March 26, 2009 What Being a Director of Community Would Be Like
In my last post I proposed having someone run and manage a social network for the Manoa Maniacs’ to help boost the student engagement and bring the school spirit back to life.
I came across a great post by Amber Naslund, Being a Director of Community, where she outlines her day-to-day duties managing the Radian6 community. It’s a great article and I encourage you all to read it.
Some of the take always from this article is that this type of job is a blend of various departments: business development, customer services, marketing, public relations, etc. You often will need to engage in conversation and listen to the feedback you get from the community. Forget the typical 9-5 job as this is more like a 24-7 job.
There is a lot of great content in the article and the first thing that got my attention was this isn’t something the UH Athletics Department can run. In my previous conversation with the media relations director Derek Inouchi, the NCAA forbids any official in the Athletics Department from engaging in conversation with a prospective student athlete. But this really isn’t a problem.
To overcome this objection, find a student who wants to get into management, communications, etc. and create a volunteer job. I’m sure there would be lots of people who would like this opportunity. Or better yet, have someone in ASUH or Student Activities run the community. Of course this person would need to be in constant contact with the Athletics Department to make sure they are not violating any rules. The last option would be for someone to create an official fan page/group for Hawaii Athletics and charge a minimal membership fee to up keep the site.
This may be the better option as the fan page can be opened up to the entire community but the point I want to make is that Amber Naslund laid out the blue print for someone who is passionate about UH Athletics that may want to be a Director of Community. Now, all it’s going to take is finding someone with enough time to do it.
Maybe I should do it, but then again I just graduated from college and struggling to make money right now…
Tags: college athletics, director of community, Social Media
- 2 comments
- Posted under Social Media
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Amber Naslund
said
Hi David,
Thanks so much for the kind words about the post, and for layering on your insights.
Community roles are especially challenging in industries that have strong regulatory or legal issues to consider. But that shouldn’t deter you from exploring; companies are learning how to balance transparent communication with compliance all the time, and it always takes pioneers to make the first steps.
Good luck to you, and please let me know how I can help.
Cheers,
Amber
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David Onoue
said
Aloha Amber!
I should be thanking you for the great article you wrote. I would definitely love to get advice from you every so often.
I guess it’s time to be like Nike and Just Do It!