The Importance of Creative Communities

We all work differently, and that’s ok! But, no matter how you work, aligning yourself with a community of peers can grow your network, knowledge, and opportunities for collaboration. You are not alone. I’ve worked in agencies, on in-house design teams, as a freelancer, and running my own consultancy; Each one of these environments had its ups and downs. The constant through all these for me was creative communities. They were — well are — my haven; a place for me to cultivate connections.

Several years ago, I was in a place in my life where my now hubby and I were closing down our digital consultancy and moving cross country from Baltimore to Texas. Everything was up in the air. Each night thoughts would race through my head about whether to continue on my path in the design and creative industry. Was there a place for me there? Should I stop in my tracks and take a different path? To make sense of my thoughts and get some outside perspective I looked to creative communities.

I started out with some online communities and even ended up heading up an in-person community for Ladies, Wine, and Design in San Antonio for about a year. Now I have come full circle back to embracing the virtual creative community.

No matter what type of community works best for you the benefits are undeniable.

Support.
We all want to feel supported — that’s just human. What’s critical to me here is ‘honest’ support. Make sure you find the right community for you where you can discover those willing to tell you the truth, nicely of course — there’s no need to be mean!

Lifetime Friendships.
I have met the most extraordinary people through creative communities. You never know who you will encounter if there will be an instant connection, and where it may lead. I met one of my very best friends through an AIGA workshop. Flash forward to walks through the farmers market ending with an accountability chat over coffee every Saturday. Even though we now live in different states, we still find time for virtual coffee dates, and some kick each other in the butt accountability talk.

Knowledge.
Learning never stops. Technology is always changing, and there are constantly new tools and techniques. You can Google all day long and never even come across many of these. A creative community can give you insight into others’ workflows and how they may be tackling challenges. Don’t forget to share your own wisdom and experience; there is someone out there waiting to hear it.

Collaboration.
I can’t even count how many collaborations have come out of creative communities for me. I’ve gained speaking gigs, been able to conduct my workshops for others, and even acquired new clients.

Now, don’t misunderstand me, I’m not saying if you join a creative community you will magically have all this — lifelong friends and true connection — you have to put in the work. Sharing goes both ways. You have to put into a community without expecting to get back. While hopefully, you get reciprocal effort — you shouldn’t give your knowledge just because you want something in return. Give back to the community because you want to, because you want others to benefit.

In the midst of all this sharing, don’t forget to set boundaries. It’s ok to say no; you should share your expertise but know the limits and make sure others don’t take advantage of you.

Creative communities come in all shapes and sizes.
While some of the communities I am part of are the perfect fit for me, it may not be the right environment for everyone. Make sure to understand your own values and the values of the communities you wish to be part of — think about if they are in alignment. Here’s a little glimpse of some communities that have had an impact on me.

Online Groups

• Butter Community: Are you a workshop facilitator? Then this is the community for you. A place for facilitators to get together, share resources, and build relationships. Butter hurry up and join us here!
• Ladies Get Paid: For all the ladies reading this — LGP is a fab place to get advice, share your wins, and network. Ladies Get Paid champions the professional and financial advancement of women. I have experienced only support from this group, it is so welcoming.
• Leaders of Awesomeness: This is a wonderful community that centers around User Experience (UX) topics. This community of UX leaders, designers, researchers, and writers from all over the world, is a great place to learn and share. There are live events almost every week and they are even recorded if you can’t make it — the amount of knowledge coming out of this community is in a word — awesome.
• Miro Community: The Miro community is going through some changes right now, but good changes! They just restructured the way Miro User Groups/Chapters are led, I can’t wait for what’s to come. I was leading the Baltimore Miro User Group, but they will now be topic focused-and not city-focused so stay tuned. Join me there!
• ADPList: This is a very different kind of community — It’s a mentorship community. You can join either as a mentor or a mentee. Imagine the opportunity to be mentored by others (or to mentor others) from all over the world with various experiences — ADPList gives that to you. I have had over 20 mentorship sessions since joining in April 2021, and mentoring others has been so rewarding! I wish there was something like this when I was starting out or even just struggling with things earlier in my career.

Professional Organizations

• The Professional Association for Design (AIGA): In my personal experience I’ve had mixed feelings about AIGA, but I can’t deny I have met lifelong friends through this organization. Explore your local chapters and see if this is the type of community that will fulfill your needs — it’s different for everyone!

Local Meetups

While these are city-based meetups there’s also a large networking piece that goes beyond cities, especially in today’s more virtual world.

• Ladies, Wine, and Design: What I like about this meetup is the goal is to keep the monthly ‘salon nights’ small and mostly free. This small group mentality encourages deeper conversations and friendships. Check your city to see if you have a chapter already. If you don’t, consider starting one!
• Code for Baltimore: My hubby and I started this local meetup as a brigade of Code for America a couple of years ago. We were able to spark interest in the coding community and bring people together across industries for the good of the city. In particular, we focused on the importance of collaboration between designers and developers. We are truly impressed with how the new organizers have grown this community after our move to Texas. Check out if there is a Code for America brigade in your city.

I could go on, and on, but I won’t! There are so many communities out there, take a look, and figure out what’s best for you. What works with your personality and not against it? Where will you thrive? Truly embrace community, and it will embrace you in return.

A different variation of this was originally published at https://www.elevateandcultivate.com on November 6, 2018. Updates here in 2021 for relevance in re-publishing.