Role: Community & Events Manager
Duration: 1 year 3 months
Tools: Webex · Camtasia · MS Office · Smartsheets · Adobe · Canva · Sprinklr · YouTube
Worked within the Cisco Support Community to increase event attendance, strengthen engagement, and enhance the overall learning experience for Russian-speaking users.
The business goal was to boost event participation by gathering actionable feedback and designing events around the community’s real needs.
Existing problems:
· Lower-than-expected event attendance
· Limited feedback collection
· Recurring technical questions across forums
· Lack of consistent, visually appealing event promotion
· Time zone barriers for global audiences
· Need for expert alignment on complex technical topics
Why it mattered:
Events were a key educational touchpoint for IT professionals. Increasing attendance and relevance directly improved community value, brand trust, and member retention.
I owned the event lifecycle end-to-end, including:
Analyzing forums for recurring issues to shape event topics
Identifying, inviting, and coordinating expert speakers
Designing promotional materials and event branding
Hosting events (camera on to build rapport)
Moderating Q&A and ensuring clarity in responses
Publishing recordings promptly
Opening AMA threads for follow-up questions
Ensuring all user questions received accurate answers
Promoting events across LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook
Collecting and analyzing attendee feedback
Maintaining a consistent and reliable event cadence
Research
Reviewed technical forum discussions daily
Identified trending issues and common user pain points
Analyzed engagement patterns and past attendance
Planning
Prioritized topics based on real community needs
Recruited high-rated Cisco experts
Created event names, descriptions, and branded visuals
Prepared cross-platform promotion timelines
Execution
Designed graphics (Photoshop, Canva)
Hosted sessions on Webex
Engaged the audience with an on-camera, personal hosting style
Moderated live Q&A
Handled unanswered or complex questions post-event
Uploaded recordings and summaries quickly
Opened AMA threads for offline engagement
Collaboration
Cisco expert engineers • Social media team • Community moderators • Technical SMEs
I implemented:
A structured event workflow based on data-driven insights
High-quality promotional designs and consistent visual branding
A reliable feedback loop for continuous improvement
AMA sections to extend engagement beyond the live event
A faster, organized system for recording uploads and follow-up responses
More engaging live sessions through warm, on-camera hosting
A topic selection strategy rooted in real forum activity
✔ Attendance & Engagement
Event attendance increased by 25%
Higher repeat attendance from satisfied viewers
More active Q&A participation and AMA submissions
✔ Community Improvement
Members asked fewer repetitive forum questions because events addressed recurring issues
Higher satisfaction due to timely access to recordings and follow-up answers
Events directly reflected real community needs, improving relevance and trust
✔ Operational Efficiency
Event recordings and follow-up answers were delivered much more quickly
Promotion became more efficient through consistent branding and predictable scheduling
Testimonials
"Ana, it has truly been such a pleasure to have you on our team this year!
We are so grateful for everything you have done for us—from managing the Russian community, supporting our social media efforts, stepping in to help with Community ReImagine when needed, and so much more.
Your hard work, dedication, and enthusiasm shine in everything you do, and your efforts contributed tremendously to our team’s success.
Good luck with the next chapter that awaits you—I know you will continue to shine!"
— Ashley Herring
"I had the pleasure of sharing my days with Ana while she was a Russian Community Manager in the Cisco Community. Throughout our collaboration, I witnessed Ana's unwavering dedication and commitment to excellence in every task she undertook. She consistently went above and beyond to ensure that our Russian community thrived. Her proactive approach and willingness to explore innovative strategies always ensured that our community engagement remained at its peak.
Whether it was moderating discussions, creating engaging content, or addressing community concerns, she approached every responsibility with diligence and a desire to deliver nothing but the best results."
— Gabriela Godoi do Prado
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVCWjGS1cA8&list=PLFuOESqSTxEsOAit-9tvMdHeMk9_7Jc-Q&index=8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wp3kCvrc710&list=PLFuOESqSTxEsOAit-9tvMdHeMk9_7Jc-Q&index=9
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QyRvSLQ-rIY&list=PLFuOESqSTxEsOAit-9tvMdHeMk9_7Jc-Q&index=11
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joGjyvix-Eg&list=PLFuOESqSTxEsOAit-9tvMdHeMk9_7Jc-Q&index=12
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKJCWsB4a7Q&list=PLFuOESqSTxEsOAit-9tvMdHeMk9_7Jc-Q&index=13
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4a87wReWrkQ&list=PLFuOESqSTxEsOAit-9tvMdHeMk9_7Jc-Q&index=14
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUtBrzm9PX4&list=PLFuOESqSTxEsOAit-9tvMdHeMk9_7Jc-Q&index=10