Meet AC Community Manager Darnell Witt

AC Darnell is an Associated Content Community Manager. I am pleased that he has agreed to allow me to interview him via email. I am eagerly looking forward to reading and publishing his responses to the questions that I pose to him. I hope everyone that reads this interview comes away with a better understanding of Darnell as a person and as an Associated Content Community Manager. It should be interesting to learn more fully what job functions a Community Manager performs, as well as understanding more clearly how a Community Manager fits within the Associated Content's short term and long term growth strategies. .

1. How did you discover Associated Content?

I had come across AC articles in online search results a few times, but didn't fully grasp the concept of the site. It wasn't until I saw my job posted that I took a deep dive and realized what an exciting project this is.

2. When you signed on with Associated Content, were you initially a Content Producer or were you always a Community Manager?

I registered as a CP days before my first job interview (to check out the site), but didn't publish content until after I was hired. I wish I had known about AC when I was in college - I would have published lots of pretentious movie reviews!

3. As a new Community Manager what were your primary responsibilities?

Working on new ways to recruit new publishers and engage the AC community.

4. You are approaching your first anniversary with Associated Content. Can you summarize briefly describe your overall experience in your first year with Associated Content?

The core concept of AC is as radical and exciting as it was the day it was founded it. It's a platform that enables anyone with writing (or recording or photography) skills to earn money by sharing their experience and expertise with others. I was sold on that concept, but it's the potential for growth that energizes me. We've made major waves in the online publishing space already, and there's so much more we can do. When I start thinking about where we can go from here, my mind starts racing in a bunch of directions.

5. In your first year with Associated Content, what is the accomplishment or accomplishments that you are most proud of?

The Best of AC Awards Program is something I got off the ground soon after I started. It's a monthly opportunity to offer special acknowledgement to some of the best contributors all across the site, and I'm pretty happy about that. In the year ahead, I'm hoping that these contests will generate even more excitement and attention.

I've also done some work to increase AC's social media presence (in places like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn) - that, too, should be picking up in the year to come.

6. How do you feel Associated Content has progressed in your first year?

Our community, our library, our audience and our network of content partners have grown a ton in the past year. The cool thing is that the growth of each of these things directly supports the growth of the others - everything's moving (steadily) in the right direction. The major redesign that took place at the beginning of the year was also huge - the site is a lot more visitor-friendly now.

There's more work to be done on every front, and there'll be many more exciting things happening in the year to come.

7. Do you believe Associated Content is the premier platform for writers to publish online articles?

There are different platforms with different specialties, but AC is definitely the best all-around. Between the combination of upfront payment and the performance bonus, the unmatched exposure opportunities, the exclusive assignments (which, by the way, you'll be seeing more of in the year to come) and the flexibility in terms of topic, format and rights options - AC is definitely the most "open" platform, and in my opinion, the one with the greatest potential for growth.

8. How do you foresee Associated Content growing and improving in both the next year and in the next five years?

I've already mentioned a few things: more assignments, more social media presence, more exposure for our top contributors. In addition, we'll be working hard to provide publishers with more information about their content and the traffic it receives; to improve our publishing and promotion tutorials; to make our publishing tools better and easier to use; and to continually improve the visitor experience of the site, in a number of different ways, to encourage people to return to AC again and again. That's (some of) what we'll be working on in the year ahead.

Five years down the road, we're all hoping Associated Content will be a household name - the go-to place for people who want to share their expertise (and earn some extra money) online.

9. What do you feel are Associated Content's greatest challenges and obstacles in both the short term and long term?

When your platform is as open as ours is, it's a challenge to define and enforce a clear, consistent set of publishing standards. We have to refine these on a regular basis, and it's a major goal to constantly simplify and clarify the way we communicate these standards.

Also, defining "quality" information in the era of online media is a very tricky task, and it's something that much of what we do depends on. The good news: we're getting better at this all time. Every piece of content we publish and every bit of visitor data we receive helps our system learn more about what constitutes "quality" and "usefulness" in the eyes of an online information consumer.

10. Recently, although your title Community Manager has remained the same, your role seems to be evolving. Can you briefly explain what core responsibilities for which you are responsible?

I'm still doing all of the behind the scenes work I was already doing, but I'm also going to be more active in the Forum and on the AC Blog - and using both resources to keep the community informed about what's going on at AC.

11. You often refer to your team working on a project. Does your team consist of people that you directly supervise, fellow Community Mangers, a combination of the two or an entirely different cast of people? Do your fellow Community Managers perform tasks similar to yours or do they play each play entirely different roles?

Brenna is the other Community Manager, and Caleb (who the AC community will get to know better in the future) is the new Help Desk Manager. Brenna and I have different and overlapping responsibilities having to do with community recruitment, activation and engagement. Caleb heads up our customer service efforts and works with our tech team to troubleshoot issues and get them resolved.

12. Do the Community Managers have a common person that they report to or do you all have different supervisors.

Lisa (aka AC Lisa) is the VP of Community Development at Associated Content, and she's the one that Brenna and I work with directly.

13. What are your key personal objectives for your second year with Associated Content?

I have many goals, including: helping thousands of AC contributors build strong libraries and maximize their exposure & earning potential; positively contributing to the development of cool, new site features and helping to refine existing features; finding new ways to acknowledge and reward our top publishers; keeping the community up to date about what's happening at AC; keeping the AC Team up to date with the community's ideas and concerns; and publishing a lot more content! (For starters)

14. Aside from your fellow employees, do feel as though you have bonded with anyone within the Associated Content Community of Content Sources?

Definitely. I spend a lot of my time communicating directly with various ACers and I've developed quite a few professional friendships. Now that I'm more active in a more public way, I look forward to striking up many more.

15. Without identifying particular Content Sources, are there particular Sources that you find counter productive and a hindrance to executing Associated Content's mission.

Sure, there are people who publish junk content, people who try to scam the site and people whose contributions to the Community are neither positive nor productive - but I think that both are overshadowed by the people who take pride in their work and the people with a positive outlook.

AC is an open content network, and there's a place for just about everyone at the table. Brenna's and my job as Community Managers is to do everything we can to set clear expectations about what's acceptable and what's not (in terms of publishing guidelines and community conduct) - we take responsibility for keeping everything moving in the right direction.

16. How detrimental do you find it that Associated Content does not support Internet Explorer Version 6.

I think this was a very practical decision on our tech team's part. IE6 is a problematic browser that Microsoft has largely abandoned and that many other sites (Google included) have decided not to support. Making AC fully compatible with IE6 would be complicated work, and doesn't place high amongst our team's huge list of priorities (developing new features, optimizing our library for search discoverability, resolving glitches that pop up, making our pages load faster, upgrading our technology as our site grows and evolves, etc.).

The good news: every day, IE6 loses market share to better browsers like Firefox, Chrome and later versions of IE.

17. What do you think of Microsoft's new search engine Bing and how do you see Associated Content interfacing with it?

Bing is doing some very cool things, like integrating social media into search and organizing certain types of search results in creative ways (local or celebrity searches, for example). They're generating a lot of buzz right now - it'll be interesting to see if they have staying power. I think that any significant competition for Google in this space is positive, because it fosters innovation all around.

The thing that I find most interesting about Bing is the fact that they're branding themselves as a "decision engine." Sure, it's just marketing jargon, but I think they're tapping into something genuine. These days, people aren't just looking for automated results; they're seeking guidance from credible sources to better inform their decisions. Search engines, Q&A sites (like Yahoo! Answers and the new Hunch.com) and publishing networks like AC are all working to find new ways to meet these needs.

AC publishes unique perspective and bits of expertise directly from the source - so we have a huge place in this movement. The surfers who use the Googles, Bings and Hunches of the world have lots of questions, and AC contributors have lots of answers.

18. As a Community Manager for Associated Content what provides you with your greatest job satisfactions?

Hearing success stories and testimonials from people whose lives have been positively impacted by AC - contributors who fund vacations, pay their bills or cover their rent with their AC earnings; freelancers who use their AC profile as a professional portfolio and those who have picked up new opportunities resulting directly from the exposure they've received; moms and dads who help to support their families by working from home; professionals in many different industries who earn extra money by sharing expertise in their spare time; authors who make intimate and meaningful connections with individual web surfers through their content; members of the community who have become close friends with other AC publishers.

These are hundreds of stories like this, and it's one of my team's goals to do a better job of highlighting them in the year to come.

19. As a Community Manager for Associated Content, what causes you your greatest frustrations?

It's frustrating to deal with people who try to scam AC or game the system. Also, as someone trying to increase dialog between the company and the community, it can be hard to hear people say that AC isn't great with communication. That said, I'm a pretty optimistic and even-keeled person - I try to use frustrating experiences as opportunities to get better at what I do or practice my equanimity.

20. What are some of your interests outside of Associated Content?

I'm a movie nerd (I studied film in college and I used to run an alternative cinema guide in Chicago), and I like to see movies on the big screen. Now that summer's finally here, I ride my bike as much as I can. I volunteer for an organization called COLAGE, which is a support and advocacy network for the children of LGBT parents. I live in Brooklyn, and I love the restaurants and bars in my neighborhood. I'm also a pack rat and a collector of bizarre things. My current collecting obsessions include Polish movie posters and clown paintings.

I hope to publish some content about all of these things in the future. I have lots of ideas, but so little spare time!

21. What are your favorite memories outside of Associated Content?

I have an awesome family, and my childhood (in the San Francisco Bay Area) is one, big, happy memory. I've done some activist work for various progressive causes at various stages in my life - that has always been very fulfilling. My other favorite memories have are travel-related. At my previous job (as Community Manager for a non-profit website for kids), I was a "remote" employee, and able to work from anywhere I could get an Internet connection. I was fortunate enough to be able to do my work from places like Berlin, Buenos Aires and Beijing - truly awesome experiences.

22. I see that you graduated from San Francisco State University and now you live and work in New York City. Which coast do you prefer?

I love the fast pace and dynamic energy of New York. There's nothing else like it and there's no place I'd rather be at this point in my life. That said, the West Coast has lots of things going for it, particularly the beautiful weather (and amazing produce). It's also where most of my family and many of my closest friends live. My heart is really divided between the two coasts (and a few places in between) - I wouldn't say I have a preference.

23. What do you think of a new PMA Award in 2009 for the Associated Content Rookie of the Year?

I think it's an awesome idea, and we'll definitely take it into consideration!

24. Would you recommend to your fellow Community Managers that they complete this interview?

Sure - they'd probably enjoy it.

25. Is there anything else that you would like to add to this interview?

Getting to know so many members of the dynamic, diverse AC community over the past year has been a real privilege and honor. I'm excited to continue building relationships with a great many publishers, and the community at large.

And Han, I really appreciate this opportunity to share some of my thoughts about AC and beyond. Thanks for all the great work you've done to foster community in your first few months on the site, and congrats on your well-deserved "Best New Source" award! Here's hoping you'll have lots of success publishing on AC!