Being the only one on your team who runs social media can be overwhelming—but you’re not alone, and others who have been there have advice and resources to share with you.
I’ve been a one-person audience team in three jobs so far, though I now have two (!!) co-workers. It’s not easy, as anyone who has had a similar job knows, but along the way, I’ve learned some things about creating situations that enable me to succeed. Most importantly, I’ve found that while you’re building communities for your newsroom, you also need to do it for yourself—you’re not alone, and you’ll do better work when supported by others who understand what you’re going through.
The session will go through how to…
—Take care of yourself.
—Get more people on board with your work and projects.
—Advocate for more support from newsroom leadership.
—Find virtual co-workers through online communities.
Finally, we’ll take audience questions and add tips to our collaborative set of resources.
I plan to collect these resources over the course of this year as a multi-platform project, with a conference panel discussion as just one part. I’d like to start with a survey of current and former one-person social media teams—asking them both about their advice and their questions for others in the field—and then use those responses as a starting point for a collection of documents, based on what the community needs. Ideas I have right now range from templates for spreadsheets, memos, and proposals to a Slack channel for project brainstorming and feedback.
Suggested Speaker(s)
- Gracie McKenzie (@graciemckenzie)
Audience Engagement Editor, CityLab