Today is the third annual Community Manager Appreciation Day, when we show our appreciation for the people who give brands and organizations a social media voice. Community managers are a dedicated bunch – they truly enjoy engaging with their communities, have the skills to deal with any social media situation, and play a large part in creating the personality behind a brand. In honor of community managers everywhere, here’s a shout out to the ones in consumer packaged goods and retail who have inspired me.

Amy Jones – Boundary Bay Brewery

When I started engaging within the CPG community, Amy Jones was one of the first community managers I connected with. She oversees the PR and social media for Boundary Bay Brewery and is the voice of the brand’s Twitter and Facebook accounts. Amy does a fantastic job of conveying her personality and engaging with the Boundary Bay community on a variety of topics, making the brand memorable and approachable, and forging friendships in the process. As an aside, I recently discovered that Amy and I have a mutual love of Pinterest. If that isn’t fate, I don’t know what is.

Christina Anderson-Heller – Lynfred Winery

I first heard of Christina Anderson-Heller, the Marketing Director at Lynfred Winery, in this blog post, and have followed her efforts with interest ever since. Christina pioneered the social media voice at Lynfred Winery when she first started with them 12 years ago. She has been instrumental in growing the brand’s social media presence. She is feisty, fun, adventurous, and brings an innovative spirit to the Lynfred Winery brand. Give her a follow and ask for her recommendations on ice wine.

Kim Musgrave/Customer Satisfaction Team – McDonald’s

I was lucky enough to connect with Kim Musgrave and the rest of the Customer Satisfaction Team last year and was immediately impressed. The team is truly customer oriented and focused on providing great customer service, which you can easily see by taking a look at Kim’s Twitter feed. They are genuine and friendly and convey enthusiasm and appreciation for their customers. With over 300 thousand social media mentions a week to track and respond to, being a McDonald’s community manager is no small task, but Kim and her team make it look easy.

Check out the other members of the Customer Satisfaction Team including Brittany and Katie.

Jenny Cisney – Kodak

Last Thursday, Kodak announced it was filing for Chapter 11. Soon after I heard the news, I came across this tweet from the company’s Social Media Manager, Jenny Cisney. The link took me to a well-organized and comprehensive microsite dedicated specifically to providing information around the filing and answering stakeholder questions. In addition to this proactive approach, Jenny also responded to tweets throughout the day, serving as a reassuring and informative presence for the Kodak community and putting a human face to the Kodak brand.

These are just a few of the community managers who have inspired me. Be sure to take five minutes today to thank the community managers in your life and let them know they are appreciated. They deserve it!

Do you have any community managers you would like to give a shout out to? Feel free to share in the comments section below!

Throughout today, Radian6 is supporting Community Manager Appreciation Day (#CMAD). Check this blog post and Twitter (@radian6) for more content around this day.

Tags: #cmad, community management, community manager appreciation day, consumer packaged goods, retail