Community Building

Relationships are the energetic core of communities. They are the glue. They are the reason people keep showing up. They are the biggest (and yet ironically the most intangible) value that communities create. Relationships are the community’s soul and source of life. Without relationships, the community is an empty shell.

Community isn’t structure. Community isn’t having a plan or a roadmap. Community isn’t the gatherings we organize to come together. Community certainly isn’t a social network or any other technology we use to connect. Community isn’t a shared vision, mission or agreements. Those are all tools that can enable or hinder a community. But they aren’t ... See more

All of that skepticism towards community is further strengthened by the fact that the term “community” is becoming en vogue and is being used in pretty much every marketing and sales campaign these days, not to describe actual communities, but as a fancy way to say customer or audience. People who have never experienced community see the term being... See more

Amateurs try to manage a community, but great leaders create more leaders. Nearly every challenge of building a community can be met by asking yourself, “How do I achieve this by working with my people, not doing it for them?” In other words, approach community-building as progressive acts of collaboration—doing more with others every step of the w... See more

Don’t work in community. Seriously. I never meant to become a community manager. Most of us didn’t. We fell into it sideways, like walking through the wrong door at a party and suddenly finding ourselves responsible for babysitting someone’s forgotten & drunk cousin.The job is a messy tapestry of contradictions. You'll build fences designed to be c... See more