Meet a Community Manager: Kamelia

I'm Kamelia Valkova, the community manager at Rumie. Before joining Rumie I worked as a park naturalist so I would never have guessed that this is where I'd end up, but here I am!

It's my job to develop a space on Discord for Rumie learners to connect on Rumie topics. Consider it a virtual coffee shop where patrons can chat or sit back and people-watch.

While every day is unique, at any time you might find me:

• Providing warm welcomes, support, Byte suggestions, or resume reviews for our Discord members

• Hosting virtual events inspired by Bytes

• Soliciting feedback from members and using it to re-organize or add features to the Discord server

• Growing our team of server volunteers and supporting active ones

• Emailing and meeting virtually with potential partners whose mission aligns with Rumie's

• Writing Bytes for the Rumie library (like this one!)

• Providing insights to my colleagues about the community to drive thoughtful updates to Rumie tech

Work environment

The role allows flexible work hours and is entirely remote so I work from home. I choose to keep roughly 9-5 hours Monday to Friday to match my partner's schedule.

Taking initiative

Since my role is flexible, I am responsible for developing the structure to manage my time and contribute to the team effectively.

I keep track of tasks with an online Kanban board, use the Pomodoro method if I feel stuck, and check in with colleagues to provide and receive support where needed.

Building rapport

Being a "people person" is an absolute must! Community managers quickly build and maintain genuine relationships with members, participants, guests, or visitors.

One strategy I use is to initiate a conversation with each new member to create a welcoming environment. I provide additional guidance for folks new to using Discord and non-native English speakers.

Welcoming a new member to the server ⤴

Conflict resolution

To maintain the safety of a community, a community manager must clearly define community guidelines and uphold them even through conflict in a firm but caring way.

In a public Discord server setting, I might need to de-escalate heated conversations, redirect discussions to be on-topic, and occasionally remove members who choose not to follow the guidelines.

My approach to directly addressing tricky situations (while remaining calm) is to use a "WIN" statement:

When you X it impacts Y. Next time, please Z.

The statement clearly identifies the concern and why it is important, but also specifies how behaviours in the future should look. For example:

When you repeatedly ping server staff it distracts them from actually reponding to requests for support. Next time, please ping once and be patient: server staff will be by soon to address your concern!

🎓 Education

• Bachelor of Arts and Sciences: I took courses in Psychology and Ecology, sought out volunteer and contract work that interested me, and actively worked to discover how I could combine them.

• The spark: While working in an ecology lab one summer, it clicked that I had no interest in lab work beyond a temporary role and I discovered my interest in education, but not in a school classroom.

• Master of Education: I combined my nature and education interests to write a thesis on the long-term influence of taking specialized outdoor integrated education programs in high school through participant interviews.

🌱Career

• Professional naturalist: In my first full-time role I worked at a nature centre, building community with visitors while sharing my enthusiasm for nature. My work turned online in 2020 in light of global events, and I realized that I loved working in the online education space!

Teaching children as a naturalist ⤴

You can catch me taking a walk after work these days! ⤴

• A new challenge with Rumie: I contacted a Rumie staff member for an informational interview, joined as a volunteer Learning Designer, and worked part-time before becoming the full-time community manager.

My advice to anyone still figuring out their career path is to find patterns in what brings you fulfillment beyond just a job title. It isn't always a quick process, but it's certainly worth the effort.