What kind of community do you manage/facilitate as a Community Manager?
I manage the online community of a TV channel (Current TV, the Italian edition). Currently it’s the only Italian TV channel to have such a big community.

Is this community independent (on it’s own) or subsidized by a brand/company/organization?
The community is strictly related to the TV channel.

How many members does your community count?
We count more than 100.000 members on our website and more than 50.000 on all the social networks where we have an official presence (Facebook, Twitter, FriendFeed, YouTube).

What is the ratio between active (the creators) and passive (the lurkers) members?
I would say that the users who follow us on the social networks where we have a presence are very active and they constantly give us feedback, share our content and discuss. The action on the website is much less, since it’s a more institutional site.
 
What is the main goal of the community?
The main goal is to share the interesting programs we do at Current and start conversations. Since the mission of Current is to provide independent information in a country where information on TV is mostly controlled by the government, the members of the community feel the urge to be active and participate. Members can also contribute to some of our shows by providing us with unfiltered videos that other TV channels would otherwise censor.

How did the community start?
The community first started around the website of the TV channel and users were asked to contribute by sending us their videos. Current was the first TV channel in history to broadcast user generated content and we still keep that element in our programming, although the presence of ugc is now limited to certain shows.
 
When do you consider the community you’re responsible for successful?
I consider it successful when I am able to transmit enthusiasm to the community and the reaction I get back is exactly what I expected. The sentiment of the CM plays a key role in the development of a community.

Does the rest of the organization feel the same way about that?
 I would say definitely yes. My company has very deep roots in the Web and we value a lot the feedback from the online community.

How would you describe the culture/atmosphere of the community?
It is a very creative community with a strong need for independent information. They want to know what happens in the world and they feel compelled to play their part in making the Italian society a better one.

Which techniques do you use to create a ‘feeling of community’ between the members?
First off I try to gather people with common interests, so that they can have more things to share and talk about. For example, if I want to get more followers on Twitter I start following people who already follow institutions and personalities who are close to my company in the way they behave and for the messages they spread. 99% of the times they follow us back because they realize they can get something interesting and valuable from us.

Same happens with Facebook and the other social networks. It is important to actively search for new members but I definitely hate “hunting” and spamming. In my case my role is also to find talented people who produce interesting video content online that could be useful for some of our shows. I invest a lot of time in community outreach.

Another thing I do is to make the community feel like they are interacting with an individual, not with a company. Most of the times you can tell you are having conversations with brands because they are tasteless, aseptic and keep acting in a formal way. Usually on the Facebook page of a brand you only see content related to the company’s activities: you never see a YouTube video of a concert or a funny sketch (I mean, content you would normally see on the profile page of your friends). Well, I want the company’s page to look like the page of a friend, so that people consider my company as a friend.
For example, I pick the videos and the links we share in our employees mailing list at work and I select those who better express the feelings and the mood of the company. I post them on Twitter and Facebook and I noticed that people share them much more intensively. When you do so you ensure that the community does read your posts because they always expect something interesting to be shared by the company and – at the same time – you earn new “followers” because the friends of your fans get to know you. I know what my community likes and the community also has a clear idea of what the company likes (which is important as well).
You can’t just talk about yourself all the time.

Do you organize off line community meetings?
I try to participate to as many events as possible so that people can talk to me and discuss what’s going on. I definitely hate to organize formal meetings with logos everywhere: barcamps and public conferences are more suitable and allow me to be more informal. This reflects the spirit of our TV channel and this is what we want to trasmit to people.
What works really well in your community? (group dynamics wise)
I would say the fact that people in our community are able to gather and mobilitate for causes. It is very hard to give to an online community a reason to do so, but in our case they are more than happy to do it. Usually they are very active people by default, so this makes everything easier.

What would you like to see different or improve about your community?
I would like to bring into the community more journalists and professional videomakers who could share their expertise with those who want to produce independent information.
 
To what department does the community belong?
The community management belongs to the New Media department.

How are department such as marketing, PR and customer service involved with the community?
When PR and marketing need to communicate something to the community they have to go through the New Media department. We take care of delivering their messages in the most effective ways.

What does the future of the community look like?
I see a very bright future ahead. I’m working on many other ways to engage the community and I’m sure it will become very supportive and capable of providing us with great contributions for those shows relying also on some user-generated content.

How do you give shape to your role as a Community Manager?
I consider myself the first and most enthusiastic fan of the company I represent and I believe this makes the difference when you want to be a good CM.

What are your experiences with the role?
I have more than 10 years of experience. Prior to this community I founded and managed the most popular LGBT forum in Italy, which allowed me to practice how to deal with very diverse people and how to counter-attack very offensive provocations with irony.

Which are your responsibilities as a CM?
I basically ensure that the community is informed about what is going on on TV and make sure they feel that the company is close to their needs – whatever they are.

What do you like the best about being a CM?
I get to know a lot of interesting people.

What is the hardest aspect about being a CM?
The fact that you are a CM 24×7. Once people identify you as such you feel obliged to be even more careful when expressing your opinions. You always need to specify that you are speaking for yourself and not for the company you’re part of.

Do you have colleagues that help you managing the community?
I do 80% of the community management. I have a colleague in my department who helps me.

How do you see the role of CM in the future?
The important thing to keep in mind is that the community is everywhere and not just on the website you are working for. The community is also on social networks and it is not afraid to speak. I see the community always as a potential, not as something acquired. It is important to keep this in mind because the CM needs to expand his horizons and has to know how to act in territories where he has no control over the rules and where he can’t kick out people.

What are your personal ambitions considering the role of CM?
A CM is often the most recognizable face of the company he represents and – as a result – he has to ensure his reputation is always good. I  hope that this role will earn much more importance and respect with time, since it far from being simple.

Livia Iacolare 28, is currently Community Coordinator for the Italian edition of Current and Assistant Producer (and occasionally host) of Geek Files. Previously she was editor of Intruders.TV, an international videoblog network of online enterprises and web innovation (the first of its kind in Europe). She has published several articles on national and international websites, including Mashable, Brave New Traveler and several print publications. She occasionally collaborates with the Italian edition of Wired Magazine.