As part of our programming to nurture a community of scientific community engagement managers and those interested in scientific community engagement, we host a monthly community call via Zoom.
2022 schedule
(You can find the archive of Community Call info from 2019, 2020, and 2021 here)
We typically host our community calls at 11am EST on the third Wednesday of each month, although speaker availability may result in scheduling changes. Abstracts and speakers will be updated as the schedule is co-created. The listings below reflect the most up-to-date information.
We welcome input about the topics for discussion – both ahead of time and during the calls. Please let us know if you’d like to present – or suggest a new topic for a call!
We will also share information about our community calls in our monthly newsletter.
December 2022 Community Call
Date: Wednesday, 14 December at 11am EDT
Add to calendar: Google | Outlook 365
Topic: Annual Community Potluck
Blog posts: coming soon
Zoom link: click here
More details
ABSTRACT
Our annual potluck is a chance to connect and network with other professionals in STEM who are working to build and nurture communities. We hope you’ll join us to reflect on the past year, look ahead to 2023, and have a little fun before we take a break over the holidays.
November 2022 Community Call
Date: Wednesday, 16 November at 11am EDT
Add to calendar: Google | Outlook 365
Topic: Considering volunteer labor and overlapping communities in STEM
Blog posts: coming soon
Zoom link: click here
More details
ABSTRACT
As more and more organizations turn to community building as a “fix-all” for a range of projects, volunteers are increasingly pulled in multiple directions as they join overlapping communities. In this call, we’ll consider the existing ecosystem of communities in STEM, whether it’s time to rein in the creation of new communities in favor of partnering with existing ones, and how to work with volunteers to reduce member (and ecosystem-level) burnout.
October 2022 Community Call
Date: Thursday, 20 October at 11am EDT (please note that this month’s call will take place on a Thursday due to speaker availability)
Add to calendar: Google | Outlook 365
Topic: Expectations and metrics
Blog posts: coming soon
Zoom link: click here
More details
Speakers
- Josh Greenberg, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
- John Ohab, Fannie and John Hertz Foundation
- Karkthik Ram, UC Berkeley
ABSTRACT
A common challenge for community managers is meeting a variety of different expectations for what success looks like in their role. In this call, we’ll talk about meeting organizational goals and what funders are looking for, and then brainstorm ways that we can improve upon existing metrics to find ways to meet those expectations.
September 2022 Community Call
Date: Wednesday, 28 September at 11am EDT
Add to calendar: Google | Outlook 365
Topic: Advocating for yourself to chart a career path
Blog posts: September’s Community Call
Zoom link: click here
More details
ABSTRACT
In this call, we’ll hear from STEM community managers who have navigated (or are in the process of working through) a career transition, either within their organization or by moving on. We’ll also consider ways that you can advocate for your own advancement, whatever that word might mean to you, and affirm your value to your community members and leaders.
August 2022 Community Call
Date: Wednesday, 17 August at 11am EDT
Topic: The evolving landscape of STEM community manager roles – findings from the CSCCE community manager case studies
Blog posts: July’s community call (This call was originally scheduled to take place on 20 July 2022) | Recap
More details
ABSTRACT
Join August’s Community Call to:
- Get a first look at our meta-analysis of 25 interviews with community managers in STEM
- Learn about common challenges, goals, and skills used by those working as scientific community managers
- Find out where this research will take us next, and let us know which future directions are most relevant to you
July 2022 Community Call
Date: Wednesday, 20 July at 11am EDT POSTPONED UNTIL 17 AUGUST
Topic: The evolving landscape of STEM community manager roles – findings from the CSCCE community manager case studies
June 2022 Community Call
Date: Wednesday, 29 June at 11am EDT
Topic: Summer social!
Blog post: June’s Community Call
More details
This will be our third annual summer social, a chance to get to know members of the CSCCE community of practice as well as our staff team. We’re hosting another round of our curated networking forum, which we first ran last summer.
On this month’s call, we’ll set up five one-on-one chats for everyone who registers, and for anyone showing up at the last minute, we’ll have some “random meetup” rooms, too. If you’d like us to help you make new connections, please register here on or before Tuesday, 21 June.
May 2022 Community Call
Date: Wednesday 18 May at 11am EDT
Topic: Revisiting virtual events
Blog posts: May’s community call | Recap
More details
In 2020, thanks to a grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, we hosted a series of tools trials and created resources to support the pivot to virtual convening. Two years on, and online is the norm for many of us still, with hybrid events becoming more common. In this month’s community call, we’ll take some time to consolidate our learnings in two community writing sprints. The first will be to develop a virtual events glossary (which will live on our website as part of our growing STEM community management glossary), and the second will involved revisiting the fourth part of our virtual events guidebook and refreshing the resources it includes.
April 2022 Community Call
Date: Wednesday, 20 April at 11am EDT
Topic: CRM (customer/community relationship management) platforms
Blog posts: April’s community call | Recap
More details
Abstract
CRMs are database-driven tools that offer a mechanism for tracking activity within a community. However, many of the tools available today were created with a sales and marketing lens and lack some features community managers might find useful. In addition, they can be pricey, making them inaccessible for communities operating on a tight budget. In this month’s call, we’ll hear from three members of our community of practice who are using different platforms, highlighting the pros and cons of each. We’ll also talk about what we’d like to see, collectively creating a requirements document for the ideal community management platform.
Join April’s Community Call to:
- Learn about different CRMs and how you can use them to support community management
- Share your experience with CRMs; what went well and what do you wish you could change?
- Contribute to a co-created community resource to guide CRM selection and/or development
Speakers
- Yamina Berchiche, Institute for Protein Innovation
- Erin Conn, AAAS
- Chris Hartgerink, Liberate Science
March 2022 Community Call
Date: Wednesday, 16 March at 11am EDT
Topic: Scientific community manager roles
Blog posts: March’s community call | Recap
More details
Abstract
Join March’s Community Call to:
- Learn about CSCCE’s community manager case studies, and (maybe) sign up to have one made about you.
- Find out what research already exists on STEM community manager roles, and volunteer to join our newest working group to continue digging into the topic.
- Discuss what it means to be a scientific community manager and how the role varies depending on organizational context.
Speakers
- Elisha Wood-Charlson, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
- Malin Sandström, International Neuroinformatics Coordinating Facility
- Lou Woodley, CSCCE
- Katie Pratt, CSCCE
February 2022 Community Call
Date: Wednesday, 16 February at 11am EST
Topic: Scaffolding for building communities
Blog posts: February’s community call | Recap
More details
ABSTRACT
Join February’s community call to:
- Learn about our new guidebook on the role of scaffolding in STEM communities
- See examples of CSCCE’s documents and templates
- Work on your own organization’s support structure, using CSCCE templates if you’d like
- Share your experiences and learn from your peers
January 2022 Community Call
Date: Wednesday, 19 January at 11am EST
Topic: Project management for community managers
Blog posts: January’s community call | Recap
More details
ABSTRACT
Join January’s Community Call to:
- Learn about project management tools and how to deploy them for your needs (we’ll be covering Trello, Asana, Todoist, and Mural)
- See how other community managers in STEM are using these platforms for their own strategic planning
- If you’re considering implementing a platform in your own organization, this is also a great opportunity to ask any burning questions you might have.
SPEAKERS
- Alycia Crall, The Carpentries
- Ellen Dow, KBase / Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
- Anne Heberger Marino, Lean-To Collaborations
- Lou Woodley, The CSCCE