This talk I held at the Community Manager Conference 2010 which focusses on the common error to mix up support with community management. Created and held on an ipad

1. Community Management
vs. t !
Support g h
i F

2. Teut Weidemann
Online Specialist
Digital Reality
In the Games Industry since 1985
Creating Communities since 1997
Consultant for online Entertainment
Working on 2 Browser Game MMO's

3. Ah! Definitions
Support:
Problem solving for Users
Community Management
:)
Communication to users
Managing user behaviour

4. Information Flow
Information Information
Support CM
User User
User
User User User

5. Input: Support
Knowledge Base
Development
Faq's

6. Input: Community
Management
Marketing
Development
Community

7. Support
Communication
Ticket/Email
Private Message
Phone*
Means: One on One

8. CM Communication
News Section
Forum
Social Media
Means: Broadcast
With feedback

9. Again: Communication
Is One on One for Support
And one to 'all' for CM
Even when answering in forums
As 10x more users read only
This dictates how they phrase answers!

10. Support Talk
Is direct
Problem oriented
Template driven
Identical Problem
= identical
Solution!!

11. CM talk is
Careful
Emotionally controlled
Sometimes personal
Well-thought-out

12. Information Sources
Support: CM:
Knowledge DB "Gut feeling"
FAQ Social Skills
Behaviour Bible Experience/History
with user
otherwise escalate to
upper levels Asset Matrix

13. Identity
Anonymous using nick names
Support: Changing ID
even for the same ticket
no direct access for users
CM: identifiable
direct access for users
Forum, PM, Email
CM gets instated as a company representative

14. Conflict Potential
Support:
Customer
CM:
Customer
Marketing
PR
Da Boss

15. Consequences
Why support is easy, CM not

16. Skills
Support Community Manager
Worker mentality Eloquent
Exactness Analytic
Data mentality Objective
Knowledgable (Game)
Communicator

17. Employment
Support Community Manager
Outsourceable Hard to find
Even to community Community can
support CM (mods)
Hard to replace
Replaceable

18. CM language skills
Real World examples

19. Live from CM:
Expansion is anounced, but not free:
"Fantasy Online: In order to keep the game alive and
pay for further content we are charging a one time
fee of 20 Gems to enter the new Cave. When the
next zone is released it will become free."

20. Ways to admit
"we do not have a clue"
Madame et monsieur here is a way how you can help us to find
the bugs, please follow the instructions:
1. Install Firebug and NetExport for FireFox
a) Install latest firefox from the following link, if you don’t have
firefox installed
http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/all.html
b) Open the following link using Firefox
...

21. Q&A
BTW:
Digital Reality Publishing is looking for Games on:
Browser Games
Social Games
XBLA, PSN
iPhone, iPad
Contact: teut@digitalreality.eu