Gwynne Monahan
Clio and Small Firm Innovation
Twitter
@econwriter5
Website
www.gwynnemonahan.com
Who has been an inspiration for you as a community manager?
My network and other community managers. I manage/run a rather niche community, small firm lawyers, but my network covers considerably more areas and regardless of industry, all community managers face the same challenges. Talking with others and seeing what they did in similar situations, in both #startups and large corporations, is very useful.
What is the most important part of being a community manager?
Communication. Be it internally or externally, in 140 characters or a blog post, in person, whatever the medium, being able to communicate is key.
If you could attend one conference to learn about community management, what would it be and why?
I don’t know, actually. I take away something from every conference I attend, and usually find my Twitter profile has proceeded me.
What is your favorite book that has helped you become a better community manager?
Two, actually. StrengthsFinder 2.0 and Linked.
What do you like best about being a community manager?
Interactions. And the first thing that comes to mind are #goneclio interviews, where I interview a Clio user, talk about their experiences with the product, how he or she started the firm, experiences being a small business owner.
What skill should every community manager have?
A sense of humor. An odd skill, sure, but a necessity. If you don’t have a sense of humor, work on developing one. It’ll make the rough patches a little easier to navigate and the good times all the more enjoyable.
Tell us about a success story you’ve had as a community manager.
Taking an unknown blog, Small Firm Innovation, and making it an ABA Journal #blawg100 winner in its first year of existence.
What advice would you give someone wanting to become a community manager?
Decide on if you want to be in a narrow niche, like small firm lawyers, or in something broader. Then make a pros and cons list.
Tell us about a job that helped prepare you to become a community manager and why.
Trying to start my own consulting company. I was never a very outgoing person, but to make a go at consulting I had to become one. I had to learn to reach out to people, talk to them and get to know them to see if I could help. I gave advice freely and openly, and along the way, developed a very useful, powerful network. That’s help with Small Firm Innovation. Every business faces the same kinds of challenges, and since my focus was open source applications for lawyers, there are challenges unique to small law firms.
And reaching even further back in memory, my summer job at Walmart. I worked in the Garden and Lawn department, and I learned how to give good customer service, how to handle an irate customer and what it meant to be part of a team.
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[...] we learned that our Communications/Community Manager, Gwynne Monahan, was named Community Manager of the Day by My Community Manger. [...]