I’ve had some great opportunities come across my plate the last few weeks.

No, I’m not leaving dynamIt. No, I’m not leaving weBuild. And, I’m going to keep running Startup Weekends.

The opportunities have not been for me – they’ve been for others. I’ve had multiple friends, colleagues and acquaintances reach out to me in the last 2 months with open (or newly created) positions in their organizations. The organizations range from political campaigns to Fortune 500 companies, from NPOs to funded startups. The positions – community managers.

While I’m relatively plugged into the digital world, I’ve not had anyone (who is currently unemployed and/or employed but looking) to recommend for these positions. Why? 1) Great candidates I have in mind are employed and busy and 2) Because the skill-sets, experience and behavior required to be an effective community manager are not being brought together outside of industry right now. Yes, I’m looking at you Higher Ed.

[My position is that higher ed, in general, is that it's an insufficient representation of real economy and practice. It's siloed, territorial, tenured (gag), theory without application, and too accessible - too many colleges and universities. Topic for another post.]

Community management (Check out the robust report: The State of Community Management) continues to evolve. John Bell actually separates conversation managers from community managers. Community management can mean purely digital, purely experiential (real tangible world), or – where I think they can provide the most value – a combination of both.

Community managers have to be persuasive, innovative, and empathetic. Depending on organization, brand, goals and audience they need to be customer service representatives, PR specialists, brand managers, researchers, strategists, sales people, analysts, teachers, marketers and advertisers. Going forward, I believe they’ll need to be event planners, content creators, producers and team managers themselves.

They need to understand technology, design, communication theories, group dynamic, psychology and economics. They need to be gadget freaks, trend mongers and absolutely live and breath their mission. They need to function well in a environment of fractured hours and location. They must be able to interface with (soon) every business unit and function within an organizations.

Ya, this sounds like a lot. It sounds like the successful candidate needs to be everything to everybody. That’s not what I’m saying. A successful community manager needs to be a generalist. Specialization or experience in a certain field may contribute to tighter (or quicker) integration with a particular community, but all of the skills named above are important.

Higher Ed needs to start cultivating this group. Too often we work to specialize people as they spend 4 years learning and drinking. The reality of the situation is that most communities are comprised of myriad people and interests. Though a single point may be the rallying cry, often diverse interests and connections based on them are what drive engagement along the chronological and even pure volume axes. Beyond interests, the data, communication, planning and delivery call for a wider shallower approach.

There are plenty of great marketing, advertising, public relations, communications, etc programs that exist within universities around the world. There are actually a number of programs integrating across functions and specialties – getting closer to real-world experience. However, I’m not aware of any programs or tracks focusing on community management.

With multiple disciplines being explored and taught, native digital communities to test and learn from and non-revenue-critical circumstances to operate in, Higher Ed is a perfect training ground.

So I’m looking at you, chairs of departments and deans of colleges – there are jobs waiting to be filled by new economy workers and digital natives. It’s time to get together, fashion curriculum and develop community management chops within your walls. The demand will only grow, and you’ve got the opportunity to build capable candidates to meet it.

PS – don’t feel shy in reaching out to industry to ask for guidance

Dynamit was honored as one of the “Best Places to Work” in 2010 & 2011 by Columbus Business First newspaper and Interactive Agency of the Year. Times are even better in 2012 and we’re hiring a Web/Graphic Designer for our aggressively growing team.

This is an exciting opportunity to work on cutting edge projects for well-known brands in a dynamic, entrepreneurial and highly creative environment. Please email resumes/cover letters and portfolio information (documents or links to online examples) to Gary Moneysmith via gmoney@dynamit.us.

A web/graphic designer on the Dynamit team will:

• Be well versed with Adobe Creative Suite: Strong knowledge of Photoshop, experience with Illustrator and InDesign.
• Have a strong understanding of Usability & Web Trends: Experience with user interface design, knowledge of best practices & examples of this in a portfolio or live site/application design. They will also be up-to-date on web trends and design tactics with examples.
• Have experience in user experience design (UXD) designing application and system interfaces. This experience is crucial for this position.
• Have Basic Programming Knowledge: We’re not looking for a developer here, but the designer should have the ability to design for web with a knowledge of the boundaries and how to design for execution by a programmer.
• Have a Strong Portfolio: We’d like to see much more web work than print.
• Be eager to learn, with a passion for design & the web. The designer should have a strong internal drive for industry knowledge and be committed to furthering the craft.

Experience is important, but personality is key. Our culture is what drives us, and we’re looking to build our team with someone who both fits and contributes to it.

The position is full time at our office in the Arena District in Columbus, Ohio. We offer a competitive salary and benefits package as well as a fun, high-energy, intellectually-stimulating work environment.

Benefits Include

• Competitive salary (compensation will be based on skills and experience)
• Fully paid medical/dental insurance for employees
• Paid parking
• Unlimited vacation time (within reason)
• Office bar + climbing wall — not recommended together

Don’t sit back. If you want to work in a fast paced work environment with great people who love what they do, apply today.

About Dynamit
Dynamit is a digital agency based in the Arena District in Columbus, Ohio. We work with clients and brands on digital initiatives that include strategy, design, user experience and development. We influence communication and commerce. Client work includes Hilton Worldwide, Charley's Grilled Subs, McGraw-Hill, British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), E-Z-GO, American Electric Power (AEP), Columbus College of Art & Design and the Ohio State Medical Center (OSUMC) to name but a few.