Want to build a community around your work?
If you’re an educator or organizer of any capacity I am really excited to tell you about this week’s Community Business Summit hosted by Tatiana Figueiredo, October 4-6th.
Long before I started website and online course design I was an event planner. It started as a teen hosting touring bands and evolved into my twenties organizing panel discussions, workshops, and actions around environmental and social justice issues.
Today one of my main projects is working with Halt the Harm Network to connect people facing harms of oil & gas industry. The commitment to this project has brought me to understand the unique challenges for community leaders in online spaces.
Always a problem, always a solution
Community leaders face some pretty big challenges in the online space.
For one, social media companies (not to name names) have monetized our relationships for advertising and created a lot of cynicism around our ability to connect online.
On the other hand, platforms like Circle have created a new model – one that is safer, calmer, and defined by the participants.
Tatiana Figueiredo is a leader in this emerging field of community businesses, a rapidly growing industry that online course creators should definitely not ignore.
I recommend subscribing to her excellent newsletter, The Business of Community, and especially recommend checking out this week’s summit.
Some things I’m excited about this week
The summit will be opened by Peter Block, a foundational thinker of community structures. Tatiana is also teaching a 90-minute Masterclass: How to Lead a Values-Driven Community Business.
If you’ve considered building a community around your work, but are not sure how to make it viable or sustainable for your business I encourage you to check it out.
I’ll be sharing some of my experiences alongside some fellow students this Thursday, October 6th in a workshop called 10+ Community Events, Experiences, and Activities That Work.
The summit is free, and you can see all the details and registration at https://summit.businessofcommunity.co
If you want to talk about creating community around your work please let me know – especially if you have questions about how to make it happen around an online program or cause.
Talk soon,
Ryan
