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thekoopalingsandstuffs · 5 months

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can everybody explain their personality/traits (like a bio)

Oh jeez, um... OP eventually needs to make "official" character bios. With fun facts and colored drawings and stuff. And also a pinned post with links to those bios. And links to other stuff. So much work!! But for now, this is just practice for writing bios for only the main characters... HERE WE GO!!

Roy is the oldest of the Koopalings, and unlike the absolute menace he was as a child, he is very fatherly and protective of them. Especially of Ludwig. He has many regrets of his past regarding the way that he treated innocent people, some of whom are no longer here today, which he can apologize to. The biggest major example would be his parents, who he misses thoroughly. The list also includes his siblings, whom it took YEARS to earn the trust of. Luckily, most of them are very close to him now. Roy is somewhat into fitness. He has a treadmill in his room and occasionally goes to the gym. But doesn't do it much anymore due to his lungs making things difficult. He smokes and is trying to quit, but the damage, of course, has been done. He enjoys drinking energy drinks often which can mess up his sleep schedule occasionally and he rarely gets a full-night's rest, but when he does, he can be more relaxed than usual the next morning. He is eighteen years old.

Ludwig is the second oldest of the Koopalings and is one of the most mature in terms of intelligence and interests. Although, he doesn't look like the second oldest due to being much shorter than the other three oldest males. Ludwig is very insecure about his size, weight, and many other things. He is also super sensitive and very emotional, needing to rely on Roy for comfort/support often. Ludwig, while very mature, can be considered super innocent as well due to his extreme lack of interest in sexual things and naïvely believing that deep down, everybody is a good person. Although, his biggest secret is that he has killed someone. In a very violent way. It was to save his best friend, but was still very gorey. Something that Ludwig struggles a lot with is his urinary incontinence, which had completely changed his life. After six years, he's gotten used to it, but it still proves to be a major inconvenience. He's seventeen.

Iggy, on the surface, appears very comical and goofy, rarely taking things seriously. Many would assume he is also very calm and chill in stressful situations. [He is not.] Iggy somewhat struggles with all of his emotions. He can't really express them. Talking about why something is making him feel uncomfortable or frustrated is difficult. So he holds it in. And eventually, those emotions blow up, leading to an OVER reaction. He also sucks at comforting other people in their times of grief. Iggy is known for being very... Over sexual. Often over-sharing about his kinky sex life and owning numerous "toys." Truth be told, Iggy struggles with hypersexuality, which often gets in the way of him having healthy relationships. He struggles enough with expressing true love, but then, if his partner isn't constantly on board with having sex all the time like he wants, then he loses interest. But can never truly let go. Iggy takes after his father the most in both physical and mental traits. He hopes to be a great father like him one day, so he currently babies the hell out of Wendy and his puppy, Nibbles. Iggy, despite all of this, is only fifteen years old

Wendy is the only girl and extremely moody teen of the group. She spends lots of time by herself watching TikTok with no interest in interacting with her stupid, dumb brothers. Except for Iggy. But she'd never admit it. Iggy is very protective and loving towards her. And although on one hand, she hates when she doesn't get her alone time, she does enjoy that she is "special" enough to have someone like him constantly try to hang out with her. She has actually messed up and called Iggy "Dad" a few times before. However, Wendy's biggest secret involves their actual dad. And she hopes that Iggy never finds out about it... Wendy was (somewhat) responsible for the Koopalings' dad's death. One hot day, she went outside alone and saw her poor dad on the ground, struggling, having a stroke... He weakly begged her to go inside and get help. But she never did. Young Wendy, absolutely terrified from the sight, immediately ran inside and started watching cartoons to distract herself. And the dad was found later that day. He died alone, thinking help was coming. But it never did. And seeing how much Iggy loved his dad... Wendy greatly fears what he would do if he found out she could have prevented his passing, but didn't. Wendy is thirteen and a half years old.

Morton, despite being one of the youngest kids, is probably the hardest worker. He does all the chores in the house every day and never stops, even when he is very sick or injured. He makes all the food, cleans, does laundry, etc. And he puts his own needs aside until it's done. Morton is known for being a "people pleaser." He will never complain about anything and do everything that is asked of him, even if he literally physically can't--He's gonna try. And if he fails, he will become SUPER upset, breaking down and frantically apologizing. Morton also has the worst case of struggling with emotions. He bottles up EVERYTHING. Feeling disappointed? Bottled. Furious at someone? Bottled. Super happy 'cuz it's your birthday? Bottled. Morton will never show his negative emotions specifically. He doesn't want other people to become upset with him for feeling a certain way. He always puts on a polite, happy face and pretends everything is okay. Nobody knows where he gained this behavior from, but it seems to have started five-ish years ago. Morton is only twelve years old.

Larry is ten.

Lemmy is a very savage knife-weilding child with a very rarely seen soft side. He gets angry easily and is quick to make threats. However, he acts very differently when upset. If upsetted, Lemmy "shuts down." He stops talking to almost everyone for a long time and stays in his room with his comfort plushies. He hates being vulnerable around other people. One of Lemmy's biggest weaknesses is the fact that if he gets picked up, especially by the scruff, he starts having a panic attack due to his PTSD from "the incident." Lemmy is also very anti-social. He is terrified of little kids (Which is kinda inconvenient since he's in the first grade-) and doesn't have many friends his own age. Lemmy gets frequently embarrassed by the fact that he, due to being a small child, also has a very small bladder, making him quite accident-prone like Ludwig. Lemmy has many fears, insecurities, and weaknesses, which is why he tends to act so "savage." He doesn't want people to mess with him. Oh yeah--Something interesting about him is that... He squeaks. Like how the bunnies do. Nobody knows why he does this. He just does. Uhhh... Anyway. Lemmy is six years old!

Jr is the other six year-old of the family and is Bowser's only biological son. Bowser had adopted the orphaned Koopalings and cared for them so much. But soon after their adoption, Jr was born. And Bowser started only paying attention to him. Spoiling the child. The Koopalings HATED Jr for a long time because of this, even though Jr never wanted to take their attention away! All he did was be born!! But still, everybody hated him (Even the nicer siblings like Ludwig and Morton!) All of them bullied him and refused to let him hang out with them. However, in recent times, one by one, some of them started to ease up. Jr is very loving to even the people that hate him and is extremely forgiving (Which is how he won over Ludwig), is great at comforting people and knowing specifically what to do to cheer them up (Which is how he earned the love of Lemmy & Roy), and has a deep love for mechanics and engineering (Which is why Iggy started loving him). Wendy, Larry, & Morton have yet to change their minds about their brother, but Jr is still hopeful and knows that one day, everyone will love him.

Motley has a very troubled past. Before she was even born, her father abandoned the family and ran off to run a circus. Her mom is, of course, a single parent and struggles to support the two of them financially with her dead-end job. Motley doesn't know or really understand this, though. She loves her life! Well, except for the fact that she is intersex. It's bad enough knowing that she may never get to have kids one day, but at her last school, everybody bullied her and made fun of her for being a "hermaphrodite." It took a long time due to Mauve's financial struggles, but eventually, they were able to move to the Darklands and start fresh. Here, Motley keeps her intersex-ness a secret, and the only ones who know are her lovely boyfriend, Lemmy, and (adoptive) brother, Peasley. Neither of them would tell a soul and would certainly kill anyone who tries to pick on her for it. Either way, Motley can be described as a fun-loving, somewhat chaotic little girl who has a motherly, nurturing side that only comes out occasionally, when people close to her are in distress. She is six years old.

Peasley is probably one of the easiest characters on the blog to manipulate... For one, not being a native English speaker, it's not hard to confuse him or convince him of something that's not true. Also, he's been an only child for most of his life and is very attention deprived. He will cling to anyone who gives him the tiniest bit of attention. He has very strong feelings towards the people that he's close with (Ludwig, Motley, & Nabbit--Two of which he practically adopted). And of course, he has lots of wealth with nothing to spend it on. If you wanted to manipulate and steal from somebody, do it from Peasley! 》Oh my god, why am I telling you this-《 Peasley is a very naïve but well-mannered and charming person who just wants everyone to be happy. If you befriend him, not only will you be treated to tons of expensive gifts, but you will have a genuinely loving and loyal companion. Peasley is very close to his mom, even before his parents got divorced, and tells her about everything. (He doesn't have many other people to talk to) So if you tell Peasley a secret, there's a good chance Persephone is going to know. But don't worry--She won't do anything with it! Peasley is seventeen.

Nabbit is Peasley's little cousin and is the complete opposite of him. She is very hard to fool and WILL kill you if she can tell you're trying to trick her or get something out of her. She is not trusting of others and prefers to work alone or only with her family. She is not charming and couldn't care less if people around her are happy. It also takes a while for people to earn her trust. Especially if things start off on the wrong foot, like how when Peasley unintentionally misgendered her when they first met. The only non-family person Nabbit 100% trusts is Ludwig. She likes him. A lot. Larry is slowly earning her trust, but him not being a fan of Ludwig is making things difficult. Anyway- Unlike Peasley, who is closest with his mom, Nabbit is closest with her dad. Of course, it doesn't help that her mom is in jail at the moment. But still, Nabbit and Popple are super close and trusting of each other. He taught her everything she knows about robbing and being a criminal. Bonnie (Her mom) taught her everything she knows about weapons and martial arts. Nabbit may seem very cold and mean at first. (She is). But she is like that because she is a fighter, a survivor, and her parents taught her to be so. She is only nine years old.

Topper is similar to Nabbit in that he is not very trusting of others, can come off as cold and mean at first, and is also a rabbit with a NYC accent. When Topper was younger, he was a crybaby. Incredibly sensitive and easy to make upset. Gullible. Small. Had bladder issues. He was a prime target for bullying. And he got bullied a TON by his own brother, Rango. His life sucked. And after a bit, Topper toughened up. He acts very aggressive and impatient with people now. Quite snappy and quick to anger. Rango still picks on him (Although he did stop veeery recently for unrelated reasons!) But random people don't mess with him anymore. They know not to mess with him or else they'll get their knee caps busted. In actuality, Topper has no clue how to injur someone. He makes many threats, but his bark is much worse than his bite. It's all about pretending. Fake it 'til you make it. It takes forever to get through Topper's rough exterior and get him to open up to you. And when he does, you'll see the same emotional, compassionate, gentle boy he used to be inside.

Hariet is the smartest and most accomplished of the Broodals, and she knows it. She has several first place trophies and medals from numerous different competitions in a box somewhere, and only one shameful, disgraceful second place prize. Hariet, sometimes, lets this skill and intelligence go to her head. She firmly believes that she is never wrong. And she usually isn't! Which makes it all the more unexpected and confusing when she IS wrong. Hariet doesn't know what to do when she turns out to be incorrect and can sometimes turn to creating excuses and gaslighting. Hariet definitely has a pretty big ego, but you only notice it when that ego is under attack by her failing at something. Despite this, Hariet is a pretty calm and reasonable person most days. She does struggle with mood swings sometimes and can absolutely become petty over something small, but she's very kind and caring towards her family. (Unless they get in the way of something she wants) She is sixteen.

Rango, for most of his life, has been fully insufferable... Really mean to Topper for no reason and generally just a lousy person. Although, now, with him being in a toxic relationship while simultaneously dealing with some mysterious health problems, his siblings, especially Topper, are trying to help him, and he's realizing just how horrible he was and knows that he doesn't deserve such care. Despite being somewhat of a bad person, Rango is a very good boyfriend, and even Topper agrees that people should feel lucky to date him because of how sweet he is to his partners, even after break up. Which makes it unfortunate how poorly his boyfriend treats him. Rango, at the moment, is still (mentally) recovering from getting a limb amputated and is stressed over his new health problems that he still doesn't know if they're fatal or not. Compared to his siblings, Rango hasn't had a lot of health issues. And now he's dealt/dealing with two major(?) ones. Rango is scared. And stressed. It's a lot for him to handle. Especially since he doesn't know how to deal with these things. For now, at the time of typing this, Rango's whole world view is changing. And that's kinda hard to put into a bio. This overwhelmed bunny is seventeen years old.

Spewart is naturally a very polite and understanding person. He has lots of stress, anxiety, depression, and PTSD from several past events, getting him to go to therapy, even though that never really fixes anything--It feels nice to talk about his feelings and relieve stress to Dr. Twila. Although he may not seem like it, Spewart is very mentally unstable. He's been at least considering suicide for a while and has "breakdowns" fairly often. It's hard to keep himself put together and appear as calm as he does, but he still manages to pull it off. After the "Dieter incident," Spewart has been extra stressed, but he can't talk to his own siblings about it. He is scared of trying to get into an actual relationship due to Dieter making him hate most things. The whole concept of a relationship has been tainted for him. Plus, certain restaurants, romantic walks at night, and specific types of affection are completely off the table because they'd bring back memories of Dieter. Sex? Not happening. Never again. Although, a certain somebody has been making Spewart wonder if maybe he could give this whole romance thing another try...? Either way, Spewart knows deep down that he is very broken and can never be fixed. He just has to get used to that fact. He is eighteen.

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koopalingsmagicmischief · 5 months

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Welcome to Koopalings: Magic Mischief!

This AU has a magical girl inspired aesthetic and features, as the name implies, magic and mischief!

Quick disclaimer: You can have your AU Koopalings and OCs send messages in the ask box, but please don't actually roleplay with me. I only actually rp with trusted friends. Quick interactions in asks (like pats/boops/etc or other characters sending asks) is 100% okay, but reblogging, commenting, or using the ask box with the sole intent of a long-form rp isn't, as I WILL decline it. Using this blog, which I made with the intention of having fun with my AU, to roleplay isn't something I'm comfortable with at all and I hope you can understand that.

CHARACTERS FOR ASKS, IN ORDER FROM YOUNGEST TO OLDEST

Rose Koopa (my OC) — 12

Larry Koopa, Lemmy Koopa, Iggy Koopa, Bowser Jr — 13

Wendy O. Koopa — 15

Morton Koopa Jr, Roy Koopa — 17

Ludwig von Koopa — 19

Personality overviews

- Rose looks like she's quiet and timid, but don't be fooled; she's actually pretty sassy, occasionally even sarcastic. She doesn't care about her appearance at all and is often seen play fighting with the triplets.

- Larry is a bit sarcastic (definitely not as much as Iggy though) and has no filter, and even though he may not look like it, he's a ball of anxiety. He tends to pretend that he's tougher than he actually is to try to look like he's not about to punch something... or someone.

- Iggy is loud, hyper, batshit crazy, way more sarcastic than Larry, and also completely lacks a filter. He shows affection through odd means, often through making "k y s"/"die" jokes, to hide the fact he has a softer side.

- Lemmy is also a ball of anxiety with no filter, though is way less sarcastic than the other two of the triplets. He has been known to blurt out whatever's on his mind — it doesn't matter if it's rude, nonsensical, or whatever else — whenever it pops into his head; he doesn't mean to be rude he's just Like That.

- Bowser Jr just wants to be seen as cool despite really being a softie at heart. He's a bit more childish than the triplets despite them all being 13.

- Wendy is very much a diva, and she's very easily annoyed by what she perceives as "childish behavior" (which is mainly just the way that Larry, Lemmy, Iggy, and Rose joke around with each other). Underneath her snobby diva exterior is a sweet young lady with a love of all things cute.

- Roy is very much the "one sitting back and eating popcorn while watching shit go down" type when it comes to the shenanigans his siblings get into. He tends to find humor in the smallest things; this started as a way to help manage his anger issues and slowly the simplest things became a genuine source of amusement.

- Morton is very much a "beware the quiet ones" type of person; he's usually very quiet, especially when watching the youngster-typical chaos the youngest five get into, but if anyone lays a finger on any of them with malicious intent he instantly goes protective big bro mode. He also doesn't understand many social cues and tends to either say nothing or say too much.

- Ludwig is just as crazy as Iggy, just far more reserved and not nearly as sarcastic. He tends to put up a "prim and proper" exterior to hide the fact that he, too, is just as much of a chaos magnet as the youngest five.

#koopalings #larry koopa #iggy koopa #lemmy koopa #wendy o koopa #roy koopa #morton koopa jr #ludwig von koopa #bowser jr

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useless19 · 5 months

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So I was curious; in "Days" after the interaction with Wendy in the bathroom, had you at any time wanted to do more with her? Luigi managing to make her giggle seemed like an opening for further development.

Not specifically. She served her narrative purpose with her fairly heavy-handed exposition dump on Koopa gender roles and ultimately her way forward isn't going to involve Luigi a huge amount. Maybe in another story, but Days!Luigi isn't interested in dresses and makeup, and doesn't really have anything to add to a more female-driven narrative.

When I first started writing Days, the only game I'd played with the Koopalings in was New Super Mario Bros Wii, which isn't all that lore heavy (I know most of the games aren't, especially mainline games at that) and I was fairly dubious about adding them to the series at all. I couldn't even name them all correctly!

(I'd also spent several hours of my childhood reading through the same 3 Mario choose-your-own-adventure books, which featured a few of the Koopalings. Given how poorly they've aged, something even child-me picked up on, it's probably best that my memories of them are fairly sketchy.)

I've since picked up Color Splash* and I think I've got a handle on the Koopalings' characters from that (at least as far as that game's portrayal of them goes, it's why there's a throwaway line about Roy going to night school).

Unfortunately for her, Wendy's characterisation is pretty much just 'the girl'. I hope I managed to do something (somewhat) interesting with that, but she's still only a tertiary character in Days. It would have pulled the focus of the series in a different direction if Luigi had spent the time to get to properly know any of the Koopalings. They're all big enough characters in the game series that I couldn't have just reshaped their personality to fit the narrative I already had. Which would have meant way more moving parts to consider for the series as a whole.

Hopefully, one day, Luigi can get a good working relationship with Wendy, though what she really needs is more female friends and to work through the internalised misogyny problem she very likely has.

*(I hate that we never got a proper localisation and the colours in the title Color Splash don't line up properly. If they'd just spelt colour correctly then there would have been 6 letters in each word for the 6 paint colours in the game!)

#days #ask #koopalings #wendy o koopa #this might have gone off on a tangent again

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cat-denied · 3 months

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1, 9, & 11 for the salty asks?

thanks for asking! gonna go ahead and answer these for fire emblem since thats the fandom im most active in as a fandom

1. What OTPs in your fandom(s) do you just not get?

oh man, a lot. a lot of heterosexual ones, i feel like? alm/celica. merric/elice feels so abrupt and meaningless in the way that basically any of the non-main-protagonist NES game relationships do, even when they try to retcon it in in the remakes, because it just...forget chemistry, they don't have any interactions! like what!!

felix/sylvain. like, i dunno, i just don't really feel any emotions looking at these two. they are fine? they're fine. i don't...that's it. lmao

also, honestly to an extent i don't really get tharja/robin in awakening. like, i love both characters on their own, but they don't really gel for me in the same way they seem to for a whole lotta other people lol.

ALSO! not fire emblem and i am not in a "fandom" as such for full metal alchemist but shipping roy mustang and riza hawkeye Does Not Gel For Me. i get why people do it but like...i do not understand it.

9. Most disliked character(s)? Why?

i bear grudges especially towards Arvis FE4 (because the narrative treats him as noble and well-intentioned, and basically just tells us that he means good without doing literally anything to back it up) and Gray Echoes: Shadows of Valentia (because i am so fucking sick to death of "guy bothers uninterested woman until she relents into having a relationship with him" AND they always end up in a fucking relationship in their end cards even if you didn't unlock any of their supports).

also shoutouts to olwen FE5, who rules hard and who i love don't get me wrong, but whose supporting cast (fred and reinhardt) are like...way less cool than her. i especially do not vibe with reinhardt, considering he chooses not to defect despite presumably knowing about the child hunts (!), meaning the intended arc of "tragically you cant recruit this cool dude" falls flat because...is he really that cool if he can't be arsed to stop perpetuating tangible horrific evils in fiction? then again, he is working with ishtar, who is described as saving as many kids as possible--but also that only gets mentioned in her other game, which means it's not brought up directly with reinhardt--look the point is i'm not interested in him he's a boring man and i don't know why he has sixteen different alts in Heroes when olwen has one. olwen is the cooler fucking sibling get a grip lmao

i also hate virion (any man who is introduced chasing after a vocally uninterested woman is not worth my while, doubly so if he does not have any sort of tangible character arc), berkut (GOD. AWFUL man. somehow manages to fridge his own wife??? you should be able to recruit rinea in echoes i am forever peeved about this. he's an excellent villain all the way up until you can't recruit rinea about it), and perne (because the narrative apparently believes that kidnapping and torturing a young girl into doing your bidding via frightening her with insects is, like, not a big deal you guys don't sweat it).

11. Is there an unpopular character you like that the fandom doesn’t? Why?

i love Kris from new mystery of the emblem, i think she rules, she's a goofus. big fan. also all the new mystery gang tbh. i would say i don't understand why people hate her so much, except i do, and it's the same old same old "everything was better in the old days, when we didn't have support conversations or characters with more than 1 line of dialogue" that you get in every fandom, but i've certainly noticed in fire emblem.

i love edelgard, but i wouldn't say the fandom doesn't: i would say some of the fandom doesn't, but it's a split it would seem. i fucking adore monica but so does everybody else with taste. i really like wendy (inasmuch as anyone in the binding blade has a character), admittedly half due to her class as armored knight and half out of spite at how her wiki page says she's non-viable, but there's a solid half in there to appreciate her on her own merits also. this is again a mixed opinion and not a totally unpopular one, but i love ingrid, i think her story arc is fascinating. i LOVE jill i think her story arc is super compelling, she's one of my favorites. look, i don't know, who's unpopular? if you get me a list of "unpopular" fire emblem characters i will probably pick out every woman on there and be like "aw cmon she's cool/underutilized/worthy of appreciation". except camilla.

thanks so much for asking! this was very fun.

#tag game #roadtriptalks #fire emblem

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newromanticsmuses · 2 years

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Muse List

Newest Muses – Most recently added; especially looking for new interactions & very active

- Kenny McCormick (South Park) - Deandra “Dee” Reynolds (It’s Always Sunny) - Dream (Sandman--FC; Adrien Brody) - Poe Dameron (Star Wars)

Primary Muses – Muses most often awake and active; always available

- Harry Potter (Harry Potter/Canon Divergent Adult & Slytherin AU) - Five Hargreeves (The Umbrella Academy) - Jean Grey (X-Men/Mix of XMCU & Evo Canon) - Allison Reynolds (The Breakfast Club) - Cordelia Chase (BTVS) - Asher Wyatt (I Bet You Think About Me OC; bio) - Eddie Munson (Stranger Things) - Max Mayfield (Stranger Things) - Steve Harrington (Stranger Things)

Secondary Muses – Muses that are usually awake and active; usually available

- Remus Lupin (Harry Potter/Single ship with kissofthemuses) - Ronald Weasley (Harry Potter) - Ella Lopez (Lucifer) - Diego Hargreeves (The Umbrella Academy) - Tara Maclay (BTVS) - Rupert Giles (BTVS) - Audrey Hope (Gossip Girl Reboot) - Gendry Baratheon (GOT/ASOIAF/Modern AU Available) - Jules Vaughn (Euphoria) - Ethan Golden (Euphoria) - Rahne Sinclair (X-men: New Mutants/Evo) - Dustin Henderson (Stranger Things) - Jonathan Byers (Stranger Things)

Obscure Muses Spotlight – Muses that lack muse because they lack interactions; available by request and I’m willing to tell you about them

- Sarah Finley (The L Word: Gen Q) - Patty O’Connor (Kevin can F*** Himself) - Toni Shalifoe (The Wilds) - Luna La (Gossip Girl Reboot) - Natalie (YellowJackets) - Dwayne Hoover (Little Miss Sunshine) - Wyatt Langmore (Ozark–Stranger Things Verse) - Wendy Byrde (Ozark)

Selective Muses – Muses that are picky and slower to reply with; available by request

- Richie Tozier (IT) - Stanley Uris (IT) - Peter Hayes (Divergent) - Charles Gunn (BTVS) - Lorne “The Host” (BTVS) - Paige Michalchuck (Degrassi: TNG) - Ellie Nash (Degrassi: TNG) - Henry Winter (The Secret History) - Proinsias “Cass” Cassidy (Preacher) - Petyr Baelish (GOT/ASOIAF/Modern AU Available) - Roy Kent (Ted Lasso) - Meriadoc Brandybuck (LOTR/Movie Canon) - Fezco (Euphoria) - Ashtray (Euphoria) - Dan Humphrey (Gossip Girl; Reboot Verse Available) - Henry Tanaka (The Wilds)

Private Muses – Muses mostly written with one or several muns; IM to express interest

- Joey Potter (Dawson’s Creek) - Drue Valentine (Dawson’s Creek) - Ryan Atwood (The OC) - Fulton Reed (The Mighty Ducks) - Charlie Conway (The Might Ducks) - Mallory Higgins (Cruel Summer) - Percival Graves (Harry Potter/Canon Divergent) - Akeno Menzies (Gossip Girl Reboot) - Tom Wambsgans (Succession) - Mark S.(cout) (Severance) - Alan Zaveri (Russian Doll)

#updated 7.10.23

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mcsaiccfmusesa · 3 years

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Muse List -- Mobile

Kinny // 21+ // Mutual Exclusive & Private Canon RP Blog

Links: Mobile Rules // OC RP Blog // Critical Role RP Blog

Fill out this muse interest checker when you follow

Newest Muses – Most recently added; especially looking for new interactions & very active

- Henry Tanaka (The Wilds) - Rahne Sinclair (X-men: New Mutants/Evo) - Eddie Munson (Stranger Things) - Dustin Henderson (Stranger Things) - Max Mayfield (Stanger Things) - Jonathan Byers (Stranger Things) - Steven Harrington (Stranger Things) - Wyatt Langmore (Ozark--Stranger Things Verse) - Wendy Byrde (Ozark)

Primary Muses – Muses most often awake and active; always available

Secondary Muses – Muses that are usually awake and active; usually available

Obscure Muses Spotlight -- Muses that lack muse because they lack interactions; available by request and I’m willing to tell you about them

Selective Muses – Muses that are picky and slower to reply with; available by request

- Richie Tozier (IT) - Stanley Uris (IT) - Peter Hayes (Divergent) - Charles Gunn (BTVS) - Lorne “The Host” (BTVS) - Paige Michalchuk (Degrassi: TNG) - Ellie Nash (Degrassi: TNG) - Henry Winter (The Secret History) - Proinsias "Cass" Cassidy (Preacher) - Petyr Baelish (GOT/ASOIAF/Modern AU Available) - Roy Kent (Ted Lasso) - Meriadoc Brandybuck (LOTR/Movie Canon) - Fezco (Euphoria) - Ashtray (Euphoria) - Dan Humphrey (Gossip Girl; Reboot Verse Available)

Private Muses – Muses mostly written with one or several muns; IM to express interest

- Joey Potter (Dawson’s Creek) - Drue Valentine (Dawson’s Creek) - Ryan Atwood (The OC) - Fulton Reed (The Mighty Ducks) - Charlie Conway (The Mighty Ducks) - Mallory Higgins (Cruel Summer) - Percival Graves (Harry Potter/Canon Divergent) - Akeno Menzies (Gossip Girl Reboot) - Tom Wambsgans (Succession) - Mark S.(cout) (Severance) - Alan Zaveri (Russian Doll)

#updated 5.21.22

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smashupmashups · 4 years

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Recently watched DreamWorks Animation’s first ever computer-animated series, Father of the Pride.

Now, I’ve known about this show about a year ago, but never found interest in. But after it was released on Peacock, I saved it to my watchlist after I got the application on my PS4. This was the first show I watched on Peacock and the third thing I watched after Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man and Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy.

I took in six hours of every single episode. The results: it was pretty amusing and enjoyable, even if it treads the waters of Family Guy and The Simpsons. The cast members of this show are pretty good especially John Goodman (Pixar’s Monsters franchise) and Carl Reiner (Merry Madagascar, Toy Story 4), they even had Wendie Malick (The Owl House) and Jane Lynch (Glee, The Three Stooges: The Movie), even Tress MacNeille (The Simpsons).

Now, for the episodes, I think the best episode I liked was arguably the episode with Donkey, and Eddie Murphy reprised his role in, which was pretty cool. There’s also this episode with David Spade voicing a wolf (or maybe a coyote), and interacting with John Goodman’s character; which would make you look back at The Emperor’s New Groove.

For the characters, they’re pretty amusing and good, and there are a few that are less than pleasing, but I digress. John Goodman’s character kinda reminds me of his role in 1994′s The Flintstones while Cheryl Hines does a nice job as the wife. Carl Reiner voicing a ladies’ man can give you mixed feelings, though. The main family are white lions, while their friends and neighbors are flamingos, elephants, pandas, tigers... you get the idea. Now for the recurring human characters Siegfried and Roy, they’re a german duo that have a show with magic and their lead lion (Goodman’s character) is their main attraction. Their dynamic shows they have a vitriolic (as in love/hate) friendship.

The show’s set in Las Vegas with the animal characters living in Siegfried and Roy’s private zoo, which looks pretty much like a domesticated neighborhood. Pretty confusing, but I don’t question much into it.

Long story short, it’s pleasing at its best, and pre-dates the domestic anthropomorphic animals as the main focus; beating DWA’s own Madagascar to the punch. I rate this a 7/10 and 70%. It’s worth watching if you enjoy talking animals and situation comedy.

#show review #dreamworks animation #father of the pride

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justredqueenmikuthings · 6 years

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How do YOU picture the Koopalings and Broodals getting along?

Ooh this one is an interesting one. I get to talk about my magical wonderful headcanons.

I’d imagine they wouldn’t interact all that often (seeing as the Broodals live all the way out on the moon and wouldn’t come down to the planet all that often), but they’d at least be on good terms with each other.

Topper would probably like Ludwig the best (which would mean by extension he’d also be around Larry a lot since Larry’s pretty tight with Ludwig). Spewart would be pretty good friends with Morton and Roy (mostly Morton). Rango would mostly keep to himself, but his calmness would allow him to get along pretty well with Larry and Wendy especially. As for Harriet, you would think she’d get along with Wendy, but Harriet’s actually a little too intense for Wendy’s liking and Harriet finds Wendy boring. Instead, Harriet actually likes Iggy and Lemmy the best, especially when Iggy’s crazy science experiments are involved.

As a bonus bit about Madame Broode, Bowser actually doesn’t like her all that much (though he does like the Broodals), but he works alongside her anyway because she promises she can help him accomplish his goals (unaware that she’s also sort of using him for her own selfish purposes). He tries not to need her help too often, though.

Another bonus bit: Bowser Jr stays far away from the Broodals at all times. He’d be the least uncomfortable around Spewart, but, in general, Junior doesn’t like to interact with the Broodals. This more stems from Junior’s personality rather than any distaste for the Broodals themselves, but it’s worth noting.

#anon #Broodals #Koopalings #Topper #Harriet #Rango #Spewart #Ludwig von Koopa #Roy Koopa #Lemmy Koopa #Iggy Koopa #Wendy O. Koopa #Morton Koopa Jr.#Larry Koopa #Madame Broode #Bowser #Bowser Jr.#headcanons

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growinstablog · 4 years

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8 Killer Tips for Better Social Media Community Management

1. Plan, Plan, Plan

Consistency is key in your social media community management strategy. Plan ahead so you can have content coming out reliably at all times, and you can clearly see what needs to be accomplished.

Consistency will help keep your posts relevant in terms of your audience’s news feeds and maintain a healthy online presence to keep their attention.

Planning ahead is crucial to your success as a social media community manager. All your content, whether it’s the posts you schedule, ongoing campaigns, contests, etc., should be arranged in a detailed content calendar so you can take a clear, overall view of your work.

You’ll also want to do everything you can to avoid publishing errors, so set up roles and approval flows for you team as well. The content you have going out should be checked and double checked, with only key team members being able to publish.

2. Work on Your Communication Skills

As a social media community manager, you’ll be in a customer-facing role, and that comes with a lot of pressure. There are a lot of ways that things can go wrong, and many of them won’t be your fault. Whatever the case, it’s important that you’re able to stay calm under pressure and keep it professional.

It’s important to remember that every time you publish a post, retweet, or reply to a comment, you represent not just yourself, but your company in a public space.

Therefore, as a social media community manager, you will need to be able to take on that pressure to stay diplomatic and customer-oriented in your communications.

A great way to prevent crises ahead of time is to monitor conversations around your brand and topics related to it. This social media listening will give you the heads up that there might be a problem and will help you monitor the sentiment around your brand so that nothing catches you by surprise.

3. Cultivate a Brand Personality

You may need to stay professional and not insult your audience, but it’s equally important that your brand has a coherent and recognizable identity in its community interaction.

This helps your audience feel like they’re talking to a person and will go a long way in helping to nurture engagement and brand loyalty.

Some of the best social media community management examples are brands that have put a real effort into developing an interesting and unique personality.

One great example is Wendy’s, with it’s extremely sassy Twitter account. The fast-food chain has taken aim at its competition, with hilarious jabs at McDonald’s, Burger King, IHOP, and more. But it didn’t stop there: the chain even roasted its own followers, often by request.

When the tweets are as broken as the ice cream machine. https://t.co/esdndK1iFm

— Wendy’s (@Wendys) November 24, 2017

It’s a risky strategy and requires an extremely keen awareness of one’s audience. It is easy to go too far and offend people online – especially with a large audience. But it paid off for Wendy’s and their social media went viral.

Despite the chain being a fraction of the size of fast-food giant, McDonald’s, their Twitter account boasts 2.85 million followers, and its audience is much more engaged, with tweets regularly bringing in much more engagement than McDonald’s.

4. Define Success and Set Metrics to Track It

Tracking success for social media community management can be tricky. Traditionally, ROI is often tracked through clicks and conversions, but your results from social media won’t be as clear. It can be difficult to determine how your efforts have contributed to sales and leads directly.

Instead, it’s better to determine how you define your own success, depending on your goals. Track what kind of content your audience engages with, what gets them talking or falls flat, and what brings in more followers.

As much of the work of community management will be as a point of contact for customer queries and product problems, another good set of metrics to keep track of are response time, resolution time, and customer satisfaction.

Tracking these will help you, as a social media community manager, to determine how well your team is performing, and see clearly where you can improve to better meet your customers’ needs.

5. Include Your Audience in the Conversation

Social media is all about interaction. So while you want to be creating and publishing the best content you can, sometimes even better content will come from another source: your audience.

This is User-Generated Content, or UGC.

It is powerful because it is authentic, and reflects what your audiences think about your brand. It allows your audience to share their experiences, positive or negative, and drives the conversation forward in ways that you won’t be able to do by just churning out content into the ether.

It is also an excellent way for your to engage with and get closer to your audiences, making your brand feel more personal and approachable.

User-generated content can be small things, like posts or tweets mentioning your brand, user reviews, all the way up to campaigns and contributor blogs.

One excellent example of harnessing user-generated content in a big way was Coca Cola’s “This Is Ahhh,” campaign – the first commercial ever to be entirely comprised of user-generated content submissions from the soft drink giant’s audience.

Check out our contributor blog for more on why you need to include user-generated content in your social media strategy!

6. Collect and Use Data

As a social media community manager, you are in closer contact with your audiences than anyone else.

You see on a daily basis how they respond to your content, what drives engagement, what does not, and what issues and queries they have – all in real time.

This skill set makes you an invaluable source of information about customers and prospects for your company.

A good community manager stays on top of the challenges and opportunities facing their brand to constantly improve their performance, but your value goes far beyond improving your own performance:

Through your close contact with your audience, you will have insights that others won’t have access to. Don’t let all that data go to waste – collect actionable feedback and share it with other departments.

A great way to do this is to label incoming queries and group them by the topics or issues customers are bringing to your attention. This will help you pinpoint their difficulties and pain points, and allow you to work to improve the way your brand responds to their needs.

The value of this data cannot be understated – you’ll end up with happier, more loyal customers, as well as more easily converted leads.

7. Be Flexible With Your Time

Fortunately or unfortunately, the job of a social media manager is not limited to strict 9-to-5 office hours.

This can be a double-edged sword.

On the one hand, it gives you a certain level of flexibility in your work hours; but on the other, it means that it’s very easy to feel like you’re constantly on call.

Social media never stops and you may feel like you should always be watching to catch a problem immediately. After all, there have been times in the past where social media crises spiraled out of control because the offending party wasn’t online to mitigate disaster.

On the bright side, this also means that if you follow tip #1 and keep organized with plenty of content scheduled and ready to go out, you can structure more your time the way you want it.

But there’s another way you can buy yourself more free time, even while you maintain a consistent online presence:

8. Be Tech-Savvy

How are you supposed to keep an eye on your social media every day of the week without staring at your computer at all hours? The answer is two parts, but simple: Go mobile, and provide yourself and your team with the tools you need to save time.

A social media community manager’s job isn’t your average desk job. Instead of a routine 9 to 5 schedule, you’ll need to be on hand to post in-the-moment Instagram Stories, write newsflashes at a moments notice, whether you’re in the office or on the move.

Keep up with this pace by embracing mobile: You’ll be able to handle interactions on the fly and avoid building up a backlog of work that would distract you from your other responsibilities.

But handling your social media community management on a platform-by-platform basis can end up being overwhelming, even on mobile. Being tech savvy doesn’t mean juggling multiple applications, in fact it should be the opposite: Simplify! Go beyond native tools.

Get your team a tool that allows you to consolidate all your disparate social media data into one platform.

For a full rundown on the tools and techniques you can use to streamline your team’s workflow, check out our guide to social media collaboration.

The Takeaway

The role of a social media community manager can seem daunting, but the key takeaways here are:

Get organized with the tools you and your team really need with defined metrics and a robust content calendar.

Cultivate a brand personality to nurture your community. Get them involved with user-generated content.

Collect the vast and granular data right at your fingertips as a social media community manager and put it to use. Your team and community will thank you for your insights!

https://growinsta.xyz/8-killer-tips-for-better-social-media-community-management/

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signifystudio · 5 years

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Do you get views, shares, and engagement on your company’s social media channels? Perhaps, you’ve noticed a decline in organic reach over the last few months. For some business owners, measuring social media ROI is a major concern. It’s hard to justify the time spent on social platforms without concrete numbers. However, the majority of people use social media daily making a business presence essential. According to the Sprout Social Index, two main priorities of marketers are to:

Boost brand awareness.

Increase community engagement.

Your customers are on social media, and they expect brands to not only share relevant information but also to respond to their questions. Achieving the right balance of marketing, interaction, and customer service is crucial to boosting your brand awareness. Improve brand recognition by Including these five tactics in your social media strategy.

ASSIST YOUR CUSTOMERS PROMPTLY.

According to SpoutSocial, “for 45% of consumers, social media is one of the first channels they go to in case they have any questions or issues.” Potential and current customers pay attention to a company’s response or lack of response. Plus, a timely reply doesn’t just stand out, it’s expected.

A recent HubSpot study found that “82% of consumers look for an immediate response from brands on marketing or sales questions.” So, how can you manage customer expectations without being online 24/7?

Set up alerts on your social accounts for brand mentions.

Schedule time throughout the day to check and respond to messages.

Create sample template responses that you or an employee can easily personalize for replies on each social platform.

DIFFUSE PAIN POINTS.

Consumers get online to solve or commiserate about a problem. For some, they don’t know how your brand can help. Others aren’t aware that a solution exists to their problem. This puts your brand in a prime position to increase your brand awareness by diffusing the pain points of your potential customers.

Show your customers that you understand their issue, whether that’s a general lack of time or frustration over a non-working product, with a clean, creative, and consistent digital advertising strategy. Schedule social media posts with solutions to the top pain points of your ideal customer on social media. Use a variety of content, from YouTube explainer videos to client testimonials, to help your audience.

MAKE YOUR SOCIAL FOLLOWERS LAUGH.

We all need humor in our lives, which is why Wendy’s sees enormous success with their funny tweets. When it comes to video marketing, humor is especially important, with 71% of people watching videos to get a good laugh. Add humor that’s platform and customer-appropriate for best results. Use a variety of methods from funny memes, user-generated content, and videos.

GIVE CONSUMERS WHAT THEY WANT.

The best part about social media is that you have access to analytics about your audience. Use this data to give your followers more of what they want. Whether this includes links to thought leadership articles on Thursday afternoon or video testimonials over the weekend, don’t bore your followers with information they don’t care about. By understanding your audience, from pain points to expectations, you’ll deliver content and responses that build brand recognition and improve your reputation.

USE CREATIVE CONTENT.

After you’ve been scrolling social media for a while, then every advertisement and basic stock image looks the same. If you’re stuck in a rut for social media content, then turn to other brands for inspiration. Use a variety of social media posts and stay away from boring or obtrusive content.

Include fun polls and surveys.

Encourage your followers to submit fresh user-generated content.

Improve your social game with original high-quality photographs, infographics, and videos.

With multiple social platforms, rising customer expectations, and an overabundance of content that people ignore, finding a social media marketing strategy that gets results is tough. However, consumers expect your company to be active and respond to their concerns. Satisfy your prospective customers and boost brand awareness through social media by listening to your customers and giving them more of what they expect and need from your company.

#Social Media #Social Media Marketing #Social Media Tips

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sumukhcomedy · 4 years

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The Merits of the Virtual Stand-Up Comedy Show

When the NBA announced it was suspending its season on March 11, it became very apparent that live events involving crowds were going on hold in America. This put the state of so many businesses including stand-up comedy in disarray. Stand-up comedy relies on audiences, large groups, and live interaction: three things that were now suspended as a result of COVID-19 prevention. Roy Wood Jr. wrote very well about what the impact of that would potentially be very soon after comedy clubs began to make the decision to temporarily close.

I’ve been a stand-up comedian for over 13 years now. For the same amount of time, I’ve also worked a job in an office. For the past 4 years, that job has allowed me to work from home. So, the circumstances we find ourselves in now are not that far off from what my existence has been except now that my experience performing live comedy is hampered. As COVID-19 prevention took a stronghold, I began to see more virtual stand-up comedy shows pop up via Twitch and Zoom. As someone who works from home and often pushes aside requests from co-workers to tell a joke in virtual meetings, this idea sounded horrible.

My initial reaction to virtual comedy shows

But, as I’ve written before, to do well in comedy and in life we must be open-minded to changes. I decided to attend Jackie Kashian’s Zoom show on Thursday night. Jackie’s a friend, I respect and enjoy her comedy a lot, the lineup was great, and so it was the right choice to me to first experience of the merger of my two worlds of office and stand-up comedy. Could a high quality stand-up comedy show translate to the world of virtual meetings?

The first 15 minutes of the event battled with technical issues which was understandable given this was the first time any of the performers were organizing or doing such a thing let alone the over 200 audience members (participants). This was particularly hilarious to me, someone who has seen technical issues come up in virtual meetings in my office with 9 or less people. So, you can only imagine how humorous it was with some 250 people. Audience members didn’t mute themselves. Some kept their video on. We could hear heavy breathing. We could hear people’s laughter being too loud over the comedians. Someone was even on their phone during the beginning of the show. But, once that was corralled with a mass mute of the audience, what progressed was a really great show that revealed some actually advantageous qualities to going virtual with stand-up.

The show, for comedy purposes, was of course highly entertaining. Wendy Liebman, Kyle Clark, Laurie Kilmartin, and Jackie are all great comedians so not only was the material awesome but it was also great to see each take different approaches to presenting stand-up via such a medium.

The perfect formula for a virtual comedy show appears to be to mute all audience members except for the comedians and perhaps some select “reliable” audience members (by “reliable,” I mean that you’re going to just laugh and not heckle). By leaving a select few unmuted, it allows for the necessary amount and sound of laughter that provides the normalcy and comfort of stand-up comedy for both the comedians and the audience.

By having a mute button as well, it allows for a completely new kind of crowd control. Hecklers are not at the whim of comedians or of club bouncers. They have to deal with technology and their mouths are forced shut from the beginning. In a way, this is actually an upgrade from the live experience when it comes to crowd control and allowing all audience members to enjoy the show. It also doesn’t take away from those muted being able to “table talk” if they really wanted to.

But what I liked the most may have been the totally new interactive experience for stand-up comedy with a chat feature. The chat doesn’t bother the comedian or those watching. It allows the audience to still bring in the camaraderie of if they were bunched up together in a comedy club and laughing. However, it’s unique in that each audience member can express themselves in different ways by writing in the chat “hahahaha,” “lol,” or “that is a great joke.” It is immediate feedback and camaraderie in a new but still positive way for stand-up comedy. It brought out what I think makes “live tweeting” of a sporting event or a presidential debate so enjoyable. All of a sudden now, through the virtual comedy event, stand-up comedy has its own form of “live tweeting.”

We have no concept currently of where the venues of stand-up comedy will be at once we can return to normalcy following “stay-at-home” orders. But the alternative of virtual stand-up comedy does remain a possibility. The virtual show provides more control to the actual performer and organizer. Though, now the performer/organizer is at the mercy of technology as opposed to the venue “gatekeepers.” The issues that have been brought up by comedians about clubs and our industry from poor pay to harassment to incomprehensible booking could be upended by the combination of COVID-19 and this new virtual approach. Comedians do not want to lose our venues especially the good ones but perhaps what is occurring right now will weed out the discriminatory and mismanaged ones.

Much like everything in comedy, the virtual stand-up comedy show is ready to become overdone. In the wrong hands, it will be a stupid concept presented in a stupid manner just like many live comedy shows can be. But, in the right hands, like with Jackie’s show, it can deliver successfully for its comedians and its audience.

I’m intrigued by the virtual comedy show. In a way, it’s the same setup as live stand-up comedy but with different wrinkles in organization. If there’s quality command of the technological side (and if Zoom can get over its security issues) of the virtual meeting and the organizers do the roles effectively that a comedy club would but with technology, then it can work. And, as I mentioned before, it brings a unique, interactive experience for the audience that an in-person comedy show just can’t do.

There’s a lot to still be figured out with life and society in general let alone with something as seemingly silly as entertainment, live events, and stand-up comedy. But for someone who thought this idea was horrible when he first saw it popping up, I actually was able to see its positives when being an audience member. That’s what makes creativity and innovation in even the toughest times so worthwhile. But, for a guy who has spent his life separating his comedy existence from his office/work existence, pardon me for still finding it uncomfortable and frightening to see comedians on platforms created for business meetings. I wasn’t expecting a future where “dick jokes” would be told at the same place as complex conversations on legal agreements, but this is where we’re at and I have to be the one to get over it.

#comedy #stand up comedy #zoom #twitch #live events #covid19 #coronavirus #virtual comedy show #hecklers #jackie kashian

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siliconwebx · 6 years

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Building an Online Community from the Ground Up

Unless you’re a natural social butterfly, building your own online community may sound a little daunting. However, if you plan correctly, you can set up a little section of the internet that you and yours can call home for years to come. In this post we’ll walk you though a few stages you’ll need to navigate in order to see your idea of a community become a reality.

Planning Stages

You cannot just jump head-first into building a community. Sometimes they just kind of organically emerge, but if you’re looking to start a purposeful group, you need a plan. Otherwise, things can get out of hand quickly. Not necessarily in a bad way — you might become the place to be and grow exponentially faster than you expected to. Whatever the case, approaching building your community purposefully is your best bet for success.

1. Why Do You Want to Build a Community?

To start off with, you need to know specifically why you’re building this community. It is very easy to get in over your head and let a project go sideways without a clear vision of why you’re doing it and where it’s going. So think on it, and ask yourself the hard question: how will this community benefit its members?

That’s a hard question to answer. Especially because there are a lot of communities out there already. The internet is a big place. Just look at Reddit with the massive amount of users and categories and subreddits that people participate in. So if you’re going to build a community from the ground up, what will it bring to the table?

As an example, when I started my first podcast, I talked with my partner a lot about this. What even made us start talking about the podcast to begin with was wanting a place to talk with people. We missed the old days of blogging where conversations happened in the comments sections instead of on social media. It didn’t feel as personal or as social to us.

We wanted to talk to people and make friends. It was as simple as that. We wanted to produce content that would bring people together and have a conversation.

So that was our why.

Determine Your ROI:

Just a quick note about running a community. Sometimes you might not make a profit on it. You may be spending money or time on building this up. It can be a lot of work, so you should ask yourself what return you want out of this. This return should be entirely separate from the community goals above.

You may want an increase in emails to blast mail in return for providing a space for folks to congregate. You may be looking to create a route for customer support and brand loyalty to increase. Your company might even be looking to use it as a recruitment tool, finding new talent from people passionate about your brand or project.

Basically, you want to make sure that you aren’t expending resources without getting anything in return. If taken seriously and done right, a community can be a lot of work, so you want to make sure that even if your motives are altruistic and for the good of your audience and users, there is still a return in some way for you.

2. Find a Concept (or Stay on Brand)

Once you know why you’re going to build your community, the next step is making sure you appeal to the right people. As one of my old bosses used to tell me, “you gotta find your schtick.” Basically, what I’m saying is that you need a brand identity. I really liked how this article from Brandisty put it: “Let me be clear: a brand is the relationship between an organization and an audience.”

With that in mind, I am not saying you need a logo or a 4-color palette for your media kit. I’m saying that you need to know what your community is going to represent to its members. At Elegant Themes, for instance, we work to represent style and empowerment for our users. We want people to see or hear the words Divi or Elegant Themes and think to themselves “Oh yeah, their stuff lets me do my job so much easier than before” or “Man, the photos in that latest layout pack are perfect for [Insert Big Client’s Name]’s site.”

Sure, we have beautiful logos and pretty colors, but those are secondary to what is really important: making your life better through excellent design.

Now, if you have a brand already (and you probably do), think about who your users are and what you want to be to them. What purpose will this community serve to them? For you, it will (hopefully) lead to increased revenue, higher brand awareness and reach, and improvements in your products or service. But what good does it do your users to be members?

As an example of that, with my podcast, my partner and I wanted the relationship between our listeners and our show to be that of a matchmaker. We wanted to facilitate people meeting new friends. So if they listened to our podcast, they would have ample opportunity to talk with like-minded people through our community that we worked on building. Same for Elegant Themes — we have a very active comments section here on the blog, a Meetup network of Divi Nation groups, and so on. We strive to make sure that you participating means you get some value that doesn’t come directly from the software itself.

That’s our brand. Now find yours.

3. Craft a Mission Statement

Yes, those dreaded words. Mission Statement. The only two words that can make a committee meeting even more dreadful. But you need one. It doesn’t have to be anything complex (it’s better if it’s not), but you need to get that concept behind your brand identity into writing. That’s all. Mission statements serve the purpose of giving you a cornerstone to look back on and make sure that you’re on track. And if not, you can easily course correct.

4. Where Will Your Community Gather?

Today, there are a ton of options to choose from, and depending on your type of brand or project, some may work better than others. There are really two things you have to keep in mind about this:

Do you want a completely free forum, or do you want to own and control your own platform?

Where does your audience already hang out?

The pros of going for a free forum is that most of the leg-work is done for you. Choosing an option like a Facebook Group is great because so many people already use it (so you show up where they already are), and you can get started in just a few clicks. It takes mere minutes to get Groups up and running on Facebook.

The cons of using an externally hosted platform is that you don’t have any control over it. Not really. You and your community are subject to their ToS and business model and lifespan and so on. However,

Controlling your own platform gives you freedom to do whatever you want, whenever you want, however you want. But it comes at the cost of being yet another account your users have to sign up for. With forums and various membership site plugins for WordPress, you can absolutely go this route. But if you make the process too much of a chore, your community may never get off the ground.

Some Platform Options:

I want to list some of the more popular platforms to grow an online community, and in many cases, creators and brands choose multiples to reach different segments of their audience. For example, some people may spend the majority of their time online with Discord open in the background, but never log into Facebook. Or some people might be hardcore Redditors and Twitter influencers, but avoid group chat platforms altogether.

Discord – A group chat that is aimed at gamers, but robust enough to work for a variety of community types. Very handy if your user base is already using it, as your server could just be added to their list.

Slack – A group chat that many companies use for work, so people very likely already have this one installed. Setting up your own Slack server is free, and communities here thrive during the day since people can participate while looking like they’re hard at work.

Reddit – The largest community on the internet. Basically one giant forum, anyone can set up a subreddit (subforum), which anyone can subscribe to and participate in.

Facebook Groups – You’re probably already a member of a few Facebook groups. These groups can easily go viral, have lots of admin options, and take advantage of a place your people are already likely to be.

Twitter hashtags – Twitter hashtags can also be a community. Often taking the form of a chat (such as #bibchat or #codenewbies), these tend to be regular, moderated discussions that eventually grow into a tag folks use all the time to keep everyone connected.

YouTube comments – Despite their reputation, if you foster a healthy discussion in the comments of your videos, you can build a very active and thriving community there. People’s channels will follow and interact with one another, share playlists, and just generally grow together.

Live streams – If you regularly live stream, you will get a cadre of viewers who tune in. Those people then fill up the chats as you go, talking with you and each other, and then those comments continue after the stream is over. This is generally not the primary location for your community, but it’s a fantastic way to get people to interact and hang out together.

Forums and Message Boards – While on the decline in popularity, forums and message boards are the old standby for internet communities. Totally asynchronous messaging threads are incredibly useful for long, detailed discussions. However, because they are generally entirely separate from other accounts and platforms, people have to make an effort to check the boards to see new updates. If you decide to go this route, there are plenty of WordPress plugins available including bbPress.

Social Media Pages and Profiles – Simply having a Facebook page or a Twitter profile that interacts with other users in and of itself. Look at the Wendy’s Twitter account. Or Zappos. They keep their social media managers interacting with customers constantly, and their responses stay on brand. So people get involved. Again, this won’t be the primary platform, but it can be very important.

5. Lay Down The Law

You have to write down whatever rules and guidelines you want your members to follow. Communities go downhill fast if you have no rules to govern them. Even if they’re as simple as “no self-promotion, hate speech, or personal attacks will be tolerated.”

As the community manager, it’s your job to determine the bounds within which the members stay. They can be as rigid or as lenient as you want, but the important thing is that they exist and are posted for people to see. Well, and that they’re enforced, but we’ll get to that next.

Action Stages

A lot of the planning for a community is academic. You’re thinking and envisioning and trying to make sure all your ducks are in a row. After that, you get to put you feet to the pavement (or maybe fingers to the keyboard) and start dealing with people.

1. Start It Up

Okay, so take steps 1-5 under the planning stages and do them. It’s time to implement your plan. It’s time to start that Facebook Group or launch that Discord server. Take everything that you’ve been thinking about and make it real. It doesn’t matter that your users aren’t aware of it yet. That’s okay. You want to lay claim to your spot.

If you have been planning it for a while, you might have even told them that you were working on this. So long before you start inviting people, plant your flag and get it to waving. The important thing is that no one gets an Under Construction page or a broken URL. Once you start pointing people at where you want them to be, you want them to stay there. So get the forums up and running. Set the permissions and channels in Discord. Upload your emoji to Slack.

Take your idea and make it real.

2. Soft Launch

A soft launch will be your best bet for introducing people to your community. And by soft launch, I mean, not promoting it to the world at large. Just let people organically trickle in. Maybe you invite a handful of people or casually drop a note about it in your podcast or at the end of an email. Maybe even a Join our Community button on your website. But not putting effort into telling people about it.

Why?

Because of bugs and snags and all the thousands of things that could go wrong. You want to be able to work out the kinks before bringing in a boatload of people. If the first impression that people get of your community is that it’s shoddy, you probably won’t get a second one.

Especially if there’s any kind of premium price tag attached. If that’s the case, give a few free memberships or trials to some people to try out and get things rolling. They’ll feel special, it’ll be a soft launch, and you’ll hopefully get some free advertisement for when you do launch officially.

3. Recruit Staff and Assign Roles

Now this is a kind of iffy stage, to be honest. Some people don’t need this step at this point. Everyone will eventually, though. You can handle going solo, trying to build an online community all on your own (I’m thinking of Saron from CodeNewbie, who did it all by her lonesome at first). Some of you already have a staff or group of volunteers. Heck, some of you already have an audience who are clamoring to be more involved with you.

But if you don’t, it’s time to grease some palms. Figuratively, and maybe even literally.

You won’t need much. Just a few people to make sure things run smoothly. You will want people to moderate discussion, generally, and make sure the rules you set up are followed. Even if you start out doing it all by your lonesome, there will be people stepping up to enforce them for you. Even without you asking. These are perfect recruits. Additionally, you can see the people who engage the most and care about the community’s growth and health and ask them if they want to be involved in a greater capacity.

In the end, it’s the caring about the community’s growth and health that matters.

4. Really Launch and Promote Your Tail Off

This is the big moment. Once most of the outstanding bugs are taken care of, you are ready to get this show on the road. You can shout it from the rooftops and let the entire world know that your doors are open and welcoming to anyone who wants to be a part of something special.

And this is where you have to do most of the work. Because you need to get people interested and invested and actually participating in your community. All of your marketing energy will likely be spent going toward your community for a while, and that’s okay. It’ll pay off. (Remember earlier when we talked about your ROI?)

It depends entirely on your project and brand on what channels you promote through, but in general, you want to go overboard. Just to the point where you don’t annoy people.

Running Facebook ads or AdWords campaigns is a popular way to recruit. If you are a community of artists, Instagram ads would be perfect. Send out an email to all your lists. Then a few days later, segment it to those who didn’t open it. Schedule a lot of Tweets and Facebook posts using Hootsuite or Buffer. CoSchedule is another good option.

For the initial launch period, you may want to do a combination of live streams and interact with your audience or customers that way. Promote those personally. Even do giveaways if it’s a premium community. And use Facebook events, even if you’re not on Facebook. It’s hard to believe how much Virtual Launch Parties can help a project’s reach. Or really any virtual event, for that matter.

Maintenance Stage

So you’ve launched. You’re up and running. You have people visiting your community every day, and everything is going even better than you expected. So what now? Well, you maintain it. You keep on doing what works, and maybe throwing some new ideas in the mix to keep things fresh for your customers and audience.

Basically, to maintain a community, you go through most of the steps you did to launch it, just to a lesser degree.

Periodically look at the mission statement and purpose of your community to evaluate whether you are on track with your goals.

Make sure your ROI is on track. Check if you’re putting in enough effort or too much into keeping things going.

Always monitor the users and keep an eye on MVPs. You can never have too many people in your corner. Harvest the talent there for everyone’s gains.

You should also monitor your monitors. Make sure the rules you laid out are still being followed and that the community is still what you meant for it to be.

Continue marketing. You don’t want to go all-out like you did to launch it. To build an online community requires people hearing about it. Maintaining one is about retention and interactivity. But you will still need to keep it in your marketing rotation so it doesn’t become stagnant or insular.

That’s All There Is To It.

And isn’t that enough? If you are going to build an online community, it takes time, effort, and a lot of planning. But when it’s done right, there is really no better element you can add to your brand or company. Positive interaction with your target audience is more valuable than pretty much anything else these days, and there’s not really anything more positive than inviting them to your own space that you made especially for them.

What have your experiences been with building an online community? Let’s talk about it in the comments!

Article featured image by O.darka / shutterstock.com

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Women in MarTech: What Growing at the Pace of this Pulsating Space Means to Them

They have added their own unique spin to marketing technology and convinced us that their refreshing understanding of the whys and wherefores of this rapidly growing industry is just one of the several ways to look at business. In this feature, we bring you the views of key executives who discuss how their ‘being’ pours into their professional personas

How does being a woman as a part of an exponentially explosive marketing tech space help you to be better equipped to understand this constantly evolving sector through your unique perspective?

Nikki Nixon, Director #FlipMyFunnel at Terminus

“Being a woman in marketing tech, coupled with being an introvert, has given me tremendous advantages. I’ve had the opportunity to grow two software companies in the space and be uniquely empathetic along the way. My introversion allows me to think critically about the pros and cons of a given tool beyond the surface sales pitch. It allows me to dig deeper and ask questions to determine if the tool will really solve my needs.”

Jen Spencer, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Allbound

“Since I’m a woman, and I’ve always been a woman, I don’t know any other way of being. I can’t begin to assume I know what makes me as a woman better suited to lead a sales and marketing team at a SaaS company than a man – except maybe that having had twins, I know I have more stamina than most. Getting by on 4 hours of sleep a night? No problem! Getting those 4 hours of sleep in 1 hour increments over a 12-hour period? I. Will. Win. Seriously though, here’s what I do know: When you’re the only female in a boardroom of gray slacks and light blue dress shirts, people remember you. And, when you’re immediately discounted upon arrival and then you’re the first person to actually say something interesting, people remember you. So that – that is my unique advantage.”

Shari Johnston, CMO at Radius

“I was drawn to the technology sector back in 1999 during the Dotcom era, where I moved from Portland to the Bay Area to be at the heart of this explosive space. I was naturally drawn to be a part of a culture that was at the heart of changing the world on how we communicate and interact. With this space being so heavily male-dominated, I do feel as a woman, I am able to add balance, in ways that don’t come naturally to men, that as a generalization focuses on how the technology itself rather than the humans using it. By moving the corporate story to customer storytelling instead of stats, putting our customers and users first rather than our products and cultivating relationships with our customers at a deeper level, I feel women have this unique capability that the tech space should embrace.”

Jennifer Shambroom CMO at YouAppi

Traditionally, women have been expected to multi-task between work, family and home, and today, marketing technology is a juggling act with lots of balls in the air – PR, marketing automation, web and video development, social media, events, sales enablement, email and online marketing and managing a global team, and for me personally, client and partner teams located all over the world. Being a women who actually thrives in a multitasking environment, I’m better equipped to handle the challenges by keeping my eye on the big picture and surrounding myself with a team that I trust.”

Wendy Schott, Chief Marketing Officer at PubNub

“I am not sure being a women has helped as much as having a love for systems and data. I am not a typical CMO, as I started my career as a software developer, made a hop to Product Management and then spent many years as a Sales Engineer and Sales Leader. As Marketing becomes more scienfitic and systems-driven, my timing of crossing over could not have been better. My ability to help educate, coach and help hands-on has been a great asset.”

Amy Holtzman, VP of Demand Generation at Conductor

“A diversity in backgrounds – all backgrounds, not just gender – is critical to navigating the explosive marketing tech scene today. Diversity helps you better understand and relate to your customers, provide them with solutions that are as diverse and unique as they are, and truly build human connections with them. I personally love being a woman in this space, because it allows me to coach and help develop the next generation of data-driven, outspoken, confident female martech leaders – something I have first-hand experience at.”

Katharine Mobley, Chief Marketing Officer at Crescerance

“It took me 20 years to accept the fact that I was a woman in technology, because I thought I had to hold a traditional STEM-type position, to be considered a #WIT. “Yet, I beta-tested Salesforce and WebEx in my twenties. So, I am very grateful I made early choices in my career to stay abreast of the ever-changing landscape of marketing. First with the Internet and those dreaded banner ads and now the evolving digital and mobile ecosystems. Staying the tech route in marketing was one of the best decisions, I made for my career. It allowed for me to have patience with the new tools and trends as they arrived on the scene, remember some of the initial tools came out on a dial-up connection. It was frustrating to say the least, but we as women tend to be more patient and want to take the time to find out how or why something works or doesn’t, I took the time to understand how Salesforce was going to replace ACT at that time. Women are also persistent, so we fight for what we feel will provide efficiencies and help us ‘multi-task’ more. Let’s be honest, have you ever seen a woman do one task at a time, especially if she is a mother. It doesn't happen, we juggle 1000 things at any given moment. We have to find ways to save time or reduce redundancies and many MarTech tools have provided that for us.

“As our next generation of female marketers evolves, I expect to see even more women on the forefront of emerging MarTech solutions, because we like to solve problems and tend to be persistent enough to do so. Some even developing the solutions themselves, just look at Kristine Steuart of Allocadia, she saw a need in the market and developed a solution. Specifically, she tackled one of the largest challenges in our industry, ROI.

“Women are also very empathetic and tend to have an easy way of understanding UX and UI from the users point of view. We tend to want to help users navigate their experiences and walk away with a good feeling.”

Yuri Dekiba, Senior Director of Revenue Operations at Vidyard

“Being a mom of two girls, as well as being a working woman, the following are core strengths I have been able to leverage in the ever-changing tech space: patience, ability to listen and empathize, soliciting feedback, teamwork, and of course multi-tasking! Believe it or not, these skills that I have acquired over the years, especially as a working parent, has come in handy. For example, Patience – when responding to emails, take a moment to pause before you type a response and hit send. You will be surprised how much less emotional and tactical your response will be if you take just a few seconds to think through what and how you want to communicate in your response. Ability to listen and emphasize goes hand-in-hand with soliciting feedback – especially when you are working on a project or have a proposed solution. Providing others with the opportunity to give input can go a long way in gathering their support, even if the final solution may not include all of their requirements. This also contributes to building a foundation for collaboration and teamwork – think about it, nothing can be done by yourself alone! And finally, multi-tasking. Being a mom, multi-tasking is a given – and I can’t tell you how much I have leveraged this skill throughout my career. As you progress throughout your career, however, multi-tasking AND being able to prioritize goes hand-in-hand as you don’t want to end up working on too many things at the same time, that you end up losing sight of what’s important.

“Continued interest in growth and learning, and adapting to change has also been key in not only staying abreast of the changing market, but also being able to pivot and adjust to the changing needs of the company, to stay in line with the changing market.”

Maribeth Ross, SVP of Marketing, Monetate

“In general, working in the constantly evolving marketing tech field requires a certain skill set – one that is not specific to gender. That said, the ability to balance a number of different priorities in my personal life has certainly had an impact on my professional life as a full-time marketer in this fast-paced world. Like many women, I juggle a lot at home. I have a teenage son with a demanding sports schedule, three very active dogs we call “the donkeys” and a husband who, in addition to his own full-time career, coaches a high-school hockey team. Add a slight interior decorating obsession and my schedule is pretty full. And, whether it’s banging out a piece of content for work, driving my son to a baseball showcase, or taking my pups to the vet, I’ve learned to be swift and resourceful – two traits that have helped me in my career. My ability to multi-task and balance various priorities has helped me serve in nearly every marketing capacity. At Monetate, I’m working alongside a smart and inspiring woman CEO and 2 other female execs to break down new barriers of personalization.”

Katie Bullard, CMO at DiscoverOrg

“A successful leader – whether a man or a woman – has to possess high IQ and high EQ (emotional intelligence), and it’s been my experience that woman are often better equipped to tap into both the rational and emotional motivations of their teams. For instance, when change happens rapidly (like it does in martech), resistance is bound to occur, and the only way to engage and get buy-in from teams is to understand the rational and emotional reasons for that resistance and then to actively address both as you move the organization forward. Understanding and acknowledging the importance of a high EQ makes you better able to handle the conflict and stress that never fails to occur in this space, and it’s been a conscious focus of mine as I’ve navigated through my career.”

Maria Pergolino, SVP Marketing & Sales Development at Apttus

“Understanding an evolving sector isn’t gender-specific, but personally I enjoy the fast-paced nature of the tech sphere. As long as you’re placing the needs of your customers and organization first, you’re free to employ new strategies, tactics, and create the kind of strong internal bonds that lead to lasting success.” Penny Wilson, Chief Marketing Officer at Hootsuite

“Empathy towards your customer’s pain points is imperative for all modern marketers. This is key in order to establish a customer-centric approach to marketing and has been a theme woven throughout my 30+ years of experience in the technology industry. The ability to listen is also important – all good relationships start with listening. Unlike the old days of focus groups and surveys – technology gives you an opportunity to get the raw, unvarnished truth at scale. Becoming comfortable with letting your customers drive the conversation is, while one of the most challenging and humbling experiences, is rewarding and will help you give your business a competitive edge. We’re not leading customers; they are leading us. The more you understand who they are and what they want, the more you can tailor what you share and how you engage. This is the true promise of martech.”

Emily He, CMO at DoubleDutch

“Being a working parent has taught me the importance of ruthlessly prioritizing and focusing on the few things that truly matter. I’m always juggling across an endless array of activities – from family to school to work, but not everything can be a priority. The key to survival is to make a conscious decision on the “must-haves” that will have a long-lasting positive impact on me and my family. For example, I prioritize having dinner with the family, serving on the school board, and providing hands-on leadership and mentorship to my team, and organize everything else around these “big rocks”. In B2B marketing, you have a broad range of choices in marketing channels, programs, tools and technology. You need to execute across a variety of initiatives, including brand awareness, public relations, analyst relations, digital marketing, inbound campaigns, account-based marketing, product marketing, and customer advocacy. The job of a CMO is to identify the few key metrics that map to the business goals and tie all the marketing initiatives to them so that the team knows how to plan and measure their contribution to the company’s success. Also, your team can’t be good at everything, so the question you need to ask yourself is, “What’s our company’s core competency and what do we want marketing to be exceptionally good at?” Once you identify the one or two things that reflect the company’s strengths and deliver the biggest impact on the company, focus on those first and everything else will follow.”

Sarah Ware Co-founder & CEO at Markerly

“In my experience, I’ve always had to work twice as hard as men in our industry and produce twice the results in order to be taken seriously. It forces you to keep your focus and prioritize your time. Since the market evolves so quickly it’s important to be smart about the decisions you are making in order to properly predict these shifts and be ahead of these trends. While men are often praised for big, bold moves whether or not they are entirely successful, women have to be careful with how they play their cards. For this reason, I feel that being a woman has helped me execute business strategy and forecast trends in such a way that yields a higher success rate – due to my experiences from being a woman.”

Brienna Pinnow Director of Product Marketing for Targeting at Experian Marketing Services

“Studies, books, and many men all agree – women ‘talk’ more. If ‘talking’ is not paired with action, this trait could be considered negative. For me, in the always-evolving marketing tech space, I’ve turned ‘talking’ into a big positive. It’s helped me collaborate, network, educate, mentor and of course – ask a lot of questions. “In the advertising and marketing technology space, there is always a new acronym, platform, methodology or business model to understand. It’s very easy, especially if you are one of a few women (if not the only one), in a meeting to hold back and assume that everyone else has expert level knowledge of the topic at hand. If you are early on in your career, the ability to muster up the confidence to ‘talk’ and unabashedly ask great questions doubles in difficulty.

“When my team is working on a new project or product I consistently share with them, “There’s no shame in asking questions! Ask. Ask. Ask.” As my dad consistently preached to me growing up, “Knowledge is the one thing someone can’t take away from you.” And by asking the right questions, you create a win-win situation. Not only do you grow your own personal knowledge of the subject, but you become an in-demand, expert-level resource for your organization. I can’t count the number of times, men and women alike, have come up to me after a meeting, or IM’d me during a conference call to say, “I’m glad you asked that! I thought I was the only one who didn’t know what that meant.”

“By asking the right questions and mastering particular topics, I’ve taken this womanly strength of ‘talking’ and parlayed it into a variety of other titles. Translator. Story-teller. Queen of analogies. Marketing enthusiast. In this exploding ad tech ecosystem, my inclination to talk shop means that I have an opportunity to demystify marketing technology, help other marketers improve their craft, and take my organization to the next level with branding that tells a story and connects with an audience.”

Alison Lohse Co-founder & COO at Conversion Logic

“I can’t say my gender necessarily makes me more insightful, but being a parent / mother makes me infinitely more impactful and empathetic at my role. The skills that I use at home and at the office transfer back and forth. As a mom, I maximize every minute of my day: listening to books while working, taking calls minutes after I drop my kids off at school. The time I spend at work, I am intensely focused on expanding our innovative product, collaborating with clients, and supporting our team, in an accelerated timeframe. I take that same deliberateness to my home life, making sure I can be a loving, involved and present parent to my two daughters. I also recognize that every person who works at Conversion Logic has a life outside of work. I staunchly believe that everyone, including myself, should be able to bring the “whole person” to work and have a meaningful home life. By respecting that and acknowledging that balance, I believe we get more out of our team when they are at the office.”

Sarah DeRocher Moore, VP of Brand and Revenue Marketing at Spredfast

“I became a better social marketer when I realized my target audience is a lot like me. Spredfast’s customers are from the world’s biggest enterprises – more than 50% are women, at all ages and stages of their career. The same is true for our customers, since women make most brand purchases in their households. That gives women in tech, such as myself, an intuitive understanding of the best ways to reach, engage, and build trust with our consumers.”

Erin Hintz, CMO at Urban Airship

“As a woman in the marketing tech space, I’ve found myself empathizing with the customer and taking on the role of the customer advocate. I’m always considering how customers think and feel when they’re using our product. Whether I’m working with someone on the marketing or product team, I encourage my teams to always ask “What’s the end user experience?” An example of this is when I worked with the product team to identify where to insert the transactional NPS questions in the product experience to get relevant feedback that we can act on. “This feeds into the importance of communications across teams. Some people participate a lot in meetings, but don’t mobilize teams around their ideas. It’s important that everyone knows what people on other teams are doing, so that we are well-coordinated and work collaboratively. In my experience, women are naturally inclined to follow-up with others frequently. As a marketing executive, I heavily leverage this skill to make sure everyone has the information and resources they need to do their job the best they possibly can.

“Another skill I feel many women are known for is the ability to multitask, which translates from home life to work life. Within the home, the mom is often the go-to person for keeping everyone organized. They’re the CEO of the home, if you will. At work, we’re detail-oriented and prefer organization and coordination, keeping everything running smoothly. At Urban Airship, our business is multi-channel and multi-product, so I need to be able to look at the big picture as well as the tactical things that need to get done to support the business.”

Vicki Godfrey, CMO at Avention (now part of Dun & Bradstreet)

“I’ve always found the ability to communicate to be critical to any business situation, in martech or any industry. It’s necessary to build a consensus and collaborate across teams in order to come together for the greater good of the company and having an open and transparent dialogue is the only way to make sure everyone is on the same page. At Dun & Bradstreet, we understand the importance of communication across departments. We constantly talk and make sure we’re aligned around a common set of metrics, strategies and objectives. “I also think being a woman has honed my ability to multitask. I’m able to remain flexible in the fast-paced, ever-changing martech landscape. While it’s easy to focus on the now, it’s crucial to simultaneously look ahead at what’s next for the industry. It’s always transforming, so we need to stay one step ahead.”

Emma Borochoff, Marketing Director at Bizzabo

“In general, as a woman in the technology space, you tend to feel as though you have more to prove. The brilliance of the marketing tech space is that it is constantly evolving – someone who might have achieved success one way a year ago, might find that the only way to achieve similar success now is by trying something completely new. When you aren’t used to having things handed to you, you find that you are much more agile and tend to rely more on creative forward thinking than past successes. Agile, creative, and gutsy, while constantly iterating on past strategies, is the only way to exist in this space, and being female has definitely helped prepare me for this rapidly shifting reality.”

Throughout your career, what were the common apprehensions of your colleagues, both men and women, that you had to fight to make your place in martech?

Nikki Nixon, Director #FlipMyFunnel at Terminus

“I’ve been fortunate in the companies I’ve worked in to have a voice in the narrative in women in tech and also in diversity. The leadership team I currently work with is always very receptive to hear my ideas on how we can create a more inclusive and diverse workplace where women can thrive.”

Jen Spencer, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Allbound

I’ll never forget the day that one of my manager’s peers stated that I simply couldn’t be as reliable as another employee, because I had children. I had never missed a goal, missed a meeting, or let anyone on the team down in any capacity, yet this completely unsubstantiated notion that I would never be able to give 100% of myself to the company cast a shadow of doubt over my reputation. This manner of thinking ultimately drove me away from that organization because, honestly, I work way too hard to deal with nonsense like that.”

Andrea Wildt, CMO at Campaign Monitor

“I think women are underestimated in general in many situations. In my career, I’ve felt underestimated particularly when it comes to projects related to business strategy and technology implementations. “Women are underrepresented in leadership positions that are business focused and sometimes you have to work a little harder to prove yourself.”

Shari Johnston, CMO at Radius

“Throughout my career, and in the last several years especially, there is definitely a glass ceiling for women in executive roles. I have experienced both women and men, have a strong bias towards men as authority figures over women with equivalent titles and responsibilities. As women leaders, we need to continue to educate our peers on these often unconscious biases towards stereotypes in executive roles. I am part of a women in technology group, that celebrates and educates women in San Francisco on strengthening our role in the space.”

Jennifer Shambroom CMO at YouAppi

“There were a few product managers in the beginning of my career, who expected their marketing people to be engineers. I was able to prove to them that my purpose was to translate their hard work into product messaging, which would address actual customer pains and bring prospective customers into the sales pipeline. Today, product managers, engineers and data scientists understand the value of marketing and that the marketers have to be effective at presenting product functionality in a way that will appeal to their customers.”

Wendy Schott, Chief Marketing Officer at PubNub

“Having spend over 20 years working in technology and even more so now that I have the word marketing in my title, I am always surprised that I still have to say, “By the way, I have a degree in Computer Science and have a deep understanding and love of systems” in order to gain credibility. There are still too many assumptions made that because you are female and in marketing you must not understand how systems work. However, I am determined to change this bias and build out the best marketing team and systems for accelerating revenue.”

Amy Holtzman, VP of Demand Generation at Conductor

“One of the best pieces of career advice I ever received was this: As a woman, you must always take a seat at the table. We spent too many years fighting for equality only to walk into meeting rooms today and take a seat around the perimeter. I used to be one of many woman who would see an empty board table and still grab a seat around the edges of the room, almost hiding. Ever since receiving this advice, I’ve always taken a seat at the table and encouraged other women to do the same. It builds your own confidence and it also builds your team’s confidence in your ability to lead.”

Yuri Dekiba, Senior Director of Revenue Operations at Vidyard

“As an Asian female, people are surprised at how fluid I can be in having conversations with different groups. The stereotypical first impression of an Asian female tends to be ‘quiet and reserved’ – which anyone who knows me is not who I am. I may be respectful and gauge when it’s appropriate to speak up or not, but that is very different than being ‘quiet and reserved’. At times, I have had to voice my opinions more aggressively than normal, due to other more vocal individuals in the room. In those moments, I consciously try to maintain a balance of voicing my opinions while being respectful to others, by first acknowledging the others’ perspective, and then sharing my perspective in a way that makes sense for them. You can still challenge and disagree with each other, while also treating each other with respect – after all, we all can get defensive if another person comes across as inconsiderate in the way they challenge your thoughts.

“One advice based on my experience – never let others bully you. I have had experiences where male leaders were clearly intending to bully you, taking advantage of that fact that you are female and may ‘breakdown’ as a result. If that happens, stay strong, stand your ground, keep calm, regroup and reflect afterward. You can always let your emotions out privately afterward to let it go and start all over again! Always be yourself and don’t afraid to be so!”

Maribeth Ross, SVP of Marketing, Monetate

“I can’t say I’ve faced specific apprehensions from colleagues (regardless of gender) because of the fact that I was a woman. In fact, the best advice I can give to marketers, or women in any other industry, is this: your gender does not matter. “At the end of the day, there is no substitute for hard work. I have never considered that I am any different than any other co-worker, male or female. I measure myself on what I produce compared to others, and I have the expectation that others do the same. Because I’ve always tried to be the best at everything I do, I’ve never felt that I was on the receiving end of gender discrimination of any kind and I think this because I simply haven’t left any room for it.”

Katie Bullard, CMO at DiscoverOrg

“Unfortunately, it is still all too commonplace that strong, intelligent, and ambitious women are seen as threats in the workplace, while strong, intelligence, and ambitious men are seen as assets. This isn’t the rule 100% but it’s more commonplace than many want to admit. My advice is that as a woman, you should never apologize for your intellect and ambition, but you do have to make it clear that your ambition will serve the company’s interests and growth first and foremost – not your own personal fulfillment.”

Maria Pergolino, SVP Marketing & Sales Development at Apttus

“It’s less about being a woman and more about being a respected thought leader and business professional. Everyone has to prove themselves – if you know your stuff, you show concrete results, and you understand the right way to convey your priorities and accomplishments appropriately, you’ll break through.”

Emily He, CMO at DoubleDutch

“I have a very direct and no-nonsense style. I’ve realized that depending on people’s upbringing and experience, they can interpret my approach as either caring through tough love or being threatening or aggressive. Over the years, I’ve learned the importance of understanding others’ experiences, biases, and perspectives and tailor my communications accordingly. There’s also no replacement for building deep relationships with your colleagues through spending quality, one-on-one time with them. I firmly believe that trust is earned and not demanded. Once you build a genuine sense of shared success with everyone around you, it becomes much easier to mobilize your team and the whole company to move towards a common goal and accomplish amazing things together.”

Sarah Ware Co-founder & CEO at Markerly

“The topic of having children is so taboo for women in tech and this discussion and expectation needs to be normalized. I can tell you what is normal and what is not normal. What is not normal is expecting that women who have children will be inferior at their jobs. It’s also not normal for women to feel that they cannot have children, if they want to, because they will be unfairly judged or they will be passed over for opportunities because of their decision. I’m almost due with my second child and the shock on people’s faces when I meet them with a large belly shows the apprehension that they have even if they don’t say it. The first few times I experienced this I was bothered, but then I realized that there are so many more fish in the sea. That’s the great thing about business and martech in general; it’s ever-growing and as long as you keep at it, there’s more money to be made and more people to talk to.”

Brienna Pinnow Director of Product Marketing for Targeting at Experian Marketing Services

“One of the biggest challenges I’ve had to overcome in the MarTech landscape, which I think women from the industry may relate to, is redefining typical gender roles in the workplace. In a past position at another organization, I remember being on a conference call with a large, important client. Although I was the meeting presenter and the point person on the sales opportunity, I was also the only female and the youngest professional on the call. As soon as I was done with the formal presentation, we headed into dialogue with the client. My colleague interrupted and ordered me to be the secretary and simply take the meeting notes to be sent out afterwards. After this happened a handful of times, I sought advice from my mentor who provided me with great guidance on how to confidently assert myself and my role. I quickly learned, if I don’t define what I believe I’m capable of, what I want to learn and where I want to go in the industry – someone else will!”

Alison Lohse Co-founder & COO at Conversion Logic

It’s been a long road. I think the most common assumptions I come against are (1.) Can I make the sacrifices expected of a startup co-founder to make it work? and (2.) Am I tough enough for the experience? It always surprises me that there is this common misconception that you have to be young and single to be successful. The right idea, a brilliant team and timing are more important than a demographic fit. Fortunately, my passion for the work, commitment to the team / company and the limitless energy that comes from that usually eradicates concerns. As for being a working mom in tech – you have to be living in a box to not see the amazing role models that are breaking molds in this space. I make no apologies, but fiercely compartmentalize my life to make sure I give 100% of myself to my roles as entrepreneur and as a mom.”

Sarah DeRocher Moore, VP of Brand and Revenue Marketing at Spredfast

“Misperception is one of the toughest things I’ve faced throughout my career. My direct communication style and strong opinions can make me seem bossy or inflexible. People sometimes assume that I’m not interested in them personally if I can’t take time to socialize outside of work. Learning to identify and address misperceptions in myself and my colleagues is one of the most valuable skills I’ve developed as a woman leader in the martech industry.” “Homogeny is another common obstacle in our industry. Companies fall into patterns where they tend to recruit, hire, and mentor people that look and think alike. That extends beyond gender and includes generational, racial, cultural, sexual preference, marital or parental status. Since innovation is born from diverse ideas and creativity, martech companies need to fight this tendency and invest in and celebrate diversity.”

Erin Hintz, CMO at Urban Airship

“While I’ve been very fortunate to have strong mentors and supporters throughout my career, on occasions I’ve encountered a challenge in getting recognition for my work and performance in the form of promotion. Early in my career, a female co-worker and I were in senior manager roles and doing director-level work, but weren’t getting promotions. When we asked the CMO, who was a man, why we weren’t being promoted, he said we were both too young to be directors. At that point, we were already managing teams of five to six people and responsible for driving significant portions of the business, while many directors had smaller teams and fewer responsibilities than us. I started looking for other opportunities outside the company, and when a female VP and colleague heard I was about to leave the company, she offered me a position on her team as director, product management. This gave me a new experience and the director title I had earned. But it’s not just about the title – it’s about being recognized for the business results I was driving and the level of contributions I could bring to any team.

“It’s easy to just focus on the work and believe that driving business results will lead to acknowledgement and recognition. But that’s not always the case. A lesson I’ve learned through my experience is that when I negotiate for anything job related, I need to remind myself that it’s important to be vocal, direct and confident in my contributions to the business. “Don’t ask, don’t get” is a key learning for me.

“As a manager, I always take this into account when considering someone for a promotion or raise. Men more commonly ask for things and sometimes women aren’t as vocal, despite being qualified for a promotion. I look across my team and make sure everyone gets the recognition they deserve whether they ask for it or not.

“A second apprehension for me relates to my soft-spoken nature – and the fact that I’m Canadian and Canadians are well-known for saying “I’m sorry.” In the past that’s led to people underestimating me. This is further compounded by being a woman – and issues like the gender pay gap and stereotypes of always building consensus versus making confrontational and tough decisions. This has cropped up when interviewing for new jobs and when working with people who haven’t worked with me in the past. Once people work with me, they quickly learn none of that is the case, and I like to think we have a lot of fun and rewarding experiences along the way.”

Vicki Godfrey, CMO at Avention (now part of Dun & Bradstreet)

“While I haven’t faced many apprehensions from my colleagues, my entrance into the B2B martech space was a shift for me. I grew up in the B2C world, with the customer being the center of everything. Instead of viewing that as a challenge, I learned to combine my B2C background with B2B in order to be the best marketer I could be. With business marketing getting more involved with customer engagement and personalization, my B2C experience has been invaluable.”

Emma Borochoff, Marketing Director at Bizzabo

“In the past, I have had assumptions made about the extent of knowledge and expertise I might possess in the space, and this bleeds through to the amount of weight given to my ideas and opinions. You will always encounter initial biases based off of your gender, ethnicity, and perceived identity – but you just have to stick to your guns and remain confident in your voice. The people who talk the loudest aren’t necessarily the smartest in the room. I’ve found the best way to win over those critical of you is to just take action, measure results, and show that you can think analytically and creatively outside the norm of what has already been done.”

This article was first appeared on MarTech Advisor

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