Are you passionate about building strong communities? Looking to land a community-focused role?

Building a curated startup community that brings like-minded people together in an environment that supports entrepreneurs with tools for success is an exciting, ever-changing, and incredibly rewarding job. Community builders are passionate believers in stories of other people who are willing to bring them along on their journey, but it seems like it is still a mystery of how a day in a community manager’s role looks like. What does a community manager role include and how do you hire or become one? While the number of Australian communities keeps on growing like never before, and with the pandemic forcing everyone, from business to communities to pivot, adapt, and innovate, it is of the utmost importance to understand how communities can continue to help and nurture entrepreneurship and boost business.

You can expect to learn about:

The role of community in startups and how the community can support your business
How to build thriving startup communities
A day in the life as a Community Manager
Tips about how to land a role in the community or find the right talent

This panel will be moderated by Melia Rayner, Community and Communications Manager @Blackbird, and Co-founder @ The Community Collective, where she will be joined by:

Michael Nuciforo (CEO @ Thrive)
Paz Pisarski (Community Manager @ StartupVIC, Co-founder @ The Community Collective)
Maxie Juang (Community Manager @ SproutX)

This event is organized by Stone & Chalk and The Community Collective with the support of Spark Festival and Blackbird. In light of the current situation in Melbourne, this event will take place online.

About Maxie Juang

As SproutX's marketing and community manager, Maxie supports the national Agri/ FoodTech accelerator's annual 6-month program while fostering communications and engagement between SproutX founders, investors, industry mentors, and agribusiness. Prior to SproutX, Maxie had 5 years of experience in FMCG marketing, travel retail, and public relations under her belt. Attributing her strengths to her background as a third culture individual, creative curiosity, passion for stories, and an avid cross-pollinator between community groups - Maxie is also a firm believer of compassionate leadership, representation, and sustainable balance between purpose and profit. Her ethos can be best described as "pie grower".
Currently consuming: The Moth, This is Love, The Knowledge Project, On Being, and A Bit of Optimism.

About Michael Nuciforo:

Michael started Thrive after living in New York for three years. Michael was VP, Digital at Fareportal; the second largest online travel company in the US. Before New York, Michael founded Parkhound – the Airbnb of parking – which was acquired by Spacer in 2017. Michael grew Parkhound into one of the largest sharing economy platforms in the world, with over 100,000 members and 20,000 parking spaces registered. Michael started his career in banking and was Head of Mobile Banking at RBS for two years and then Lloyds Bank - the UK’s largest bank - for three years.

About Paz Pisarski

Paz is a passionate community builder on a mission to support founders and community builders to succeed. As the Community Manager of Startup Victoria, Australia’s largest network for entrepreneurs, Paz is the go-to community contact for all that Startup Vic has to offer. Paz has deep community building experience, having grown RMIT Activator’s founder community from 500 to 5000 over 3+ years and being the Co-Founder of The Community Collective, a community for community builders in Australia. When not being community-obsessed, you can find her composing relaxation music as Paz Sounds or drinking chamomile tea.

About Melia Rayner

A big believer in the power of stories and the people we choose to share them with, Melia has spent over a decade working in the communications and community space. At Blackbird, she helps supercharge a portfolio of 80+ startups and the broader startup ecosystem. She is also the co-founder of The Community Collective, a community for passionate community builders in Australia to learn from and support one another.

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You may be photographed or video while attending this event: please approach the organiser if you have questions, concerns, or do not wish this to happen.

The event organisers may add you to a mailing list so they can follow up, and you can receive updates about their activities: this mailing list will have an easy-to-find unsubscribe button.

This event is part of Spark Festival and upholds the Spark Code of Conduct.