Course Description

This course will focus on practical and tactical ways to take your Community Manager career to the next level with the goal of becoming a leader within the Community Management field -- but with plenty of good (and bad puns) & portmanteaus because it's still video games right!? Trying to determine the best steps to take in order to move up to a leadership role can be tough, especially if there's not a senior community professional at your org helping to guide you. This class will go into several topics to help move you towards becoming an ethical community leader, make better presentations, handle the toughest of Crisis Comms, and even how to use hostage negotiation tips to de-escalate bad behavior. Be prepared as there will be some interactive portions during the class as I want you to take part in the experience and not just be an observer!

Course Type

Two-day course: This is a single course that takes place completely virtually over Zoom for two four-hour days with limited breaks.

Intended Audience

This Masterclass is for early/mid-career community managers and communications professionals or anyone who has to deal with game communities directly for a company or organization.

Key Takeaways

• Discuss the evolution of the role of Community Manager over the past few years & what that means for the next phase in your career.
• Learn best practices for creating project plans, stressing the difference between strategy and tactics (some example worksheets will be used along with some deck building templates for projects).
• Ways to get better organized and we'll discuss some of the newest tools and ways to keep you on task.
• Crisis Comms 201 - we'll discuss best practices based on the issue, how to cope, how to move on.
• Discover new ways to help manage burnout and stress and make mental health a priority to deal with what I call "death by a thousand keystrokes" AKA the internet.
• How to support your team (or moderators, studio, or even yourself) and how to increase morale within your company.
• Ways to become a better negotiator overall and talk down angry people while keeping your cool using hostage negotiation tips (I'm totally serious).
• Tips about planning for the next phase of your career and forging the road ahead while being an ethical leader and advocate for your team and yourself.

Prerequisites

None.

Instructor Bios

Stephanie started in QA back when you used to have to tape your gameplay sessions on a VCR and write your bugs on sheets of paper. With 20 years experience working with such companies as Disney, PopCap, Neversoft, Blizzard, Insomniac, and CD Projekt RED, she's worked on some of the largest franchises in video games. Her experience ranges from QA, Production, Marketing, Community Management, PR, Comms, and even some Programming! Stephanie hails from the greatest (& sometimes most annoying) city ever, Los Angles, and is known to be the loudest in the room in voice, clothes, and hair most of the time.

Preferred Title: Manager, Community Development

Company Name: Independent