When Advania set out to launch its customer community, Senior Community Manager Lorena Seco de Herrera Ortega didn’t have a developer or a background in coding. What she did have was a clear vision for a branded, intuitive experience and a willingness to experiment with AI.

In this episode of Higher Logic's “Power of Connection” podcast, Lorena joins Higher Logic’s Paul Schneider to share how she used AI tools like ChatGPT and Copilot to write, test, and debug the code needed to customize and theme Advania’s new community. She walks through specific use cases—from creating branded call-to-action buttons and hover effects to building custom landing pages—and offers advice for community managers who want to try AI but don’t know where to start.

Along the way, they talk about:

• How to prompt AI for front-end community customization
• Why using AI to code is safe and not as scary for non-coders as you might think
• The role of AI in community analytics and strategy
• Why sharing early experiments can build momentum in the space

Our guest on this episode of Higher Logic’s Power of Connection is Brian Oblinger, a career-experienced consultant around community, customer experience, advocacy, strategy, optimization, and more. Brian’s also held staff positions in both platforms and businesses and talks with us about migrating from social media-based communities to owned communities, and the changes going on in the community space. Topics covered include:

• Why companies think social media means you don’t need a community.
• The elements of social media that drive companies back to an owned community.
• The biggest challenges faced when transitioning to social to owned community.
• The three top best practices on migrating from social-centered to community-centered engagement.
• The right way for community to use social platforms.
• The two buckets of the metrics that matter for community.
• How brand-owned communities will evolve over the next few years.

Some Helpful Links:

Brian Oblinger on LinkedIn

Brianoblinger.com

Community Strategy Academy

Higher Logic Vanilla

Paul’s guest on this episode of Higher Logic’s “Power of Connection” is Izzy Neis, Head of Digital at ModSquad. For over 20 years, ModSquad has been providing moderation, customer support, community management, social media, and social listening services for all ranges of businesses with a digital footprint, B2B and B2C. Topics covered include:

• How to build a successful community experience
• What factors should you prioritize when crafting a community strategy?
• How to find out what your customers want in a community.
• How to work with community managers to make sure they’re as effective as possible.
• The various types of community managers.
• How to establish baseline and spiking moment experiences in the community.
• What are the characteristics and skillsets of a great community manager?
• Some of the most common goals for community.
• Why your community should be more like Madonna.
• How to handle angry or critical community posts.
• Do you need a community if you’re already very present on social media?