Introducing Giant Swarm & Friends
In one of my previous articles, I mentioned our Giant Swarm & Friends events. So, I thought that now would be a good time to dig a little deeper into what these evenings are really all about and how they came to be regular fixtures on our calendar.
We learned a few things everyone already knew
Before Giant Swarm & Friends, there was our Giant Summit in 2019. Picture it: a big giant hall in a BBQ shop filled with all our awesome customers for a party slash get-together. As you can probably guess, we did some barbecuing, and maybe less predictably, our customers spoke openly about their problems and amongst themselves found camaraderie and relief. While we offered the space to discuss, they drove the conversation. And so we discovered the first thing everyone already knew: a problem shared is a problem halved. Simply having the forum to discuss concerns seemed to provide intrinsic value. Whether a solution was discovered or not, a sense of family and a shared vision emerged, both of which lasted long after the Giant Summit had ended. And so, once again, we learned something that everyone already knew: casual conversations at parties are the glue that holds us together, and the world’s problems are often solved over a beer with friends. This isn’t because beer is magical* but rather because beer with friends simply cannot be faked. As my friend Manuel said as he delivered the closing speech at Pirate Summit: “You only connect with authenticity. Nobody wants to connect with fake.”
We struggled with everyone
Yup, COVID. No surprises there, but perhaps what was surprising at the time was how resilient our bond with our customers was (and thankfully still is). It mattered that we couldn’t all meet IRL, I’m the guy who tweets #realhugsrock, after all. But it didn’t matter enough to stop us from trying and succeeding at a bunch of remote events. From a remote Christmas party that included a magician and cocktail making to what is now our Giant Swarm & Friends events, we didn’t want to stop connecting with our community just because the world had stopped.
We learned from the struggle and thrived with everyone
Our Giant Swarm & Friends events were an attempt to rekindle the soft and fuzzy feeling of our IRL events while providing real value in terms of conversations and topics. Like our Giant Summit, we again wanted to center on our customers and their challenges. We invited our customers to talk about topics that were important to them rather than try to dictate what should be important to them and use it as a marketing stunt. As a result of this, we also decided to come up with some ground rules that support our mission.
- Most importantly: Giant Swarm & Friends is not a sales event.
- If we want to create a community, we don’t talk; we facilitate conversations.
- Nobody’s special, so everyone’s special — first-name basis only.
- Chatham House Rule
- Everyone is welcome and encouraged to share.
- Not exactly a hard rule, but chocolate, craft beer (alcoholic or nonalcoholic), and some stickers were shipped to all guests.
Regarding the last rule, we’ve been lucky to have our friend Daniel as our unofficial beer expert, who has guided us through the different types of beers in our selection. We’ve also been lucky that the conversations during the events have mimicked conversations IRL — in other words, they have been non-linear, organic, and often very entertaining. Our first event started at 8pm and finished at 1.30am, which is a point of pride, although we have since attempted to end them earlier as it’s still a weeknight. The debut included only about two hours of planned discussions, including presentations, Q&A, and beer talks. I can’t say I exactly remember the details of the remaining hours, but I do remember laughing, and I think that qualifies as a job well done.
We looked to the future
One of the best endorsements of our Giant Swarm & Friends events is that we have an almost 100% re-attendance rate. Those who join once are likely to join again, and for me, that’s a huge vote of confidence. We intend to reward that loyalty by continuously improving and building the community beyond the events. How that will all take shape is still being defined, but I do know it will all start with a conversation with our friends.
*Although I know we have all felt otherwise at some point.
