I am a Principal and Co-Founder at The Community Roundtable - A company dedicated to advancing the business of community which offers a monthly subscription report, a membership based peer network, a community management training program and advisory services for corporations and individuals.
The Social Organization is where I work through problems, test hypotheses, get feedback, and present my perspectives on how social tools are changing organizations and the way in which people relate to each other.
I've spent my career solving problems - for organizations, customers, and internal teams. I believe strongly that people want to do the right thing for each other - but not at the expense of hurting themselves and that organizational structures & processes can encourage or inhibit this. My passion is for solving structural problems in organizations that unleash rather than restrain peoples' potential.
Companies I've worked with:
My resume cloud looks like this:
With an operational background and some experience using systems dynamics modeling to hypothesize and understand complex relationships and systems, my focus and interest is on looking at problems from a systemic and macro perspective. For example, how do customers learn about your business, experience your business, and form their impressions of it? That involves public information sources, private advisors (analysts, consultants and other influencers), your marketing content and messages, interaction with your employees, interaction with your products in the customer's setting/context, interaction with your support channels, and interactions with other customers. There are a lot of levers available to companies to influence prospects and customers - how do you choose?
Interested in chatting? You can reach me at rachel at thesocialorganization.com or you can follow me on Twitter.
Presentations
- Community Management Fundamentals
- The Naked CEO
- Eight Competencies to Socializing Your Organization
- The Powers & Perils of Online Communities
- Using Twitter to Drive Awareness (Case Study)
Podcast - Managing Social Media and User Generated Content
Video - SMB #15 The Power & Perils of Online Community
Video - Girls In Tech, May 2009Quoted In
The New York Times, The Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, Frankfurter Allgemeine, InfoWorld, ComputerWorld, PCWorld, USA Today, Baseline Magazine, Variety, TechWorld, InformationWeek and others
Interviewed by NPR, WBUR
Recent public speaking
NYC, New Hampshire & Boston Social Media Breakfasts, MarketingProfs Digital Marketing Mixer, Mass TLC, PRSA's Digital Impact Conference, New Marketing Summit, Gilbane San Francisco, Gilbane Boston, Enterprise 2.0, IDC Directions, and IDC's CMO Advisory Board Meeting.
Awards
In 2007, I was IDC's Rookie of the Year and was presented with research quality awards for "Modeling the Digital Marketplace" and "The Landscape of the Digital Marketplace".
Recommendations
“Rachel is one of the rare people who really understands the emerging and accelerating areas of social media, Enterprise 2.0, virtual communities, including best practices and rising players in this whole space. On top of understanding, she has shown genuine insight into trends and models, and best: she used her reputation and influence to communicate and advocate in this space. Rachel's presentations, conversations, position papers, and her personal blog all provide value and insight.” July 24, 2008
Mark Yolton, SVP SAP Community Network
“Rachel is a thoroughly knowledgeable, resourceful and personally engaged professional who provided immense value to me and my team on multiple occasions. Her understanding of social networking technology, their real-world applications--and limitations, and how to apply them in myriad settings resulted in better marketing and communications strategies for me and my clients. What's more, Rachel is reliable, personable and just a pleasure to work with. My team and I wish her every success.” July 23, 2008
Joshua Reynolds, Practice Director at Hill & Knowlton
"Rachel is incredibly knowledgeable about the Digital Business Economy and her insight has helped our company shape its strategy and direction. She is a consummate professional who takes her time to really listen and understand your goals, give thoughtful feedback and provide valuable recommendations. I would recommend Rachel to anyone who is trying to understand the new business models and strategies that go along with surviving in today's new Web 2.0 World.” July 31, 2008
Silvie Casanova, Director of PR/AR, FAST, a Microsoft Subsidiary
“With the economy being what it is, I've seen a dramatic increase in the number of LinkedIn Recommendations I've been asked to write. In this particular case however, I have the opportunity to write a recommendation for someone that has not only become a good friend over the last couple of years, but is also one of the smartest and most talented people in the online community/social media industry I could write a lot about Rachel but instead, I'm going to stick to three bullets (Rachel will appreciate the inside humor of this approach):
1) Rachel is articulate, writes well and is not afraid to tell you whats on her mind. Some of the BEST conversations I ever had about community and social media were with Rachel and I have to admit, I always came away with a new view on how I looked at things.
2) She is a GREAT product manager/leader. Rachel brings the unique blend of vision and an ability to live in the details, two aspects I see as crucial in the world of product management. To that end, I believe Rachel could do product management for almost anything but was particularly strong in the world of social tools/online community platform.
3) Rachel has a WONDERFUL sense of humor and does not take herself too seriously. For someone as smart and talented as she is, this is a refreshing quality.
Did I mention that Rachel is a great blogger? And that she has done an amazing job using Twitter for business without coming off as stiff and corporate. She's also a rockstar on webinars -- I know first hand because I've done a few with her. Got more questions about Rachel? Feel free to call me on my cell phone because I will gladly endorse her any day of the week. 617.957.4254.” January 9, 2009
Aaron Strout, VP Marketing, Powered“Rachel is an extremely pragmatic leader who accepts all challenges thrown her way. Her ability to communicate across all levels of a company help keep everyone focused on the important issues and, ultimately, serve the customer, whether by solving a current customer problem or recognizing future customer needs.” November 17, 2006
Doug Stein, Director, IT Operations, Bitpass
“Rachel's combination of technical understanding and project management expertise made her a rare pleasure to work with. She was open to the ideas of her subordinates, encouraged communications, and set a very high standard of excellence that one could not help but respect. Rachel led by example, encouraged and mentored her subordinates, and provided her team with ample opportunities for personal and professional growth in both individual and team projects. I would not hesitate to recommend her and would be delighted to find myself working with her again.” September 3, 2008
Lea Norton, Manager, Customer Service, Bitpass
