Thomas Knoll

Current

Community Strategy Consultant at Swordfish Corp
Guild Member at We Know

Past

CCO at UserVoice.com
Community Advocate at Seesmic
Founder (on hiatus) at ekklesiaLab

Web Developer and Community Developer at EmergingLeadersNetwork.org
Sytem Administration Team at JoiLab
Web Designer at Concordia University Saint Paul
Region 3 Mission Director Apprentice at ELCA - Evangelical Lutheran Church of America
Web Services Analyst at Concordia University Saint paul
Computer Support Specialist at Concordia University Saint Paul
Labor Foreman at McCarthy Construction
Computing Support at Concordia University
Co-Director of Senior High Ministry at Bethlehem Lutheran Church
Interim Youth Minister & Web Developer at Woodbury Lutheran Church
Director of Youth and Family Ministries at Bethel & Emmaus Lutheran Churches
Jr. High Ministry Summer Intern at Saint Andrews Lutheran Church - Mahtomedi, MN

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12 more...

Education

Luther Seminary
Concordia University-St. Paul
Tarleton State University

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Recommended

12 people have recommended Thomas

Connections

286 connections

Industry

Internet

Websites

My Blog

Thomas Knoll’s Summary

I help companies discover and love their customers.

I am passionate about opening doors of communication between companies and their customers--building community in the process. I love people more than technology, but enjoy exploring and building technical solutions to improve communication.

Technology is just a tool to help people make the world a better place.

Thomas Knoll’s Specialties:

customer development, customer advocacy, community strategy, online community, customer feedback, web development, spiritual formation, collaborative communication, visioning, renewal, transparency

Thomas Knoll’s Experience

Community Strategy Consultant

Swordfish Corp

(Privately Held; Internet industry)

July 2009 — Present (5 months)

I help companies develop strategies and processes to:
* work through customer development and validation process
* actively listen (and respond) to their customer
* create engaging conversations with their customers
* ensure their customers that they have an advocate in the company
* determine the value of their customer engagement through metrics and goals
* transform their customer service into a source of customer evangelism
* discover, welcome and cultivate an active community of customers
* improve their retention and growth through regular communication with their customers
* adapt their product or service to address customer feedback and concerns
Guild Member

We Know

(Computer Games industry)

March 2007 — Present (2 years 9 months)

We Know is a World of Warcraft (WoW) Guild on Eitrigg, populated by many exciting and active members at the crossroads of Community and Technology.
CCO

UserVoice.com

(Information Technology and Services industry)

April 2009 — July 2009 (4 months)

Worked on customer support processes, retention, twitter strategy, and feedback engagement.
Community Advocate

Seesmic

(Privately Held; Internet industry)

April 2008 — April 2009 (1 year 1 month)

My many jobs included: Customer Support, Quality Assurance, User/Developer Translation Services, Brand Awareness, Ear-to-the-ground-er, Moderation, lover of the customer, and Chief Listener.
Founder (on hiatus)

ekklesiaLab

(Online Media industry)

April 2000 — April 2009 (9 years 1 month)

Work with individuals, churches, educational institutions, and small social-communites to develop and design web presence and collaboration using blogs, CMSs, and wikis. Train clients how to utilize their on-line presence to facilitate personal interactions, and enhance their educational offerings.
Web Developer and Community Developer

EmergingLeadersNetwork.org

(Online Media industry)

December 2004 — June 2008 (3 years 7 months)

(ongoing community cultivation)

Develop, design, and maintian an on-line community to encourage and equip emerging leaders in the Lutheran tribe--helping people connect locally and think globally.

Responsibilities include: Design; CMS development and hackery; developing new ways for people to interact, working with local cohort facilitators to increase involvement and local discussion, offering 24/7 user support and troubleshooting.
Sytem Administration Team

JoiLab

(Think Tanks industry)

June 2007 — March 2008 (10 months)

Helped update and admin Joi's RedHat Enterprise server.
Web Designer

Concordia University Saint Paul

(Educational Institution; 201-500 employees; Higher Education industry)

October 2007 — February 2008 (5 months)

Carried over most responsibilities from previous position in this move from IT to Marketing. In marketing I am additionally responsible for the design and branding of the site, email communication with prospective students, and developing new ways to engage our market.
Region 3 Mission Director Apprentice

ELCA - Evangelical Lutheran Church of America

(Non-Profit; 5001-10,000 employees; Religious Institutions industry)

August 2006 — December 2007 (1 year 5 months)

Learn through hands-on experience how to serve as a mission director, who is responsible for starting new ministires, renewing exisiting ministries, and encouraging the developement of leadership and mission in the entire region.
Web Services Analyst

Concordia University Saint paul

(Educational Institution; 201-500 employees; Higher Education industry)

April 2007 — October 2007 (7 months)

Maintain, update, and hack the university's main website; develop new web products to increase communication and collaboration; drive the university to utilize more open source solutions; train faculty and staff to maintain their departmental pages.

Projects include: http://freshlysqueezed.csp.edu; http://support.csp.edu; http://magazine.csp.edu; http://blogs.csp.edu; http://orientation.csp.edu; as well as hacking and maintenance on the base CMS of the university.

Projects launching soon: iTunesU, and a prospective/accepted students social network.
Computer Support Specialist

Concordia University Saint Paul

(Educational Institution; 201-500 employees; Higher Education industry)

October 2006 — April 2007 (7 months)

# Networking
Upgrade and install Cisco wireless APs and switches; IIS and Linux server install/mgmt; DNS mgmt; LDAP integration

# Instructional Technology
WebCT server/user/course management; WebCT course development/creation; Teach new student instructional technology training; User support; Support documentation development; Encourage the university to use more open-source collaborative tools such as wikis and blogs

# Customer Support
Install/admin/hack Footprints customer support tracking webware; Install/admin/hack and design customer support documentation using Mediawiki; Direct customer support for issues ranging from wireless, to Office, to file recovery; Physical repairs of IBM laptops

# Other
Founder/Chair: Open-source Initiative Committee; Chair: Staff Organization Service Committee; Linux support; Install/admin Wordpress-Mu as school blogging platform; Install/admin ActiveCollab for IT project management; Asks questions
Labor Foreman

McCarthy Construction

(Privately Held; 11-50 employees; Construction industry)

June 2006 — September 2006 (4 months)

Led a crew on the demolition phase of a large renovation project.
Computing Support

Concordia University

(Educational Institution; 51-200 employees; Information Technology and Services industry)

August 2004 — July 2006 (2 years )

First-line technical support for the students, faculty, and staff of Concordia Universtiy at Saint Paul, MN - a laptop university.

Responsibilities included: phone, email, and face-to-face customer support; maintaining and developing internal and public solutions and documentation; laptop deployment, imaging, and repair; support for applicaitons, wireless networking, web CMS
Co-Director of Senior High Ministry

Bethlehem Lutheran Church

(Non-Profit; 11-50 employees; Religious Institutions industry)

December 2005 — April 2006 (5 months)

Co-director of the Sr. High ministry with my wife, Kimberly.
- Organized and led retreats for Junior and Senior High students.
- Coordinated the direction for the ministry with the student led youth ministry board, and the parent/adult led youth ministry team.
Interim Youth Minister & Web Developer

Woodbury Lutheran Church

(Non-Profit; 11-50 employees; Religious Institutions industry)

December 2003 — August 2004 (9 months)

- Discipled students in sharing their faith and ministering to other students
- Designed an interactive web ministry for youth and parents
- Worked with a ministry team to develop and plan relational and outreach events, activities, and retreats for youth
- Vision casting future ministry opportunities with director of Senior High ministry
- Participated in and occasionally led worship in Genesis worship (volunteer)
- Led an Agape group for young adults (volunteer)
Director of Youth and Family Ministries

Bethel & Emmaus Lutheran Churches

(Non-Profit; 1-10 employees; Religious Institutions industry)

December 2000 — July 2003 (2 years 8 months)

- Established a youth program to unite youth of two churches - club412
- Helped establish an Inter-generational mid-week confirmation program - FAQ
- Helped create and lead a post-modern ministry to reach non-churched persons - 11-10
- Updated the church's community presence through the web, publication, and signage
- Guided youth in creating and leading worship once a month in main sanctuary
- Managed a joint youth committee to involve parents in ministry
- Developed relationships with youth to guide them in sharing their faith
- Leader in 2001 National Youth Gathering in New Orleans
- Coordinated and led bible studies, outreach events, and retreats for youth
Jr. High Ministry Summer Intern

Saint Andrews Lutheran Church - Mahtomedi, MN

(Non-Profit; 11-50 employees; Religious Institutions industry)

April 2000 — September 2000 (6 months)

- Worship leader for summer camps
- Program design team for summer & confirmation camps
- Counselor for summer & confirmation camps
- Developed/Trained High School leaders for Jr. High confirmation

Thomas Knoll’s Education

Luther Seminary

Non-Degree Seeking , Theology, Spirituality, Mission, and Culture , 2006 — 2007
Concordia University-St. Paul

Outreach, Missions 1998 — 2006
Tarleton State University

Post-Secondary Education , English, Math, Computer Science , 1996 — 1998

Additional Information

Thomas Knoll’s Websites:

My Blog

Thomas Knoll’s Interests:

online community, game theory, social economics, collaboration, value network analysis, spiritual direction, revitalization, mission development, social justice, python, WoW, reading, singer-songwriter, user experience, visioning, web design/development, storytelling

Thomas Knoll’s Groups:

LinkedInnovators, LinkedInnovator CityHost, #joiito, WeKnow, Emerging Leaders Network (ELN), HighEdWebDev, Higher Education Web Professionals Association (HEWPA), Benedictine Oblates, Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), CreativeCommons