Tom! Sending you an e-mail right now.

  7. Ruth Schöllhammer Says:

    Great idea. Looking forward, what’s coming up.

  8. Sascha A. Carlin Says:

    Hi Ruth and welcome and thank you for your interest. You should have an e-mail by now, too.

    And by the way, I guess I will stop telling that everyone here and just send the e-mail ;)

  9. Jim Turner Says:

    I would be especially interested in your group. I am actually giving a presentation in Boston about companies hiring social media managers. Would love to use your group as an example of what is coming.

  10. Craig Ritchie Says:

    Love it. I would love to know more.

  11. Sascha A. Carlin Says:

    Hi there Craig and Jim!

    @Craig: The elevator is standing by for you to jump on ;)

  12. Marco Palzkill Says:

    I would be more than happy to participate and contribute!

  13. Alexander Wohlfarth Says:

    Great idea - I would be more than happy to get aboard!

  14. Connie Bensen Says:

    Sounds like an excellent idea! We definitely could use this!
    Connie

  15. Susan Tenby Says:

    Please put me on the list. I would also like to know more about the conference format. Will this be an unconference? Will you be accepting applications for speakers? Will the community vote on the panel topics? Who is governing this program? I run an online community managers meetup in SF, and I would be interested in getting involved, if there is room for that.

  16. Susan Tenby Says:

    I just assumed that there would be a conference associated with this association, so I also may be wrong about that, too. But if I am wrong and no conference is involved, what will participation look like for members?

  17. Steve Brock Says:

    Congratulations on your endeavor. I’ve been an online community manager for almost 20 years, and it’s still an exciting field. Count me in. — Steve

  18. Jim Bert Says:

    Good idea,

    I can volunteer the WebCrossing white-labeled social networking platform, Neighbors, as the communications mechanism where everyone can have a personal space as well as a terrific environment for collaboration, photo sharing, blogging, etc.

    Jim Bert

  19. Jill Smith Says:

    I am interested in learning more.

  20. Dom Sparkes Says:

    Great to see such an organisation. We at Tempero are one of the world’s largest moderation companies and moderate for clients such as BBC, Channel 4, Sky, NSPCC, Orange, ITV, Sainsburys, Fiat and many more.

    If we can help please shout :-)

    Dom Sparkes

  21. Morgan Clark Says:

    Sounds great, please count me in.

    Morgan

  22. » Community Manager Role Connie Bensen: My Conversations Says:

    […] Sascha’s call embodies the spirit of the role of Community Manager: This call is intended to gather professional community managers and community builders working in the field of online communities. […]

  23. Jeremiah Owyang Says:

    please include me in this organization, thanks!

  24. The Four Tenets of the Community Manager Says:

    […] Also see this association of community managers (IOCMA) that are now calling for members (link via […]

  25. Julie Gibson Says:

    This is great, I’ve been working effectively as a community manager on technical support forums for over a year but have not managed to find others doing this to be able to learn from their experiences.

    Count me in!

    Thanks

  26. Klaus Wiesmüller Says:

    great initiative, count me in!

  27. Mar Ruiz Says:

    Working on a new community for young people to be live next February 2008. Have been working on communities for several years now. Hope to share experiences and learn!

  28. Heather Duggan Says:

    I’m interested. Thanks for pulling this together.

  29. David Flores Says:

    Would definitely like to hear more about this. Thanks.

  30. Maria Sipka Says:

    I would love to be part of this association! Well done Connie on launched a much needed initiative.

  31. Sascha A. Carlin Says:

    Maria, I take the freedom to directly add you to the list ;)

  32. Sibylle Haas Says:

    it sounds realy interesting! could you send me some more information?
    thanks!

  33. javier godoy Says:

    Hi from spain
    please send me more information as this start running and count on me to help from spainsh and hispanic space!!!

  34. mariana evica Says:

    Wonderful to see this initiative; my colleague and I who look after our growing community interaction at our company will be interested in details and association. Sounds exciting! I’m very interested in discussing best practices and ways we can be supportive and inclusive of fellow professionals in our industry. Though we’re new at this at social/community building at our company, we approach it with a service-minded attitude and high integrity; hope to be able to contribute value and experiences to this meta-community!

  35. blog.welfare.de » Blog Archive » IOCMA - neue Initiative für Community Manager Says:

    […] hat im CM-Forum bei XING gerade eine sehr interessante Sache veröffentlicht: Er hat heute die IOCMA gestartet, die “International Online Community Manager Association“. Hinter diesem […]

  36. Jeff Kitchen Says:

    This is a great idea, and I very excited to see where it goes. Let me know if there is any additional information and/or I can be of any help.

  37. stacy Says:

    I’m interested in seeing where this goes. Keep me updated and/or let me know if there is anything you need help with. :)

  38. Daniela Arens Says:

    We are creating a new website to aggregate all online community and groups - based in Barcelona Spain. We are an international team of people (many Germans anyway ;-)) - so count us in to help you spread the word! Will be looking for a community manager shortly! Keep me updated!

  39. Dean Steadman Says:

    Great idea! Thanks

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  41. Hendrik Lennarz Says:

    Great idea! Thanks

  42. Mike Rowland Says:

    A little late to the party, but I’d like to know more as well. In addition to moderating communities for companies ranging from AARP to Cisco, we’re also the host of an online community roundtable and would like to help this effort as well. (Seems like the CMMC died quickly, hopefully this does not.)

    Please send me information.

    Thanks!

    Mike

  43. Community Guy - Jake McKee » ASK: How do I become a Community Manager? (College Students) Says:

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  44. Jason Sperber Says:

    Hi Sascha! I too am late to the party, just found out about the group over at Community Guy. I’m the Community Content Coordinator for Bakersfield.com, the website of The Bakersfield Californian newspaper. Newspaper.coms are incorporating the tools of social media and user interaction into their web presences in ever increasing numbers, and TBC’s been an early adopter, developing its own software platform for profiles and blogging and deploying it on niche hyperlocal sites and on the paper’s flagship site, where I work. It’s exciting to be in this field at this time, and I’m glad to find you all. (Just joined the email list too.)

  45. Bea Says:

    Great Idea, but what can we do? This job is new and interesting. I like it, but a “red line” is missing.
    I´am the community manager of www.derwesten.de

    How kann it works? Let me know.

  46. Community Guy - Jake McKee » ASK: How do I become a Community Manager? (Working Pro) Says:

    […] IOCMA - International Online Community Managers Association […]

  47. Sean moffitt Says:

    Count me in when it’s up…great idea…the vanguard of new marketing, media and customer centricity awaits!

  48. Arne Wieding Says:

    Count me in too!

  49. Lynn Sheehan Says:

    I’d love to participate. As a company desparately trying to make companies understand they can build community AND make an ROI, I value the input of others on the subject.

    I’d love to help you set up IOCMA formal association. Let me know what I can do to help.

  50. Dave Coleman Says:

    My team and I would be thrilled to be a part of this forum. CommunityLend is the first P2P loan marketplace in Canada. We have a very strong focus on Community both within our application and externally. I will try and be as regular as I can with my contributions and look forward to all the fantastic help and support.

    Cheers and thank you for getting this group together

    Dave Coleman

  51. Alex Loffstadt Says:

    Community Management requires a rare combination of new and a old skills that for a lot of companies are either overlooked, undervalued or misunderstood.

    A good community manager has the rare gift of being able to help both the community and the company simultaneously….

    Okay enough evangelising for now, sign me up. :D

  52. Dave Sabol Says:

    I work for an professional trade / individual membership association and am leading a project to redesign and develop our online communities. I’d love to help/participate in any way I can.

  53. Babelgum Says:

    Babelgum is a new, global, high-resolution, on demand TV platform for the Internet. We are currently recruiting for a Global Community Director based in London or Milan. If you or anyone you know has experience in building active online communities of customers (B2C) and are interested in this position, please send an email to jobs@babelgum.com to hear more about the role. (www.babelgum.com)

  54. Shino Tanaka Says:

    A bit late to the party, but count me in =)

  55. Fiona Says:

    I would like to know more as well. thanks!

  56. Jennifer Davenport Says:

    Hello all,

    I’m really looking forward to joining this group. Have only been Community Manager for a few weeks but already love it!

  57. Community-Management» Blogarchiv » Was ist eigentich…? Community-Management Says:

    […] Grafik aus einer Präsentation von Sascha A. Carlin zur Vorstellung der IOCMA (International Online Community Management Association) fasst die Interdisziplinarität des […]

  58. Liza James Says:

    I am very interested in hearing more! Keep me updated please! Let me know if I can do anything to help.

  59. Barry Says:

    Glad to see this area. Our company is recruiting for community managers.

  60. Rhonda Says:

    I’d love to be a part of it :)

  61. Scott Drummond Says:

    Hey Sascha,

    I just wanted to say how excited I am to join the IOCMA community and to become a part of the community managers community!

    Looking forward to us all practising what we preach and developing a strong sense of community for us community managers.

    Cheers,

    Scott

  62. Kimberly Lloyd Says:

    I am interested.

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  64. tina Says:

    i would love to learn more — new to the community manager ‘world’ and am excited to be a part of it !!!

    best,
    tina

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    My first visit here, found the blog accidentally really, and I just wanted to say I’ve enjoyed my visit and had some good reads while here :) Juan

  67. Jenna Says:

    Great post. How often do you update? I am looking for new stuff to toss in my feed reader and this might be good. Later

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    This brings me to an idea:…

  69. Mary Says:

    I’d love to know more about your organization when you get it up and running, as I’m working toward securing a community management position.

  70. Franklin Says:

    Nice write up…usually I never reply to these thing but this time I will,Thanks for the great info.

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  76. Natalie Dunbar Says:

    It appears this call for participants was posted a while ago. Any updates since then? I’m interested in joining/networking with others who hold this position and would love to learn more about IOCMA. Thanks!

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