#Commbuild – Why your community needs to go offline

  1. Join our Community of Practice group on NTEN.org
  2. There’s a tweetchat every Tuesday at 1:00pm EST using the hashtag #CommBuild
  3. Today’s participants

  4. ClaireSale
    #commbuild: I’m a community building consultant and organizer of commbuild group. Also *really* pregnant and about to go MIA for a bit!
  5. ChristinaFBrown
    Hi everyone! Name’s Christina. Active Job Seeker. Passionate about communities and user experience. #commbuild
  6. elijah
    I’m @elijah I like to support communities to do fun things together. My title is often “volunteer manager” #commbuild
  7. Q1. What offline communities are you a part of? Which ones do you value the most?

  8. askdebra
    @CommBuild Easy! It’s the #501TechBOS – Boston’s 501 Tech Club, sponsored by @ntenorg. Also my pottery community, Mudflat 🙂 #commbuild
  9. elijah
    A.1. The offline community I’ve loved the most is the 2,000 volunteer crew of the @edmfolkfest #commbuild
  10. askdebra
    Q1 @CommBuild Oh yes, our minyan (Jewish) community, like a synagogue, and the kids’ school #commbuild
  11. ChristinaFBrown
    A1: @NYTM and @NYTechWomen when I can. I value the connections I make when I meet people face 2 face. #commbuild
  12. ClaireSale
    @CommBuild I’m part of #geekfestjed and my local compound in Saudi. Trying to help with online/offline organizing with both. #commbuild
  13. askdebra
    Q1 Value for both is the personal collusion of friendships (new/old), knowledge-sharing, professional growth (2/2) #commbuild
  14. Q2. WHY did you join your offline community? Why do you think others joined?

  15. ClaireSale
    @CommBuild I think ppl join offline comms for belonging, sharing interests/learnings, and to move forward on particular projects. #commbuild
  16. elijah
    A2. I am attracted to joining offline communities because of THE PEOPLE. The purpose of the group quickly becomes secondary. #commbuild
  17. askdebra
    Q2. I’m a bit on the cynical side: they join for personal gain. Larger time commitment to offline events = tough decisions #commbuild
  18. ChristinaFBrown
    A2: Hi @mbhahn! I think I joined my offline comms b/c I wanted (& still do) to get my foot in the NY tech scene. #commbuild
  19. Q3. Do you lead an offline community right now? What is the group?

  20. elijah
    A3. I’ve been leading Vancouver’s Net Tuesday @NetSquared group for 3.5 years. The most fun volunteer gig I’ve ever had. #Commbuild
  21. askdebra
    @CommBuild Just as a member, but I feel part of the community, since it is lay-lead, and we all take on roles each quarter #commbuild
  22. ClaireSale
    @elijah You’ve been such a rockstar leading Vancouver @Netsquared. When I lived in #Cambridge I had a great time leading Net2. #commbuild
  23. Q4. Are your offline and online communities connected? How?

  24. ClaireSale
    @CommBuild It’s funny… there often seems to be a disconnect. Offline people don’t always transfer online and vice versa. #commbuild
  25. ChristinaFBrown
    A4: They are connected. Their social media pages post the latest monthly meetups and ways people can get involved. #commbuild
  26. ClaireSale
    @ChristinaFBrown Yes! This is an awesome way to connect the two. ^discoverability and ^information sharing #commbuild
  27. ClaireSale
    @ChristinaFBrown are there other ways you’re connecting the two (online/offline)? #commbuild
  28. ChristinaFBrown
    @ClaireSale Every month, there is pre @NYTechWomen meetup and then we head across the street to the @NYTM. Instant connections. #commbuild
  29. elijah
    A4. @NetTuesday ‘s online and offline presences are largely connected one-way. Online recruits for offline meetings. #commbuild
  30. Q5. What online tools do you use to manage and support your offline community?

  31. ClaireSale
    @CommBuild I’ve used tons! meetup, eventbrite, trello, facebook groups/pages/events, linkedin events, twitter….. #commbuild
  32. Claire’s favorite online tools for community building
  33. Email is still a go-to tool
  34. CommBuild
    Q5b. What tools are most effective in building community? Personally I still find an email listserv or google group to work best. #commbuild
  35. ClaireSale
    @CommBuild 1 to google groups and listserves, I’m also finding closed facebook groups to be amazingly active. #commbuild
  36. Meetup vs Eventbrite
  37. elijah
    A5. @meetup is an amazingly powerful recruitment tool to find people who are interested in face-to-face gatherings. #Commbuild
  38. ClaireSale
    @elijah I like meetup too, but I wish it had functionality for online-only events (like tweetchats!) #commbuild
  39. CommBuild
    @ClaireSale I’ve found @Eventbrite to be a fabulous replacement for @meetup for virtual events. But less good at recruiting. #commbuild
  40. ClaireSale
    @CommBuild Truth. Problem with eventbrite is it serves the event not so much building the community #commbuild
  41. ChristinaFBrown
    @CommBuild @Eventbrite is great to find offline events in ur niche but there isn’t a “community building” component like @meetup. #commbuild
  42. CommBuild
    @ChristinaFBrown @ClaireSale – so right… I’m a “meetup member” but not an “eventbrite member”. #commbuild
  43. Q6. Who is doing online -> offline community building right? What’s a model organization?

  44. ClaireSale
    @CommBuild US-based politicians! They’ve got the online->offline organizing down pretty well. #commbuild
  45. CommBuild
    @ClaireSale – SMART! The Obama get-out-the-vote team are masters at engaging online and getting to offline action. #commbuild
  46. ChristinaFBrown
    @ClaireSale Agreed. I think the Obama for America (biased lol) was an excellent online & offline political grassroots network. #commbuild
  47. ChristinaFBrown
    @ClaireSale If you think about it, @barackobama is continuing the @OFA framework by bringing his ideas to real Americans now. #commbuild
  48. elijah
    A6. @350 and @engagejoe are doing the online to offline transition beautifully. A vibrant online community that SHOWS UP #commbuild
  49. Other groups holding regular offline meetings
  50. CommBuild
    Q6b. But the politicians are doing a one-off transaction (vote). Who is getting people to move online to offline consistently? #commbuild
  51. ClaireSale
    @CommBuild 1 on 350. Also: NTEN 501 tech clubs, NetSquared groups, WiserEarth, Yes!, and Social Media Surgery… #commbuild
  52. CommBuild
    Churches get people to show up on a weekly basis! Who can top that? #commbuild
  53. CommBuild
    A6. Other non-#nptech examples are weekly running/jogging groups, book clubs and knitting circles. #commbuild
  54. I’m a little late for #tbt but I’ll post these anyways @sabrinaserani #knittingcircle
  55. CommBuild
    @ClaireSale and our knitter friends also create soft snuggly things to wear. Not just ideas. THEY ARE THE BEST! #commbuild
  56. Q7. What’s your #1 tip for a community organizer that wants to organize a lasting online?

  57. elijah
    PERSISTENCE! “Q7. What’s your #1 tip for a community organizer that wants to organize a lasting online gathering?” #commbuild
  58. CommBuild
    @stevieflow talks about “zero expectations organizing” as the key to success. bit.ly/IVITdq #commbuild
  59. ClaireSale
    @CommBuild My tip: keep the barrier to entry low and the quality of content high #commbuild
  60. UP NEXT: Tuesday, December 18.

  61. CommBuild
    Next week: join @askdebra for “The benefit of Twitter chats, & how they build community.” bit.ly/Uxy53S #commbuild
  62. A topic idea for the future….

  63. ClaireSale
    @ChristinaFBrown ah… totally a topic for another day! “Cross-pollination across local or related groups” #commbuild
  64. Get involved

  65. Want to lead a #CommBuild chat? Want to help manage the community? Reach out to @ClaireSale
  66. ClaireSale
    #commbuild: Just want to quickly announce we’re looking for vols to take leadership roles with the #commbuild group. bit.ly/S5fjqg
  67. ClaireSale
    #commbuild: I’m a community building consultant and organizer of commbuild group. Also *really* pregnant and about to go MIA for a bit!