As a longtime marketing and community management professional, I can not only tell you how to design and optimize your online community and social engagement programs—I’ve helped build them for some of the world’s most recognized brands, including Apple, LEGO, and Dr. Pepper, to name just three.

As a passionate Community Guy, even my spare time is occupied with community building. I am the founder and Executive Director of Dinner5, a monthly event series bringing together senior online community leaders for conversation, connection, and camaraderie. I’ve co-authored and edited books on social media and community strategy, and I am available as a speaker at conferences and custom-designed workshops and onsite trainings.

As if that’s not enough community nerdery, I also created the Confessions of a Community Manager web comic, a chronicle of the trials and tribulations of being a Community Manager during and after the pandemic.

I’ve been “doing community” before it was even a thing.
Going as far back as 1996, when “community” meant convincing my clients to put an email address on their web site, I’ve played an instrumental role in building online communities for some of the world’s most successful and recognizable brands. Beginning around the turn of this century, I parlayed my experience as a web developer into a plum position with the internationally famous LEGO Company, where I took on three different roles at the same time— fan community relations, product development, and web content creation. This unique amalgam of skill sets resulted in leading the company’s very first community team.

You always remember your first.
Implementing our inaugural global community strategy was, to put it mildly, an unqualified success. We fully engaged a previously untapped customer pool of rabid adult LEGO fans that was worth something close to $85 million at the time. In short, the power of community engagement saved the company from near bankruptcy and forever changed the way it interacted with its consumers. You can still read about it in a Wired Magazine cover story.

What have I done for you lately?
To this day, I’m fascinated with creating a deep sense of connection between organizations and their most ardent fans. As an independent consultant, I use the capabilities I’ve acquired through the years, and I draw on a deep reservoir of experience to help you increase your community members’ satisfaction to boost your business results.