It’s Community Manager Appreciation Day!

I’m not making this up.  Jeremiah Oywang, columnist for Forbes and blogger at Web Strategy, has just declared every fourth Monday of January as Community Manager Appreciation Day.  He said this is the day to “pause, recognize, and celebrate the efforts of community managers around the world to improve customer experiences.”

I believe it’s about time we have a day like this, not only because I’m a community manager (hehehe) but because 2010 is the year Community Managers will start playing a major role in businesses in different industries.

A community manager is now a role that applies not only to social networking sites or community-based services but basically to any organization that sees the importance of a dialogue with their audiences, that values engagement with their customers, and that wants a deeper relationship with their markets.  A community manager is the person to do this for you.  As companies begin to understand the importance of social media and how it relates to their businesses, they will see the need to cultivate communities.

If you don’t know yet what exactly is a community manager (and I know it’s a new title to many, given the many instances I have to explain it whenever I tell people what my work is), Chris Brogan has an excellent post about what a Community Manager does and the essential skills to be one.  Another great read about how the community manager’s role is Jeremiah Owyang’s post, “The Four Tenets of the Community Manager.”

As for Community Manager Appreciation Day, it may be Tuesday already but it’s never too late to do the following (as what Owyang shared in his post):

• If you’re a customer, and your problem was solved by a community manager be sure to thank them in the medium that helped you in. Use the hashtag #CMAD.
• If you’re a colleague with community manager, take the time to understand their passion to improve the customer –and company experience. Copy their boss.
• If you’re a community manager, stop and breathe for a second, and know that you’re appreciated. Hug your family.

Many thanks!

Job Opening: Commissioning Editor for Yahoo! Southeast Asia

To anyone in Southeast Asia looking for work in the online industry, specifically in editorial, here’s another cool job opportunity for you.  Reposting this verbatim from the Y!SEA Blog.

Yahoo! Southeast Asia is looking for a Commissioning Editor to help support the production of English-language custom-branded micro-sites.

You’ll be required to identify and commission bloggers/writers to produce a variety of articles ranging from finance to event guides. That means you’ll need both an extensive list of contacts as well as a broad knowledge of various subjects.

The role also requires you to have strong editing skills to draw out a distinct and engaging editorial voice to satisfy the Yahoo! audience. Just as important — you need to be able to recognize this quality in other people’s writing.

Given the high expectations of our users, the role requires a professional with at least five years in an editorial role.

The job will also involve:

• Identifying strong bloggers and building a strong relationship with them
• Assessing pitches from bloggers
• Editing article submissions
• Commissioning photographers and illustrators
• Issuing contracts to bloggers
• Paying bloggers

The ideal candidate will have the following skills:

• More than 5 years in an editorial role, preferably in the magazine industry
• Strong relationships with prominent bloggers
• Ability to write and re-write in an engaging style
• Strong copy editing skills, knowledge of AP style is preferred
• Strong attention to detail
• Nurturing skills to help develop bloggers

In terms of personality, we’re looking for someone who is able to juggle multiple assignments and roll with the punches. You must be able to work independently. You need to be comfortable with technology and internet publishing tools, and if not, you should at least be a quick learner.

Interested?  Please send your resume and a cover letter to:

Alan Soon
Managing Editor
Yahoo! Southeast Asia
Email: alansoon@yahoo-inc.com

Purple Thumb: Our Mark, Our Vote

A lot has already been said about the importance of the elections and our right to vote.  That’s why the recently launched initiative of Yahoo! Philippines to cover the upcoming 2010 Elections is aptly entitled “Purple Thumb”, because the elections is essentially of the people, by the people, and for the people.  Which means every Filipino qualified to vote should have taken the time to register or in short, we all should have a Purple Thumb.

But of course, registration is just the first step of the journey.  We need to be properly informed of all aspects of the elections, from getting to know each and every candidate to understanding how the new automated elections will take place.  We should also take the initiative to share the info we know about the elections to others, and what better way to share than through social media.  Here’s something worth sharing, a step-by-step video tutorial of the 2010 Philippine Automated Elections: