RedWire community manager Erin Bury kicks off our Managing Communities 2009 series.

Erin Bury
* Community manager at RedWire, an online collaboration tool for entrepreneurs
* Twitter IDs: @Erin_Bury, @RedWire

Day-to-day role and responsibilities

Since RedWire is a startup company this is a new role within the organization. I started at the company shortly after the beta launch, and have been there for about 5 months. The first month involved strategy and a lot of learning, and now the role is primarily tactics.

My role as community manager falls under many different umbrellas. Primarily I am tasked with building, growing and engaging the RedWire community (comprising entrepreneurs and small business owners from around the world). This means:

• I source out and attend all local entrepreneur-focused and networking events/conferences (we are based in Toronto).
• I source out all relevant speaking opportunities for our CEO, Sarah Prevette.
• I reach out and meet with entrepreneur and small business associations across North America to inform them about RedWire and how they can harness the tools for their member bases
• I organize and execute Wired Wednesday, a monthly RedWire event targeted to entrepreneurs and startups (currently in Toronto, and launching soon in Ottawa and other Canadian cities).
• I do proactive and reactive media outreach to increase RedWire's press mentions.

Since RedWire is an online community, though, the most important part of my role is building and maintaining online presence. This means having a presence on sites like Digg, Flickr, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and other social media sites. It also means monitoring and reacting to what is being said online about RedWire through Twitter search and blog search engines like Google Blog Search, Technorati and BlogPulse.

I also write the RedWire blog, which focuses on topics relating to entrepreneurship. Since I am the community manager, a large part of my role involves interacting with the RedWire community. I am readily available to the members to answer questions, give feedback, and provide insight about how to use RedWire and take advantage of the tools on the site. I also help keep members engaged by recommending relevant articles, blog posts, and events that they would be interested in.

Currently, because we are a startup company, I am the only member of the community team. I am supported by an intern as well as our CEO.

Key skills for community managers

To be a community manager, you must wear many hats. You are the face of the company, and you are the primary go-to person for the community, the media, and the public. A community manager should be extroverted, so they can effectively communicate their company to the public. They should be organized and manage their time well, and be extremely dedicated to their work (this means giving up nights and weekends to attend events).

I would also recommend being web savvy and having at least some knowledge of social media. A PR background is desirable (previously I worked at a PR agency), or at least some involvement with the media. And most importantly they should be passionate. A community manager should believe in their company, and what they are doing. This is the only way to create buzz and excitement around a company, and to see your community grow.

(Managing Communities 2009 is a series of profiles on online community professionals.)