From Israel to Australia, the west coast to Chicago to the south, this week’s chat welcomed community managers far and wide.

This discussion dives right into summer, from organizing to reading lists. Fun, right? Aside from viewing book recommendations on Hunch, or checking out the #Cmgrchat Reading List, there are some really great recommendations below!

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Q1. Is summer any different than any other time of year for you? Slower/quicker? How do you handle the pace?

RachelYeomans Summer is usually much busier for me as there are many more events and such and more people want mtngs vs con call

vargasl Summer is no different…esp if you consider you are dealing with a global convo/Summer is not same time of year.

IslandPrintGrp Summer is the same as Spring for me. Handling the pace is all about organization though

JennaLanger Summer is an interesting time – lots of social media events & trying to get away for weekends. Definitely need to be organized

mikestenger Summer can definitely be quicker. Generally a lot more going on. Tackle one thing at a time.

jeffsullivan Summer is busier for us in @DellTechCenter — Winter seems to be slowest

KellyLux In #HigherEd, summer is when we actually get things done! Planning & implementing for the upcoming academic year

grmeyer: Tip – write down longhand a few important things at the end of each day (and use Evernote to track digitally)

Rosemontwriter Much of our community gets the travel bug like anyone else, which translates to: stay here & hold down the fort.

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Q2. What do you do to plan for vacations? Can you *really* unplug?

evanhamilton Yes. I scheduled blog posts for my 2 weeks of vacation and trusted a very capable coworker to watch Twitter.

rhogroupee Unplugging means checking email/Twitter/etc., from poolside rather than office

bluephoenixnyc Important to unplug: It gives you perspective and helps you come back + strategize with smarter ideas when you return

IslandPrintGrp I never “unplug”. I think I’d actually go through withdrawl. I wake up in the morning and check social media

JPedde I go abroad on vacations. No checking of gadgets when you don’t have a data plan or consistent wifi 😉

yolunia In the midst of figuring out that one myself. Going on tour w/ my band in July. Scheduling all content/blogs now!

grmeyer Make a schedule and declare it to the team – otherwise coverage on weekends/holidays won’t magically happen

SocialMedBtrfly I MAKE myself unplug. Nothing is so important that some1 must bug me whilst I’m enjoying my travels. Plus, it’s unhealthy not 2

Rosemontwriter Instead of unplugging for days at a time, typically try to unplug for a few solid hours a couple times a week, vaca or not.

Jmodio It’s hard when it becomes your life and your routine unlike some jobs.

AskTim At some point, you have to have some time that belongs to you & not your employer.

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Q3. How do you plan for extra work generated by others on your team taking vacations?

RachelYeomans If extra work comes up during vacation I make sure it’s delegated before I leave

grmeyer 1. schedule content in advance 2. triage requests and respond to most urgent 3. enjoy the help when they return

bluephoenixnyc If others are taking vacations, this is an A+ opportunity to bring in guestbloggers and flex your brand’s muscle

LovelyLu: Life, crashes & outages always happen. We always have a plan B in place, easy to put in place during vacation time.

vargasl: It is imperative to have a POC empowered to make decisions in absence.

jpedde: Awesome interns make the world go ’round 😉

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Q4. What is on your summer reading list? Personal/Professional?

rhogroupee I’m kind of jazzed about Stelzner’s new book:http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/launch/

DebNg I’m taking a break from business books for a while and reading the “A Song of Fire and Ice” (Game of Thrones) series.

rmahtani Google Reader is on my summer reading list. I’m so far behind on mine…

lttlewys Listen First, Social Media ROI are first up…I’m in the middle of 3 others right now. there are at least 15 books on my list

ProductDrew Agree that summer is a time to take a break from business books. “Charcuterie” by Michael Ruhlman

AskTim Professional = CMGR reading list. Personal = Phoenix Rising by Pip Ballantine & Tee Morris plus what @DebNg said.

annedreshfield Livefyre’s list of blogs is a big chunk of my reading list, but I have some books I want to get started on!

jjbert Connected by Christakis and Fowler, Thank You Economy by Gary V

jjbert Also, here is a great summer reading list from @brainpickerhttp://bit.ly/ieIWWP

kg Friend @folkshine‘s book Short Drop (Long overdue, but since PDF version=cued in Kindle!) http://bit.ly/kjZ1wu

KellyLux Some of mine overlap: The Master Switch (@superwuster), The Filter Bubble, Too Big to Fail (@andrewrsorkin)

tamcdonald: Welcome to the Fifth Estate by@GeoffLiving is on my summer reading list.

katieblaine Inappropriately hilarious RT @JPedde: reading “How to Fail” by @aarongoldfarb, def not a com management book but fun reading :

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As always, feel free to let us know what you’d like covered in the next #cmgrchat, Wednesdays 2-3pm EST either in the comments below, on Twitter, in the contact option above, or via email!