ACM forms new alliance with MEAA
Australian Community Managers (ACM) is partnering with Australia's Media Arts and Entertainment Alliance (MEAA) to further professionalise the community management space and offer new value to practitioners.
First established in 2009, ACM exists to support and advance the working lives of online community management professionals in Australia, and help grow the industry locally in conjunction with international peers.
Our 4,000 + membership fill diverse roles across online communities in both private and public organisations and businesses across Australia.
The annual ACM career survey examines working realities of online community management professionals, including challenges around compensation, hours worked, workload and online harassment.
To help address these issues and offer additional support and resources for Australian online community professionals, ACM have teamed with the MEAA to create an affordable, custom membership for community managers.
"As community management work encompasses skill-sets and subject matter expertise from numerous other disciplines (such as sociology, communications, marketing, technology and community relations), it can be difficult to align it with existing professional bodies and communities", said Venessa Paech, ACM and Swarm Conference Co-Founder.
"This is an important step in increasing both the visibility and protections of hardworking community professionals around Australia."
For $5 a week, ACM members will gain access to many of MEAA’s services, including professional indemnity and public liability insurance, regular bulletins with industry news and special offers and preferred access to professional development and networking events. MEAA will also lend its long experience of industry campaigning and advocacy to the ACM membership if members wish to utilise it.
"We're delighted to be working with the MEAA to help ensure community managers have access to working protections other occupations enjoy as we often fall through the gaps –in practice and understanding," said Alison Michalk, ACM and Swarm Conference Co-Founder.
"ACM is excited to see how this partnership can further raise the profile of this growing profession and offer additional support to the community management profession in our region."
“MEAA recognises that the media industry is changing rapidly and the growth of community management is evidence of this,” said MEAA Chief Executive Paul Murphy.
“But in many ways, the needs of workers in the media industry remain the same. We are excited about working with ACM to build an industry where its members can have a job with fair conditions, where their skills are respected and they have the tools to excel.”
Visit the MEAA for more info and to sign up online: meaa.org/meaa-media/australian-community-managers
