#2. Denis Paulenka. The story about hungry Community Managers and the uniqueness of Web3. Croatia 🇭🇷

Alla: The number of awesome people I talk to about the Community Management experience is growing. Today, I’m with Denis Paulenka, a Community Manager and crypto enthusiast from Croatia 🇭🇷 with over five years of experience in the blockchain/Web3 domain. I’m happy to meet you. 

Denis: Thank you very much. It's a pleasure to be here. I hope my knowledge and insights will help anyone get into Community Management or just see what the job is all about. I would like to help as much as I can.

Alla: What was your journey in Community Management?

Denis: So, around 2019 - 2020, I started attending an IT college in northern Croatia, focusing on business and informatics. I already had a technical high school, where I focused on computer science and similar things, and it was natural to go along that path and attend that college. 

I appreciate studying there because it wasn't just an IT university; it was also a university that applied people skills and had many subjects like business and IT-related economics. So you had this broad grasp of the industry and some things in the background that studying just IT wouldn't solve. So, in my first year, I met some great people already involved in Web3. 

I wasn't familiar with it; I just knew the basics. When Bitcoin’s on the news and people talk about this and that, you know what the general public knows. So, I started educating myself more. Then COVID hit in 2020, and that was when we all went home and had nothing to do — the time when crypto started becoming more and more popular. In the next six months, I got a role as technical support for a company that primarily works in Ethereum and Ethereum chains. 

The initial first interview I remember was horrible. It was not horrific because it was a bad experience, but… I was clueless. So, my future manager asked me some basic questions, things that people in the industry should know when you wake them up in the middle of the night. And I was like, well, this and that and this and that. And it wasn't working. So he said: listen, your English is very good, which is important for this role. Your talking is good, but you lack a lot of knowledge. I'm gonna do this: I'll give you guidelines with 30 questions that you should learn for the next week. And if you do well in the following interview, we will move on.

I remember studying day and night because it was a completely new industry. Even though I was already in it and learning stuff, going into more specific details was difficult. The interview wasn’t great the following week, but I improved significantly over my previous one. The manager said: “Great job! I think if you can learn this in one week, I can't wait to see what you're gonna learn in the next couple of months”. So that's how I got the job. It was a bare minimum payment. But you have to start somewhere... This was my first job in Web3. This was the first big thing.

I got it while I was still a student. So, I had full-time studies and a full-time job, which was difficult to manage. But it was interesting and highlighted my soft skills like time management. Over the next six to eight months, my manager saw that I had a lot of talent for talking to people, making them feel heard, writing support articles, and knowing what was necessary to do my job. 

Eventually, I started automating messages and doing some things because many issues will always be similar. Like, in 70%, they are. So, I automated replies, and we shortened our response time to a minute or two per shift. Once the team saw how well that worked, they said: “Oh, why don't you try Community Management?”. I had no idea what it was, so I googled it. Then I saw what it was; my thoughts were: “Why not? It already aligns with what I do and know best.” So I took the role. 

Alla: That’s quite inspiring! What are your responsibilities as the Community Manager? I see opportunities within crypto and Web3 projects and many vacancies, but it is interesting to see what’s under the hood…

Denis: Community Management is how the users feel engaged once they’re in the community. So my job would mostly be about user retention and keeping users happy because, okay, once you've done the initial job of bringing these people here, they need a reason to stay. So this is where I think Community Management shines the most, where you have to figure out how your community feels and how you can make them stay there, bring forward discussions, engage, and be part of giveaways, quizzes, games, or AMAs. 

I am primarily responsible for conducting the interviews and training moderators. I’m also accountable for how they act once they're finally at the company. I need to be sure they're all following the guidelines and doing everything how it should be. With Web3, generally, there are not that many legal repercussions for saying certain things like it would be in the regular industry. So, no one's going to sue you if you say something wrong or if you say something false. However, it generally gives a bad image of the company. So it's also definitely something that should be avoided. And that's also, I guess, part of my job: making sure moderators know what they can’t say and do their job efficiently. 

I might have a unique approach to Community Management. After all, Web3 Community Management is all I know. So, there are probably things considered normal in Community Management that I don’t do and things that I do daily that are not typical. Because it's such a different industry, we might be doing completely different jobs while keeping the same title.

Our talk with Denis. Photo credit: Alla Zhdan

Alla: Please tell me more about the team you are or were part of, who you report to, and your stakeholders.

Denis: Community Management falls into the Marketing category, as this is how I saw the structures through the multiple companies I worked for. Usually, you have a Head of Marketing who then has a Social Media Manager who handles the external audience. To explain further, the Social Media Manager is how the team will be seen outside the user base.

And you have a Growth Manager or a Growth Lead who focuses on bringing in the numbers. This person is working on some funnels, sales funnels, and more advanced things. Meanwhile, the Community Manager, in my opinion, is for internal parts of the marketing campaigns. 

“Marketing might focus more on bringing people in while Community Manager’s job is to keep them from getting out.”

Tech support is also available, but I consider it part of the tech or developer teams because it’s more focused on resolving issues and creating tickets, for example. But you must interact with them to understand what’s happening and how to maximize your job efficiency. Under Community Manager in Web3, you usually have moderators or community ambassadors. 

Alla: Can you tell me more about the role of moderators within the community and your role as a moderators’ manager? It’s cool to know. 

Denis: A Community Manager in Web3 is already considered an efficient and excellent moderator. I should understand all the needs and responsibilities of the moderators I work with. It will also come naturally for me to pick a team of them for the project. 

Moderators are very good entry-level jobs, especially in my domain, because Web3 companies are mainly remote. It’s so hard to find a remote job these days because, for instance, there is a job in a certain country, Spain, Portugal, or Ukraine, and they require an English speaker primarily. Now, this isn’t going to stop in Ukraine, Spain, or Portugal. This will be the whole of Europe — and even beyond, as it aligns with the time zone of Africa. So, instead of 10 qualified candidates locally, you will have 10,000 qualified candidates globally. Imagine how many competitors you need to win until you reach the initial stage where you can prove your word. 

I'm not a recruiter, so I can't speak on that behalf. Still, I strongly believe that 95% of things that happen before the interview are automated, e.g., via AI, which analyzes your CV and cover letters and then picks the best one so far without even interacting with humans. My job would be to find potential moderators after they go through the automation process and then cherry-pick the best ones. I would interview 10 to 15 people, pick my favorites, and see how they develop. 

Alla: Interesting! You've mentioned that it is your responsibility to organize some activities. You mentioned AMAs, quizzes, and big and scary Discord. But what about the design? As a Community Manager, do you have the opportunity to create something cool for community members? 

Denis: It's a good question because there is room for creativity. But there are core points you need to take into account as a Community Manager:

1. Team. You need to figure out if the rest of the team likes the idea. You need to find out who among your teammates is available for implementation.

2. Budget. Is there an available budget within boundaries?

When you have that, Web3 allows a lot of creativity because there are many platforms for gamification. People usually love seeing some kind of reward for their effort, even if it’s a fictional XP or some fictional badge, or a fictional role in Discord. People just love proof that they were part of this community, so there’s a lot of room for creativity. The most important factor, which I don’t think I mentioned, is that you must understand your community. 

For example, the previous company was developer-focused. This audience is quite down to earth: they figure out things and use the app and the SDK (Software development kit, which developers use as a foundation for building more complicated apps, tools, or projects). You're not gonna do quizzes with them or offtopic sessions. Focus on that niche you already have in your community:

• are they beginners or more experienced people? 

• do they trade in their free time? 

• are they developers in their free time? 

• are they business owners? 

• how much they already know about the industry?

• how proactive they are?

• how much they want to join these activities?

Knowing all that can give you much more space for creativity and creating new formats.

“Community Management is not a popular job. For example, in Croatia, people don’t know what it means. So even if they ask me what I do, it’s difficult to explain it to someone who’s not really into the industry and understand what's happening in the background. But it's rapidly evolving. As you said, there are a lot of vacancies, and more people are seeing the importance of this part of marketing and community building. So it’s going to be more popular as things move forward.”

Alla: What skills should the Community Manager, who is also responsible for the team of awesome moderators, possess? 

Denis: A Community Manager must be cheerful, extroverted, and happy to communicate with others in real life and online. You need to be on the stage, want to talk and be very good with words. This is a person with excellent communication skills. It will make your job much more difficult if you do not naturally have the talent to communicate, as you will spend some extra time figuring out the best way to approach things. 

You need to know how to collaborate with different people. For instance, community members could be very emotional. So, some would be saying rude things, threats, or something unpleasant to listen to. This is where I step in, protecting my team and moderators from these external things. I'm gonna take the fall for it, especially if they do something wrong, let's say, and it causes some blowback and damage to the company. To prove my leadership skills, I will take responsibility for my team. So, leadership skills are necessary. 

If you’re hungry, have room for development, and are charismatic, you’re on an upward trend. In a couple of years, you might be able to switch to a more senior role. Yeah, eagerness, team leadership, and communication are key for this role.

Alla: While creating those events and AMA sessions, talking to people, and allowing them to benefit from your community, you, me, and other Community Managers inspire people. But who inspires you, Denis?

Denis: That's an interesting question because I never thought I would be doing Community Management. I didn't even know it was a real thing or how it worked. So, going through my early college years, I was still thinking: “Okay, I'm going to end up as someone in IT; I’m going to be a programmer, developer, or something like that.” 

But I just realized that since high school, I had this Community Management in me. I was very happy to talk to and engage with people and sometimes even organize events… I enjoyed the logistics and things behind that. Once I got into Community Management, I figured that you were even getting paid for that. You know, I learned through a lot of mistakes because I never really had any idols who I followed or read any books. 

As I went along, I learned by talking to other Community Managers or seeing examples from better servers with bigger communities. I followed their Twitter accounts to see how their community felt and where things could go wrong. It is also useful to read about the falls of certain companies or how they are losing communities. However, my primary inspiration for this role is not something specific.

80% of people are unhappy with their jobs. And their jobs are draining them. Nothing happens no matter how much they do; everything is pointless, no changes. While being a Community Manager, especially if you have more responsibility as time passes, is so rewarding.

In my current role, I will have the most responsibility I have had so far. I will have a big team around me, so I won’t need to wear all the hats in the community aspect. I already have moderators; we have things going. I'm walking into a working product, and my job is to improve it. 

And generally, when you consider that you're getting paid for doing something that you feel is natural, it's already an inspiration. So even though it sounds basic, I think that's a huge motivation to wake up and do something you're good at. And you can see changes. You meet new people; you get to travel. I'm going to be attending a couple of conferences in the future. This is something that I'm very excited about. 

Alla: This is amazing, and I thank you for this fantastic talk, Denis!

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Initially, we recorded 24 pages of the interview with Denis, which I managed to compress into 10 pages. So, we need something a bit longer. Fingers crossed, I will soon make a small podcast episode based on Denis’s more detailed story. He also talked about tools, Web3 Security concerns, and other topics related to Community Management. Stay tuned!

Learn more about my Community Managers' Strories project to gather insights from Community people from 42 European countries here. 

Do you have a story, and I haven't "visited" your country yet [check the map of countries here]? Drop me a line on LinkedIn, then!