I'm extremely excited to introduce to you, Maggie McGary, the first of our newest batch of TheCR Champions.
What exactly is a TheCR Champion, you ask? TheCR Champions are
visible and highly-profiled experts and connectors in specific fields of expertise inside TheCR Network. TheCR Champion Program is a leadership program for topical experts who have a vested interest in networking and growing relationships with practitioners who work in the community space and will actively work to make TheCR a valuable place for community practitioners.
So what makes Maggie a TheCR Champion? Let's learn a little more about her:
Tell us a little bit about your background.I have a BA in English and once upon a time wrote poetry and fiction. I have since parlayed those skills into various communications roles, mostly in the association sector, over the past 20+ years. I started as a traditional communications person but over time morphed into more of a geek and pivoted to digital communications, social media management and community management. I am a huge believer in the importance and value of online community for associations...even if associations themselves don't really see that value yet :)
What does your current role and work look like?I'm currently the social media manager at the American Psychological Association, the leading scientific and professional association representing psychology in the US. I swore I'd never go back to straight social media management after leaving it almost 10 years ago...but I love the guy I work for so figured it was worth diving back in to be able to work with him and on behalf of a profession for which I have huge respect. I'm responsible for directing the social media activities for APA's flagship social media channels and collaborating with the owners of the 70+ (YIKES!) other social media channels across the org. Also, ostensibly, for crafting strategy and KPIs for social media, but six months in and I'm still working on selling that part internally. The part of the job I most enjoy and see the most value in is the listening part--a LOT of people think that APA somehow has the authority to declare Trump insane and get him impeached, so weeding through hundreds of those tweets a day alone is, um, interesting.
What topics are you most excited to engage around in TheCR Network?I'm just excited to live vicariously through TheCR members in hopes of one day being able to go back to doing what I'm passionate about...managing community, as opposed to just curating and posting content to social media accounts. I'm also excited to collaborate with other association/nonprofit community managers who may be in the network, and to start honing some best practices for future reference should I take the leap to for-profit someday.
What is your proudest moment as a community builder?I was the community & social media manager at the American Speech-Language Hearing Association from 2009-2013, a role that I still regret leaving! Not only did I learn a ton and get to build out their social media presence from scratch and launch their private community, the members I worked with were the NICEST people I've ever had the pleasure of knowing. To this day,
this post a member of the ASHA community wrote when I left (I had to go to Wayback machine to get it because the site owner has since moved on) is my proudest professional achievement, and also forever reminds me of the importance and value of community, and the importance of community management.
Do you have a 'community on the side' (hobby/non work related community you participate in)?I used to be way more active in a few online communities but now that I spend my entire day managing/monitoring social media and trying to stay organized and on top of my own Twitter feed, etc, I've found it harder to be motivated to actively participate in hobby/non-work communities. I am in a few Facebook groups and I try to keep up not one but two personal blogs but that's about it these days. I still do keep in touch with my original community besties circa 1996 when I was a member of "Conceiving Community"--a private forum for people trying to conceive then having babies.
What's the best way to connect with you?Either Twitter (@maggielmcg) or email maggielmcg@gmail.com. Or through the Network!
Want to learn more about Maggie? Pop on over to
her AMA which will be live all week and ask her anything!