podcast
details
.com
Print
Share
Look for any podcast host, guest or anyone
Search
Showing episodes and shows of
Brian Oblinger
Shows
Power of Connection
Social vs Owned: Weighing the Costs of Where You Build Community with Brian Oblinger
Our guest on this episode of Higher Logic’s Power of Connection is Brian Oblinger, a career-experienced consultant around community, customer experience, advocacy, strategy, optimization, and more. Brian’s also held staff positions in both platforms and businesses and talks with us about migrating from social media-based communities to owned communities, and the changes going on in the community space. Topics covered include: Why companies think social media means you don’t need a community. The elements of social media that drive companies back to an owned community. The biggest challenges faced when transitioning to social to owned communi...
2025-04-17
33 min
Community ROI
How Community Helps to Boost Retention and Lower Costs | Community ROI with Brian Oblinger
"People don't just stay for the product; they stay for the community, for feeling like they're part of something bigger than themselves." In this episode, we discussed how a community can drive measurable outcomes, including customer retention, cost savings, and enhanced brand engagement, in particular: 👉 How to connect community goals with six core business objectives. 👉 Practical strategies for using communities to retain customers and reduce costs. 👉 Examples of aligning community success with business growth. 👉 How to bring cross-functional teams into community building for maximum impact. 👉 Actionab...
2024-10-24
36 min
Digital Community Leaders
Brian Oblinger - eBay, PlayStation & Airbnb Strategic Consultant | Digital Community Leaders Podcast
Welcome to the Digital Community Leaders Podcast, a conversation with community experts, diving into their insights and leaving you with actionable ideas. Today we’re joined by… Brian Oblinger, a well known community consultant helping brands increase satisfaction, lower costs, and generate more revenue through the power of community. Brian has worked with the likes of eBay, Oracle, PlayStation, Sephora to name a few. Brian co-hosts the "In Before The Lock" podcast, where he shares insights on community management, customer experience, and leadership. He has spoken at numerous industry events, including the C...
2024-09-10
43 min
In Before The Lock
🔓 109: Various forms of hybridity
Should your community be public, private, or a hybrid of both? What about free vs. paid? Erica and Brian break it all down.
2024-07-31
1h 38
In Before The Lock
🔓 108: The Ericas
And The Erica Goes To…Erica! 🏆🥳 Brian is joined by a gaggle of family, friends, and co-workers to present Erica with awards on her birthday.
2024-07-09
1h 49
In Before The Lock
🔓 107: Under the surface
Erica and Brian talk about the bones of your community and how they work together to create a cohesive experience. Previous episodes about the “above the surface” bits: 🔓 76: Combo pages 🔓 91: A list of links 🔓 101: They want the ugly Resources: Structures & Modalities Examples Permissions & Roles Template
2024-04-09
1h 11
CELab: The Customer Education Lab
Ep 127 - Brian Oblinger - Community and Customer Education are Better Together
Listen in as we explore the ever-evolving intersection of community management and customer education with Brian Oblinger. Brian is a seasoned veteran in community management, and shares invaluable insights drawn from his extensive career, underscoring the power of learning from past endeavors. Our discussion ventures beyond the surface, examining how industry giants have leveraged platforms like North Pass to foster innovation in digital customer education, ultimately enhancing product engagement and retention. We tackle the strategic and technical challenges of creating a frictionless user experience across learning management systems and community forums, sharing practical steps for incorporating single...
2024-03-07
50 min
In Before The Lock
🔓 106: The Golden Hoodie
Brian and Erica deep dive into customer awards programs and how to get them right. 🔓 5: A whole bag of crap The Golden Hoodie Alteryx Excellence Awards
2024-03-05
1h 38
In Before The Lock
🔓 105: Measurin’ vibes
Erica and Brian push back hard on the idea that measuring community ROI isn’t important (we can’t believe we had to talk about this or are typing this right now, but here we are). Measurement resources: 🔓 8: Just say No to Page Views 🔓 9: Everyone wants a cool dashboard 🧵 70: Behaviors and indicators 🧵 92: Early indicators Community Metrics Template Erica’s blog: It’s All About That Data Brian’s presentation on measuring ROI Course: Community Measurement Fundamentals
2024-01-30
55 min
In Before The Lock
🔓 104: A really great activation
Erica and Brian talk about their favorite community activations for in-person conferences.
2023-12-12
1h 38
In Before The Lock
🔓 103: Part of the master plan
Brian and Erica discuss the launch of Community Strategy Academy. Use code INBEFORE at checkout for 15% off of any course, bundle, or membership.
2023-09-12
25 min
In Before The Lock
🔓 101: They want the ugly
Erica and Brian navigate through developer landing pages and communities from Google, Salesforce, Apple, Visa, and more. Developer Community 🔓 60: Just a couple lines of code Developer Landing Pages/Communities: Google Developers Salesforce Developers Apple Developers Intel Developer Zone Fusion Fabric Developers SAP Developers Visa Developer Center
2023-03-21
1h 21
In Before The Lock
🔓 100: Win the interview
Erica and Brian run down the most common interview questions and how to answer them. Community Industry News: Quinn McCully joined Vesta as Community Management and Engagement Specialist Maren Hamilton was promoted to Director of Social & Community at The North Face Ami Defesche joined The Wildcard Alliance as Director of Community Corey Strausman joined Weights & Biases as Community Manager, Growth Dominique Farrar joined Quantive as Director of Community Nick Emmett joined Alvaria as Senior Community & Knowledge Manager Marjorie Anderson joined Exos as Director of Community Paul Bradley joined Kaplan as Vice President, Kaplan Community Farhan Chowdry joined Deen...
2023-01-19
1h 16
In Before The Lock
🔓 98: 10x Community Pros
Erica and Brian talk through the traits and skills required to become an elite community professional and people to look to for inspiration. Community Industry News: Amanda Boyle was promoted to Director of Community Engagement at GitHub Christina Brashear joined Colibra as Senior Manager, Community Success Erin Mikail Staples joined Heartex as Senior Developer Community Advocate Sean Dahlberg joined Cisco as Head of Developer Community Nicola Balkind joined Skillshare as Program & Community Manager, Creator Success Traits of a “10x Community Pro”: Business Acumen: Ric Navarro Julie Hamel Nicole Saunders Evan Hamilton Rachel McKool Outcome Focused: Rich Millington Jon Wishar...
2022-12-20
1h 41
In Before The Lock
🔓 96: Our favorite things
On this special Thanksgiving episode, Erica and Brian dig into the things that make their personal and professional lives easier. Community Industry News: Anne Mbugua joined Analog Devices as Community Content Manager Neval Dalgic joined BARTKA INOVASYON as Community Lead Francisco Fonseca joined Lymbus as Community Manager Biswajeeta Rath was promoted to Senior Online Community Manager at BMC Dennis Lemoine was promoted to Principal Community Experiences Program Manager at Anaplan Some of our favorite things: Erica: Asana Slack Five Star 3 Subject Notebooks Audible CMX Summit Brian: Calendly Stratechery 1Password The Accidental Community Manager by Adrian Speyer Chartr AirPods A...
2022-11-22
1h 02
The Community Experience
Communicating Community Value with Erica Kuhl and Brian Oblinger of In Before The Lock
#062 Does the work you put into community actually have an impact on your business? How do you connect the dots between what you do and the bottom line? How do you tell a compelling story that illustrates the value you provide? We tackle all that and more with our special guests, Erica Kuhl and Brian Oblinger of the In Before The Lock podcast. If you’re familiar with Salesforce’s Trailblazers, that’s Erica’s baby. Brian’s background is equally impressive, with leadership roles in community starting in the early '90s. This episode is jam-packed with strategies for commun...
2022-11-01
56 min
Gain Grow Retain
The Vault - Tending to Your Community
Brian Oblinger joins Jeff and Jay to talk about Community. What is the difference between Community and community? How does understanding the value of community help with resource growing? What does it mean to put value to customer as a top priority? Listen to hear Brian's thoughts on all of these questions and more. Connect with Brian --- Gain Grow Retain exists to connect people, knowledge, and ideas to advance the state of customer success. We're on a mission to connect B2B SaaS customer success leaders so that we can...
2022-10-17
37 min
In Before The Lock
🔓 89: To delete or not to delete
How to handle the archiving of old, outdated, and irrelevant content from your community. Community Industry News: Work with Brian Work with Alex Angel Work with Noele Flowers Maria Ogneva was promoted to Sr. Director, Community and Customer Marketing at Invoca Andrew Mishalove joined Matillion as VP, Community Michael Pascucci joined Validity, Inc as Sr. Manager, Online Customer Community Mike Rizzo joined Stack Moxie to assist with community Francis Murphy joined Braintrust as Vice President, Community and Social Adrian Speyer’s upcoming book
2022-09-13
1h 00
In Before The Lock
🔓 87: Acceptable trash talk
Erica and Brian take a close look at how to create compelling community user guidelines. Community Industry News: Evan Patterson joined tender.ai as Head of Community & Partnerships Lizzie LaCour joined Softr as Community Lead Gabrielle Leith joined Grapevine as Community Manager Paola Johnson was promoted to Director, Community and Customer Advocacy at Thoughtspot Kristen Meren joined TalkBase as Community Manager Jessica West joined Temporal Technologies to manage Developer Relations and Community Caroline Valitutto joined Well Traveled as Community Manager Stephanie Salsini joined G2 as Community Manager Matt Cross joined Pros & Content Community as Community Manager Community User...
2022-08-30
1h 16
In Before The Lock
🧵 86: It’s all about culture
“Are there certain company characteristics that are indicators whether a community will have a higher chance of success?” — Brian Koffler
2022-08-23
05 min
In Before The Lock
🔓 85: A map of your brain
Erica and Brian dive deep on how to translate your strategy into action. Community Industry News: Danhel Fajardo joined Vyond as Senior Community Specialist Jephtah Abu joined AhoyConnect as Product Community Manager Krystal Wu joined OpenSpace as Sr. Community Program Manager Dani Weinstein joined SAP as Director, Community Strategy Jennifer Hudnet was promoted to Sr. Community Manager at Salesforce Karolina Linda was promoted to Director of Community Management at Dynatrace Sabrina Hockett was promoted to Manager, Community Advocacy and Marketing at Mulesoft Aaron Weiss joined Procore Technologies as Senior Community Manager Corey Denis was promoted to Head of C...
2022-08-16
1h 02
In Before The Lock
🔓 83: Expert elitism
Erica and Brian explore how Autodesk, Splunk, and Salesforce built pages for their superuser programs. Community Industry News: DL Grant joined Commsor as Community Operations Manager Isabel Ruiz joined Mews as Community Manager Cody A. was promoted to Community Support Specialist at Reddit Mike H. was promoted to Community Engagement Manager at Reddit Leah Knowles joined Vanta as Community Lead Thea Silayro joined G2i as Community Manager Melissa Ly joined Auditboard as Community Manager Emily Hanssen Arent joined Hibob as Head of Community Jessica Hobbs joined CMX as Director of Community Programming Community Launch Guide — now in Ge...
2022-08-02
1h 04
In Before The Lock
🔓 81: I love a good seasonal engagement program
Erica and Brian explore how OpenSpace and Guru delivered great engagement programs. Community Industry News: Valentina Ruffoni joined Disciple Media as Community Experience Lead Caroline Park joined Atlassian as Senior Manager, Community Engagement Kristie Presten joined Tasktop as Community Manager Carla Doty was promoted to Community Director at Yelp Celina Zamora joined ServiceNow as Community Engagement Manager & Strategist Shane Whaley joined FareHarbor as Head of Community Ben Garrison joined Zscaler as Technical Moderator and Knowledge Manager Katie Ray joined metadata.io as Head of Community Kimberly Ndola joined Wonder as Community & Content Strategist Cat Martinez joined Twilio as...
2022-07-19
45 min
In Before The Lock
🔓 79: Even Littler Erica
Erica’s Mom, Donna, joins Brian on this extra-special birthday episode to talk about an award Erica won in high school, her history as a criminal mastermind, and how the daughter of a dentist became addicted to candy. Happy Birthday, Erica! 🥳
2022-07-09
21 min
Humans of Business (former Community Life)
Community Life #3 with Brian Oblinger
Welcome to Community Life! Here we talk with the community experts about their lives and today our guest is Brian Oblinger, an almighty 1999 forum moderator, SVP of new products at Commsor, and the co-host of the In before the lock podcast! 🤩 From this episode, you'll know: 👉 Brian's spy training experience; 👉 earliest version of fake it till you make it 👉 Brian's love for different interesting facts and how it's connected to lunch; 👉 back-to-the-church trouble story with Scott, Brian's brother 👉 if Brian likes capybaras! Follow Brian on social media: ht...
2022-06-29
56 min
In Before The Lock
🔓 76: Combo pages
Erica and Brian explore Zendesk and Atlassian community landing pages. Community Industry News: Katharina Koidl joined Equalture to run Community & Events Emily Lakin was promoted to Head of Creator Community at Patreon Yurii Lazaruk joined CodeControl as Community Manager Ramona Hategan joined Nordcloud as Community Manager Punnya P joined Gurucul as Manager of Online Global Communities Grace Cheung was promoted to Sr. Manager, Community & Social at Lattice Danny Wurst joined Atmosfy as Head of Community Lorena Seco de Herrera Ortega joined Quantexa as Senior Community Manager Kristian Ugguccioni joined Goose Chase as Head of Community Combo home pages...
2022-06-21
1h 13
CHAOSScast
Episode 60: Lessons Learned in Implementing Community Management Metrics
Hello and welcome to CHAOSScast Community podcast, where we share use cases and experiences with measuring open source community health. Elevating conversations about metrics, analytics, and software from the Community Health Analytics Open Source Software, or short CHAOSS Project, to wherever you like to listen. Venia is super excited about this episode because you may know our guests from around the community. Today, we have Brian Oblinger, Senior Vice President of New Products at Commsor, and Lori Goldman, Community Manager at ForgeRock. Our conversations touch on how Brian and Lori found themselves in community and their experiences with measuring...
2022-06-04
36 min
In Before The Lock
🔓 68: The real work begins
Erica and Brian discuss the actions and activities you need to engage in directly after launching your community. Community Industry News: Aima Atigari joined Remotebase as Community Manager Tom Norman joined Craft Docs as Community Manager Lalitha Wemel joined TechStars as Global Director, Engagement and Community Nofar Ben Dror Paecht joined AppsFlyer as Head of Customer Community Margaux Miller was promoted to Director of Community at Toptal Maria Perminova was promoted to Community Operations & Strategy Manager at Miro Mark Pergola joined AWS as Sr. Community Content Manager Kathryn Percy joined Workday as Manager, Community Operations Piper Wilson joined H...
2022-04-26
1h 07
In Before The Lock
🔓 66: Like magic
Taking an integrated approach to building the dream customer community experience. Community Industry News: Chitra HL joined Oracle as CX Community Manager Holly Schell joined Paper as Community Engagement Specialist Madeline Johannsen was promoted to Team Lead, Multimedia Community Content at Alteryx Jodi Meier joined Juniper Networks as Community Engagement Lead Cheryl Rasmussen was promoted to Manager of Community, Strategy, and Development at Palo Alto Networks Joshua Brown was promoted to Senior Community Manager at FuturLab Andreia Tulcidás was promoted to Community Advocacy and Engagement Team Lead at OutSystems Erica Moss joined HubSpot as Principle Marketing Manager, Co...
2022-04-12
1h 14
In Before The Lock
🧵 65: Try a bunch of stuff
“How can I manage and set engagement expectations/goals when our community members don’t use our service/product everyday therefore may not interact daily/weekly with a community space?” — Hannah Rafter
2022-04-05
04 min
In Before The Lock
🔓 64: Inception
How to persuade others through the use of an age old framework. Community Industry News: Vincent Mayers joined Gradle as Director, Community Operations Vinicius Camilo joined Distrito as Investor Community Manager Ahmet Uysal joined Sunrise UPC as Community Manager Tuvy Le was promoted to Senior Program Manager at Github Nic Tolstoshev joined Gravitee as Senior Community Manager Saumya Bagga was promoted to Senior Community Specialist at G2 Robert McIntosh joined beThirsty as Community Builder Allison Able joined Automation Anywhere as Senior Manager, Community Christie Fidura started a new role as Director, Salesforce Developer Community at Salesforce Persuasion Barry...
2022-03-29
1h 08
In Before The Lock
🧵 63: Just two?
“What would be your strategy for a community that holds two distinct personas? In this case, HR managers / People Ops and then their employees? Essentially these two different audiences would be coming together into one community.” — Lizzie LaCour
2022-03-22
04 min
In Before The Lock
🔓 62: Read the room
Presenting your strategy to an executive audience. Community Industry News: Sweta Shetty joined Hindustan Times as Community Manager Amanda Martin was promoted to Head of Community at Unbounce Kemi Kale was promoted to Head of Community Management, Community and Impact at Meta Jelena Zanko was promoted to Director, Community Management at Imply Commsor raises $50M in a Series B round Brian joined Commsor as SVP, New Products Community-Led Product Ideas Survey Executive readouts and alignment: 23: Be bold. Be brief. Be gone. Elements we discussed: Opportunity Statement/Why Scope Research Company/Community Goals Business ROI Health Metrics/Benchmarks Integrated A...
2022-03-15
1h 45
In Before The Lock
🧵 61: We have a couple
“What are the top reasons you see new communities fail?” — Vishwas Katti Brought to you by Commsor.
2022-03-08
01 min
In Before The Lock
🔓 60: Just a couple lines of code
Developer communities and working with DevRel. 🇺🇦 Community Industry News: Ashley Dodge promoted to VP, Community at Copado Luiza Drăghicean joined AhoyConnect as Community & Growth Advisor Michael Shillingford was promoted to Director of Community at Brandwatch Delphin Miloudi-Druelle joined Lifestory as Community Sidekick Michel Da Silva promoted to Senior Community Strategist at Khoros Mattie Fairchild joined Manticore Games as Senior Director, Community and DevRel Johnny Quirk joined Shares as Head of Community Dani Weinstein is looking for his next gig Developer Communities / DevRel: SalesForce Developer Forums StackOverflow Digital Ocean Tutorials Sponsored by: Commsaur exists to provide education, empowerment, and exp...
2022-03-01
55 min
In Before The Lock
🧵 59: A big difference
“What differentiating values, if any, do you see in having a new customer join a community versus one who has been using your product for a good amount of time?” — Avi Lekowsky Brought to you by Commsor.
2022-02-22
02 min
In Before The Lock
🔓 58: Be yourself
How to tell your story and build your personal brand. Community Industry News: Linda Haviland was promoted to Lead Community Manager at DataRobot Sara Leslie joined Katalon as Sr. Director, Online Communities Daliya Spasova joined Kong as Community Manager Logan Ouellette joined Pleo as Events and Community Manager Sourav Das joined NimbleEdge as Community Manager Sara Maloney joined Wellthy as Program Manager, Community Jana Iris joined PlanetScale as Head of Community & Experiential Marketing Elizabeth Kinsey was promoted to Director, Community at Slack Marian Lemus joined Mulesoft as Community Events Associate Manager Akash Sharma joined GitHub as Community Manager...
2022-02-15
1h 13
In Before The Lock
🧵 57: Don’t take the bait
“How do I deal with competitors in my community?” — Seth Wylie Brought to you by Commsor.
2022-02-08
05 min
In Before The Lock
🔓 56: I don’t want flowers
Why it’s time to leave CMAD behind and level-up as an industry. Community Industry News: Kimberly Ndolo joined Wonder as Community Manager Michelle Mathias was promoted to Manager, Community Experience and Programs at Esri Christa Ellis joined Wix as Head of eCommerce Community Jeffrey Steadman joined Cotopaxi as Community Engagement Director Let’s all move forward together: Communicate the value you generating often Reassess your personal value and have conversations with your leadership Explore roles that are more aligned to your value Help others tell your story and promote your value Get mentorship from others in the spac...
2022-02-01
1h 20
In Before The Lock
🧵 55: Fractions of fractions
“Do you think there is a minimum size of customers/users that you need to have to make a community successful?” — Yeori Hokken Brought to you by Commsor.
2022-01-25
06 min
In Before The Lock
🔓 54: A secret weapon
How motivating Partners to engage in your community can accelerate outcomes. Community Industry News: Gainsight acquired inSided Sofia Losada joined Sisense as Community Content Manager Katie Bapple joined Building Brave as Chief Community Officer Zoe Hartsfield joined Spekit as Community Manager Christine Gritmon joined Agorpulse as Senior Editor, Community Kelly Schott joined Pragmatic Institute as Manager of Community Programs Noele Flowers was promoted to Director of Community Education at Commsor Chris Detzel was promoted to Director of Customer Community and Engagement at Reltio Kannaa Chilla joins InVision as Community Manager Celina Zamora joins Cypress.io as Director of C...
2022-01-18
1h 04
In Before The Lock
🧵 53: What’s in it for me?
“What is the best way to get stakeholders excited about getting involved and engaging in your company community?” — Tessa Kriesel. Brought to you by Commsor.
2022-01-11
04 min
In Before The Lock
🔓 52: Out of scope
What is Community Operations, why is it so important, and why should you hire someone specifically to execute it? Erica and Brian give you the rundown. Boulder County Wildfires: Boulder County Wildfire Fund Bethune Family GoFundMe Osterman Family GoFundMe Community Industry News: Chris Detzel’s tribute to Michael Sandoval Molly Schreiber was promoted to Community Director at Savvy Cooperative Ryan Arsenault joined DISYS (Intuit) as Online Community Manager Sangeeta Gupta joined Dataiku as Community Manager Carol Benovic-Bradley was promoted to Director of Community at Flickr Rohit Bhaskar joined Trifacta as Community Enablement Manager Ops: Sample community org charts FIX...
2022-01-04
1h 08
In Before The Lock
🔓 51: Top 10ish
We close out 2021 by talking about our favorite happenings in the community industry. Community Industry News: Ashley Townsend joined JP Morgan Chase as Vice President Community Manager Max Pete joined SuperHi as Communuty / Customer Support Lead Top Stuff: Erica: Zendesk home page Slack leader videos and another one and another one Nanit community launch countdown Amanda Martin Brian: C School 201 Leadership Track Sisense’s Ranks/Badges Pledge 1% Community MURAL Community Tiffany Oda and Cassie Mayes bringing Ops to the fore Aftershow: Grandma Oblinger’s Dream Bar recipe Sponsored by: C School Coaching and Career Tracks: Taught by industry exper...
2021-12-21
1h 09
In Before The Lock
🔓 50: The cold start
What you should do in the first few months at a new company where you’re building community for the first time. Community Industry News Molli Aronce joined Reality Labs at Meta as Community Manager Molly Kipnis joined Gong as Community Manager Louise Branscomb joined Strava as Senior Community Manager Alex Williams joined Eightfold as Customer Community Manager Getting Started: Community Launch Guide: People Community Launch Guide: Cross-Functional Workstreams Sponsored by: Vanilla Community Predictions 2022: Vanilla and Higher Logic sat down with 22 community management experts to discover what's coming for community in 2022. Together, they worked out ten key takeaways fo...
2021-12-07
1h 14
In Before The Lock
🔓 49: Gratitude and thankfulness
Erica and Brian deliver messages of gratitude and thankfulness across the community industry. Community Industry News: Emily Wirth joined Paper as Senior Manager, Community Jamie Cantrell joined Unusual Ventures as Sr. Director of Community Ana Visiliuk joined Aiven as Community Manager Saksham Taneja joined Scaler as Community Associate Katie Ray joined Clari as Community Manager Rachael Silvano joined Zapier as Community Operations Manager Blake Ethridge joined Netdata as Director of Community Kat Jarvis was promoted to Senior Community Consultant, IBM Community at Higher Logic Lauren Clevenger joined Salesloft as Head of Community Giving Thanks: Adrian Speyer Alex Angel...
2021-11-23
52 min
In Before The Lock
🔓 48: A beautiful call to action
How to understand the motivations of your visitors to create incentives for them to join. That’s not it, though — don’t forget to onboard them properly. Community Industry News: Rachel Hartley joined Siemens as Community Strategist Shana Sumers was promoted to Senior Manager, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging Communities at HubSpot Jacob Gross joined Slack as Community Marketing Manager Gabi Laing was promoted to Senior Marketing Specialist at Zendesk Kerri Williams was promoted to Senior Manager, Community Strategy and Engagement at Workday Jessica Long joined Alteryx as Online Community Manager Sara Ott joined hound as Director of Content and Com...
2021-11-09
58 min
In Before The Lock
🔓 47: A numbers game
Promotion is the #1 driver of traffic and acquisition for communities. Don’t forget to tell people about it. Community Industry News: Lauren (Saar) van der Vaart joined Google Cloud as Community Content Manager Pratyusha Simharaju joined Google Cloud as Program Manager, Google Cloud and Workspace Communities Nicola Lyons joined Andela as Senior Community Programs Manager Ricardo Araujo joined Academia de Código as Chief Community Officer Brian Kling joined AlignTechnologies as Associate Director, iTero Global Digital Community Management Carter Gibson was promoted to Senior Program Manager, Internal Community Management at Google Acquisition / Promotion: Community Launch Guide: Promotional Calendar “Commu...
2021-10-26
1h 03
In Before The Lock
🔓 46: Make learning a team sport
How you can integrate learning and community to drive product affinity, customer happiness, and retention. Community Industry News: Facebook was down Erik Martin joined Commsor as VP of Services Nádia Vieira was promoted to Senior Global Program Manager, Community at LinkedIn Tim Lopez joined Saviynt as Director, Community Cindy Au joined Reddit Andreia Tulcidas was promoted to Community Advocacy Lead at Outsystems Patrick O’Keefe joined CNN full-time as Community Lead Brad Fitzgerald joined UCLA Anderson School of Management as Community Manager Community & Learning: Salesforce Trailhead Alteryx Academy Joe Miller Sponsored By: Super Forum 2021 is the largest and...
2021-10-12
1h 13
In Before The Lock
🔓 45: Money on the table
How Sales and Community can partner together to build trust, educate customers, and drive revenue. Yeah, you read that right. Stick with us. You’ll learn a lot. Community Industry News The State of Indian Community Management Report 2021 Nicole Saunders as promoted to Director of Communities at Zendesk Ryanne Perry joined Bynder as Community Manager Julie Hamel joined Neo4j as Senior Director, Developer Community Jennie Berry joined Sociability as Community Engagement Manager Kelly Schott joined theSkimm as Community Manager Hadas Drutman joined Seed Health as VP, Member Experience and Community Morgan Brady joined Mansueto Ventures as Director of...
2021-09-28
1h 26
In Before The Lock
🔓 44: Localization = hard
Localization of communities is becoming more common, but it’s more complicated than you think. Erica and Brian walk you through the finer details in a fun role play. Community Industry News: Discourse announces $20M Series A Brian on Masters of Community podcast Twitter announces “Communities” Erin Wayne joined Riot Games as Global Head of Player Community Vishnu Nair joined Infineon Technologies as Community Manager Pixie Cigar joined Tech For All as Director of Online Communities Deb Mavric was promoted to Community Innovation Director at Culture Amp Localization Overview: Resource: Community Localization Proposal Sponsored By: In the C School...
2021-09-14
58 min
In Before The Lock
🔓 43: The UI of your operational plan
Erica and Brian talk about why you need a community roadmap, how to build it, and how to present it in your organization. Community Industry News: Fhiwa Ndou joined Merit America as Sr. Manager, Community Activation Building A Roadmap: Resource: Sample Community Roadmap Resource: Community Headcount & Budget Planning Template Brian’s decision making framework Sponsored By: Super Forum is the largest and most comprehensive conference for executives, community managers, marketing, membership, and customer success professionals who want to connect, engage, and create better customer and member experiences. C School will help get hands-on education, mentorship, independent practice, and lan...
2021-08-31
1h 12
In Before The Lock
🔓 42: Ask for 5, get 3
It’s headcount and budget planning season! Follow along as Erica and Brian take you step-by-step through the process so that you can secure the community resources you need to succeed. Community Industry News Jessica Langston was promoted to Sr. Director, Trailblazer Community at Salesforce Lizzy Roberts was promoted to Manager - Global Communities at Salesforce.org Bhavin Patel was promoted to Community Experience Manager at Salesforce Jordan Scott joined Airtable as Head of Community Jeffrey Roe joined Brightcove as Community Manager Headcount & Budget Planning: Resource: Community Headcount & Budget Planning Template Sponsored By: C School will help get ha...
2021-08-17
1h 47
In Before The Lock
🔓 41: It’s not apples to apples
Erica and Brian weigh in on a long-standing contentious debate — Social Media vs. Community. Community Industry News: C School 201 Jodi Meier joined Syntellis Performance Solutions as Digital Community Engagement Manager Cesar Romero joined MyBasPay as Head of Community and Partnerships Social Media vs. Community: Social Media vs. Community: Why Brands Need Both Sponsored By: C School 201 — For experienced community professionals looking to level up, our 12-week cohort-based experience will take you from individual contributor to leadership-ready. Khoros Engage has it all — dynamic general sessions, thought-provoking breakout discussions, practical tips, and virtual networking.
2021-08-03
1h 14
In Before The Lock
🔓 40: The unsexy reality of launch planning
Erica and Brian dive deep into the tasks required to get a community off of the ground. Community Industry News Rich Millington’s new book: Build Your Community: Turn your connections into a powerful online community Emily Dunn joined ServiceTitan as Senior Customer Community Manager Alex Pisani was promoted to Senior Manager, Trailblazer Community at Salesforce Nic Tolstoshev joined StackHawk as Community Management Lead Maria Ogneva joined Invoca as Director of Community and Customer Marketing Philippe Beaudette was promoted to VP, Community at StackOverflow Launch Planning: Community Launch Guide Alteryx Community Explainer Video New Incentives to join the Tri...
2021-07-20
1h 26
In Before The Lock
🔓 39: Standing on the shoulders of a 4-foot giant
Brian and special guest host Holly Firestone celebrate Erica’s birthday by heaping praise, talking about what she’s taught us, and telling embarrassing stories. HAPPY BIRTHDAY ERICA KUHL!!! Holly Firestone The Craziest 18 Days of My Career by Holly Firestone Erica’s keynote at CMX Summit 2014 ericakuhl.com Top 10 things we’ve learned from Erica: Pickup the phone and call people Grow your business acumen to succeed in community Chill out, be Kuhl Wackadoo, cuckoo, and bonkers are professional terms Get out of your bubble. Never stop learning Perfect is the enemy of done Lead with value. Give more tha...
2021-07-09
56 min
Home Care Heroes and Day Service Stars
Creating A Home Care Community with Sara Moore, Jeremy Hammel and Brian Oblinger (rebroadcast)
Sara Moore had the passion to create a community where home care folks can learn from one another and she but it into action by creating the website AHomeCareCommunity.com. In this special version of home care heroes, Sara speaks with collaborator Jeremy Jed Hammel about the importance of community and core values. Then she speaks with community coach Brian Oblinger about how to grow and nurture an effective community. Finally she wraps up with a "virtual tour" of the "A Home Care Community dot com" website. Some of the great features on A Home Care Community dot...
2021-07-07
22 min
In Before The Lock
🔓 38: More of an AND than an OR
Should you host your community on Slack, Discord, or a purpose-built community platform? Community Industry News: Jenny Weigle launched her community consulting business Taylor Harrington joined Groove as Head of Community Jocelyn Hsu was promoted to Senior Manager, Creator Community at PicsArt Shaveta Sharma was promoted to Deliver Manager Online Communities at Grazitti Slack vs. Community Platforms Forums are over! “But one of the things that I think it takes people a while to wrap their heads around is Slack is specifically designed for some group of people who are aligned around the accomplishment of some goal or se...
2021-07-06
1h 00
In Before The Lock
🔓 37: A good vanity plate
How to choose a name for your community. It’s more complicated than you think. Community Industry News: The State of Community Management 2021 Report Alexis Luscutoff joined Miro as User Community Lead Lou Adducci joined Tiltify as Director of Community Experience Francesca Cricchio joined AppZen as Community Manager Emily Lakin joined Patreon as Head of Community Programs Krystal Wu joined Shopify as Community Manager Ines Batata joined Pipedrive as Senior Community Manager Cat Martinez joined Thoughtspot as Sr. Manager, Community Programs Ben O’Hanlon was promoted to Head of Community, Insights, and Engagement at Input Output Phoebe Shin Venka...
2021-06-22
1h 07
In Before The Lock
🔓 36: The stress test
Soft Launch — the who, what, when, where, and why. Erica and Brian talk through how you can use it to set your new community up for success. Community Industry News: Orbit raised a $15m Series A StackOverflow Sold for $1.8B Commsor announced 5 new integrations Celina Zamora joined Makerpad as Head of Community Willa Tellekson-Flash was promoted to Director of Community at Public.com Austin Grimes joined Flexera as Senior Digital Community Manager Bailey Richardson joined Substack as Head of Community Ryan Sloane joined Facebook as Community Programs Manager Joe Miller joined Incorta as Sr. Director, Community & Customer Enablement Sh...
2021-06-08
1h 08
In Before The Lock
🔓 35: Relocating their house
How to successfully (and unsuccessfully) migrate your community to a new platform. Community Industry News: Mary Yakuri Hodges was promoted to Community Manager at Workato Paul Bradley joined Agorapulse as Head of Global Community Marissa Dimino Burns joined Salesforce as Senior Community Manager Tiffany Oda joined Venafi as Director, Community Operations Stephanie Nakano joined Coda as Community Manager Brian joined Commsor as an Advisor Migrations: Community Launch Guide: Migrations Sample Platform Migration Announcement Aftershow: Oops. Sponsored By: Commsor integrates with all the tools you already use, tying your community data together and enabling you to unlock insights, measure...
2021-05-25
1h 28
In Before The Lock
🔓 34: The “S” stands for “Success”
How Customer Success and Community can partner to ignite education, adoption, satisfaction, upsells, renewals, retention, and advocacy. Brian Rights A Wrong: Molli Aronce Community Industry News: Higher Logic Acquired Vanilla Mighty Networks raised $50M in a Series B Nisha Baxi joined Gong as Head of Community Sharath joined Product Hunt as Community Programs Manager Mark Finnern joined Outschool as Head of Community Becky Scott joined JumpCloud as Sr. Mgr, Technical Community Janice James joined AuditBoard as Head of Community Monica Sibisteanu was promoted to Head of Content & Community at Monese Iryna Charkashyna was promoted to Manager, Front End D...
2021-05-11
1h 07
The Member Engagement Show
Engagement Strategies That Work
In this weeks episode, you'll hear a panel discussion with four engagement experts discussing topics around engagement strategies, hosted by Christina Hill. The panelists include Cathy Liu, the Community Program Manager at Alation, Deborah Seys, the Director of Customer Programs at Alation, Brian Oblinger, the Chief Community Officer at Brian Oblinger Strategic Consulting, and Tom Morrison, the Chief Executive Officer at Metal Treating Institute. Listen now to learn about tried and true strategies you can implement today. We’ll share tips for modern forms of engagement like Zoom Happy Hours, podcasts, community events, and much more.
2021-05-05
53 min
In Before The Lock
🔓 33: Everybody wants a purple pony
How to drive product enhancements and innovation through crowdsourced ideation programs with your community. Community Industry News Erin O’Neill joined Funnel IQ as Community Manager Diana Morgan joined Copy.ai as Head of Community Lauren Lee joined Puppetize as Community Director Molli Aronce joined Facebook Reality Labs as Community Manager Kristina Prickett joined Moxie as Senior Community Strategist Eric Steig joined Zilliz as Director of Open Source Communities Pattie Kettle joined Xactly Corp as Community Manager Luiza Drachicean was promoted to Global Advocacy Community Manager at UIPath David Sciuto joined Graylog as Senior Principal Community Manager Isaiah Bro...
2021-04-27
1h 43
In Before The Lock
🔓 32: They love it when you say “Agile”
Working with Product and Engineering to gather customer feedback, increase feature adoption, and build better products with communities. Community Industry News: Common Room raised $32.3 Million in a Series B Higher Logic launches new product packaging Philippe Beaudette joined StackOverflow as Community Manager (Trust & Safety) Or Manor joined ThinkUp Global as Community Manager Jillian Bejtlich joined Zapier as Director of Community Allison Able joined Sisense as Sr. Manager of Community Jacob Gross joined Alignable as Community Manager Amanda Peterson joined MURAL as Community Manager Gabby McCone was promoted to Program Manager, Business Community at Pinterest Francisco Fonseca is Creator...
2021-04-13
1h 02
Gain Grow Retain
Tending to Your Community with Brian Oblinger
This week we were joined by Brian Oblinger to talk about community. Brian is Chief Community Officer at Brian Oblinger Strategic Consulting. Tune in to listen to Jay, Jeff, and Brian talk about the importance of community and being customer-centric! -- If you want to join the discussion with thousands of other customer success leaders, join Gain Grow Retain: http://gaingrowretain.com/ This podcast is brought to you by Jay Nathan and Jeff Breunsbach... Jay Nathan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaynathan/ Jeff Breunsbach: https://www.linkedin.com/in...
2021-04-05
37 min
In Before The Lock
🔓 31: Relatable pain
Preparing for crises in your community before they happen, acting (or not) in the moment, and recalling some of our most painful/hilarious brushes with drama. Community Industry News: David Spinks' new book: The Business of Belonging: How to Make Community Your Competitive Advantage Bevy raised Series C $40m from black and women investors Atlassian Community 2020 Year In Review Joceyln Hsu promoted to Sr. Manager, Community Engagement at PicsArt MarLiz De Leon joined QuickPro Professional Training Academy as Community Manager Olivier Le Pord joined PTC as Director of Online Community Laura Nestler joined Reddit as VP of Community...
2021-03-30
1h 30
In Before The Lock
🔓 30: A nice, big, warm hug between Marketing and Community
How Community and Marketing teams can partner together to attract new prospects, convert them into paying customers, and educate them about new product offerings to drive shared value. Community Industry News: Tesla shutting down their forum in favor of “social hub” CMX Community Apprenticeship Rosie Sherry joins Orbit as their first community hire Amanda Boyle joins Github as Community Strategy Sr. Mgr Paola Johnson promoted to Head of Community & Customer Advocacy at Thoughtspot Kerri Williams joins Workday as Manager, Community Experience Job: Community Engagement Manager at Workday Rachel Makool promoted to Director, Community Experience at GoDaddy Ed Giansante joins...
2021-03-16
1h 24
In Before The Lock
🔓 29: Post, vote, comment, ask a question, answer a question, or attend a user group
Defining, measuring, and executing community engagement programs to grow your community and achieve your business goals. Also, Peeps. Community Industry News: Holly Firestone promoted to VP, Community Advice for DEI in Your Communities Circle raises $4M Commsor raises $16M Twitter announces ‘Communities’ Engagement: Definition of Engagement Definition of Thread Depth Definition of Solution Rate Definition of Responsiveness Programs: Definition of Member Onboarding Community Metrics Template Episode 27 on Content Programs Episode 26 on Groups Episode 5 on Gamification Episode 7 on Superuser Programs Episode 20 on Employee Engagement Aftershow:
2021-03-02
1h 39
Home Care Heroes and Day Service Stars
Creating A Home Care Community with Sara Moore, Jeremy Hammel and Brian Oblinger
Sara Moore had the passion to create a community where home care folks can learn from one another and she but it into action by creating the website AHomeCareCommunity.com. In this special version of home care heroes, Sara speaks with collaborator Jeremy Jed Hammel about the importance of community and core values. Then she speaks with community coach Brian Oblinger about how to grow and nurture an effective community. Finally she wraps up with a "virtual tour" of the "A Home Care Community dot com" website. Some of the great features on A Home Care Community dot...
2021-02-17
22 min
In Before The Lock
🔓 28: Keeping you out of prison
Partnering with Legal for all of your community needs, staying out of prison, and an egregious misuse of the Salesforce blue cloud logo. Community Industry News: CMX 2021 Community Industry Report Community-Led Pledge Working With Legal A checklist for how to partner with Legal Sponsored by: Hivebrite is an all-in-one community management platform that empowers organizations of all sizes and sectors to launch, manage, and grow fully branded private communities. Grow your community and prove ROI with Orbit, the community experience platform that puts members first
2021-02-16
1h 07
In Before The Lock
🔓 27: Content is Queen
Everything you need to know about building world-class content programs for your community, step-by-step. Community Industry News: Happy CMAD! Khoros acquires Flow.ai Community Club Job Survey CR State of Community Management 2021 CMX 2021 Community Industry Awards Content is Queen: Matt DeSimone Alteryx Community HubSpot Community Telluride Heli-Skiing Sponsored by: Grow your community and prove ROI with Orbit, the community experience platform that puts members first Vanilla cloud-based customer community software. Drive loyalty, grow sales, and reduce service costs
2021-02-02
1h 15
In Before The Lock
🔓 26: Groupopolis
How to leverage Groups to strategically scale your community. Community Industry News: Khoros acquires TopBox IBM acquired 7Summits Alteryx Community 2020 Wrap Emails Groups: 16: Presentations, networking, and food Vanilla’s 2021 Community Predictions eBook Brian tweeted asking who uses Groups effectively Join the “Erica Kuhl Sux” group Sponsored by: Vanilla cloud-based customer community software. Drive loyalty, grow sales, and reduce service costs Grow your community and prove ROI with Orbit, the community experience platform that puts members first Piper Kuhl - the kuhlest dog around.
2021-01-19
1h 15
In Before The Lock
🔓 25: A Costco-sized warehouse full of Support Engineers
Working collaboratively with Customer Support to build a self-service community, ramping efficiency, and creating business value. Working with Customer Support: Deflection Brian’s CMX 2016 Talk On Support Communities Community Launch Guide Brian’s TSIA presentations: 2017 and 2018 Tribal Knowledge Brian’s IS-CL Presentation on Calculating ROI Solution Rate Responsiveness Sponsored by: Vanilla cloud-based customer community software. Drive loyalty, grow sales, and reduce service costs
2021-01-05
1h 47
In Before The Lock
🔓 24: Preparation meets opportunity
Erica and Brian revisit their 2020 predictions, discuss current trends, and look ahead to 2021. Trends and Predictions: 2: The next normal Community Club Jobs Board "He hit a home run, and didn’t even realize it." Aftershow: Grandma Oblinger’s Dream Bar recipe Sponsored by: Vanilla’s 2021 Community Predictions eBook Localist’s community event platform gives you the tools to connect, grow and engage your community.
2020-12-22
1h 03
In Before The Lock
🔓 23: Be bold. Be brief. Be gone.
How to effectively engage Executives to sell the idea of community, gain their buy-in, and partner for success. Gaining Executive Buy-In: 3: Sell the why 21: Everybody wants the big title “Sell me this pen.” Brian’s IS-CL presentation How to stall in a meeting Sponsored by: Localist’s community event platform gives you the tools to connect, grow and engage your community. Hivebrite is an all-in-one community management platform that empowers organizations of all sizes and sectors to launch, manage, and grow fully branded private communities.
2020-12-08
1h 08
In Before The Lock
🔓 22: Lead with gratitude
A Thanksgiving Special: Extending gratitude and telling stories about people that changed our careers and lives forever. Giving Thanks: Jon Wishart Holly Firestone Joe Cothrel Karen Mangia Karen’s Books Our Sponsors: Khoros, Community Club, and CMX You! Our Listeners! Aftershow - Favorite Thanksgiving Recipes: Corn Casserole Brownies & Icing Pumpkin Maple Baked Bean Cornbread Casserole Sponsored by: Vanilla cloud-based customer community software. Drive loyalty, grow sales, and reduce service costs Localist’s community event platform gives you the tools to connect, grow and engage your community.
2020-11-24
47 min
In Before The Lock
🔓 21: Everybody wants the big title
A special live episode recorded at Vanilla Conversations. Erica and Brian talk about their experiences as VPs of Community and what it takes to get to that level. Related episodes: Crafting a vision Building teams and leading people Sponsored by: Vanilla cloud-based customer community software. Drive loyalty, grow sales, and reduce service costs
2020-11-19
53 min
In Before The Lock
🔓 20: Employees are customers, too
Enlisting, enabling, and motivating internal employees to take an active role in the success of your customer community. Employee Engagement Sample Employee Guidelines Sponsored by: Localist’s community event platform gives you the tools to connect, grow and engage your community. Vanilla Conversations brings together practitioners from around the world to share their stories, their experiences and their knowledge.
2020-11-10
1h 14
In Before The Lock
🔓 19: Impostery
Erica and Brian take a break from election results to talk about imposter syndrome, mental health, and finding trusted confidants. All the feels: Joanna Bloor Erica’s Blog Post Ted Lasso Holly Firestone Sponsored by: Community Club - Whether you're an experienced community manager, just starting out, a founder building a community-driven business, or just community curious, the club has something for you
2020-11-07
59 min
In Before The Lock
🔓 18: I’ll take one Culture, please
Creating a culture in and around your community. Also, epic story time with Erica and Brian — you don’t want to miss it. Some personal news: brianoblinger.com ericakuhl.com Creating culture: V2MOM Erica talking culture on the Culture Amp pod Aftershow: SteveMo on stage with Macklemore Sponsored by: Vanilla Conversations brings together practitioners from around the world to share their stories, their experiences and their knowledge. Localist’s community event platform gives you the tools to connect, grow and engage your community.
2020-10-27
1h 28
In Before The Lock
🔓 17: Minimum Viable Community
In this very special episode of the pod recorded live at CMX Summit 2020, Erica and Brian walk through the finer points of launching a new community using their free Community Launch Guide. Go For Launch: Community Launch Guide Minimum Viable Community Community Industry Terms Glossary everyoneknowsmaria.com
2020-10-13
25 min
In Before The Lock
🔓 16: Presentations, networking, and food
A special live episode about community events - user groups, VIP events, and conferences - on Khoros’ new events platform. Events: Event page on Khoros’ Atlas Community Salesforce Trailblazer Groups Alteryx User Groups Sponsored by: Khoros Engage is back on October 14th, 2020 with virtual sessions for professionals looking to learn from brands leading the way in digital customer engagement.
2020-10-02
1h 09
In Before The Lock
🔓 15: Steer, edit, lock, remove, ban
Custom shirts for community pros, moderation best practices, and a role-play in which Erica drops the ban hammer on Brian. Get Your Community Shirts!: https://ib4tl.fm/shirts Moderation: Former YouTube Mod is suing because of PTSD Facebook paid $52m to Mods with PTSD Adam Nichols Definition: Moderator Definition: Moderator Guidelines Definition: Abuse Reports Sponsored by: Khoros Engage is back on October 14th, 2020 with virtual sessions for professionals looking to learn from brands leading the way in digital customer engagement. LIVE FROM ATLAS: In Before the Lock Special Episode Localist’s community event platform gives yo...
2020-09-29
1h 29
In Before The Lock
🔓 14: Close to the money
Erica and Brian answer the question “where should community live in an organization?” and detail the pros and cons of each department. Where should the community live?: Brian’s talk on customer support community strategy Episode 4 about Customer Experience Aftershow: Pink Whitney Breckenridge Whiskey Arnold Palmer commercial Sponsored by: Localist’s community event platform gives you the tools to connect, grow and engage your community. Khoros Engage is back on October 14th, 2020 with virtual sessions for professionals looking to learn from brands leading the way in digital customer engagement.
2020-09-15
1h 20
In Before The Lock
🔓 13: Get rid of your stupid hero
Data-driven community UI/UX design, best practices, and Brian’s hatred of ridiculously large hero images. Design: Hero image Joe Cothrel “Above the fold” Glowing Blue 7Summits Sponsored by: Vanilla cloud-based customer community software. Drive loyalty, grow sales, and reduce service costs The Localist event platform aggregates, automates and analyzes all of your events, so you can grow your community
2020-09-01
1h 15
In Before The Lock
🔓 12: People are #1
Architecting a team, building culture, and leading people to be the best they can be. Also, epic rants by Brian. Architecting a Team Resource: Community Team Leveling Guide Resource: Sample Community Org Structure Resource: Community DACI Holly Firestone (Theme Song) Julie Hamel Sponsored by: Localist’s community event platform gives you the tools to connect, grow and engage your community Vanilla cloud-based customer community software. Drive loyalty, grow sales, and reduce service costs
2020-08-18
1h 48
In Before The Lock
🔓 11: You get what you pay for
Translating your strategy into technical requirements, engaging with community platform vendors, and negotiating the best deal. Pre-Show: Brian doesn’t have COVID-19 Resource: Community Launch Guide Platform Vendor Selection: Brian’s twitter thread on vendor selection Builtwith.com Feverbee’s community platform comparison tool Resource: Platform Vendor Scorecard Sponsored by: Vanilla cloud-based customer community software. Drive loyalty, grow sales, and reduce service cost The Localist event platform aggregates, automates and analyzes all of your events, so you can grow your community
2020-08-04
1h 14
In Before The Lock
🔓 10: Back to Failtown
Erica and Brian return to Failtown to tell tales of some of their biggest screw ups. We innovated these failures so that you don’t have to. #Fail Episode 6: So far, so good Flip Video Camera Vanilla Forums Community Blog Brian's Twitter thread on the Admin rank fail Adam Nichols Sponsored by: The Localist event platform aggregates, automates and analyzes all of your events, so you can grow your community Vanilla cloud-based customer community software. Drive loyalty, grow sales, and reduce service costs
2020-07-21
1h 05
In Before The Lock
🔓 9: Everyone wants a cool dashboard
All about community measurement - Part 2: Targeting specific stakeholders, designing effective reports, and telling compelling stories. Designing Reports: 1-page PDF report Erica’s weekly Chatter report Remove The Legend To Become One Resource: Community Metrics Template Resource: Quarterly Update Template Tableau Viz of the Day Telling Compelling Stories: The Seven Basic Plots Erica’s Blog: Story Time Sponsored by: Vanilla cloud-based customer community software. Drive loyalty, grow sales, and reduce service costs The Localist event platform aggregates, automates and analyzes all of your events, so you can grow your community
2020-07-07
1h 27
In Before The Lock
🔓 8: Just say No to Page Views
All about community measurement - Part 1: Building a framework to measure performance, defining KPIs and health metrics, and partnering internally to accelerate your efforts. Framework for measurement: What are the business problems (Goals) you’re trying to solve? “We need to reduce our support costs” What is the approach (Strategy) you will take to meet those goals? “We will build a self-service support community” How will you measure (KPIs) the performance of your strategy? “Dollar value of community-served support queries” What data (Metrics) will you need to calculate your KPIs? “# Visits, Survey Results, Cost Per Case, Community Cost” KPIs, he...
2020-06-23
1h 11
In Before The Lock
🔓 7: This is not a popularity contest
Building a Superuser program, selecting the right members, and launching it into the world. Superusers: Resource: Sample Superuser Guidelines Erica and Brian’s Vanilla Conversations Talks Participation Inequality Celebrate your Superusers Holly Firestone (Theme Song) Tuvy Le Sponsored by: Vanilla cloud-based customer community software. Drive loyalty, grow sales, and reduce service costs.
2020-06-09
1h 12
In Before The Lock
🔓 6: So far, so good
Our live session at the 2020 Virtual Comm Chat Summit about our biggest fails unironically ends in failure due to severe weather, Brian pivots to live Q&A, and Bella saves the day. #BlackLivesMatter Failure Stories: The intention of this episode was to swap stories about the biggest fails we’ve made in our careers and share lessons learned. We will publish those as a separate episode. Thanks to the audience for being gracious as the storm wreaked havoc on our plans! Bella: When all else failed, just look at that face! Community Books: Building Brand Communities by Ca...
2020-06-05
26 min
In Before The Lock
🔓 5: A whole bag of crap
Understanding users’ motivations, designing community gamification and swag programs, and triggering Erica with U2 puns. Ranks, rewards, & reputation: Resource: Community Gamification Template Erica’s blog post on fun PlayStation ranks Alteryx ranks DataRobot ranks Trailblazer ranks The Real World Jamie Johnston Jon Wishart Oliver Bierne Swag: Holly Firestone's blog on perks and swag Running socks Cold weather kits Top Contributor card game Custom brewed beer MVPJs Valentines candy MVP Summit kit Custom shoes Sponsored by: Khoros software and services help you w
2020-05-26
1h 08
In Before The Lock
🔓 4: Somebody’s going to eat your lunch
Defining “customer experience”, cultivating a customer-first culture, and building a program to meaningfully improve across key touchpoints. #SaveFerris: Ferris Bueller knew how to create an amazing experience Customer Experience: Jeff Bezos on customer-focus Shipping the org chart Cartoon: customer satisfaction metrics 100 of the Most Customer Centric Companies (2019) Resource: Customer Journey Program Template Sponsored by: Khoros software and services help you win, serve, and grow customers across social marketing, digital care, and branded communities.
2020-05-12
1h 02
In Before The Lock
🔓 3: Sell the why
Assessing if your company is ready for community, crafting a vision, and building your plan to gain alignment. Building a vision: Marc Benioff “Community is a numbers game.” - Joe Cothrel Building a plan: Resource: V2MOM Okrtemplates.com Resource: OKR Planning Template Resource: Plan on a Page Template Sponsored by: Khoros Syndication allows you to amplify community content throughout search, purchase, and support in a simple, scalable way.
2020-04-26
1h 00
In Before The Lock
🔓 2: The next normal
Living in lockdown, trends and predictions for the industry, and how empathy will guide us forward. #covidlife: Erica’s recording setup Brian’s recording setup Trends and Predictions: “The worst time to plan for a crisis is during the crisis” - Brian on Twitter Erica’s blog post - On the Other Side Erica’s interview in The Social Influence Brian’s interview in The Social Influencer Brian’s interview in Community5 Home Game Brian on Peers Over Beers Podcast Brian on Conversations with Community Managers Podcast Nike’s epic #playinside tweet Okta CEO on their virtual c...
2020-04-26
52 min
In Before The Lock
🔓 1: Join the circus
Navigating a layoff, how to approach looking for a job, and that time Erica didn’t hire Brian. Brian’s layoff experience: Brian’s LinkedIn announcement Brian’s commitment to help Lili McDonald Dani Weinstein Looking for a job in community: CMX Job Board CR Network CMGR Profiles Resource: CV Template Resource: Leveling template Sponsored By: Khoros software and services help you win, serve, and grow customers across social marketing, digital care, and branded communities.
2020-04-22
59 min
CX Nexus Podcast
Episode 019 - "A Look Back at Community and What to Expect in the Future" with Special Guest Brian Oblinger
Brian Oblinger: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianoblinger/ Twitter: @brianoblinger ---------------- Brian drives shared value between organizations and their customers to increase engagement, satisfaction, and retention. He accomplishes those goals by using an analytical approach to understand customer behavior and leverages cutting-edge technologies and business strategies to drive results. Prior to joining DataRobot, Brian led teams focused on customer experience, community, social, learning, enablement, support, and advocacy at Alteryx. Visitors to the award-winning Alteryx Community learned the product quicker, converted to paying customers faster, expanded their accounts more rapidly, and remained customers longer. Th...
2020-04-14
33 min
Alter Everything
31: Everything is a system
Neil Ryan and Brian Oblinger chat with Tobias Macey, host of the Data Engineering podcast, and Podcast.init about foundations and ethics of data engineering. Continue the fun and share your thoughts on Twitter using the hashtag #AlterEverythingPodcast, or leave us a review on your favorite podcast app. You can also subscribe on the Alteryx Community at community.alteryx.com/podcast. While you're there, fill out our audience engagement survey to share your listening preferences with us: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/QN23V7B Interested in sharing your feedback with the Alter Everything...
2019-04-23
49 min