JD Beebe is the founder of New Antisocial and Community Manager at Spartan Race.
1. What is your community manager “superpower”?
It's a mixture of insatiable appetite for news to share.
2. What are sites that you read on daily basis?
I don't have a specific set of sites. I link follow a lot of folks on Twitter. If I had to say one, it's actually Digg (I know, SO 2008!) but since their redesign, it's a great site!
3. What’s a specific campaign that you are proud of?
We hosted a 30 day burpee challenge. Thought a few hundred folks would catch on - by the month's end we had 40k athletes from around the world doing burpees. We met some amazing people and struck a campaign idea that continues to today. Here's our wrap up video (get your tissues ready!): http://vimeo.com/85884505
4. Which campaign do you wish you did?
"Ship My Pants" was genius. That's one of those spots/campaigns that makes you think "Dammit. That was so f*cking good!"
5. What’s your best time-saving shortcut?
For work, it's Bit.ly and Percolate. For my own use it's Paper.li and IFTTT - the latter is responsible for most of the stupid ideas I have online.
6. If you could only use one social channel, which would it be and why?
Facebook. In terms of traffic-driving potential, it's king. Hands down. You have to have the audience to make it useful but it's at the helm of the social ecosystem.
7. What was one surprising thing that you learned from your audience?
How positive they could be! I've worked with a lot of brands for whom "snark" was the main import in their comment sections. Spartans are genuine in a way I've never seen online. It's heart-warming and literally makes us want to say "thank you" all the time!
8. When I have a creative block I ______________________ for ideas.
Think about something completely unrelated. Or don't think at all! Sometimes, the best creative periods are my daily bike rides where I focus on burning fools in the park (whether they know we're racing is speculative). When you stare at something for too long, you forget there's other subjects of interest. Best to pull yourself away, experience something else or give your brain a breather.
9. If you were not doing this job, what would you be doing?
Starting another company. This social agency is my most successful company to date but probably the 6th one I've endeavored in. I've raked leaves as a kid, sold fake beards as a man and tried my hand at a lot of silly things. Taking an idea from nothing to something is very rewarding. I'd want to do it whether I was a prince or a pauper.
10. In the next 6 months what are we all going to be talking about?
Hip-hop music or whatever the kids are listening to today. I'm not sure - but we'll likely be talking about it while looking down at our smartphones!
Interview by Taisa Veras, Community Manager, Speakeasy CM