Sometimes it takes a grownup, in physical life, to remind us the basics of online community management. Celia Cohn was handling Ambassador duties at the front entrance of the Westin™ Kierland Resort, the official #SMX Social Scottsdale hotel. Her job is to greet guests in the hotel lobby, guide, engage and support.

She greeted me as I walked by, “Mr. Weintraub, how did your speaking go today, or is it tomorrow?” The familiar greeting surprised me, as I did not remember engaging with Celia prior.  Best practice number one: She did her homework. I did not realize until after the conversation that she had scoped out my #SMX Badge, which has my name on it and flags me as a speaker. She also knew that the conference was two days. I was so much more interested in the conversation because she had taken careful notice and engaged me along lines I care about, my speaking. Nice work Celia! This lady executes the basics, really well. (Author’s Note: I think we’ve also proven that Celia is great at link-building, as evidence herein .)

Best practice number two: Celia also engaged with a question. We suggest this to clients all the time, to engage by asking for an answer back.  I ended up talking to Celia for quite a while, quite a fascinating lady. The Westin™ Kierland Resort is lucky to have her.

While SMX Social Media Scottsdale was a fantastic conference, my interaction with Celia offered terrific social media takeaways. After all, we interact with people in social media. Sometimes it takes a mature person, handling community outreach in the physical world, to remind us of what’s important: Research your customer. Engage with a question that matters. Rock on Celia!