Bailey Richardson, Kevin Huynh, Kai Elmer Sotto<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bailey Richardson, Kevin Huynh, and Kai Elmer Sotto comprise People & Company, an agency that helps organizations build communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
True communities are simply groups of people who keep coming together over what they care about. The most vibrant communities offer members a chance to act on their passions with one another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFires can\u2019t be made with dead embers, nor can enthusiasm be stirred by spiritless men.\u201d -Baldwin<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you want to spark your own community, you\u2019ll need to first pinpoint your people. Find your kindling – those early allies who care about what you care about enough to manifest your idea for a community into an actual gathering of human beings. Though there may not be many of them, the first people you involve are consequential. They will set the tone and direction for the future of your group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To figure out who to focus on, start with two questions:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It may take time to find your who<\/em><\/u><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/em>By 2011, the video gaming category had grown so quickly that Justin.tv\u2019s founders decided to launch a new gaming-focused platform called Twitch, which Emmett is now the CEO of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Focus on two criteria:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Only start this work when you and your organization are eager to collaborate with a specific group of people for the long haul. Like most relationships, communities don\u2019t form overnight; they take time to flourish. You\u2019ll need to stay invested in these people if you want to bring a community to life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Defining your why<\/em><\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n In order to make sure that your community\u2019s purpose is grounded in your people\u2019s needs, and that it expressed what you can accomplish, consider:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Design your first activity<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Tie the activity back to why<\/em> your community teamed up in the first place. What goal or outcome becomes possible only when this specific group of people gets together? Make this purpose clear to participants so that they can own it, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Don\u2019t just talk at<\/em> people. You gathered them because they\u2019re passionate, just like you! Give them the chance to contribute to the purpose you share.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One-offs are the enemy. Relationships need time to flourish, and it\u2019ll take a few cycles for some folks to warm up and begin actively contributing. Design the first activity with the intent to repeat it with your people over and over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Make your purpose loud and clear<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2004, Gavin Pretor-Pinney, a designer and writer with a love for clouds, was encouraged by a friend to speak about his obsession at a literary festival in Cornwall. In hopes of drawing a crowd, Gavin dreamt up an enticing title for his talk: \u201cThe Inaugural Lecture of the Cloud Appreciation Society.\u201d Why celebrate clouds? \u201cI always felt that clouds are a beautiful part of nature that we can become blind to,\u201d Gavin tells us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The title worked. Gavin\u2019s talk was chock-full of attendees. After entertaining the crowd with his passion for clouds, Gavin invited audience members to claim an official society pin. He was bombarded. People asked him for more information about his Cloud Appreciation Society, and Gavin had to tell them that the society didn\u2019t exist\u2026 yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gavin went home and immediately set up a simple website. To encourage cloud-lovers to share their love for clouds, he included a gallery where people could submit their own photographs of the sky. In addition, Gavin made sure that the site put the group\u2019s purpose front and center. The society\u2019s manifesto reads, \u201cWe believe that clouds are unjustly maligned and that life would be immeasurably poorer without them.\u201d Gavin explains, \u201cThe fact that we appreciate an underappreciated part of nature gives the society a reason to exist.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Visitors to the site who connected with this purpose could fill out a form and pay a small fee in exchange for a welcome package (complete with a society pin) and official membership number. After just a few months, the society grew to 2,000 paying members. Member enthusiasm, playful merchandise, and press coverage helped spread the word. By 2016, membership had reached 40,000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Be prepared to repeat<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Every thriving community organizes essential, repeating activities for its members. If communities are about people coming together, one of the most important things you can do is create ways for them to keep coming together. Repeating activities set the stage for members to deepen their relationship and for the community to gain momentum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As you make these early attempts to rally people, do so with purpose, enable participation, and be prepared to repeat the activity again, and soon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
\n
<\/a>Chapter 2: Do Something Together<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/a>Chapter 3: Get people talking<\/h1>\n\n\n\n